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Ask Not What AI Can Do for You, Ask What You Can Do for AI

Four actions to take now.

By CPA Trendlines Research

The potentials and requirements of artificial intelligence are still a massive unknown. So far, we’re getting only a distant whiff of what’s to come.

Yes, AI is already serving us with doing research, composing letters, filling in blanks and taking best guesses. But turning it into a multifunctional workhorse is still a workhorse in progress.

MORE: Allison Schlegelmilch: Leadership Lessons from Firm Mergers | CAS Can Play a Critical Role in Clients’ Vendor Selection | Artificial Intelligence: It’s a Matter of Time | AI Will Steal Your Job. And That’s a Good Thing | Allan Koltin: How Small Firms Can Thrive Against PE-Powered Competitors | The Power of Community in Accounting | Desperate CFOs are Outsourcing Accounting Functions | Tax and Accounting Jobs and Salaries Show Strength | Olympics of Outsourcing and Offshoring for Accountants | New Study: Strong and Steady Growth for Accountant Jobs and Salaries
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While the ubertechies are working on that, the rest of us should be figuring out how we have to change to accommodate AI, to avoid its pitfalls and make best use of its potential.
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PRO Member Exclusive

Artificial Intelligence: It’s a Matter of Time

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What are you saving it for?

By CPA Trendlines Research

What is artificial intelligence good for? We still don’t know. We know it’s going to be good for a lot, but so far, we’re using it only for a little – just a taste of what’s to come.

MORE: AI Will Steal Your Job. And That’s a Good Thing | Allan Koltin: How Small Firms Can Thrive Against PE-Powered Competitors | The Power of Community in Accounting | Desperate CFOs are Outsourcing Accounting Functions | Does Firm Culture Still Matter? | Tax and Accounting Jobs and Salaries Show Strength | Tax Law is Driving Practice Development | Olympics of Outsourcing and Offshoring for Accountants | New Study: Strong and Steady Growth for Accountant Jobs and Salaries | Turnover Timebomb: 4 of 5 Senior Managers At Risk
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One major impact will be on that elusive infinite, time.

For one thing, AI’s going to save a lot of time. Tasks that used to take hours or days will soon take mere seconds.

But is that a good thing or a bad thing?
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OUTLOOK & ANALYSIS

Desperate CFOs are Outsourcing Accounting Functions

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25 percent of CFOs will be looking for staff accountants. Personiv

Can CPA firms take advantage?

By CPA Trendlines Research

CPA firms have long been aware of the worsening talent shortage. Fewer students are majoring in accountancy. Fewer are pursuing CPA certification. And baby boomer leaders of accounting firms are retiring more often than ever.

MORE: Does Firm Culture Still Matter? | Tax and Accounting Jobs and Salaries Show Strength | Tax Law is Driving Practice Development | Olympics of Outsourcing and Offshoring for Accountants | New Study: Strong and Steady Growth for Accountant Jobs and Salaries | Turnover Timebomb: 4 of 5 Senior Managers At Risk | Are Client Services a Fourth-Rate Priority? | Revenues Rising as Pricing Models Evolve | 150 Credit Hours: Helping or Hindering? | Can’t Recruit? Retain! | The Accountant as a Strategic Business Partner | Report: Efficiency Still the Top Priority for Accounting Firms
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Now financial leaders in the corporate sector are feeling the pinch. A survey issued by personnel agency Personiv finds that 83 percent of senior corporate leaders recognize the accounting talent crunch, way up from 70 percent in 2022 and 63 percent in 2020. And 10 percent say the shortage is getting worse.

No surprise, then, that 90 percent of CFOs who responded to the survey say they have outsourced at least some accounting functions.
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OUTLOOK & ANALYSIS

Tax Law is Driving Practice Development

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Virtual communication, hybrid work environments still pose challenges.

By CPA Trendlines Research

New laws and regulations now rank as the primary management challenge at accounting practices around the world, according to a report from Caseware.

MORE: Olympics of Outsourcing and Offshoring for Accountants | New Study: Strong and Steady Growth for Accountant Jobs and Salaries | Turnover Timebomb: 4 of 5 Senior Managers At Risk | Are Client Services a Fourth-Rate Priority? | Revenues Rising as Pricing Models Evolve | 150 Credit Hours: Helping or Hindering? | Can’t Recruit? Retain! | The Accountant as a Strategic Business Partner | Report: Efficiency Still the Top Priority for Accounting Firms | Is Tech Causing Both CPA Shortage and Low Salaries? | Audit Firms Nervous about New Tech | Staffing Tops List of Woes at CPA Firms | To Replenish the Talent Pipeline, Go Back to the Classroom | Beware the Work-Life/Workload Doom Spiral
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And though the difficulty, and even impossibility, of meeting all legal requirements is a massive challenge, meeting that challenge is a driver of rapid change in the industry. This is evidenced by the second-most serious challenge, adopting new technologies – technologies directly or indirectly aimed at meeting legal requirements.
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