AI in the accounting profession: Make your voice heard

AI is rapidly becoming the baseline for modern accounting practices.

Taking a wait-and-see approach might seem tempting, but this is technological change on the same scale as the move from horse and cart to motorised transport.

This is why Sage is joining forces with AccountingWEB to invite you to share your views and insights about AI within the profession.

Read on to learn more. Here’s what we discuss:

Shaping the future of AI in accountancy

Accountancy is a dichotomy. In a profession where change is a constant, its participants can be surprisingly conservative.

Some practices are progressive. Others, less so. Some accountants are already deeply embedded in AI, while others are peering in curiously through the window.

But the reality is that artificial intelligence has moved past being an emerging trend. It’s an integral part of the accountancy technological landscape.

The best time to adopt AI was yesterday. The second-best time is today.

That itself presents a dichotomy because, while AI is driving transformational change in the profession, it’s still in its nascent stages.

In short, what we have today is game-changing, but a mere hint of what we’ll see in the coming decade.

And this is where your input is needed. With the AccountingWEB and Sage survey you can help paint a picture of AI within the profession and share your insights and views on the future of AI.

The survey takes less than 10 minutes to complete, and you’ll be entered into a prize draw to win an Amazon voucher. You’ll also be among the first to get access to the results when they’re published.

Why AI matters in accounting: Making Tax Digital

Why is AI so necessary?

You need only look at the introduction of Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax, starting in April 2026.

What was once a yearly compliance touchpoint for many clients becomes quarterly. Furthermore, if a client has several businesses, the work at that quarterly touchpoint is multiplied.

AI a basic necessity for managing the increased workload. For some practices, it could even make the difference between sink and swim.

The Sage MTD Agent debuted at Accountex Manchester in October 2025 and it demonstrates how AI has arrived at just the right time for the accountancy profession.

Agents are proactive implementations of AI that work in the background, as well as alongside you. In this case, the Sage MTD Agent relieves the burden by automatically segmenting clients based on complexity, as well as setting up tasks and reminders, chasing documents, and flagging potential issues early.

It’s part of Sage Copilot and empowers an end-to-end workflow.

How AI lets you take advantage of MTD

It isn’t just managing the workload where AI can be deployed.

MTD brings with it the potential for closer client relationships. The fact that the data arrives with you more frequently provides space for predictive analytics.

Your role as the accountant is switched from looking in the rearview mirror, to looking at the road ahead.

You can use insights from the active and regular flow of data to warn your clients of upcoming cash flow pressures or opportunities for tax efficiency. Instead of reacting to deadlines, you can help your clients plan payments, manage reserves, and optimise timing of investments or expenses.

Natural language processing tools via tools such as ChatGPT can help convert complex tax data into client-friendly insights, as well as near-instantly create board packs or improvement plans.

When we talk of AI being a game changer, this is exactly what we mean. There’s no area of accounting and business management that AI won’t enhance. It’s there for the taking.

Your role as an accountant can fundamentally evolve, without the need to abandon traditional work. The Sage MTD Agent helps take care of compliance, while Sage Copilot helps daily tasks like writing emails for clients. This lets you exploit the stronger client relationship and the time freed-up by letting agentic AI take care of the details.

AI is amplification of the human in accounting

The human elements of judgment, ethics, and contextual understanding remain central to every financial decision.

AI process data. It even interprets and creates upon demand. But it can’t interpret client goals, business models, or risk appetite. It can’t see the human behind each client business.

Accountants will always provide the trust and perspective that clients depend on. AI simply clears away administrative noise so professional expertise can be applied where it matters most.

An intelligent implementation of AI within a practice automatically creates space for growth. Not only that, it’s also a growth plan that’s low-risk and runs on rails.

Accountants who are adopting AI are building are building resilience as well as a competitive advantage. They move closer to the heart of financial decision-making for their clients, where the value lies.

Final thoughts

So, do you agree with everything said so far?

Or do you see an alternative path for AI, or a unique way it can be implemented?

Share your views with AccountingWEB via its survey.