We’re at the point where AI can do a lot of things pretty well. And if you’re an accountant that’s actually interested in using new technology, our natural reaction is to ask: What else can I give it?
Lately, I’ve been trying to be a little more discerning. I think the better question is: What should I give it?
There are things AI can do for you that save time, eliminate work you hate and make you better at your job. Great. Give it those things! But there are also things you could hand over to AI that you probably shouldn’t, especially if they’re the skills that make you valuable.
Think about it like outsourcing. If I’m really good at talking to clients, but terrible at organizing my notes afterward, why would I outsource the client conversation? Let AI organize the notes! Let it summarize the meeting, create the follow-up list and remind me what I promised to send.
I don’t need to become the world’s greatest meeting-note taker, but I absolutely want to keep getting better at the conversation.
Efficiency Isn’t the Only Thing That Matters
That distinction is important. We’ve spent the last few years talking about AI primarily in terms of efficiency. What can it automate? How many hours can it save? How much more work can we get done?
Those are accounting questions, right? Of course, we want to measure the efficiency. But I think there’s another side of the equation we’re missing: What skills are we losing when we automate them?
If you use AI to write every email, eventually you might become a worse writer. If you ask it to analyze every complicated situation before you’ve thought about it yourself, maybe your critical thinking gets a little rusty. If you let it handle every difficult client interaction, how are you going to get better at having difficult conversations?
Don’t Automate Away Your Advantage
AI makes it incredibly easy to avoid practicing things that are hard. And sometimes that’s exactly what we want! I have no desire to practice a skill I don’t need, don’t enjoy and don’t believe is important to my future value. But if it’s something that differentiates me? I want to be very careful about giving that away.
This is especially important for accountants because we tend to start from the technical side. Maybe you’re incredible technically. You can spot something in a tax return nobody else sees. You understand the numbers at a level that makes you invaluable to your clients.
If that’s your superpower, don’t hand the entire thinking process to AI just because you can. Use AI to challenge your thinking. Ask it what you might have missed. Let it be your second set of eyes. Use it as a coach instead of a replacement.
On the other hand, maybe the technical stuff comes naturally, but you struggle to connect with clients.
That’s probably not the skill you can actually outsource, but it’s a skill that AI can help you practice. Role-play the conversation. Ask it to challenge your explanation. Have it tell you where you’re using too much jargon. Then go have the actual conversation yourself.
Decide What Belongs to You
That’s why I don’t think there’s one “right” AI stack for every accountant or every firm. Before you choose the tool, you need to understand what you’re trying to protect.
Ask yourself:
What am I uniquely good at?
What do I want to become better at?
What makes clients want me involved?
What work do I genuinely not care about mastering?
Then decide what belongs to you and what belongs to AI.
The accountants who win with AI won’t necessarily be the ones who automate the most. They’ll be the ones who know what not to automate.
AI should make you better at your job, not slowly make you less capable of doing it. Use it everywhere you can. Just don’t outsource the parts of you that your clients are actually paying for.
