AI vs Accountants: Who Wins that War?

This is new Accounting AI Podcast. We're building up the show from a relaunched old podcast and today features a show recently released on our sister Accounting Voices Podcast. This was the kick off show in a series of 6 about the move from compliance to advisory work, largely driven by AI. You can tune into the full series on our Accounting Voices YouTube channel and wherever you get your podcasts. Today Rob Brown explains why compliance work is collapsing under AI, automation and private equity consolidation. Accountants who stay compliance-only face price erosion, invisibility and unemployment.Rob shares hard stats, cross-industry signals and a 5-step survival playbook for protecting your career. This series is not about firms. It is about you - your visibility, your relevance and your survival.Key Takeaways40% of jobs worldwide are at risk from AI (IMF)50% of compliance tasks can already be automated (PwC)340k accountants left the US profession in 3 years (WSJ)Middle management is shrinking across industriesPrivate equity roll-ups are cutting costs and layersIrrelevance equals unemployment for accountants5 steps to start protecting your career todayKiller Quotes“If 50% of the work you bill for can be automated tomorrow, what is left of your career”“Irrelevance equals unemployment”“Compliance has become a commodity. Nobody wins that race”“If you’re invisible you’re vulnerable”You can watch this on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/TguwPn7JlcECome and join our Accounting Voices Collective on Linkedin to find out more about our shows and virtual networking events: https://www.linkedin.com/company/accounting-voices◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢The Accounting AI Podcast helps accountants, finance professionals and firm leaders understand how artificial intelligence is transforming the profession. Host Rob Brown brings together experts, innovators and firm leaders to interpret the impact of AI on accounting, from strategy and leadership to client service and people. The show offers clarity and confidence for professionals who want to stay relevant and informed without the technical jargon.Watch every episode in video format on the Accounting Voices YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@accountingvoicesRob works with accounting technology vendors, consultants and firms to create high-quality interviews, video content and thought leadership that raise visibility and credibility in the market. If your brand or story deserves more attention in the accounting space, connect with Rob on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/therobbrownIf you'd like to sponsor the show or partner with the Accounting Voices Network, reach out to Rob on LinkedIn and his team will be in touch to arrange a chat.

We're relaunching an old show in this brand new Accounting AI podcast. Artificial Intelligence is rewriting the rules of accounting and finance. In this episode, aired a few weeks ago on the Accounting Voices Podcast, Rob Brown explores how AI is being used by firms, where it’s failing, and what professionals must do to stay relevant. From Big Four investments and tech vendor missteps to the growing fear of layoffs, this is a deep look at what’s really happening inside the profession.You’ll hear how only 8% of firms are using generative AI, how Deloitte and PwC are investing billions, and why nearly half of accounting staff now fear automation. Rob also explains the leadership challenge — how to manage people, clients and technology when AI changes the nature of work itself. This episode ends with practical steps for professionals and firm leaders to experiment safely, upskill intelligently and lead with curiosity, not fear.Key Takeaways:- Only 8% of accounting firms currently use AI, but adoption is accelerating.- Big Four firms are investing billions to automate and scale audit, tax and advisory.- AI is shifting careers — reducing entry-level roles but increasing demand for analysis and leadership.- Mid-tier firms and tech vendors are moving fast, but errors still happen.- Visibility and influence are now career insurance — not optional extras.- Professionals must experiment safely, upskill and lead the conversation around AI.Killer Quotes:1. “AI won’t replace accountants, but accountants who use AI will replace those who don’t.”2. “AI doesn’t take away your thinking. It gives you time to think.”3. “In a world of automation, your human judgment is your job security.”4. “AI is the intern that never sleeps, but it still needs supervision.”5. “The firms that wait for certainty will be overtaken by those who start with curiosity.”6. “AI isn’t the end of accounting — it’s the beginning of intelligent accounting.”7. “The future belongs to the visible, not the invisible.”You can watch this on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/doI88u39LYMCome and join our Accounting Voices Collective on Linkedin to find out more about our shows and virtual networking events: https://www.linkedin.com/company/accounting-voices◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢The Accounting AI Podcast helps accountants, finance professionals and firm leaders understand how artificial intelligence is transforming the profession. Host Rob Brown brings together experts, innovators and firm leaders to interpret the impact of AI on accounting, from strategy and leadership to client service and people. The show offers clarity and confidence for professionals who want to stay relevant and informed without the technical jargon.Watch every episode in video format on the Accounting Voices YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@accountingvoicesRob works with accounting technology vendors, consultants and firms to create high-quality interviews, video content and thought leadership that raise visibility and credibility in the market. If your brand or story deserves more attention in the accounting space, connect with Rob on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/therobbrownIf you'd like to sponsor the show or partner with the Accounting Voices Network, reach out to Rob on LinkedIn and his team will be in touch to arrange a chat.

