The Complete Guide to Using AI as a Finance Professional in Virginia Beach in 2025

Virginia Beach finance pros should pay attention to AI in 2025 because investment in information‑processing equipment - much of it AI-related - has been a major contributor to U.S. real investment this year, helping sustain growth even as employment softens (Raymond James weekly economic commentary on Virginia Beach), and Virginia's own AI sector (estimated at $1.71 billion) shows local momentum and resilient firms that blend legacy strengths with new tech (VirginiaBusiness report on Virginia's AI sector).

Practical AI tools - real‑time fraud detection, automated underwriting, generative document summarization, and explainable models - can speed decisions, tighten controls, and reduce costs, but regulators and auditors are watching so governance matters.

For finance teams that need hands‑on, workplace‑focused skill building, the Nucamp program below teaches AI tools, prompt writing, and job‑based applications in a 15‑week program to help turn pilots into reliable processes.

AI Essentials for Work

Virginia Beach municipal finance teams can turn theory into tangible wins by applying AI across the source‑to‑pay lifecycle - think automated invoice matching and fraud detection to stop duplicate bills, AI‑driven spend analytics that harmonize messy ledgers for clearer budget decisions, and contract automation that flags risky clauses and speeds renewals so procurement cycles stop being a bottleneck; vendors and practitioners catalog these practical playbooks in resources like Procure.ai's roundup of procurement use cases (Procure.ai: AI use cases to transform procurement) and Ivalua's guide to GenAI assistants for sourcing and contract review (Ivalua: AI in sourcing and procurement guide).

From intake automation that turns free‑text purchase requests into structured requisitions, to supplier risk monitoring and predictive alerts that warn of disruptions before contracts fail, these tools free staff for strategy while improving compliance and audit readiness; some practitioners report measurable gains - shorter order processing, faster award decisions, and real tail‑spend savings - so the “so what?” is simple: AI helps local teams do more with existing headcount, cut routine errors, and reclaim hours previously lost to manual minutiae, like chasing down missing receipts until the coffee grows cold.

Virginia Beach finance teams must treat GASB Statement No. 102 as more than paperwork - it's a practical checklist that changes what belongs in year‑end notes and what auditors will probe: governments must disclose concentrations or constraints that are known before statements are issued, make the reporting unit vulnerable to a substantial impact, and have an associated event that has occurred or is likely to occur within 12 months (the three disclosure criteria spelled out in the guidance).

The standard went into effect for fiscal years beginning after June 15, 2024 and is applicable to years ending June 30, 2025 and after, so local close cycles should bake this assessment into working papers and audit timelines; early mitigation (for example, securing a new airline tenant before issuing statements in an airport scenario) can remove the need to disclose.

Practical resources that walk through the assessment steps and auditor expectations include a clear explainer of GASB 102 from CPA Hall Talk, a practitioner overview from Sikich, and a short Moss Adams bulletin on the new risk‑disclosure requirements - use these to align disclosures with budgets, internal controls, and procurement/risk registers so the audit doesn't turn into a late‑night scramble.

When selecting vendors and low‑code platforms for Virginia Beach governments, start where the City's procurement process starts - registering and vetting suppliers via the Virginia Beach Supplier Portal - Purchasing & Supplier Services and the Virginia Beach SWaM Vendor Registration and Opportunities program so small and diverse firms can surface on your bid board and receive RFQs; pair that local onboarding with a rigorous AI vendor questionnaire to probe data handling, explainability, bias mitigation, and incident response before demos begin (AI Vendor Questionnaire: Essential Questions for Procurement).

Build an RFP and pilot plan that asks about integration paths (turnkey vs. bespoke), scalability, SLAs, pricing models and exit/portability clauses, and insist on references, third‑party audits or ISO certifications - these are the green flags that separate long‑term partners from short‑term buzz.

Treat pilots as the truth serum: measure accuracy, workflow fit, and total cost of ownership against defined KPIs, and don't sign a contract that leaves your team locked into proprietary formats or vague governance.

Do this well and procurement becomes less about chasing quotes and more about protecting public funds and freeing staff to focus on strategy - not another late‑night RFP scramble while the coffee grows cold.

Virginia Beach finance departments building trustworthy AI should turn headline risks into practical controls: Virginia's recent legislative debate - where the General Assembly passed a high‑risk AI bill and Governor Youngkin later vetoed HB 2094 - signals regulation is imminent, so local teams should treat governance as preparation, not panic (Analysis of the HB 2094 veto and its implications for Virginia businesses).

Start with clear policies, executive accountability, and cross‑functional oversight (finance, legal, IT, procurement) and bake in VITA's EO‑30 expectations and enterprise standards - document model inputs/outputs, require TEVV reviews, and follow NIST‑aligned risk frameworks so deployments meet the Commonwealth's safety, privacy, and explainability guidance (Overview of Virginia EO‑30 and VITA AI standards).

For vendor and third‑party AI, demand audit records, contractual SLAs for data handling, and proof of bias testing; the draft high‑risk law even contemplates enforcement and civil penalties and offers safe‑harbor for adopters of recognized risk frameworks, so keep compliance evidence ready (Summary of Virginia high‑risk AI compliance proposals and enforcement).

Operationalize governance with routine impact assessments, role‑based access logs, and monitoring dashboards - aim for an audit trail as clear as a canceled check so an auditor can trace a model decision back to the original input without a late‑night scramble.

