Instead of perceiving AI as a harbinger of accounting doom, ****accountants should adopt a new perspective: one in which AI becomes the ally they never realized they needed.

But first, addressing the elephant in the room: will AI take my job as an accountant?

Going by industry chatter, you might think AI will soon replace you. PwC is using ChatGPT to offer clients advice. Last year, KPMG fired 5% of its workforce just before announcing a partnership with Microsoft to leverage AI.

As an AI accounting company, we’ve spent years thinking through the AI-enabled reality the industry is marching towards. So let’s address the question head on— will AI replace accountants?

No, the truth is that AI will never fully replace human accounting teams.

Instead, AI will take the role of your sidekick that takes the work you like least off of your plate.

AI will increasingly handle the repetitive and recurring elements of accounting — meaning that the role of an accountant will begin to change.

Want more context? Here are some thoughts from Numeric CEO Parker Gilbert & OpenAI Controller Sowmya Ranganathan on if AI will replace accountants.

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So what can’t AI do?

How AI will become the accountant’s sidekick

Dan Black, Global Leader, Talent Attraction & Acquisition at EY, confirms this view. "The robots are not coming for your jobs. They’re coming for your tasks," he says. "And in most cases, they’re coming for tasks that you don’t want to do anyway."

With a capable accounting sidekick at your disposal with AI, what then will the role of the in-house accountant become?

You and your team will play three roles: