Agents AI and accountant: cooperation, not automation

By Dr. Alfred Sanders, CPA; CFO Forum Leader, Genpact.

The accounting profession together with the broader financial function was often described as traditional. But this perception misses the brand. In reality, accounting leaders and practitioners have long searched for new ways to improve their work processes, from traditional tables to today's cloud and AI-based platforms. This progress has consistently contributed to making bookkeeping precisely, more efficiently and more valuable for customers. However, the rise of agents -KI is a stricter turning point.

In contrast to conventional automation, which follows preset scripts and procedures, the agents can adapt, make decisions and act independently in defined guardrails. For accountants, this shift goes beyond the automation of the tasks and enables real digital cooperation, in which you work together in addition to technology to manage workflows, enable compliance with compliance and to unlock deeper knowledge.

From automation to augmentation

Most accountants already use automation in any form, e.g. B. Tools that accelerate invoice processing, offer automatic control forms or reconcile bank accounts. Studies show that 82% of companies indicate at least a few automation in tax working processes. While these tools are helpful, they are limited by design. You save time and clicks, but do not loosen the heavier mental work of dealing with exceptions, recognition of fraud or the interpretation of complex compliance with compliance.

The Agentic Ai goes one step further, does the same tasks and more while learning from the context, capturing anomalies and escalating problems when human judgment is necessary. Instead of replacing the specialist knowledge, it improves the removal of manual tasks and the bookholders more time to focus on customer strategy, tax planning and consulting services.

These are not distant, futuristic scenarios. Many companies are already heading for these functions today. For example, AI agents can complement the final process of the month by elaborating journal entries, validating inputs and marking discrepancies to reduce errors. You can lead to processes such as auditing in real time, in which the continuous AI-powered monitoring spots shift irregularities and the function of reactive checks on proactive risk management.

Ultimately, this represents a practical development of the already performing workers, which is improved by technology, which integrates seamlessly into their existing workflows.

The agents -KI hits the bookkeeping at a crucial moment

Nowadays, financial departments with several challenging expectations of increasingly technically experienced customers, increasing legal complexity and a rapidly changing business landscape have been. The emergence of agents -KI in this critical moment corresponds to the imperative for transformation practitioners: a recently carried out study by Thomson Reuters showed that companies could quickly fall back in the next 12 months without AI strategies.

You are justified in this feeling. Companies that effectively use the workload through the shortage of accountants that accountants use effectively enable the accountants to find paths to better use customers and to meet the growing expectations of speed, accuracy and transparency. Agentic AI enables progressive functions such as cash flow forecasts in real time, proactive tax planning suggestions and examination reporting services that go beyond strengthening customer trust and opening new sources of income.

The introduction of AI is not just about efficiency, but about cultivating a flourishing workforce and remaining competitive in an insecure business environment.

First steps without being overwhelmed

For many practitioners, it can be overwhelming to know where to start with Agentic Ai, especially if they are not the decision -makers behind the systems that use their companies. The solution is not to revise existing processes and rush into every new tool. In order to set up for success and to be ahead of the curve, you should start small and concentrate on work areas that have:

• High manual effort and low risk: Tasks such as data entry, reconciliation or routine reporting.
• Clear metrics: Where “better” can be measurable, such as B. less hours, reduced errors or faster turn.
• Easy integration: Tools and processes that fit into existing systems and are seamlessly aligning with the specialist knowledge and workflows of the team.

Accountants do not have to become Technical engineers from AI, but invest in understanding how AI results are interpreted, validations and can be used for professional judgment, their career will advance. Many companies now offer basic training in data competence and AI ethics, which is often sufficient to build trust and competence.

Guide: Why responsible AI important

New risks and responsibilities come with powerful new tools. The agents -KI is only as reliable as the data and governance behind it and requires strong guardrails to work reliably. Therefore, accountants must remain particularly vigilant about data integrity, privacy and conformity.

Companies that accept AI are not only responsible for implementing these workloads in order to meet customer requirements, but also for the determination of protective measures such as traceability, security and human supervision. In turn, auditors are responsible to understand these processes thoroughly.

Estimating practices such as the AI ​​materials (KI -Bom) -a inventory of data, models and tools used in a project -obtain the indictment to increase transparency and accountability in the Achid deployment in the financial sector. For auditors, these measures are positive and not disruptive and of course fit their existing surroundings of audits and controls.

View of the future: Accountant as AI employee

The rise of agents -KI does not reduce the roles of the accountant. It increases them. Since AI accepts more routine work, the unique value of the practitioner becomes even clearer. It underlines your judgment, your ethical thinking and your ability to implement complex numbers into a sensible client guide. This evolution signals a promising future for a profession that is often considered unjustly as one -dimensional.

In the next few years, companies will introduce increasingly acting AI-oriented practices in which human teams and digital agents work together seamlessly. Accountants will continue to drive the work forward, but via a strategic technical lens, while their digital employees manage a large part of the difficult lifting behind the scenes.

The most successful practitioners will take advantage of the upcoming opportunities. Due to the start of use cases with a high impact, the structure of relevant skills and the establishment of strong guardrails, accountants can not only keep pace with a changing profession, but also form its next chapter.

Dr. Alfred Sanders, CPA is CFO Forum Leader at Genpact.