Accounting firms are past the “What is AI?” phase and into the “How do we use it to transform our firms?” era. Leaders across the profession are moving from curiosity to concrete investment, restructuring workweeks, revisiting service models, and rethinking how they show up for clients.
To understand where firms really stand and what they want to accomplish with AI, BILL partnered with research firm NewtonX on the BILL accounting firm AI ambition survey, capturing insights from 200+ firm leaders. This report is the first in a four-part series that explores how firms are approaching AI across four key dimensions:
- Awareness, adoption, and attitudes
- Strategy and investments
- Services and delivery
- Business model and pricing innovation
Volume 1 sets the foundation, focusing on three questions:
- How familiar are firms with AI today?
- How ambitious are they about adoption?
- What’s already changing and what’s still in the way?
"AI is the path for firms to scale capacity. We commissioned this research to provide a path to navigate this shift. The AI ambition series meets you where you are. It provides a data-driven view and a practical path to delete unnecessary workflows. This is how you create the headspace to grow your firm and show up for your clients with more impact." (Ariege Misherghi, SVP & GM of AP and Accountant Channel, BILL)
Awareness is high and firms are making room for AI
AI is no longer a concept for most firms. It’s becoming part of their day-to-day work.
According to the survey:
- 92% of respondents say they have at least some familiarity with how AI technologies are currently being applied to automate or enhance accounting and firm operation tasks.
- Yet, only 14% classify themselves as “extremely familiar” in this regard, suggesting that deep expertise is still rare.
Firms are also carving out time to work with AI, with nearly half (48%) planning to invest over 10% of staff time in AI adoption activities each week.
When we map firms along an AI adoption maturity curve based on respondents’ feedback, the majority cluster in early and active adoption. While they’re moving beyond pilots, only a minority describe themselves as truly mature. As one firm leader put it: “I think we could have adopted AI sooner.”
Key takeaway for firms
Awareness has tipped into action, but there’s still a window for firms that move now to build an expertise edge their competitors don’t yet have.
Ambition is high, but transformation is uneven
Leaders expect AI to change what’s possible for their firms. The overwhelming majority of respondents (87%) describe their firms as highly or moderately ambitious about AI adoption, and nearly half (49%) report high ambition specifically.
Precisely how respondents expect this ambition will translate into transformation is still mixed.
- 40% see AI as critical and transformative, a catalyst for innovations like new business models, services, and pricing.
- 53% see it as an important tool for specific tasks, focusing on efficiency more than reinvention.
Key takeaway for firms
This gap matters. While two firms can have the same ambition level on paper, the one treating AI as a strategic lever can have more pathways to redesign capacity, roles, and revenue.
“Everyone thinks accountants can come in and push a button and perfect financial statements come out. It doesn't really work that way. But the more AI creeps in, the more likely we are to be able to do it quicker.” (accounting firm leader)
Efficiency gains have moved from promise to proven
Survey respondents report a median AI time savings of 5 hours per person per week, which is the equivalent of reclaiming about a month of work every year for a single professional. For teams, that’s weeks of capacity that can be redirected to higher-value work instead of more late nights.
Where is AI helping most today? Firms point to goals that create more efficiency and productivity for existing teams. Around two-thirds of respondents are focused on leveraging AI to automate routine, time-consuming tasks like data entry, categorizations and reconciliations. Improving client service and responsiveness is a focus for more than half of respondents (56%), as was maintaining a competitive advantage (53%).
Leaders are clear about how they want to reinvest that time: more advisory, deeper support, and higher-value work. As one respondent noted, AI helps their firm “be a critical support structure for growth by freeing capacity for grants, fundraising support, and board-level insights.”
The takeaway: AI is already giving firms back weeks of capacity each year–time they can use to move beyond routine tasks and lean into higher-value advisory and strategic client work
What’s holding firms back?
Even as momentum builds, 98% of firms report at least one barrier to AI adoption, including the cost of implementation (45%), general resistance to change (44%), or concerns over data quality (43%) or security (43%).
Firms increasingly believe AI can be technically accurate, but they want to be sure that data, clients, and regulatory obligations are fully protected. That’s where trust gaps can arise— - around half of respondents trust data accuracy from AI “somewhat”.
In other words, most firms are willing to use AI, but only with guardrails they understand and can explain to clients, regulators, and partners. Leaders know they can’t risk trust or compliance, even as they push to modernize how work gets done.
Key takeaway for firms
Trust and change management remain critical to successful AI adoption. Adopting change management principles to overcome internal resistance and partnering with trusted technology providers that focus on AI transparency and security in a regulated profession are increasingly important.
Don’t miss the accounting firm AI ambition survey series
AI is becoming the path for firms to scale capacity, deepen advisory, and stay ahead of client expectations. Volume 1 of the BILL Accounting Firm AI Ambition Survey is a starting point: a benchmark for where the profession stands today, and a preview of what’s possible next.
Start by downloading Volume 1: Where firms stand on awareness, adoption, and attitudes. When you do, you will automatically receive the next reports as they publish.
- Volume 2: Strategy & investments—from ambition to allocation will explore how firms are turning intent into concrete plans and budgets. (coming May 2026)
- Volume 3: Reinventing services & delivery—from compliance to continuous advisory will explore how AI is reshaping roles, skills, and the client experience. (coming June 2026)
- Volume 4: Business model & pricing innovation—monetizing AI will examine how leaders are rethinking firm structure and pricing to capture AI-driven value. (coming July 2026)
Methodology
The BILL accounting firm AI ambition survey, conducted in partnership with NewtonX to ensure verified expert research, surveyed 207 accounting firm leaders. To ensure objective results, participants were recruited independently by NewtonX based on professional criteria. Respondent status as a BILL customer was neither a requirement for participation nor a tracked metric in this study.
The leaders—including managers, partners, firm owners, directors, and senior professional staff—provided a top-level view into how firms are planning and steering AI investments. The survey includes a mix of firm sizes, from small practices to large multi‑office firms. A majority are also decision‑makers (53%) or decision influencers (32%) for software purchases.
