How to Catch the AI Wave: A Guide for Accounting Firms

TL;DR

• AI eliminates manual work, not accountants. It handles the tedious tasks so you can focus on advisory services.
• Firms using AI-native tools are closing books 50% faster and redirecting those hours toward higher-value client work.
• Choose software built with AI at its core—not legacy systems with AI bolted on as an afterthought.
• Adopt a "trust but verify" approach. AI processes up to 98% of transactions accurately; you validate and stay accountable.
• Start small. Test AI tools on one or two clients before rolling out firm-wide.
• Look for native integrations with tools like Stripe, Ramp, Mercury, and Rippling—no manual journal entries or broken feeds.
• You bring what AI can't: judgment on nuanced tax rules, the story behind the numbers, client relationships, and accountability when things go wrong.

Firms using AI effectively are closing books in half the time. Firms that aren't are watching clients walk toward those that do. Here's how to make sure you're in the first group.

If you're ready to take the leap, we don't want you to do it out of fear of being left behind. We want you embracing it for the right reasons. So let's answer the question: How do you safely ride the AI wave in a way that strengthens your role as an advisor?

Understanding the AI Wave

Before you can ride the AI wave, you need to understand what it is.

The AI wave is the shift from manual work performed by humans to automated, intelligence-driven work performed by machines.

More simply put, AI does all the work you hate to do. Think about it: you didn't go to school to organize receipts and code individual transactions, right? AI makes your life a lot easier by doing all those pesky tasks you don't want to do. For accountants, embracing high-quality AI tools often looks like moving from:

• Manually coding GL transactions → Systems that automatically categorize them
• Reconciling accounts line-by-line → Tools that detect variances, match transactions, and flag exceptions for review
• Building reports by hand → Software that generates schedules and financials before you even ask

AI may feel new, but it's actually part of a longer evolution. Robotic process automation (RPA) is automation technology that's been around for decades. RPA handles simple, predictable tasks by following clear instructions: "If X happens, do Y."

AI is simply the next step in that evolution.

Where RPA is rigid (A+B=C), AI is more flexible. It helps you see patterns, understand context, consider new ideas, and take note of anomalies, all without needing to create rules for each task.

QuickBooks is notorious for using RPA in its solutions. While RPA isn't inherently bad, a system that relies heavily on it requires lots of manual setup. Susan Wozena, CPA and Head Bookkeeper at Accountalent—a firm that's served over 7,500 venture-backed startups—explains it like this:

"You can set up rules in QuickBooks, but you have to set up a lot of rules if you want to get to 100% automatic. That's a project in itself."

We bring RPA into the picture for a reason: to show you that AI isn't something to fear. You've likely been using RPA for years without even noticing. Most likely, the accounting software you've been recommending to your clients for the last 10+ years uses RPA behind the scenes for some of its automated functions.

AI can be adopted just as easily.

As long as you choose software built with modern AI at its core, you can let AI handle the automation. Your job will simply be to verify it's doing its job. Maggie Isaac, CEO and Founder of Wrapped Accounting, says this:

"My philosophy around AI is trust but verify... I very heavily believe in employing AI, but the reason it won't replace top-tier accountants is because there has to be accountability somewhere, right? And the AI isn't going to be accountable to you if it's wrong."

When the manual work goes away, something powerful happens. As John, CFO at Accountalent—a firm that's served thousands of startups—put it:

"The time we save from automation goes straight to advisory services where we're truly adding value. Now our clients feel like they're paying $300 a month and getting  a fractional CFO."

What AI Adoption Looks Like in Practice

Trivium was among the early firms to embrace AI-native accounting tools—and the results speak for themselves:

• Complete 81% of bank reconciliations without human intervention
• Cut month-end close time by 50%
• Pull in better and more complete data, requiring less frequent client follow-ups

AI liberated Trivium from the manual spreadsheet slog, saving them time and freeing up their workforce to focus on value-added tasks.

Another firm owner, Maggie Isaac at Wrapped Accounting, reports that her team's capacity has doubled since adopting AI-native tools—from five clients per person to ten. As she puts it: "People in this industry work crazy hours. You don't need to. The right tools can give you some of your life back."

Will AI Replace You?

AI is a tool, not a replacement. It handles the repetitive work, leaving space for you to provide the expertise, judgment, and strategic thinking your clients actually value.

AI solutions are fantastic tools, but they have their limitations—these AI tools aren't you. Here are a few things AI-enabled software can't do for you:

• Apply judgment: AI can't make judgment calls when the tax rules get nuanced or when transactions have multiple possible treatments.
• Interpret the real story behind the numbers: AI can note patterns, but only accountants can interpret what those patterns mean.
• Communicate and educate: Software can automate tasks, but it can't explain why something happened or what to do next. Clients rely on you to translate the reports.
• Manage the fallout when real life gets messy: Late vendor payments, payroll changes, unexpected transactions—AI doesn't always know how to course correct when something gets off track.
• Build trust: Clients don't form relationships with algorithms. They put their trust in humans, those who have heard their concerns and can anticipate their needs.

