Accounting
Small firm AI plans must balance budget with ambition
Some firms, the ones that constantly grab headlines, are spending billions of dollars to create bespoke artificial intelligence systems to service their Fortune 500 clients who need complex compliance and advisory services to support their global footprint.
In contrast, the vast majority of firms are spending maybe a few thousand dollars to license commercially available models, and perhaps a few thousand more to train staff and integrate systems. Overall, if someone is not building billion-vector custom models housed on a massive server farm, AI is actually quite cheap, especially considering the capacity upgrades it can present.
Firms with about one to 200 people are mostly engaging with the subscription model products right now, according to TJ Lewis, innovation strategist with Rightworks, an accounting-specialized cloud provider. “They’re not building out their own models,” he added. “They’re not securing a bunch of server time or things like that to spin up their own things by and large.”
Andrey Popov/stock.adobe.com
Part of this is because smaller firms don’t have the resources to construct their own custom AI models, especially the oceans of data to feed them, as well as the technical experts to bring it all together, according to Donny Shimamoto, head of IntrapriseTechKnowlogies, a tech advisory practice specializing in CPA firms.
“It kind of makes sense,” he added. “In order for AI to work to a good extent, you need a high volume of data, and smaller firms just don’t have that volume. They need to teach the AI. And they also don’t have simply the teams to be able to build that out cost effectively.”
Another reason is they really don’t need to, he added. Huge sophisticated AI models are generally used for highly complex tasks for highly complex companies, which is why the international-scale firms tend to invest in them. Conversely, the tasks most local accountants are handling for their clients are simpler by many orders of magnitude. In the majority of cases, said Shimamoto, a commercially available model will work fine for their purposes.
“There’s personal AI or personal LLMs that, if a practitioner had a decent amount of content that they wanted to have readily searchable, they could use those LLMs like [Google’s] Notebook [LLM] or something. Those personal LLMs are designed to run off of a laptop, so you won’t see these huge incremental costs coming along,” he said. The cost of commercial AI solutions has also been going down over the years, he added, and many of the ongoing costs of these products are now at the vendor level.
Furey Financial Services, a 38-employee firm in Hoboken, New Jersey, that was also named one of this year’s
“From our perspective we’re not trying to build our own LLMs or infrastructure,” he said. “It was really about how do we from a low-cost perspective leverage some of these models out there and plug them into our workflow, so you can differentiate AI into that platform component. … We’re going to really focus on the application layer and see where we can put these things to use while not trying to build the new AI model ourselves.”
This falls in line with the general advice Shimamoto had for smaller firms looking to invest in AI. It is the same as it is for any other major tech purchase: Firms must start with the use case, then find technology to fill it. Too many firms, he believes, do it the other way around, much to their detriment.
“It’s the same way we’ve prioritized IT spend for the last two decades at least,” he added. “It comes down to where is the business value? What is the business strategy? And how will AI contribute to that? We do have to be careful of AI being a solution looking for a problem, but I have been seeing that a bunch.”
Waller said that when Furey was first thinking through its approach to AI, it considered building its own proprietary model, or to train one using an open source model like Llama as a base. However the firm calculated that this would carry not just a significant one-time cost for development but ongoing expenses such as server space. “We decided not to go that route and really just say ‘Hey, let’s get it plugged into our workflow but let’s hold off on running our own model,'” said Waller. This has helped the firm gain efficiency and productivity bonuses from AI while keeping IT costs low.
However, Furey is more than just a consumer of AI products. While it’s not prepared to drop millions of dollars on custom systems, it has found great cost savings in the form of creating its own API access point for OpenAI’s models. During the development process, Furey estimated its expenses would be hundreds of dollars per month, but as time went on and OpenAI introduced new capacities, the cost began to drop. While the cost savings are nice, Waller said the real benefit is in better quality client services.
“That cost has gone to near zero,” he added. “Once we got our whole team up and running on it, all the clients, we’ve got thousands of [API] calls, [but] we’re in no more than 10 bucks a month. But the investment really is on our team knowing which way to go and connecting the API client to the API gateway in a secure way, doing all that dev work to plug that into our templates on a daily basis and go through that.”
