Accountants often find month-end and quarter-end closings stressful, as the process of finalizing financial records can be tedious, error-prone, and time-consuming. In 2020, Parker Gilbert, frustrated by the repetitive nature of managing finance at a startup, decided to co-found Numeric, an accounting software designed to automate parts of the book-closing process. The introduction of generative AI has since significantly boosted Numeric’s functionality, making it a tool of choice for companies like Brex, OpenAI, Plaid, and Wealthfront.
Over the past year, Numeric’s revenue has quadrupled, attracting the attention of investors. Just five months after securing a $10 million seed round, the company has raised $28 million in a Series A funding round led by Menlo Ventures. Other new investors, including IVP and Socii, joined existing backers like Founders Fund, Long Journey, and Fifth Down in supporting the company.
Numeric’s software helps accounting teams reduce the time spent on monthly book-closing processes by aggregating data from various systems and using an AI agent to analyze trends and spot outliers. For instance, if the AI agent notices that legal expenses surged in October compared to September, it provides an explanation, such as “Legal expenses increased due to additional payments to Wilson Sonsini.” This saves accountants valuable time during flux analysis, the process of explaining variances in accounts.
Though concerns about AI inaccuracies, known as hallucinations, might arise, Gilbert, Numeric’s CEO, assured that accountants can always verify the AI’s findings through provided links. While AI does not yet handle final calculations, Gilbert believes that as large language models (LLMs) improve, Numeric’s AI will soon be capable of accurate financial synthesis.
Croom Beatty, a partner at Menlo Ventures, highlighted Numeric’s potential to disrupt the accounting software market, praising the company for combining complex workflows with advanced AI. He foresees future expansion into financial planning tools, a domain currently led by Anaplan.
Numeric competes with established players like BlackLine and FloQast, but Beatty noted that the complexity of Numeric’s AI-powered solution makes it difficult for others to replicate, positioning the company as a frontrunner in the evolving accounting technology landscape.