How AI can Benefit Accountants

AI is going to replace accountants. Not quite. That statement is one of the biggest misconceptions circulating today. After working with finance leaders, educators, and future CPAs, I’ve seen firsthand the confusion and anxiety around AI in accounting. But here’s the truth: AI isn’t here to take your seat—it’s here to clear the noise so you can focus on higher-value work. Think judgment, ethics, strategy, storytelling. These are still deeply human. So let’s clear up a few myths: 1️⃣ AI won’t replace you. But someone who uses it well might. 2️⃣ You don’t need to be a data scientist. You need to be data literate. 3️⃣ It’s not just for big firms. Cloud-based AI is more accessible than ever. 4️⃣ AI isn't infallible. Professional skepticism still matters. 5️⃣ You can start small. Automate one task. Evaluate. Then scale. In the June 1 edition of the Journal of Accountancy (link in comments), the following six cases are examples of AI in action. Case 1: Snail Mail Automation–Karl Spanbauer, CPA, Capital Area Food Bank Spanbauer used Power Automate to digitize and streamline physical mail handling. Mail is scanned, summarized by AI, and tracked in Jira for action. 🟢 Payoff: Saves four staff hours weekly with “Mail Mondays.” Case 2: Technical Accounting Memos–Glenn Hopper, Eventus Advisory Group Hopper used retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and OpenAI’s Assistants API to build a memo-drafting bot that draws from internal memo history. 🟢 Payoff: Reduces memo creation from 4 hours to 30 minutes, with human review. Case 3: Marketing the Business–Barrett E. Young, CPA, GWCPA Young created a custom GPT that provides succession planning advice, drawing from firm-specific materials and integrated with the firm’s newsletter. 🟢 Payoff: Steady list growth with 50 new subscribers over three months. Case 4: Data Analysis and AI-Assisted Coding–Don Tomoff, CPA, Invenio Advisors Tomoff now uses ChatGPT for Excel and VBA coding tasks he used to outsource, saving time and money. 🟢 Payoff: Eliminates need for $150/hour contractors, delivers solutions in minutes. Case 5: Brainstorming and Research–Don Tomoff & Brianne Smith, CPA/PFS, Ph.D. Tomoff and Smith use LLMs like ChatGPT and Perplexity for structured research and brainstorming, emphasizing a chunked and guided approach. 🟢 Payoff: Rapid idea generation and exploration with a human check. Case 6: Audit Automation–Tricia Katebini, CPA, GRF CPAs & Advisors Katebini helped implement Trullion’s audit tools to streamline document review, automate footings, and tie disclosures to balances. 🟢 Payoff: Frees up time for higher-value client conversations. Practical takeaway: 💡 Start with one routine task in your workflow. Research how automation or AI can support it. Then track the time you reclaim—and reinvest that time into advisory, analysis, or client engagement. 💬 What’s the most mundane accounting task you’d love AI to handle? How are you addressing the overwhelm of choosing from so many AI tools?

Just 10 days old, this is now the highest performing YouTube video I've ever posted: How AI Is Automating Accounts Payable I recently published a (sponsored) demo of a tool that uses AI vision models to extract detailed bill data to a level not previously possible Things I like about it: 1. As someone who has used virtually every invoice extraction tool for the past decade with hundreds of SMB clients, this feels like magic 2. Even reads awful handwriting 3. Learns from mistakes - you teach it rules to ensure it never bungles the same thing twice 4. Pulls every ounce of detail for the ugliest AP workflows near instantly, and maps it back to the accounting file 5. Brings us a meaningful step closer to actually removing human entry from the process. You know, the thing we've been promised for a decade plus I had clients burning 2-4 FTEs overseeing invoice detail entry with other leading bill pay solutions, and every accountant on their team wanted to move to more valuable projects Arguably the highest impact application of AI I've seen yet on an "accounting" role The reaction from accountants? 85 likes, 0 dislikes Turns out we're perfectly happy to let AI replace the jobs nobody wants to do 🙂 This is a sponsored post 100% of thoughts in this post are my own, the sponsor had no input And 100% of proceeds from these sponsored posts go to accounting charities 🤘

As I sat patiently by an Optimus model, waiting for my Tesla be serviced, I thought about writing this post I decided to make it about the things AI is doing today vs. a 5-year view Today, Finance pros are using AI to…. 1. Create data visualization Copilot, Napkin AI, and similar tools are shaving 30-mins here and there creating stunning charts 2. Write Accounting memos You can feed AI a few facts about your revenue recognition in your org and have it draft a Rev Rec memo that references the relevant ASC sections 3. Polish up your emails I’ll be the 1st to fess up. I use this everyday 4. Summarize agreements As long as the privacy issue is addressed via SOC 2 etc, this feature saves me 3-4 hour per week 5. Analyze GLs Tools like FloQast can analyze your variance report and write commentary. Super helpful.   In 5 Years, expect AI to... 1. Handle most routine reporting Dashboards that build themselves based on stakeholder preferences? That’s where we’re headed. 2. Auto-generate journal entries AI will not only flag adjustments but propose entries and post them based on approval workflows. 3. Detect fraud in real time AI will sift through transactions constantly, highlighting weird patterns before humans even notice. 4. Act as a financial copilot You’ll ask, “What’s our cash burn trend if sales drop 10%?” and AI will give you a dynamic answer — graph and all. 5. Redefine what entry-level looks like If AI handles data prep, your junior staff might spend their first year doing strategy and storytelling. 🧠 So What Can Accountants Do Today? Get curious — Learn what AI tools your company already uses (or should be using). Upskill fast — Build skills in data analysis, storytelling, and systems thinking. Lean into judgment — AI can flag a variance. Only you can explain why it matters. Become a translator — The best accountants will bridge AI insights and real business decisions. The robots are coming — but they’re not here to replace us. They’re here to make us faster, sharper, and way less reliant on Ctrl+Z. #Accounting #AIinAccounting #FinanceFuture #FPandA #ControllerAcademy #TechInFinance #CareersInAccounting #ExcelWhisperer #FinanceHumor