Doug Schrock, managing AI principal for Top 25 Firm Crowe, said small firms should be actively experimenting with AI beyond just buying or licensing a commercial solution, which he called “the homeowner level of AI.” While the investment is much less, there is an upper limit on the value it can create because it does not enable more significant redesigns to processes and tasks that are offered by more complex solutions. Overall, he said, firms should be seeking to innovate and make strategic relationships with some of the larger AI players out there.
While it’s fine for now to stick mostly with what’s on the market, he warned that smaller firms will need to increase their AI capacities soon, or else be outcompeted by other firms. Smaller players who can’t or won’t make these investments, Schrock predicted, will start falling behind. They might need to do things like hire consultants to help get them to that next stage of AI development. “The market is moving and folks like us get a higher level of value allowing us to get more cost competitive and deliver value and speed they maybe can’t,” he added.
“In the next six to 12 months, get your people using the tools tied to your existing system,” Schrock said. “If everyone is running MS Suite, turn on Copilot. It’s $30 bucks a month per user. Have your people start using the AI features built into your core system, then maybe get some spot LLM tools like ChatGPT or some AI-based research tool. They need to get in the game now if they haven’t already.”
Jody Padar, an author and speaker known as “The Radical CPA,” and Katie Tolin, a growth strategist for CPAs, together launched a training and technology platform called XcelLabs.
XcelLabs provides solutions to help accountants use artificial technology fluently and strategically. The Pennsylvania Institute of CPAs and CPA Crossings joined with Padar and Tolin as strategic partners and investors.
“To reinvent the profession, we must start by training the professional who can then transform their firms,” Padar said in a statement. “By equipping people with data and insights that help them see things differently, they can provide better advice to their clients and firm.”
The platform includes XcelLabs Academy, a series of educational online courses on the basics of AI, being a better advisor, leadership and practice management; Navi, a proprietary tool that uses AI to help accountants turn unstructured data like emails, phone calls and meetings into insights; and training and consulting services. These offerings are currently in beta testing.
“Accountants know they need to be more advisory, but not everyone can figure out how to do it,” Tolin said in a statement. “Couple that with the fact that AI will be doing a lot of the lower-level work accountants do today, and we need to create that next level advisor now. By showing accountants how to unlock patterns in their actions and turn client conversations into emotionally intelligent advice, we can create the accounting professional of the future.”
“AI is transforming how CPAs work, and XcelLabs is focused on helping the profession evolve with it,” PICPA CEO Jennifer Cryder said in a statement. “At PICPA, we’re proud to support a mission that aligns so closely with ours: empowering firms to use AI not just for efficiency, but to drive growth, value and long-term relevance.”
The accountant the world urgently needs has evolved far beyond the traditional role we recognized just a few years ago.
The transformation of the accounting profession is not merely an anticipated change; it is a pressing reality that is currently shaping business decisions, academic programs and the expected contributions of professionals. Yet, in many areas, accounting education stubbornly clings to outdated, overly technical models that fail to connect with the actual demands of the market. We must confront a critical question: If we continue to train accountants solely to file tax reports, are we truly equipping them for the challenges of today’s world?
This shift in mindset extends beyond individual countries or educational systems; it is a global movement. The recent announcement of the
The CIMA/CGMA proposal for 2026 is not just a curriculum update; it is a powerful manifesto. This new program positions analytical thinking, strategic business partnering and technology application at the core of accounting education. It unequivocally highlights sustainability, aligning with IFRS S1 and S2, and expands the accountant’s responsibilities beyond mere numbers to encompass conscious leadership, environmental impact and corporate governance.
The current changes in the accounting profession underscore an urgent shift in expectations from both educators and employers. Today, companies of all sizes and industries demand accountants who can do far more than interpret balance sheets. They expect professionals who grasp the deeper context behind the numbers, identify inconsistencies, anticipate potential issues before they escalate into losses, and act decisively as a bridge between data and decision making.