It's the "Insights in Accounting" show, usually going out every Tuesday to 150 countries and 30,000 accounting practitioners, fintech specialists and influencers in the accountancy, CPA and bookkeeping space. However, in Jan 2023 we are phasing out this show and putting out this content on our sister Success in Accounting Show which hopefully you're already subscribed to.In today's episode 30, "Accountants - How to Avoid Dehumanizing Technology"Rob Brown and Will Farnell comment on the how accounting firms are moving from technology and digital to the human and people side of teams and clients. We cover the addictive nature of apps and technology. We talk about 'screens as the new cocaine' in terms of the dopamine or pleasure hit users get with social media platforms. And we outline the steps accounting firms can take to put people front and centre despite the pull and power of technology.Source: https://karbonhq.com/resources/the-dehumanizing-effect-of-technology/Be sure to subscribe to the Success in Accounting podcast going out every Monday - this will soon revert back to its old name Accounting Influencers Podcast.Main show website. For access to every single show with full shownotes: https://accountinginfluencers.com/podcastFor announcements of published shows, tagging guest so you can build your network and offer feedback on the show: https://www.linkedin.com/company/accountinginfluencersFor videos of all podcast interviews and bonus video content: https://bit.ly/AI-youtubehttps://www.instagram.com/accinfluencershttps://twitter.com/accinfluencershttps://www.facebook.com/accountinginfluencerMain show website. For access to every single show with full shownotes: https://accountinginfluencers.com/podcastFor announcements of published shows, tagging guest so you can build your network and offer feedback on the show: https://www.linkedin.com/company/accountinginfluencersFor videos of all podcast interviews and bonus video content: https://bit.ly/AI-youtubehttps://www.instagram.com/accinfluencershttps://twitter.com/accinfluencershttps://www.facebook.com/accountinginfluencersMentioned in this episode:Dead Show / Youtube

It's the "Insights in Accounting" show, usually going out every Tuesday to 150 countries and 30,000 accounting practitioners, fintech specialists and influencers in the accountancy, CPA and bookkeeping space. However, in Jan 2023 we are phasing out this show and putting out this content on our sister Success in Accounting Show which hopefully you're already subscribed to.In today's episode 29, "How the Internet Is Changing Accounting Firm Websites"Rob Brown interviews accounting celebrity Carl Reader on what's changing for websites, social media and the internet for the accounting and fintech world. We cover:» how the most popular websites have changed over the years and why» how both the design and the technology have changed what makes a successful website» whether some businesses actually now need a website based on the increase in social media» what accounting firms can learn from the websites of SAAS and fintech vendors» how community websites and apps are now creating new online value in place of the traditional corporate websiteand much more...Main show website. For access to every single show with full shownotes: https://accountinginfluencers.com/podcastFor announcements of published shows, tagging guest so you can build your network and offer feedback on the show: https://www.linkedin.com/company/accountinginfluencersFor videos of all podcast interviews and bonus video content: https://bit.ly/AI-youtubehttps://www.instagram.com/accinfluencershttps://twitter.com/accinfluencershttps://www.facebook.com/accountinginfluencersMentioned in this episode:Dead Show / Youtube

