The Era Where Research, Accounting, and Travel Arrangements ‘Finish on Their Own’ — How Much Can Costs for SMEs Decrease with Perplexity, Claude, and Airbnb AI Agents?

What If Monthly Operations Costing 1.2 Million Yen Could ‘Finish on Their Own’ for Just 100,000 Yen?

Have you ever honestly calculated how much time a company with around 10 employees spends each month on research, accounting, and travel arrangements?

In May 2025, three consecutive news items were announced:

• Perplexity unveiled its work AI agent “Teammates,” which can automatically handle research and report creation for a monthly subscription.
• Anthropic (Claude) added a bank account connection feature called “Personal Finance,” allowing balance checks, expenditure analysis, and accounting assistance to be completed via chat.
• Airbnb announced the development of an AI travel agency, aiming to fully delegate accommodation, transportation, and itinerary adjustments to AI by 2027.

Each of these announcements could be dismissed as simply introducing “convenient tools.” However, when viewed together, a significant structure emerges.

The structure is that the costs of routine tasks previously handled by humans are changing dramatically.

In this article, we will specifically estimate the break-even point for introducing these three AI agents from the perspective of local SMEs. We will not discuss the abstract topic of “promoting DX” but will focus on numbers.

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First, Face the Current Costs

Let’s consider a company with around 10 employees. We will assume the average hourly wage for employees in a local SME is 2,500 yen (approximately 4.2 million yen annually, including social insurance).

Research Operations

Competitive research, market research, estimate comparisons, and checking legal amendments — these are tasks that sales and planning staff handle “in between their main duties.” There are no dedicated personnel for these tasks, making them less visible, but they accumulate to a significant amount.

• Number of people involved: 5 (sales and planning members)
• Hours per person per month: 10 hours (2-3 hours per week)
• Monthly cost: 2,500 yen × 10 hours × 5 people = 125,000 yen
• Annual cost: 1.5 million yen

You might think, “It’s only 125,000 yen a month.” However, this does not include the opportunity loss of not being able to engage in actual sales or planning due to time spent on research. The real impact is likely 2 to 3 times greater.

Accounting Operations

Processing invoices, expense reimbursements, confirming inflows and outflows, and organizing monthly books. In a company of this size, it is common to have either one dedicated accountant or for the president or administrative staff to double as the accountant.

• Number of people involved: 1-2
• Monthly workload: Total 40 hours
• Monthly cost: 2,500 yen × 40 hours = 100,000 yen
• Annual cost: 1.2 million yen

Additionally, the monthly advisory fee for a tax accountant ranges from 30,000 to 50,000 yen. If bookkeeping is outsourced, it can cost 20,000 to 30,000 yen per month. In total, around 1.8 million yen is spent annually on accounting-related tasks.

Travel Arrangement Operations

Searching for accommodation, comparing transportation options, adjusting schedules, and confirming reservations. Local companies tend to have more business trips, whether to clients in Tokyo, exhibitions, or training sessions.

• Number of people involved: 3 (sales and management)
• Hours per person per month: 5 hours
• Monthly cost: 2,500 yen × 5 hours × 3 people = 37,500 yen
• Annual cost: 450,000 yen

Moreover, there is a “search deficiency cost” from not being able to find the lowest prices, leading to the selection of overpriced accommodations or transportation. For a company with annual travel expenses of 3 million yen, inefficiencies of 10-15% (300,000 to 450,000 yen) are quite common.

Total for the Three Operations

For a company with 10 employees, the annual cost exceeds 4 million yen. For a company with annual sales of 100 million yen, this represents 4% of their revenue. Keep this figure in mind.

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Estimating Costs After Introducing AI Agents

Perplexity Teammates (Research Operations)

Perplexity’s Teammates integrates with tools like Slack and can automatically generate research reports upon receiving instructions. The current Pro version costs 20 dollars (approximately 3,000 yen) per user per month. While the business version of Teammates has not been announced, we can assume a price range of 50 to 100 dollars per user per month based on similar services.

• 5 users × 100 dollars (approximately 15,000 yen) = 75,000 yen per month
• Annual cost: 900,000 yen
• Human workload is reduced from 10 hours to 2 hours per month (only for confirmation and corrections)
• Reduced personnel cost: 2,500 yen × 2 hours × 5 people × 12 months = 300,000 yen
• Annual cost after AI implementation: 1.2 million yen (AI cost 900,000 yen + personnel cost 300,000 yen)
• Savings: 300,000 yen annually

To be honest, the cost reduction for research operations alone may not be dramatic. However, the essence lies elsewhere. The quality and speed of research will change. Competitive analysis and market research, which were previously neglected due to time constraints, can now be obtained in 30 minutes. This changes the structure where SMEs were losing to large corporations due to information gaps. This is the true value.

