iscover Accounting firms’ AI investments moving beyond ‘just clerical tasks’
TechnologyNew research from The Access Group reveals the “inevitability of going past AI being a nice-to-have” for daily operations for accountants.
The Access Group’s State of AI in Accounting Report 2026, conducted by Agile Market Intelligence, surveyed 434 accountants, bookkeepers, and other accounting professionals between mid-September and mid-November last year across Australia, about their experiences of AI in their practices, including their near-, medium-, and long-term AI integration trajectories.
The report found that, by the end of this year and onwards, accounting firms across the board anticipate the successful implementation of AI in higher-stakes use cases.
Agile Market Intelligence director Michael Johnson said that, by late 2026, the accounting profession expects AI to take on more work that impacts critical outcomes, “not just clerical tasks”.
“Firms want automation that is accurate, auditable, and trustworthy, and that’s where investment is heading,” he said.
Two-thirds (67 per cent) of accounting firms see AI-driven automation of transaction coding/reconciliations having the biggest impact on practices in the next 2-3 years, while 57 per cent forecast that workflow/task automation will reshape accounting operations. Other tools expected to have an impact by 2029 are tax research/ATO monitoring (54 per cent), document extraction and processing (52 per cent), and report generation and forecasts (51 per cent).
Further down the line, the AI tools expected to bring the most impact to accounting operations include: transaction coding/reconciliations and workflow task automation, with 67 per cent and 57 per cent of firms registering optimism for the respective use cases to streamline accounting operations in the next 2-3 years.
The report also found, among other things, that: one in five practitioners believe AI still has a long way to go in handling client queries (with a two-year or longer timeframe), one-third (33 per cent) will use AI in identifying advisory opportunities, and more than half (51 per cent) of accounting firms say it would take at least a year to build confidence in AI handling client queries.
Meanwhile, most firms look at AI-driven handling of client queries as “requiring longer incubation”. Specifically, 32 per cent stated it will likely materialise in the next 1-2 years, while another substantial segment (19 per cent) says it could take longer than two years.
Johnson concluded that the findings point to “the inevitability of going past AI being a nice-to-have”.
“Rather, the majority of firms now see automating as mission-critical in the next 2-3 years,” he said.
“Firms are also expecting AI to tackle pain points such as tax research and document extraction, two use cases that hold high potential for time savings.”
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Jerome Doraisamy
Jerome Doraisamy is the managing editor of Momentum Media’s professional services suite, encompassing Lawyers Weekly, HR Leader, Accountants Daily, and Accounting Times. He has worked as a journalist and podcast host at Momentum Media since February 2018. Jerome is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in NSW, and a board director of the Minds Count Foundation.