It's the "Insights in Accounting" show, usually going out every Tuesday to 150 countries and 30,000 accounting practitioners, fintech specialists and influencers in the accountancy, CPA and bookkeeping space. However, in Jan 2023 we are phasing out this show and putting out this content on our sister Success in Accounting Show which hopefully you're already subscribed to. In today's episode 28, "The Full Impact of Chat GPT and AI in Accounting"Here is the transcript for this show, generated by Chat GPT with some smart AI prompting questions:Hello, and welcome to the podcast. In this episode, we will be discussing the impact of Chat GPT, or Generative Pre-training Transformer, on the world of accountants and CPAs. First, let's define Chat GPT. It's a machine learning model developed by OpenAI that is able to generate human-like text and can be used to assist accountants and CPAs in a variety of tasks. But how did Chat GPT come about, and why is it making waves in so many industries? Chat GPT was developed by OpenAI, a leading artificial intelligence research lab, as a way to improve natural language processing. It builds upon the concept of pre-training, which involves training a model on a large dataset to recognize patterns and relationships in language. By pre-training a model on a massive amount of text data, it can then be fine-tuned for specific tasks, such as translation or language generation. The development of Chat GPT marked a significant step forward in the field of natural language processing and has led to its widespread adoption in a variety of industries. Now, let's dive into how Chat GPT can help accountants and CPAs.One way it can assist is by generating reports and documents. Imagine having to create a financial report for a client. This can be a time-consuming and tedious task, but with Chat GPT, you can simply input the necessary data and let the model do the rest. It will generate a professional, accurate report in a fraction of the time it would take a human. Another way Chat GPT can be useful is by providing data analysis. It can be trained to analyze financial data and provide insights and recommendations based on that analysis. This can be especially helpful for accountants and CPAs who are looking to make informed decisions for their clients. Chat GPT can also be used to automate routine tasks, such as data entry and reconciliation. This can free up time for accountants and CPAs to focus on more complex tasks, improving efficiency and productivity.Finally, Chat GPT can even be used to provide customer service. It can handle basic customer inquiries and provide information to clients, allowing accountants and CPAs to focus on more complex tasks. So, as you can see, Chat GPT has the potential to significantly streamline processes and improve efficiency for accountants and CPAs. But what about the potential drawbacks? Some disadvantages of using Chat GPT include the initial setup and training, which can be time-consuming and costly. Additionally, Chat GPT is still limited in its capabilities and may not be able to handle more complex tasks. Finally, using Chat GPT may create a reliance on technology, and if there are issues with the system, it could disrupt work and cause delays. Now, let's take a look at some statistics to give you an idea of the potential impact Chat GPT could have on your practice and your clients:According to a recent survey, over 70% of accountants and CPAs believe that machine learning will significantly change the way they do business in the next 5 years.Another study found that the use of artificial intelligence in accounting could save up to 400 million hours of manual data entry per year. One company that implemented Chat GPT saw a 25% increase in productivity and a 10% reduction in errors. These statistics show that Chat GPT has...

As part of this Insights in Accounting podcast, we are giving you some bonus episodes with key influencers in accounting and fintech. These are to review 2022 and the pandemic era, assessing what we've learned, what has worked and what hasn't.We'll also look ahead to 2023 and preview where the challenges and opportunities are in the accounting and fintech world.Your commentators and thought leaders in this bonus series include:Martin Bissett Advisor to the Advisors in Accounting & Fintech Organisations https://www.linkedin.com/in/martinbissett/Francesca Lagerberg CEO of Baker Tilly International https://www.linkedin.com/in/francescalagerberg/Steve Heathcote Chief Executive Officer at PrimeGlobal https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-heathcote-b327573a/Mark Koziel President and CEO at Allinial Global https://www.linkedin.com/in/mjkoziel/Samantha Louis Chief Executive Officer at Praxity Global Alliance https://www.linkedin.com/in/samantha-louis/Steve Cox Head of Market Insights at IRIS Software Group https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenchristophercox/Randy Johnston CEO & Co-Founder at Network Management Group https://www.linkedin.com/in/rpjohnston/Dan Richards Founder of Practice Win & MyFirms App https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielrichards1/We cover the following areas in these bonus episodes:A. 2022 in review1. How would you sum up the year for accounting? Any surprises, findings, outcomes?2. What kind of shape is the accounting profession in as we emerge from the pandemic?3. If you were a teacher giving accountants a school report, how would you grade them?4. What have we learned about the software, fintech and vendors or the associations, networks and alliances serving accountants?5. What lessons have we learned about what has succeeded and failed in the last 3 years?B. 2023 in preview1. What will be the main challenges for accountants and firms in the coming year?2. Where will accounting firms find their biggest opportunities in the coming year?3. What will separate the good accounting firms from the great ones in 2023?4. What will happen to the complacent accounting firms who won't/can't change?5. What's coming up for vendors in getting the attention of busy accountants or the or the associations, networks and alliances helping accounting firms in 2023?◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢5 great shows in the Accounting Influencers Podcast Network:❶ Success in Accounting - MONDAYS. Our flagship main show features panels, live interviews and replays of our most popular shows.❷ Insights in Accounting - TUESDAYS. The best news, analysis, commercial awareness, news under microscope, podcast mentions and recommendations.❸ Influencers in Accounting - WEDNESDAYS. Deep dive 1-1 interviews with leaders, experts, influencers from around the world.❹ Best Practice in Accounting - THURSDAYS. Practice development, growth, management, consulting, examples, stories and practical here's what works stuff for accountants, bookkeepers and the fintech/software people who serve them.❺ UK Matters in Accounting - FRIDAYS. A UK focused show featuring UK related...