The bottom line? AI will change how accountants work, but it won't replace the accountability, judgment, and relationships that define top-tier accounting professionals.

Simple and Effective Ways to Embrace AI

You don't need to overhaul your entire tech stack at once to ride the AI wave. In fact, the most successful firms start small.

Maggie Isaac encourages firms to test new software on just one or two clients before making a larger shift:

"Give it a try. There has to be one client top of mind that QuickBooks just isn't working for and you know that the process could be better. Start with one and see how you like it."

When we talk with firms, they often cite QuickBooks as a point of frustration. While it does offer some AI-enabled features, many of them feel clunky and unintuitive—and both firm owners and their clients are getting frustrated. The good news? There are modern, AI-driven solutions that remove that friction entirely.

When you're evaluating whether accounting software is using AI effectively, here are a few capabilities it should have:

AI-Driven Transaction Processing

AI should be able to handle nearly all transactions you toss at it. Look for solutions that can:

• Classify transactions correctly. You shouldn't need to build rules for every scenario. Look for systems that can categorize the vast majority of transactions automatically, without manual rule creation. Firms using modern AI report handling up to 98% of transactions with minimal intervention—compared to 85%+ manual review with rule-based systems.
• Produce clean data. In order for AI to work, you need the right data. Reliable integrations keep data flowing cleanly so transactions are correct with little manual cleanup required. Puzzle offers native connections with modern tools like Ramp, Brex, Stripe, and Rippling, so your clients can keep using the platforms their teams love.
• Make reconciliations feel effortless. Reconciliations should feel like an extension of transaction processing—not an extra chore. With accurate categorizations and dependable integrations, AI-enabled software should be able to reconcile accounts automatically.

AI-Assisted Reviews

AI should make your review process faster, easier, and more accurate. Look for tools that support:

• Data completeness checks. Your AI software should flag gaps in data, not just errors. For example, if you processed Stripe transactions last month but have none this month, the system should surface that discrepancy.
• Balance sheet and income statement activity checks. Your software should catch unexpected activity before it turns into errors. This includes reviewing transfers between bank accounts; checking for unlinked credit card payments; and keeping an eye out for unusual payroll activity.
• Accuracy reviews that learn. When you're using AI to post transactions, how can you know it's accurate? AI-enabled accuracy reviews flag entries that might need human review. Once a member of your team reviews that entry, the system will learn and be more accurate going forward.

Automated Reporting

AI enables continuous accounting and automated reporting. With clean data flowing in automatically, and with it being categorized, reconciled, and accuracy checked—it means your reporting updates in near real time. This helps simplify your reporting workflows. Your software should:

• Generate reports. Your software shouldn't just spit out raw data; it should help you make sense of it. Puzzle can generate financial reports directly from your GL, without manual spreadsheets.
• Offer a live metrics dashboard. You want to be able to review your books in real time, not just at month-end. At minimum, your dashboard should give you a snapshot of your most important reports—your balance sheet and income statement—but you'll also want to see:
  • Cash and Available Cash Balance: A realistic, up-to-date cash snapshot
  • Net Burn/Burn Rate: How much cash is flowing out over time
  • Runway/Run-Rate: How long you can continue operating before cash runs out
  • Cash Activity: Where your money is going every month
  • Trends: Patterns in revenues and expenses to flag issues early
• Assist with compliance. Software should be trained in complicated accounting rules. Puzzle understands GAAP and more complex concepts like revenue recognition, so it can create the right reports—when you need them.

How You Can Catch the AI Wave

Implementing new software may sound daunting, but modern AI-native tools are designed for faster onboarding and cleaner automations. The key is choosing platforms built from the ground up around AI—not legacy systems with AI bolted on as an afterthought.

One boutique firm serving family offices and investors reported reducing close time by 50% after switching to AI-native tools—and they're now on track to double their client capacity per team member.

When the software is simple, everything else gets better. You spend less time fixing problems and more time delivering high-value insights to your clients. As Maggie Isaac puts it:

"We don't talk about transactions anymore. That's not where the value of our firm lies. The value of our firm is top level—it's insights, it's speed, and it's accuracy."

Ready to Ride the Wave?

Hundreds of firms—from boutique practices to full-service providers like Burkland and Accountalent—have already made the switch to AI-native accounting. They're saving hours every week, growing their client base without burning out their teams, and finally delivering the advisory services they got into this business to provide.

Curious what it could look like for your firm? See how Puzzle works →

‍