Will AI replace accountants and auditors?

Some tasks are already handled by AI or machines; the rest still needs a person. About 2h 42m of an 8-hour shift goes to tasks that AI or robots largely take over. The breakdown: 2h 36m that AI mostly does alone, 6m that robots have done in real workplaces. The other 5h 18m (66%) stays with people. Separately, BLS expects about 5% more of these jobs by 2035 (all jobs: +3.5%).

AI shows up regularly in 7 of 29 tasks, about 2h 36m of a typical shift. The biggest ones:

• Prepare, examine, or analyze accounting records, financial statements, or other financial reports to assess accuracy, completeness, and conformance to reporting and procedural standards. (1h 9m a shift, AI mostly does it alone)
• Analyze business operations, trends, costs, revenues, financial commitments, and obligations to project future revenues and expenses or to provide advice. (23m a shift, AI mostly does it alone)
• Prepare detailed reports on audit findings. (17m a shift, AI mostly does it alone)
• Collect and analyze data to detect deficient controls, duplicated effort, extravagance, fraud, or non-compliance with laws, regulations, and management policies. (17m a shift, AI mostly does it alone)
• Examine records and interview workers to ensure recording of transactions and compliance with laws and regulations. (12m a shift, AI mostly does it alone)

For some tasks, yes. Robots have done 1 of this job's tasks in workplaces like this one, about 6m of a typical shift.

• Examine inventory to verify journal and ledger entries. (6m a shift; e.g. Verity autonomous inventory drones, in use)

5h 18m of a typical shift, or 66%, goes to tasks with no AI or robot evidence yet. No AI usage or robot deployment has shown up for these so far. The biggest:

• Review accounts for discrepancies and reconcile differences. (46m a shift)
• Prepare, analyze, or verify annual reports, financial statements, and other records, using accepted accounting and statistical procedures to assess financial condition and facilitate financial planning. (35m a shift)
• Prepare adjusting journal entries. (29m a shift)
• Compute taxes owed and prepare tax returns, ensuring compliance with payment, reporting, or other tax requirements. (29m a shift)
• Develop, maintain, or analyze budgets, preparing periodic reports that compare budgeted costs to actual costs. (29m a shift)

We track 3 sourced company moves that affect this job, including at least one pullback. Most recent:

• Oct 21, 2025: Deloitte refunds part of a government fee over AI-made report errors (Pulled back)
• Apr 23, 2025: KPMG builds AI agents into its global audit platform (Rolling out)
• Nov 19, 2024: 57% of CFOs expect smaller finance teams by 2026 due to AI (Forecast)

For the 5 tasks in this job where AI shows up and timing data exists, a typical request takes about 8h 7m for a person alone and about 38m with AI. These are Claude's own estimates from real conversations in April and May 2026 (Anthropic Economic Index). They describe single requests, not whole workdays, and time saved on a task doesn't mean jobs are cut. The biggest gaps:

• Prepare detailed reports on audit findings (about 15h 22m alone, 38m with AI)
• Analyze business operations, trends, costs, revenues, financial commitments, and obligations to project future revenues and expenses or to provide advice (about 11h 34m alone, 58m with AI)
• Develop, implement, modify, and document recordkeeping and accounting systems, making use of current computer technology (about 8h 7m alone, 46m with AI)

On Indeed, job postings in the Accounting sector are at 105% of their February 2020 level (all U.S. postings: 104%), down 5.9% from a year earlier, as of Oct 9, 2026. BLS separately expects about 115,000 openings a year in this job through 2035. Across all U.S. postings, 7.3% now mention AI skills. Sector postings cover more than this one job and move for many reasons besides AI.

The median pay is about $83,680 a year ($40.23 an hour), 64% above the median for all U.S. jobs ($50,980). Most people in this job earn between $56,020 and $144,090 a year; that range covers the middle 80%. Pay figures are from BLS, May 2025, and vary a lot by state and employer. Pick a state to compare:

BLS projects growth of 5% from 2025 to 2035, compared with 3.5% growth for all jobs. That's about 1.7 million jobs in 2035. It expects about 115,000 openings a year, mostly from people retiring or changing careers. These projections don't single out AI as a cause.

About 1.4 million people in the U.S., roughly 0.93% of all workers (BLS, May 2025). That makes it the 20th largest of the 796 jobs on this site. BLS expects about 1.7 million in 2035.

O*NET rates the job at level 4 of 5 for preparation, which usually means: bachelor's degree. Requirements vary by state and employer, especially for licensed work.

These come from the job's official skill ratings and from the tasks that AI and robots touch least today. Building them keeps you strong in the parts of the work that still need a person:

• Skills that matter more here than in most jobs: Mathematics, Reading Comprehension, Judgment and Decision Making, Critical Thinking
• Get strong at the parts of the job that stay with people (listed above), which take 5h 18m of a typical shift
• Tools employers list: SAP software, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Excel
• Learn to use AI well on the tasks where it already shows up in this job (listed above)

These use similar skills, with less of a typical shift touched by AI or robots. Matches come from 109 official ratings of skills, knowledge and work activities, and each needs the same or less preparation unless the official list relates the jobs directly:

• Treasurers and Controllers (2h 11m touched, $167k median pay)
• Financial Examiners (24m touched, $94k median pay)
• Loan Officers (1h 43m touched, $77k median pay)
• Budget Analysts (54m touched, $92k median pay)
• Tax Preparers (1h 28m touched, $55k median pay)

Each task carries its own evidence label. For this job: 7 observed in real AI use, 1 with robots in real deployments, 21 with no AI or robot evidence found. The minutes per task are estimates, not measured hours, and "no evidence" doesn't prove a task is safe.