You won’t be surprised at all with what I’m about to say:
Much of the advancements in the accounting industry in the past few years have been about AI automating routine tasks and supporting different aspects of running a firm.
While we’ll talk about that in this article, this is not a prediction post.
Instead, this is a guide to how you can best prepare your accounting firm for these advancements.
You will:
- Get the latest emerging strategies to improve and prepare your firm for the future of accounting.
- Get a peek into the technology and tactics being leveraged by leaders in the profession.
- Learn actionable tips to help keep your accounting career on the cutting edge.
- Learn about key accounting trends shaping the profession right now.
So if you’re looking to improve your firm in 2026 and keep yourself on the cutting edge of accounting, you’ll love this new guide.
Let’s go!
AI Agents Are Becoming Very Popular
According to Deloitte, 63% of finance organizations have fully deployed AI in their operations, and nearly 50% of CFOs report having fully integrated AI-driven agents into parts of the finance function.
These tools can not only answer questions, but they can also take action, run workflows, and operate autonomously across your firm.
Basis, for example, is built to handle tax returns from start to finish.
Here are some examples of what accounting AI agents are capable of doing right now:
- Automating finance workflows with conversational invoicing, predictive follow-ups, audit-ready close, and real-time cash flow forecasts, enabling accountants to shift their focus to higher-value work
- Parsing documents and autonomously classifying transactions based on learned patterns and vendor context
- Handling data entry, follow-ups, onboarding, and workflow coordination across the firm, freeing teams to focus on high-value client work
I wrote an article about AI agents in accounting if you want a deeper look into what this technology can do.
What You Can Do to Stay Ahead
You don’t need to fully overhaul your firm to adopt AI agents, but you do need a plan.
Here’s how to start moving in the right direction without getting overwhelmed.
- Start with one workflow. Pick a single repetitive process (e.g., document collection, client onboarding, follow-ups) and pilot an AI agent there first before expanding further.
- Audit your current tech stack. Identify where the manual handoffs are in your existing workflows, since those friction points are almost always the best candidates for agentic automation.
- Keep a human in the loop. Establish clear review and approval checkpoints so AI handles the grunt work while your team members retain judgment, accountability, and client trust.
- Explore what’s out there. Purpose-built accounting agents are emerging fast. Spend time researching what tools are gaining traction in firms like yours before committing to anything.
- Train your team, not just yourself. AI agents only deliver results if your whole team understands how to use, correct, and oversee them.
A note on sensitive financial data:
If you’re exploring AI agents for workflows that touch client financials, be deliberate about what data you’re feeding into these tools and where it’s going.
Not all AI platforms are built with the same security standards, and your clients are trusting you with information that warrants careful handling.
You don’t need an AI agent doing dozens of processes on day one.
Pick one process, run with it, and build from there.
New Skills Required to Stay Competitive
With generative AI now capable of handling everything from financial analysis to first-draft client reports, the the definition of “important skills” have shifted…
According to the WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025, accounting, bookkeeping, and payroll clerks rank among the fastest-declining roles globally.
This does not mean accounting is dying.
However, with AI agents handling repetitive tasks like data entry and transaction processing at a fraction of the time, accounting firms need to be intentional about the skills they’re hiring and training for.
The WEF’s data on automation vs. augmentation by sector adds useful context here.
Financial Services and Capital Markets sits in the high-automation, low-augmentation quadrant, meaning the industry is accelerating automation while underinvesting in preparing its people to work alongside those technologies.
How to Take Advantage of This Opportunity
Being able to automate more than ever is a big plus.
However, the real opportunity for accounting firms lies in knowing how to turn that automation into strategic insights for your clients and for your own firm.
Onboard Technology Expertise
As more and more processes become automated and switched to machine learning, you’ll need people on your team with the required skills to manage and lead technology initiatives.
In fact, when I ran my firm, I hired a full-time software engineer very early on to take over technology at the firm:
The role included things like:
- Researching new ways to automate
- Implementing custom tools to training the team on technology
- Helping with data analysis
They were basically quarterbacking technologies at the firm.
While not every firm needs dedicated engineers, but someone needs to own that aspect of work.
If no one on your team is responsible for your technology strategy, it’s probably not getting the attention it needs.
And as AI agents become more embedded in daily workflows, not dedicating resources to technological advancements will quickly become quickly more costly.
