Is it worth training as an accountant or bookkeeper?

[doodahdayy]

What with AI software becoming more available, would it be worth training in bookkeeping or accountancy now? Would love to hear from anyone in the industry or who has recently trained.

HMRC doesn't accept AI accounts it needs a human to sign them off. Theses is a massive shortage of accountants in the UK hence so much off shoring. You need to offer advisory services really though. The days of accountants seeing clients once a year for year end are numbered

There is no way some of my job could be replaced by AI- automation yes, but you still need that human element.

I'm training a class of 80 tonight for their professional exams and they obviously don't think AI is full of doom for their profession. In fact one of the questions we're looking at is an investment in AI.

Bookkeeping is a very different proposition as it is very mechanical.

Ignore anyone who says AI will replace accountants. They probably think we put numbers in tax return. Accountants deal with strategic decision making and the future is bright.

I am a bookkeeper and earn a good living and there is NO WAY AI could do my job!!!!

Of course. AI makes mistakes and can't replace information given by words or nuance.

It's handy. But not a replacement.

If you like it, then make a start. Good luck!

People were saying that computers would make accountants redundant back in the 80s. It didn't happen. AI won't make it happen either. Accountancy is very different from simple number crunching. I've been seeing "automation" for a few years now with the new breed of online book-keeping systems. If anything it creates more work for accountants rather than less, and that's just the book-keeping/basic accounts side of things. But accountancy is so much more than that. It's a mix of tax planning, accountancy, forecasting, data analysis, business/investment evaluation, etc. Accountants pull it all together. AI can certainly help around the edges, but there's no way it will ever be capable of seeing the bigger picture and coming up with personalised solutions to personal/business financial issues/options.

I'd definitely recommend people to join the accountancy profession, but I'd also recommend that they ensure they have excellent personal skills and IT skills and data analysis skills, so the modern accountant needs to be multi skilled to offer something more than AI can offer, yet fully utilise AI to help them do it!

Some elements of both bookkeeping and accounting can be replaced by AI in my opinion, so you will do better in both if you’re AI-positive and have knowledge and experience of implementing automated processes.

In my opinion neither job can be done by AI. There is a lot of relationships involved in bookkeeping (persuading directors to send you their receipts, setting boundaries with suppliers around payment dates, supporting team members who can’t fill in timesheets etc). And a lot of business advice/financial strategy/decision making in accounting roles.

You're being left with the interesting stuff though now. XERO etc are taking away the bank recs & matching transactions

xero can’t even do the bank rec without me checking / correcting it / splitting things etc.

Agree the this.
I use QuickBooks for our business accounts but I still get someone from our accounts company to do bank reconciliations and VAT. The reason I do this is that I’m not a Bookkeeper or accountant and my time is better spent doing other things in the business. Plus I have peace of mind that accounts are all correct. I don’t think I’d get that from AI.

Blooming heck I just wrote a reply and it’s been hidden by @MNHQ. I wonder what I did wrong. I was only talking about bookkeeping 😂

Did you you a banned word like "debit"?

I asked my class "Are you worried about AI making you redundant?"

Answer "No" except for one who is a big Trump fan. He probably wants to stick a tariff on accountancy

Yup, same with Freegent, Quickbooks etc. I wouldn't trust it to get the analysis right. After all, whilst you can "train" it to allocate Amazon payments, there's no way that QB, Xero, or Freeagent will know whether a payment to Amazon is for something to resell (cost of sales), or an expense like stationery or cleaning, or an asset such as a computer or a desk, or even something for the business owner's personal use, such as a present for their child's birthday. Likewise it can't possibly "know" whether a payment has VAT on it, and if so, the rate of VAT. And that's all assuming it "imports" all transactions - several times, we've found there to be "gaps" of transactions not imported that we had to notice and then manually enter. Yes, importing transactions is an "aid", but it can't replace a human. A computer bought from Amazon for one business could be a cost of sale, for another it could be an asset, for another it could be little Jimmy's Christmas present. It's a massive worry that the software firms are peddling their software as a "solution" and even more of a worry that HMRC are embracing it!

Sounds like most in your class actually understand what accountancy is - most people havn't a clue and that's why they wrongly think that AI will replace accountants.

Same with solicitors. Yes, AI will "help" solicitors with document drafting, checking contracts, etc., but it would be stupidly dangerous to rely on it being right and documents not being properly checked by a human who knows what they're doing.

Ooooh, I’ve just started a new post asking about bookkeeping!. Would really appreciate any tips or advice if you have 5 mins 😊

I should hope so. They have their last professional exam after around 3 years of studying and a lot of hard work & determination in a month's time, after which they will have letters after their name.

Happy to answer any questions ! Can you link to your thread?

Clients can get into a considerable mess with Xero…..I wouldn’t even take a bank rec for granted!

Yes. The spaghetti I have had to untangle before piecing everything back together. That’s what I spent today doing actually! But I like digging into problems and then straightening them out. 🤓

Thank you! here it is …

www.mumsnet.com/talk/work/5330345-bookkeeping-qualification?reply=144120213

It's like that old adage, isn't it?

To err is human, to really fuck things up you need a computer.

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I keep meaning to continue my studies so these replies have spurred me on!