Accounting going AI-First

Accounting going AI-First

From Compliance to Cognition

The future of accounting is AI-First.

Firms that embrace this shift will deliver faster, smarter, and more strategic services. With Microsoft Power Platform and Copilot Studio, and AccleroTech as your partner, the transformation is not just possible—it’s practical, scalable, and profitable.

The accounting profession is undergoing a profound shift. With increasing pressure to deliver faster, more accurate, and insight-driven services, firms are turning to AI—not just as a tool, but as a strategic foundation.

This blog explores how accounting firms can embrace an AI-First approach across four dimensions: challenges, constraints, opportunities, and aspirations, and how Microsoft Power Platform and Copilot Studio, with AccleroTech as a transformation partner, can help firms lead the change.

Challenges: The Burden of Manual, Repetitive Work

Accounting firms face mounting operational challenges:

• Manual data entry and reconciliation consume up to 40% of staff time.

• Audit and compliance processes are slow and error-prone.

• Client demands for real-time insights are rising.

• Talent shortages make scaling difficult.

According to Gitnux (2025), over 62% of accounting firms struggle with process inefficiencies, and 58% cite lack of automation as a key barrier to growth.

AI-First Use Cases:

• Automate journal entries and bank reconciliations using Power Automate.

• Use AI Builder to extract data from invoices and receipts.

• Deploy Copilot Studio agents to guide staff through audit procedures or answer client FAQs.

Constraints: Legacy Systems and Limited Tech Resources

Even firms ready to innovate face constraints:

• Fragmented systems and legacy ERPs.

• Limited IT staff to support transformation.

• Security and compliance concerns around sensitive financial data.

Gartner reports that 80% of low-code users will be outside IT by 2026, signaling a shift towards empowering business users.

AI-First Use Cases:

• Build secure, custom apps with Power Apps to unify data entry across systems.

• Use Power Platform connectors to integrate legacy systems without heavy coding.

• Create Copilot agents that access SharePoint or SQL data securely to assist staff.

Opportunities: Efficiency, Insight, and Innovation

AI opens new doors for accounting firms:

• Automate 30–50% of routine tasks, freeing up time for advisory work.

• Deliver predictive insights with Power BI dashboards.

• Enhance client experience with AI-driven chatbots and assistants.

One mid-sized firm used Power Platform to automate its month-end close, saving 200+ hours per month. Another deployed a Copilot agent to handle tax FAQs, reducing email volume by 40%.

AI-First Use Cases:

• Use Power BI to visualize cash flow, receivables, and audit KPIs.

• Create Copilot agents that assist clients with tax queries or document uploads.

• Automate approval workflows for expenses and vendor payments.

Aspirations: Becoming Insight-Led Advisory Partners

Accounting firms aspire to:

• Move from compliance to strategic advisory.

• Empower staff to innovate and build their own tools.

• Deliver proactive insights and personalized client service.

With over 230,000 organizations using AI in Power Platform, the tools are proven and scalable.

AI-First Use Cases:

• Train staff to become citizen developers using AccleroTech’s guided programs.

• Build a Center of Excellence for Power Platform innovation.

• Use Copilot Studio to create internal knowledge agents for onboarding and training.

AccleroTech: Your Partner in the AI & Low-Code Journey

Implementing AI solutions and cultivating citizen developers in Accounting arena is a journey – one that AccleroTech specializes in accelerating.

AccleroTech is a Microsoft-aligned consulting and solutions firm that has helped numerous organizations ride this wave of AI and low-code transformation, with a focus on service-centric business processes.

• AI-First, Low-Code-First Expertise: AccleroTech was founded on the principle of combining AI with low-code to solve business problems quickly. Our teams dive into new technologies like Microsoft’s Copilot Studio as soon as they emerge, so we can bring the latest capabilities to our clients. Whether it’s integrating Azure OpenAI services into a custom workflow or designing an intelligent chatbot from scratch, we have the know-how to make it happen fast and make it work at scale.

  
  

• Lean Teams, Quick Results: We pride ourselves on being nimble. In one client engagement, our five-member team delivered in just 8 weeks what a previous vendor quoted a 15-person team and 6 months to accomplish – and we even exceeded the original scope. For BPO clients, this agility means faster ROI and the ability to impress your customers sooner. We start by identifying high-impact use cases (for example, automating a claims intake process or augmenting the helpdesk with a copilot agent) and rapidly deliver a pilot solution. Success is then scaled across other processes in a structured, iterative manner. This approach has repeatedly saved clients time and millions in costs through efficiency gains.

  
  

• Empowerment Over Dependency: AccleroTech’ DOES NOT WANT to develop a one-off solution and then stick around billing indefinitely. Instead, we differentiate by upskilling your team every step of the way. As we implement, we conduct hands-on trainings, pair your staff with our solution architects, and establish best practices like governance councils or Centers of Excellence. Your employees learn to fish – building confidence in using Power Platform components, crafting their own bots, and maintaining solutions post-deployment. By project’s end, you don’t just get a new AI tool – you gain a self-sufficient citizen development capability within your organization. This empowerment mindset ensures the improvements continue long after our consultants have finished the project.

  
  

• Holistic Support – From Strategy to Execution: If you’re earlier in the journey, we can help craft your automation and AI roadmap: Which processes to tackle first? How to align initiatives with business KPIs? We’ll identify the quick wins and the long-term plays. Our team then assists in execution – everything from solution design, development, testing, to change management and user training. And thanks to our Pro Developer assistance, even highly complex integrations or custom code needs are handled. (For example, if you need a custom connector built for a legacy system or want to embed a predictive AI model into a workflow, our Pro Devs collaborate seamlessly with the low-code solutions.) The result is enterprise-grade solutions that incorporate both off-the-shelf power and bespoke development where it’s needed.

How AccleroTech Helps Accounting Firms help Accounting going AI-First

For accounting firms, AccleroTech offers:

• Training & Mentoring: Upskill accountants to build apps and bots, working closely with internal IT teams.

  
  

• Pro Developer Support: Handle complex integrations and custom AI models.

  
  

• Solution Co-Design: Collaborate with your domain experts and internal IT to build impactful tools in Power Platform and Copilot Studio.

  
  

• Center of Excellence Setup: Establish governance, best practices, and reuse-first repositories.

AccleroTech’s solutions repository (Link here) includes 125+ reusable Power Platform Solutions that encompass use cases including finance, audit, tax, and client service domains.

Contact us at info@acclerotech.com and let us work together for Accounting going AI-First!