Recruit & Train for Soft Skills
The “trusted advisor” everyone keeps talking about isn’t a better number-cruncher…
It is someone with the business acument and soft skills to guide clients through complex situations.
As AI handles more of the technical lifting, these are the qualities that will define your best people.
- Problem solving: Clients aren’t coming to you with clean, structured problems. They’re coming to you with messy business decisions, competing priorities, and incomplete information. The accountants who can work through that ambiguity are the ones clients will keep coming back to.
- Communication: When I hire, this is one of the first things I test for. In a remote-first, AI-assisted world, the ability to clearly explain what the numbers mean (and what to do about them) is what separates a good accountant from a great one.
- Coachability: Someone who isn’t willing to adapt will stagnate, create friction with the people around them, and pull your firm’s progress in the wrong direction. When you hire, look for people who seek out feedback rather than avoid it.
- Innovation: Firms that are pulling ahead aren’t waiting for someone else to figure out a better way of doing things. Hiring people who naturally look for improvements (e.g., in processes, in services, in delivery) pays for itself over time.
- Empathy: Clients don’t care how you handle their books. They care about the relief and emotional improvement you bring them. The ability to understand what a client is worried about, address that, and guide them to a better outcome are things no artificial intelligence can replicate.
These skills won’t show up on a resume the way a CPA designation does, so be intentional about how you screen for them.
Personally, I recommend using a video interview tool like Vervoe.
The Competitive Landscape Has Changed
AI-assisted accounting services are no longer a novelty.
Many firms are framing their identity around their AI-powered processes.
While that might sound impressive on the surface, it isn’t.
Because clients don’t even care what your processes look like.
So what do clients want?
“Clients want more than accurate returns; they expect proactive advice, faster turnaround, and personalized service.”
I’m not saying you shouldn’t have AI processes in your firm.
For efficiency and productivity’s sake, I believe every firm should.
But if you’re going to make “accounting firm with AI processes” your identity, you’re not going to stand out.
How to Stand Out in Today’s Landscape
AI has made it easier than ever to deliver accurate, efficient accounting services.
But accuracy and efficiency are now the floor, not the ceiling.
So, if you want to stand out, invest in what the technology can’t replicate.
The firms that are hardest to replace aren’t the most automated…
They’re the most human!
Consider where in your client journey you can add moments that feel personal:
- A check-in call that wasn’t scheduled
- A proactive heads-up about something you noticed in their numbers
- Remembering details they care about outside of their books
This human-first philosophy also applies to people who aren’t your clients yet.
For instance, take a look at the website below:
This is the website of Resting Business Face, a successful accounting firm.
Do you notice how not a single thing on the website talks about how great their AI-powered processes are?
The only thing it talks about is what humans really care about (especially “answers to your ‘dumb’ questions,” which is genius!).
Lower on the page are client testimonials, and guess what?
Not a single testimonial praises the firm for their technology or processes!
Just remember: clients aren’t hiring your tech stack…
They’re hiring you.
AI Search Is a Big Part of Marketing Now
According to BrightEdge, there were 1.2 billion monthly AI search users globally by the end of 2025.
Research queries, expert advice, and professional service searches are increasingly bypassing Google entirely in favor of AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity.
This changes how your prospects find you.
In the past, someone looking for an accounting firm would type a couple of keywords into Google and scroll through results.
Today, they’re asking AI a much more specific question, like “find me an accounting firm that specializes in e-commerce businesses in [state],” and expecting a synthesized, confident answer in return.
For example, my Future Firm Accelerate program appears when I ask AI a specific question:
Your firm either shows up in that answer or it doesn’t.
How to Show Up in AI Search
There is no single silver bullet here.
The principles that made firms visible in traditional SEO still largely apply, with one important addition:
Consistency and specificity matter more than ever.
- Pick a lane and stay in it. If you specialize in a specific niche or industry, every channel where you describe your firm needs to reflect that consistently. That includes your website, your LinkedIn, your directory listings, everywhere. AI search engines are contextual. If you say you serve one industry in one place and a different one somewhere else, the algorithm won’t know which bucket to put you in, and you’ll likely end up in neither.
- Support your expertise with content. Claiming a niche isn’t enough, you have to demonstrate it. If you position yourself as the go-to firm for a specific industry, your content needs to back that up. Blog posts, guides, and resources aimed directly at that audience signal to AI search that your expertise is real.
- Be findable where AI looks. AI search tools pull from a variety of sources like your website, third-party directories, review platforms, and published content. Make sure your firm’s information is accurate, consistent, and present across all of them.
The good news is that none of this requires starting from scratch.
The fundamentals that made firms visible in traditional search are the same ones that get you found in AI search.
The difference is that AI is far more contextual and specific than Google ever was, which means the firms that are intentional about how they present themselves online will have a meaningful advantage over those that aren’t.
Work-Life Balance Is More Important (and Achievable) Than Ever
Working in the accounting profession has never had a great reputation when it comes to balance.
The crazy hours, the brutal busy seasons, the feeling that there’s always more work than time…
You’ve heard it all before.
That hasn’t fully changed, but something meaningful has changed.
AI agents are now capable of handling a significant portion of the repetitive, time-consuming work that used to consume accountants’ days…
Think financial planning support, document categorization, and client follow-ups.
It’s easy to see what this could do in terms of productivity.
That said, it also means big things for life outside of work.
The important caveat is this: the goal isn’t to use AI to free up time so you can fill it with more work.
That’s the wrong lesson to take from this moment.
The goal is to use that recovered time to do better work like building deeper client relationships and providing more thoughtful services while building a firm that doesn’t grind its people down in the process.
How you respond to AI-driven efficiency will set the tone for your entire team.
If you treat every hour AI saves as an opportunity to increase workload, your people will feel it.
If you treat it as an opportunity to give your team (and yourself) more breathing room, that becomes the culture.
How to Use AI to Work Better, Not More
This starts with being intentional about where AI fits into your workflows and what you do with the time it frees up.
- Delegate to AI to reclaim your day. Identify the repetitive tasks that eat up your team’s time and run AI agents in the background to handle them so your team can focus on work that requires their judgment.
- Protect the time you recover. If AI saves your team two hours a day, be intentional about where those hours go. Don’t let them get absorbed by more busywork.
The personal side of this matters just as much as the operational side.
If you’re running a firm, the tendency is to blindly chase growth without stopping to ask whether that’s what you really want.
Take a step back and assess your personal goals first, then make sure the direction of your firm is consistent with them, not the other way around.
Compliance Services Are Far From Dead
The way compliance services are delivered is changing fast, becoming more automated, more technology-driven, and more competitive than ever.
But the demand for compliance itself isn’t going anywhere.
The WEF 2025 Future of Jobs Report confirms that regulatory compliance-related roles have actually been growing.
And while AI is absorbing more of the execution work, accounting professionals still need to manage the process, review the outputs, and take responsibility for the result.
Don’t Stray Too Far From Your Sweet Spot
One of the most common mistakes I see firms make is offering services they probably shouldn’t be offering.
These are things they only perform a handful of times a year for a handful of clients.
Compliance services only work as a profitable, scalable offering when they run like a well-oiled machine with a clear, repeatable process behind them.
If you don’t have a solid process for a compliance service and don’t plan to build one, the honest answer is…
You probably shouldn’t be offering it.
Not just for your firm’s sake, but for your clients’ experience too.
Firms that focus on their strengths rather than trying to do it all tend to be more efficient, more profitable, and easier to work with.
Get Picky With Your Clients
This is going to require a mindset shift.
Most accountants are wired to say yes…
Someone comes through the door, they need help, and turning them away feels wrong.
But that default approach creates a lot of inefficiency and stress that makes compliance work more difficult than it already is.
You need to be selective about who you take on.
Once you’ve built a process that works, it only works if your clients follow it.
A client who wants you to operate outside your system (e.g., different software, different workflows, different everything) will likely cost you more than they’re worth.
Plus, when I surveyed my newsletter subscribers about how they solved burnout in their firm…
The top answer was letting go of low-quality clients.
It’s a hard habit to break at first, I know.
But the more you treat your process as non-negotiable, the more you attract clients who respect it, and the better your firm gets to run as a result.
Is Your Accounting Firm Ready for the Future?
There’s a lot happening in the accounting industry right now.
And while there’s a lot of talk (and, dare I say, fearmongering) about accountants getting replaced…
There’s also a lot of opportunity.
If you want to build a firm that’s profitable, future-proof, and doesn’t consume your entire life in the process…
Future Firm Accelerate will help you achieve that.