As part of this Insights in Accounting podcast, we are giving you some bonus episodes with key influencers in accounting and fintech. These are to review 2022 and the pandemic era, assessing what we've learned, what has worked and what hasn't.We'll also look ahead to 2023 and preview where the challenges and opportunities are in the accounting and fintech world.Your commentators and thought leaders in this bonus series include:Martin Bissett Advisor to the Advisors in Accounting & Fintech Organisations https://www.linkedin.com/in/martinbissett/Francesca Lagerberg CEO of Baker Tilly International https://www.linkedin.com/in/francescalagerberg/Steve Heathcote Chief Executive Officer at PrimeGlobal https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-heathcote-b327573a/Mark Koziel President and CEO at Allinial Global https://www.linkedin.com/in/mjkoziel/Samantha Louis Chief Executive Officer at Praxity Global Alliance https://www.linkedin.com/in/samantha-louis/Steve Cox Head of Market Insights at IRIS Software Group https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenchristophercox/Randy Johnston CEO & Co-Founder at Network Management Group https://www.linkedin.com/in/rpjohnston/Dan Richards Founder of Practice Win & MyFirms App https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielrichards1/We cover the following areas in these bonus episodes:A. 2022 in review1. How would you sum up the year for accounting? Any surprises, findings, outcomes?2. What kind of shape is the accounting profession in as we emerge from the pandemic?3. If you were a teacher giving accountants a school report, how would you grade them?4. What have we learned about the software, fintech and vendors or the associations, networks and alliances serving accountants?5. What lessons have we learned about what has succeeded and failed in the last 3 years?B. 2023 in preview1. What will be the main challenges for accountants and firms in the coming year?2. Where will accounting firms find their biggest opportunities in the coming year?3. What will separate the good accounting firms from the great ones in 2023?4. What will happen to the complacent accounting firms who won't/can't change?5. What's coming up for vendors in getting the attention of busy accountants or the or the associations, networks and alliances helping accounting firms in 2023?◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢5 great shows in the Accounting Influencers Podcast Network:❶ Success in Accounting - MONDAYS. Our flagship main show features panels, live interviews and replays of our most popular shows.❷ Insights in Accounting - TUESDAYS. The best news, analysis, commercial awareness, news under microscope, podcast mentions and recommendations.❸ Influencers in Accounting - WEDNESDAYS. Deep dive 1-1 interviews with leaders, experts, influencers from around the world.❹ Best Practice in Accounting - THURSDAYS. Practice development, growth, management, consulting, examples, stories and practical here's what works stuff for accountants, bookkeepers and the fintech/software people who serve them.❺ UK Matters in Accounting - FRIDAYS. A UK focused show featuring UK related...

It's the "Insights in Accounting" show, every Tuesday to 150 countries and 30,000 accounting practitioners, fintech specialists and influencers in the accountancy, CPA and bookkeeping space.In today's episode 25, "New Community for Accountants - ProNation Launches" with special guest Carl Reader, founder of d&amp;t accountants and bestselling author of BOSS IT. https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlreaderYou can also watch this on youtube here: https://youtu.be/wvrO5p-nqKwKey takeaways from this episode include: the gap in the accounting profession in the area of supporting of accountants and why many 'one way' approaches fail the importance for accountants of not just knowing the what but the how and the why in different strategies shout out to fellow ProNation founders Lucy Cohen and Will Farnell, influential accounting firm owners/leaders who have been there and do it assessing the international scene of different communities, countries and gurus who think their approach is the best for accountants how the 'international' make up of ProNation gives much needed diversity to the tribal approach to accounting communities... and much more.Join ProNation "the Accounting Community You Wished You’d Found Sooner" - helping accountants and bookkeepers build a firm that works for them.https://jointhenation.co.uk◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢5 great shows in the Accounting Influencers Podcast Network:❶ Success in Accounting - MONDAYS. Our flagship main show features panels, live interviews and replays of our most popular shows.❷ Insights in Accounting - TUESDAYS. The best news, analysis, commercial awareness, news under microscope, podcast mentions and recommendations.❸ Influencers in Accounting - WEDNESDAYS. Deep dive 1-1 interviews with leaders, experts, influencers from around the world.❹ Best Practice in Accounting - THURSDAYS. Practice development, growth, management, consulting, examples, stories and practical here's what works stuff for accountants, bookkeepers and the fintech/software people who serve them.❺ UK Matters in Accounting - FRIDAYS. A UK focused show featuring UK related topics, news items, events and interviews.All on your preferred podcast app, platform or channel. Thanks for subscribing, sharing and listening!Main show website. For access to every single show with full shownotes: https://accountinginfluencers.com/podcastFor announcements of published shows, tagging guest so you can build your network and offer feedback on the show: https://www.linkedin.com/company/accountinginfluencersFor videos of all podcast interviews and bonus video content: https://bit.ly/AI-youtube<a href="https://www.instagram.com/accinfluencers/" rel="noopener noreferrer"...

