Leveraging AI and Automation in Accounting Practices

Can AI agents actually reduce your workload—or just add hype? Blake demos how he rebuilt bill-entry “Hubdoc-style” in about an hour with Zapier Agents, then maps out why most AI pilots fail without documented workflows and human approvals. Plus: PwC’s plan to hire one-third fewer grads, juniors supervising AI, HMRC scanning social posts for tax gaps, and fresh salary and pricing benchmarks. Learn where AI truly fits—and how to price with confidence.

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• (05:36) - AI Agents: Hype vs. Reality
• (07:49) - AI's Impact on Corporate America
• (10:28) - Challenges in AI Integration
• (19:11) - PWC and AI: Training the Next Generation
• (21:43) - Building AI Agents with Zapier
• (41:00) - Human at Scale: Transforming Accounting Firms
• (42:34) - Live Stream Chat and AI Future
• (45:14) - Outsourcing vs. AI in Business
• (46:37) - AI in Accounting: Supervision and Customization
• (48:33) - Intuit's Q4 Earnings and QuickBooks Live
• (51:00) - AI's Impact on Accounting Jobs and Tools
• (59:48) - UK's AI Tax Fraud Detection
• (01:03:27) - Accounting Salary Survey Results
• (01:13:40) - Client Relationships and Free Speech Issues
• (01:18:18) - Conclusion and CPE Information

Show Notes

The GenAI Divide: State of AI in Business 2025 (MIT NANDA Report)
https://fortune.com/2025/08/18/mit-report-95-percent-generative-ai-pilots-at-companies-failing-cfo/

Getting a job at PwC out of college will be a lot tougher. It plans to recruit a third fewer grads by 2028
https://www.aol.com/getting-job-pwc-college-lot-120316405.html

HMRC uses AI to spot tax fraud on social media
https://www.accountancyage.com/2025/08/12/hmrc-uses-ai-to-spot-tax-fraud-on-social-media/

The 2025 Accounting Today Salary Survey: Sweetening the deal
https://www.accountingtoday.com/news/the-2025-accounting-today-salary-survey-sweetening-the-deal

2025 U.S. Accounting and Tax Pricing Benchmark (Ignition)
https://www.ignitionapp.com/us/2025-accounting-tax-pricing-benchmark

TaxDome Releases First-of-Its-Kind 2025 Niche Business Accounting Report
https://www.morningstar.com/news/pr-newswire/20250819ph53815/taxdome-releases-first-of-its-kind-2025-niche-business-accounting-report

2025 Niche Business Accounting Report (TaxDome)
https://taxdome.com/niche-report-2025

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Transcripts

The full transcript for this episode is available by clicking on the Transcript tab at the top of this page