AI usage in accounting seeing rapid growth, survey finds
The hype for AI is growing among accounting firms and usage is becoming more widespread, a recent survey has found.
A majority (80 per cent) of accounting professionals will increase AI functionality in their existing software in 2025, according to a survey by accounting management software firm Karbon.
“The pace of change over the last year has been like drinking from a firehose, except the firehose is connected to an espresso machine,” Chad Davis, co-founder and partner at LiveCA LLP, said.
“New LLMs dropping weekly, AI agents promising we don’t have to work anymore, and enough geopolitical AI drama to fuel unlimited TikTok hot takes. It’s exhausting just keeping up with the headlines.”
Almost two-thirds (63 per cent) of accounting professionals use AI to compose emails and fine-tune their writing tone, 41 per cent use AI to automate their workflows and 40 per cent use AI to transcribe meetings, automatically summarise key points and generate action items.
Emerging cases of AI usage are in research (39 per cent), marketing content (26 per cent) and financial forecasting and analysis (13 per cent).
The hype surrounding AI is growing, the survey found. Almost two-thirds (63 per cent) of accounting leaders reported feeling excited about AI in 2025, compared to 41 per cent the year prior. Staff are also gaining excitement as scepticism and job security concerns fade, with 40 per cent excited about AI in 2025 compared to 26 per cent the year before.
In total, 85 per cent of respondents said they were excited or intrigued about AI, but only 37 per cent actively invested in AI training for their teams. While the discrepancy between interest and integration is still large, 12 per cent more firms provided or developed AI training for staff members in 2025, compared to last year.
Accounting professionals reported being most excited about AI’s capacity to increase speed and efficiency (85 per cent), reduce errors (68 per cent), automate tasks (65 per cent), cut costs (56 per cent) and enhance communications (53 per cent), according to the survey.
As AI uptake rises, the gap between AI-positive and traditional firms is set to grow, according to the report. Respondents who said they were ‘beginner users’ of AI saved 46 minutes a day on average, while ‘advanced users’ saved 79 minutes a day.
By saving time, accounting firms are creating space for more meaningful work, the report said. This may help with employee retention by automating boring and menial tasks.
Respondents believe AI is set to transform the accounting profession, with 72 per cent agreeing that AI will shift accountants’ role from compliance to advisory.
While most accounting professionals aren’t worried that AI will replace their jobs, concerns remain for the bookkeeping profession. Over half (57 per cent) of survey respondents believed that bookkeeping would be the accounting function most disrupted by AI.
Data security is also a top concern for firms taking the AI plunge. A growing number of accounting professionals believe that AI could negatively impact their firm’s data security, and 70 per cent of respondents reported being concerned about data security when evaluating AI tools.
Cyber security policy, AI policy, employee training and secure practice management can address these concerns, the report said.
“AI, in the short term, is a nice additional tool in our toolbox as accountants,” wrote one survey respondent, a partner in a US-based accounting firm.
“I believe over the next 1-3 years, AI will be built into every tool we use. In the mid- to long-term, it’s anyone’s guess whether AI causes more issues than it solves.”
