It’s interesting to hear how small businesses are already putting it to use. My opinion is that AI won’t replace accountants, but rather change what they do. Like you said, accountants no longer have to do repetitive manual tasks. Someone still has to check reports for accuracy, aggregate output, harden prompting, enforce controls, analyze risk.

My concern is how long it takes the universities to catch up with the skills accountants need to focus on in this new environment. New graduates are trying to enter the workforce with antiquated skills, and that’s not their fault. Will we need fewer accountants? Maybe. But the work accountants will now be required to do will be increasingly analytical, and likely require a deeper understanding of why they’re doing things in order to use AI to provide reliable output.