For Virginia Beach finance teams, stack formal certification with practical AI training to build credibility and capability: the GFOA CPFO program provides a leadership‑focused pathway - seven exams that verify core public‑finance disciplines and a maintenance regimen that keeps skills current - so consider the GFOA CPFO program as the backbone of professional development (GFOA CPFO program certification and details), and pair it with hands‑on, workplace AI training like Nucamp's local‑oriented resources on practical tools for finance to translate theory into day‑to‑day wins (Top 10 AI tools for Virginia Beach finance professionals in 2025).

Online proctoring options make CPFO exams accessible around busy close cycles, and the program's continuing requirements (annual CPE plus engagement credits) keep knowledge fresh for audit season and policy reviews; the payoff is practical: fewer surprise auditor questions and more confidence turning AI pilots into governed processes, so teams reclaim hours once lost to repetitive tasks and avoid another late‑night desk‑lamp scramble.

Pilot projects in Virginia Beach should mimic the state's pragmatic approach - start small, measurable, and workforce‑first - by testing agentic or generative tools on narrow tasks while investing in reskilling so staff aren't left scrambling for answers; Virginia's first‑in‑the‑nation agentic AI regulatory review will “scan the Commonwealth's entire body of regulations,” flag redundancies and suggest streamlined language, which shows the scale (thousands of pages) a pilot can handle but also why human oversight matters (Governor Youngkin Launches First‑in‑the‑Nation Agentic AI Regulatory Review).

Tech commentators warn these tools can alter meaning or cut protections if unchecked, so pair any pilot with transparent governance, inclusive hiring pipelines, and concrete training pathways - tap statewide initiatives like the new AI career launch pad and practical local courses to move incumbents into higher‑value roles rather than displacing them (Critical coverage and expert caution on Virginia's AI pilot; Nucamp AI Essentials for Work bootcamp syllabus - Top AI tools for finance professionals).

The practical win is simple: a tightly scoped pilot plus hiring and training commitments can turn automation into more hours for analysis and community‑facing work, not fewer public‑sector paychecks.

“You can program algorithms for routinized tasks, things that are uniform and repetitive. But for complex discretionary choices, we're not there yet - and maybe never will be.”

Practical checklist for an AI‑assisted ERP and procurement RFP in Virginia Beach: begin with an AI‑readiness assessment that tests data quality, integration points, and whether your current platform can host AI extensions (ERP selection partners in Virginia Beach can help define requirements and migration paths - see ERPVAR SAP Business One consultants in Virginia Beach for selection and implementation guidance ERPVAR SAP Business One consultants in Virginia Beach); build an RFP that demands ERP‑specific AI experience, clear integration options, SLAs, exit/portability clauses, third‑party audits and certifications, and proof of bias testing or explainability; require vendor roadmaps and references that demonstrate measurable quick wins (many ERP‑AI projects show value within 60–90 days) and a phased pilot with concrete KPIs - forecast accuracy, PO cycle time, and anomaly detection rates - so decisions are evidence‑based not aspirational (see EstesGroup AI for ERP solutions EstesGroup AI for ERP solutions); include governance checkboxes up front - audit trails, role‑based access, and monitoring - and treat the pilot as the true test of fit so the procurement cycle ends with a governed rollout, not another late‑night RFP scramble while the coffee grows cold.

“Estes AI completely changed the way we use Prophet 21. What used to take hours of manual forecasting now happens in seconds - with more accuracy than we ever had before. Our buyers are more confident, our stock levels are tighter, and our team has more time to focus on customer relationships instead of spreadsheets. EstesGroup truly understands the distribution business.”

Virginia Beach finance professionals should bookmark a short slate of high‑value dates and resources for 2025: GFOA's Best Practices Forum is a virtual, five‑day intensive (September 15–19, 2025) offering nine sessions and up to 18 CPE credits - an efficient way to bench‑mark policies and grab practical playbooks for budgeting, procurement, risk, and more.

Don't miss awards timelines either - applications for GFOA's Awards for Excellence are due August 29, a hard cutoff that can spotlight a year's worth of improvements.

Short, targeted webinars and the 2025 GAAP Update offerings (Nov. 6 and Dec. 17 with 4 CPE) are ideal for close‑season refreshers - scan the GFOA events calendar to map sessions to staff development plans.

“Beyond the Buzz: Putting AI to Work in Local Government” - webinar (Sept. 3, 2025)

For hands‑on tools and local course options, pair conference learning with practical Nucamp resources like the Nucamp AI Essentials for Work syllabus so training translates into faster month‑end cycles, not another late‑night desk‑lamp scramble.

Begin with a narrow, measurable pilot - think automated invoice matching or a GenAI month‑end checklist - pairing a 60–90 day test with clear KPIs, vendor questionnaires, and basic governance so audit trails and role‑based access are in place before scaling; learn what works in production by joining local conversations (Virginia Beach Ignite Business Seminar on AI Virginia Beach Ignite Business Seminar on AI) and by getting hands‑on training that translates to day‑to‑day wins - training like Nucamp's AI Essentials for Work teaches practical prompts, tool use, and job‑based skills in 15 weeks and helps turn pilots into governed processes you can defend to auditors (Register for Nucamp AI Essentials for Work (15-week bootcamp)).

Start small, document everything, and measure hours reclaimed - so staff spend less time chasing missing receipts until the coffee grows cold and more time on analysis that serves the community.