4 (more) reasons why AI isn’t replacing accountants soon

My recent newsletter, ‘Everyone says AI will replace accountants. The economics say otherwise’, clearly struck a chord - it was great to have so many of you reply and share your thoughts.

As an industry, we’re right to be looking for actual evidence of accountants losing their jobs to AI (and not just getting swept up in the sensationalist narrative). The idea that humans are also probabilistic (i.e. capable of making mistakes and not always right) is something we agree on too - and is the ‘echo chamber’ effect of assuming that clients want firms to use AI more (ultimately, we’re paid to serve their needs).

Few people have as analytical and pragmatic a view on AI in accounting today as Damon Anderson. His ongoing work for the A to Z of AI Accounting Software provides an independent view on 300+ vendors to “help people navigate the massive noise around accounting software - let alone AI. And give buyers real insights into the evidence of what each product does.” 

So much AI software marketing is inflated. There’s no shortage of tools advertising themselves as ‘AI-powered’, ‘AI native’, or ‘AI driven’. But what does that actually mean? When we cut through the spin and marketing fluff, even more reasons why AI won’t replace accountants any time soon start to emerge:

1. If accountants disappear, clients take on the work

2. The firm is just one player in the wider accounting landscape

3. The market simply isn’t ready

4. AI won’t go to jail for you if you get something wrong.

Here’s a rundown of each from my conversation with Damon…