How Accounting and Bookkeeping Firms Use AI in 2026

Two Cents Magazine by Financial Cents is a free quarterly magazine for small and growing accounting and bookkeeping firms. Issue 02 examines how these firms are using artificial intelligence in 2026, and where adoption is falling short of its promise.

Drawing on a Financial Cents survey of 486 North American accounting and bookkeeping professionals, alongside interviews with firm owners, technology leaders, and industry experts, the issue explores AI adoption, measurable ROI, human oversight, pricing, capacity, professional development, and the controls firms are building around the technology.

Almost everyone in accounting has at least tried AI, but few are leveraging it to the fullest. This issue looks at where the profession actually stands with AI—and what’s standing in the way of getting more out of it.

What’s inside this issue:

• Data from nearly 500 of your peers on the tools they are using and what’s working
• Honest AI perspectives from real accounting and bookkeeping professionals
• Advice from the industry’s top AI voices

Read the stories in Issue 02

Every story should be linked from this hub with a one- or two-sentence description:

1. A Note From Our Founder
   The editorial introduction to the issue and why AI adoption is a defining question for small firms.
2. The Adoption Illusion
   What survey data reveals about the gap between trying AI and achieving measurable value.
3. The Turtle and the Rocket
   Jan Haugo’s perspective on helping firms adopt AI without losing control of their processes.
4. Building Fast, Living Slow
   How Chad Davis uses AI and automation to increase capacity while protecting the life he wants.
5. More of What Matters
   How accounting firms are reinvesting AI-created capacity in clients, teams, and higher-value work.
6. Time Is Not Money
   Why faster work is forcing firms to reconsider hourly billing, fixed fees, and value.
7. Trust but Verify
   How firms manage AI errors, client-data risks, fraud, skill erosion, and human oversight.
8. Is AI Coming for Tax Compliance?
   Scott Winters’s perspective on how AI may shift tax professionals toward review, planning, and advisory work.
9. Q&A with Abdullah Almsaeed
   The Financial Cents co-founder and CTO discusses where AI helps small firms and why verification matters.