It's the "Insights in Accounting" show, every Tuesday to 150 countries and 30,000 accounting practitioners, fintech specialists and influencers in the accountancy, CPA and bookkeeping space.In today's episode 24, "How Often Should Accountants Talk to Their Clients?" with special guest Martin Bissett, founder of the Bissett Group and co-founder of Accounting Influencers. https://www.linkedin.com/in/martinbissettYou can also watch this on youtube here: https://youtu.be/V4MViepfCPsKey takeaways from this episode include:☛ a true story about a sizable accounting firm who never spoke to their grade A clients☛ the illusion of recurring feed that leads many accountants to neglect relationships with their clients☛ the bad things that can happen to accountants and CPA firms when they don't maintain regular contact with their clients☛ what best practice looks like for frequency of client contact in accounting practices☛ what talking to a client should look and sound like for an accountant who claims to be 'client-centered'◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢5 great shows in the Accounting Influencers Podcast Network:❶ Success in Accounting - MONDAYS. Our flagship main show features panels, live interviews and replays of our most popular shows.❷ Insights in Accounting - TUESDAYS. The best news, analysis, commercial awareness, news under microscope, podcast mentions and recommendations.❸ Influencers in Accounting - WEDNESDAYS. Deep dive 1-1 interviews with leaders, experts, influencers from around the world.❹ Best Practice in Accounting - THURSDAYS. Practice development, growth, management, consulting, examples, stories and practical here's what works stuff for accountants, bookkeepers and the fintech/software people who serve them.❺ UK Matters in Accounting - FRIDAYS. A UK focused show featuring UK related topics, news items, events and interviews.All on your preferred podcast app, platform or channel. Thanks for subscribing, sharing and listening!Main show website. For access to every single show with full shownotes: https://accountinginfluencers.com/podcastFor announcements of published shows, tagging guest so you can build your network and offer feedback on the show: https://www.linkedin.com/company/accountinginfluencersFor videos of all podcast interviews and bonus video content: https://bit.ly/AI-youtubehttps://www.instagram.com/accinfluencershttps://twitter.com/accinfluencershttps://www.facebook.com/accountinginfluencerMentioned in this episode:Dead Show / Youtube

It's the "Insights in Accounting" show, every Tuesday to 150 countries and 30,000 accounting practitioners, fintech specialists and influencers in the accountancy, CPA and bookkeeping space.In today's episode 23, "How Accountants &amp; CPAs Can Win the War on Automation" with special guest Will Farnell, founder of innovative UK accountancy firm Farnell Clark and author of The Digital Firm. https://www.linkedin.com/in/willfarnellYou can also watch this on youtube here: https://youtu.be/mxsVEuf3QywKey takeaways from this episode include:✧ the key aspects of automation technology in accounting and how it could affect the job market✧ whether automation is more of a problem for smaller or bigger accountancy firms✧ where the majority of innovation takes place in the accounting sector✧ the strategic advantages accounting firms can create with automation to better serve their clients✧ the shifts required in the skillsets and services of accountancy firms to remain competitive✧ the importance of soft or enterprise skills that accountants must develop to compliment automation - machines need humans and vice versaNews source: https://www.accountancyage.com/2022/10/21/upskilling-required-by-firms-to-offset-threat-of-accounting-automation/◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢5 great shows in the Accounting Influencers Podcast Network:❶ Success in Accounting - MONDAYS. Our flagship main show features panels, live interviews and replays of our most popular shows.❷ Insights in Accounting - TUESDAYS. The best news, analysis, commercial awareness, news under microscope, podcast mentions and recommendations.❸ Influencers in Accounting - WEDNESDAYS. Deep dive 1-1 interviews with leaders, experts, influencers from around the world.❹ Best Practice in Accounting - THURSDAYS. Practice development, growth, management, consulting, examples, stories and practical here's what works stuff for accountants, bookkeepers and the fintech/software people who serve them.❺ UK Matters in Accounting - FRIDAYS. A UK focused show featuring UK related topics, news items, events and interviews.All on your preferred podcast app, platform or channel. Thanks for subscribing, sharing and listening!Main show website. For access to every single show with full shownotes: https://accountinginfluencers.com/podcastFor announcements of published shows, tagging guest so you can build your network and offer feedback on the show: https://www.linkedin.com/company/accountinginfluencersFor videos of all podcast interviews and bonus video content: https://bit.ly/AI-youtubehttps://www.instagram.com/accinfluencershttps://twitter.com/accinfluencers<a...