Accountancy firms are at a pivotal moment. AI has moved from theoretical possibility to practical reality, and the decisions firms make today will define their competitive position for years to come.
The choice is stark: continue focusing on transactional services that are rapidly being commodified by AI – leading to a price-driven race to the bottom – or embrace AI as a catalyst for advisory work, freeing up capacity to deliver the strategic, high-value services clients increasingly demand.
In these conversations, partners at leading accountancy firms discuss how they’re navigating this transition, what’s working, what’s not, and the practical steps firms can take right now to position themselves for success.
Accountancy leaders share their perspectives on AI adoption and the future of the profession
“If someone puts their hand up, give them the go-ahead to investigate. It’s a practical means of achieving both engagement with an evaluation of what’s out there.”
“Of course what AI should enable us to do is to go from A straight to D but for that to happen we need to be very clear about our strategy in order to be able to prompt AI effectively.”
“If people haven’t been given the training to enable them to prompt AI, and if they haven’t the experience to know whether the response from AI is there or thereabouts, well, that is going to be a problem.”
“AI should mean companies can adapt quickly, and more easily plug knowledge gaps. But the focus should be less about how to disrupt processes internally to reduce cost. The emphasis should be on whether AI is going to change customer requirements and expectations and how we meet them.”
“What is the purpose of introducing a new technology? It has to enable us to do something more efficiently and effectively. AI creates opportunities for professional practices, but that means being prepared to change the offering to the client in addition to producing the work much more quickly. Otherwise it’s a race to the bottom in terms of price.”
“An accountancy firm just continuing to focus primarily on doing year-end based and other compliance work will be lost to automation. Already clients talk to us after first getting a view from AI and clients will be able to self-serve more and more, so professional advisers will need to find a value-added role.”