To meet these expectations, a radical mindset shift is essential. There are firms still operating on autopilot, mindlessly repeating tasks with minimal critical analysis. Likewise, many academic programs continue to treat accounting as purely a technical discipline, disregarding the vital elements of reflection, strategy and behavioral insight. This outdated approach creates a significant mismatch. While the world forges ahead, parts of the accounting profession remain stuck in the past.
The consequences of this shift are already becoming evident. The demand for compliance, transparency and sustainability now applies not only to large corporations but also to small and mid-sized businesses. Many of these organizations rely on professionals ill-equipped to drive the necessary changes, putting both business performance and the reputation of the profession at risk.
The positive news is that accountants who are ready to thrive in this new era do not necessarily need additional degrees. What they truly need is a commitment to awareness, a dedication to continuous learning, and the courage to step beyond their comfort zones. The future of accounting is here, and it is firmly rooted in analytical, strategic and human-oriented perspectives. The 2026 curriculum is a clear indication of the changes underway. Those who fail to think critically and holistically will be left behind.
In contrast, accountants who see the big picture, understand the ripple effects of their decisions, and actively contribute to the financial and ethical health of organizations will undeniably remain indispensable, anywhere in the world.
Congressional Republicans are siding with Donald Trump in the messy divorce between the president and Elon Musk, an optimistic sign for eventual passage of a tax cut bill at the root of the two billionaires’ public feud.
Lawmakers are largely taking their cues from Trump and sticking by the $3 trillion bill at the center of the White House’s economic agenda. Musk, the biggest political donor of the 2024 cycle, has threatened to help primary anyone who votes for the legislation, but lawmakers are betting that staying in the president’s good graces is the safer path to political survival.
“The tax bill is not in jeopardy. We are going to deliver on that,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters on Friday.
“I’ll tell you what — do not doubt, don’t second guess and do not challenge the President of the United States Donald Trump,” he added. “He is the leader of the party. He’s the most consequential political figure of our time.”
A fight between Trump and Musk exploded into public view this week. The sparring started with the tech titan calling the president’s tax bill a “disgusting abomination,” but quickly escalated to more personal attacks and Trump threatening to cancel all federal contracts and subsidies to Musk’s companies, such as Tesla Inc. and SpaceX which have benefitted from government ties.
Republicans on Capitol Hill, who had — until recently — publicly embraced Musk, said they weren’t swayed by the billionaire’s criticism that the bill cost too much. Lawmakers have refuted official estimates of the package, saying that the tax cuts for households, small businesses and politically important groups — including hospitality and hourly workers — will generate enough economic growth to offset the price tag.
“I don’t tell my friend Elon, I don’t argue with him about how to build rockets, and I wish he wouldn’t argue with me about how to craft legislation and pass it,” Johnson told CNBC earlier Friday.
House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington told reporters that House lawmakers are focused on working with the Senate as it revises the bill to make sure the legislation has the political support in both chambers to make it to Trump’s desk for his signature.
“We move past the drama and we get the substance of what is needed to make the modest improvements that can be made,” he said.
House fiscal hawks said that they hadn’t changed their prior positions on the legislation based on Musk’s statements. They also said they agree with GOP leaders that there will be other chances to make further spending cuts outside the tax bill.
Representative Tom McClintock, a fiscal conservative, said “the bill will pass because it has to pass,” adding that both Musk and Trump needed to calm down. “They both need to take a nap,” he said.
Even some of the House bill’s most vociferous critics appeared resigned to its passage. Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie, who voted against the House version, predicted that despite Musk’s objections, the Senate will make only small changes.
“The speaker is right about one thing. This barely passed the House. If they muck with it too much in the Senate, it may not pass the House again,” he said.
Trump is pressuring lawmakers to move at breakneck speed to pass the tax-cut bill, demanding they vote on the bill before the July 4 holiday. The president has been quick to blast critics of the bill — including calling Senator Rand Paul
As the legislation worked its way through the House last month, Trump took to social media to criticize holdouts and invited undecided members to the White House to compel them to support the package. It passed by one vote.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune — who is planning to unveil his chamber’s version of the bill as soon as next week — said his timeline is unmoved by Musk.
“We are already pretty far down the trail,” he said.
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