Claude Personal Finance (Accounting Operations)

Claude’s bank connection feature is currently only available in the U.S., and the timeline for connecting to Japanese banks is uncertain. Honestly, we must state that it is “not usable yet.” However, we can estimate what structural changes might occur.

Claude Pro costs 20 dollars (approximately 3,000 yen) per month. Assuming that business-oriented accounting functions are offered at a price of 10,000 to 30,000 yen per month:

• AI cost: 30,000 yen × 12 months = 360,000 yen
• Human workload: reduced from 40 hours to 10 hours per month (only for approvals and exception handling)
• Reduced personnel cost: 2,500 yen × 10 hours × 12 months = 300,000 yen
• Tax accountant advisory fees: remain at 360,000 to 600,000 yen annually (though bookkeeping outsourcing may no longer be necessary)
• Annual cost after AI implementation: 1.02 to 1.26 million yen
• Savings: 540,000 to 780,000 yen annually

The potential complete elimination of the outsourcing cost for bookkeeping (24,000 to 36,000 yen annually) is significantly beneficial for SMEs.

However, we must carefully consider the risks of connecting bank accounts to AI. Security, operational errors, and data leaks are concerns. Anthropic has started with read-only access, but careful consideration is needed for implementation, including compliance with Japanese financial regulations.

Airbnb AI Travel Agent (Travel Arrangements)

Airbnb’s AI travel agency aims for a 2027 launch. Currently, it is still in the conceptual stage. However, companies like Trip.com and Expedia have already begun implementing AI concierge functions. The direction is set.

Assuming that Airbnb’s AI arrangement feature operates on a commission model (5-10% of the booking amount):

• Annual travel expenses of 3 million yen × 8% commission = 240,000 yen
• Human workload: reduced from 15 hours to 1 hour per month for one person
• Reduced personnel cost: 2,500 yen × 1 hour × 12 months = 30,000 yen
• Savings from improved accuracy in finding the lowest prices: 10% = 300,000 yen
• Annual cost after AI implementation: 270,000 yen (AI commission 240,000 yen + personnel cost 30,000 yen)
• Savings: 480,000 to 630,000 yen (personnel cost savings + travel expense savings – AI commission)

Interestingly, even after paying the AI commission, the overall travel expenses decrease, resulting in a net positive.

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Break-even Analysis for the Three Operations

This results in annual savings of 1.3 to 1.7 million yen. For a company with around 10 employees, this equates to 30-40% of the personnel cost for one employee.

Some may think, “Is it really just 1.3 million yen?” However, this estimate is conservative. In reality, the following additional effects will come into play:

1. Elimination of Opportunity Loss: Time previously spent on research and arrangements can now be redirected to sales and planning. Contributions to revenue are not included in this estimate.
2. Elimination of Dependency: If the accounting staff leaves, operations do not come to a halt. This is invaluable for SMEs and cannot be quantified in monetary terms.
3. Scalability: Even if the workload doubles, AI costs do not double. There is no need to hire additional staff.

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What SMEs Should Do Now

Having read this far, you might be wondering, “So, what should we actually do?”

Things you can start doing today:

1. Register for one account of Perplexity Pro (3,000 yen per month). First, use it extensively for your own research operations. Competitive research, market trends, legal amendment checks. Experience the accuracy and speed.
2. Take stock of your company’s ‘invisible routine tasks’. Who is spending how many hours on what each month? Without this visibility, you cannot measure the effectiveness of AI implementation.
3. Try Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini for accounting assistance. Even if bank connections are not yet available, you can start by having them read and categorize CSV expense data today.

Things to do within six months:

1. Fully implement an AI agent for one operation and measure the before-and-after in numbers. Time, cost, error rates. You cannot make judgments without numbers.
2. Establish a security policy. Determine which data can be shared with AI and how far human judgment should go. This will help you avoid panic when bank connections become available in Japan.

Things you don’t need to do:

• Hire expensive DX consultants.
• Create grand plans for company-wide implementation.
• Make PowerPoint presentations titled “AI Strategy.”

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The Real Change is Not in ‘Costs’ but in ‘Structure’

Finally, one last point.

This article has presented numbers for cost reduction. However, the fundamental change is not there.

When research, accounting, and travel arrangements can ‘finish on their own,’ the president and employees of SMEs can concentrate on their ‘core business.’

A local company with 10 employees will achieve the same level of information-gathering capability as a company with 100 employees. The speed of accounting processing will no longer differ from that of large corporations. They will no longer miss the lowest prices in travel arrangements.

This is not merely “efficiency”; it is a change in competitive conditions.

Perplexity’s Teammates are already available. Claude’s bank connection has started in the U.S. Airbnb aims for 2027. There is no need to wait for everything to be in place. Start using what is available and try it out this week. This is how SMEs can leverage their greatest weapon — the speed of decision-making.

What will the annual cost of routine operations exceeding 4 million yen look like in three years? The answer lies in trying “just one thing this week.”