The overwhelming majority of accountants around the world believe that artificial intelligence (AI) will have a considerable impact on their profession, although the strength of feeling varies between regions.
Three quarters (75%) of accountants in North and South America say that AI will have a ‘high’ or ‘transformational’ impact on their profession in the next five years, while just over eight out of 10 (82%) in Europe, Asia and Oceania share the same strength of conviction. However, this lags behind the UK, where nine out of 10 accountants believe the new technology will have a significant effect on their working lives.
Thomson Reuters’ 2025 Future of the Professionals report also finds that 40% of UK accountancy and tax professionals say their organisations already have an AI strategy in place, a proportion that is some way ahead of those in the Americas (8%) and Europe, Asia and Oceania (23%).
‘Professionals expect to save 240 hours annually through AI’
Elizabeth Beastrom, president of tax and accounting professionals at Thomson Reuters, says: ‘Tax and accounting professionals understand that AI will have a seismic impact on the industry, and our research shows professionals expect to save 240 hours annually through AI. Enthusiasm from accountants themselves appears to be accelerating organisations’ adoption of AI tools.
‘Those that have an AI strategy in place and onboard new tech the fastest have the potential to pull ahead of their peers and outpace the competition.’
According to Beastrom, firms globally are struggling with recruitment and regulatory compliance. ‘Adopting AI tools is the most efficient and cost-effective way for tax firms to address these challenges,’ she says. ‘Tax firms are using AI tools to automate routine tasks and basic research. This frees up time for their tax professionals to focus on more client interaction and strategic-level work.’
