# A field study of SME accounting finds accountants step in where the AI is unsure, and time moves from data entry to client communication

Page: https://flyvolo.ai/en/changes/ev-20250331-accountant-8
Date: 2025-03-31 · Stage: Labour impact
Can this record move a task judgement? yes
Occupation: https://flyvolo.ai/en/careers/accountant

## Scope

United States. The peer-reviewed study uses surveys of 277 accountants (November 2024 and March 2025) and over 200,000 transaction records from an AI-enabled accounting platform serving 79 small and medium-sized firms (January 2023 to March 2025). It finds accountants selectively intervene when AI confidence scores are low; that GenAI is used much less for tasks valued for professional judgement and oversight, such as complex quality assurance and advisory services; and that each standard-deviation increase in GenAI use is associated with a 2.6 percentage-point reduction in time spent on routine data entry, offset by more business communication and quality assurance. Associational, small firms only.

## Source

- Jung Ho Choi and Chloe L. Xie — 'Human + AI in Accounting: Early Evidence from the Field', Journal of Accounting Research (first published 16 April 2026) — https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1475-679x.70052 (primary source)

## What this means

Where AI does the bookkeeping, the accountant's time goes to the cases the system is unsure about and to talking with clients.

## What it does not show yet

Small and medium firms on one platform; the time shift is an association, not a measured effect of a rule or rollout.

## How to verify it yourself

Open the article and find "accountants selectively intervene when AI confidence scores are low".


More: https://flyvolo.ai/llms.txt