How AI is transforming accountancy’s appeal

AAT tutor Dean Quartermaine was a software engineer before transitioning into a career in finance. He says that artificial intelligence isn’t replacing accountants – it’s making the profession more attractive to a new generation of talent.

Two in five people would consider a career change to accountancy if administrative tasks were carried out by AI, according to new research from AAT. For Dean Quartermaine, course leader for AAT at Sheffield College, this statistic represents a fundamental shift that could address the profession’s ongoing talent shortage.

Dean’s unique perspective stems from an unconventional career path. With an undergraduate degree in software engineering, he spent the early part of his career as a software engineer before redundancy prompted a complete career reset. “I started AAT distance learning, completing Level 2 and 3, then 4,” Dean explains. “Then I started in employment, working as a management accountant at various levels for a good number of years.”

In 2022, Dean returned to university to pursue a Master’s degree in financial management, which was funded by his employer. This led to an associate lecturing role at Sheffield Hallam University before he took over as course leader at Sheffield College in June last year.

The AI advantage beyond the hype

Dean’s early exposure to AI, gained during his undergraduate dissertation on dynamic recurrent neural networks for stock price prediction, gives him a unique perspective on the technology’s evolution. “My first introduction to the world of AI was building essentially a primitive AI model,” he recalls.

As AI started to emerge in the accounting sector, Dean was ready. He’d already been using tools like auto-entry that scan invoices and extract details through optical character recognition. “It learns along the way,” Dean explains. “Next time it does, it knows what it did last time and just speeds up that data entry process.”

This practical experience aligns with AAT’s research findings, which indicate that 64% of respondents believe AI tools will enhance efficiency and accuracy in the accounting profession, while 78% of those currently in the profession think AI tools make accountancy easier by automating administrative tasks.

The mundane task problem

For Dean, the appeal of AI lies in its ability to eliminate the mundane tasks that can deter potential talent. “There is an entire subsection of the population and the accounting industry that don’t want to do any of that data entry stuff,” he observes. “They almost look at that as a reason not to be in the industry because they don’t want to be doing all that data entry and want to be doing something a little bit higher level than just processing invoices all day.”

This sentiment is supported by AAT’s research, which shows that one in five accountants who have left the profession say they would return if automation could remove the more administrative aspects of the job. Additionally, 23% said they would have stayed in the profession longer if AI had been available to help them.

Dean sees this as an evolution rather than a revolution. “AI is very good at repetitive tasks,” he explains. “Things like processing invoices repetitively all day, every day – let’s get a piece of AI to do it. It can do it while we’re asleep and allows us to focus on other aspects of accountancy.

Redefining the accountant’s role

The question of what accountants actually do lies at the heart of AI’s transformative potential. Dean is clear about where he sees the profession heading: “I’ve always seen us as trusted business advisors, being more strategic than just processing invoices all day. That’s the data entry task – to a certain degree, anyone can do that. As accountants, we’ve spent lots of time, money, and effort training to do something far more than just processing invoices.”

Dean’s thoughts match with AAT’s findings, which indicate that 80% of current professionals believe AI enables accountants to focus more on providing advice and solving business problems, while 81% believe AI is generating greater opportunities by allowing accounting professionals to develop skills in other areas.

Recent developments in the sector support this shift. Dean recently attended a Sage demonstration of their AI tool, Sage Copilot, which can automatically identify outstanding VAT returns and fire off reminder emails. “Again, just frees up all that time of you manually writing emails,” Dean notes. “When the information comes back, AI can start to process that, saving up all this time of chasing people for things that are not adding any value.

“AI will shift an accountant’s focus from just processing data to becoming strategic advisors. By automating repetitive, time-consuming tasks, AI will free up accountants to concentrate on higher-value activities that need human judgement, critical thinking, and good people skills.”

The trust factor

Despite AI’s capabilities, Dean believes human oversight will always be essential. “We don’t understand what AI does – we understand the input, we understand the output, but that little bit in the middle, we don’t understand it all the time,” he explains. “We won’t necessarily trust it, so we’ll always want to check the output. And that’s what accountants are there for – to check and make sense of that output.”

This perspective addresses one of the key concerns raised in AAT’s research, where 71% of respondents believe that individuals using AI tools must be appropriately trained. Dean emphasises the importance of understanding AI’s capabilities and limitations: “AI is good at repetitive data processing. It can do it quicker than we can. The accuracy – yes, it’s getting there.”

Education for an AI-enhanced profession

As a tutor, Dean is passionate about preparing the next generation for an AI-enhanced profession. His role involves not just teaching traditional accounting principles but also helping students understand how to leverage technology effectively.

“Part of my role is to really tell the benefits of AI where it can offer us considerable benefits and try to make sure that people are not scared about embracing the technology,” he says.

The college’s approach reflects broader industry trends. 78% of people surveyed said they are interested in upskilling due to the rise of AI at work, with 32% specifically wanting to learn AI and machine learning tools – rising to 40% among 25-34 year olds.

In summary

Dean’s message to both current professionals and potential newcomers is clear: “AI will not replace the accountant. The accountant’s not going anywhere. We need to embrace technology, and AI is a tool that enables us to do our jobs better, adding a higher level of intelligence and critical insights to the numbers that help drive informed decision-making.

“There’s momentum here to use AI as an addition to an accountant’s tool set, which will allow us to deliver more impact to the businesses we work with, the clients we work with, and the industry as a whole.”

AAT’s Skills Campaign research surveyed 1,000 members aged between 18 – 65.

Further reading

Working with AI: boosting your career in the right way

AI focus: how artificial intelligence can help accounting students thrive

Accounting software: analysis tools to make your life easier

AAT Comment offers news and opinion on the world of business and finance from the Association of Accounting Technicians.