Artificial intelligence can draft an email in seconds, summarize a meeting, organize client information and reduce the time required to complete routine work.
But does that mean the firm’s AI investment is succeeding?
Not necessarily.
The AI conversation in tax and accounting is increasingly divided between two competing visions. Silicon Valley sees the opportunity to rebuild firms around AI-native systems and autonomous agents. Professionals working inside real firms see clients, deadlines, compliance obligations, established workflows and decades of processes that cannot simply be removed overnight.
The future will likely exist somewhere between those two extremes.
In this episode of The Growth Minded Accountant, Lee Reams explains why AI success should not be measured by software demonstrations, licenses purchased or minutes theoretically saved. The more important question is whether professionals trust the technology enough to use it and whether that adoption makes the firm more capable.
Lee breaks down four practical measures tax and accounting firms can use to evaluate AI ROI:
The episode also explores the difference between traditional workflows that track where work stands and AI workflows that help firms understand what the work requires. Lee explains why professional caution is often rational, why adoption must be included in the ROI calculation and why a powerful AI system that employees avoid may create less value than a simpler system they use every day.
Ultimately, AI should not remove professional judgment. It should reduce the preparation, administrative work and fragmented information that keep professionals from exercising that judgment.
The goal is not AI for the sake of AI.
The goal is a more intelligent, proactive and scalable firm.
1. AI capability and AI value are not the same thing
A system may be technically capable of performing impressive tasks, but it creates little value if professionals do not trust it, use it or incorporate it into real client work.
2. Adoption is part of the AI ROI calculation
Firms should measure more than logins and licenses. They should determine which AI processes employees use repeatedly, where outputs require correction and where professionals abandon the technology and return to their old workflows.
3. Professional caution is not always resistance to change
Tax and accounting professionals remain responsible for the work they deliver. Wanting to understand an AI system’s sources, reasoning and limitations is often appropriate professional judgment. However, caution should not become an excuse to preserve every outdated process indefinitely.
4. Time saved creates potential capacity, not automatic ROI
Reducing a one-hour task to 15 minutes does not automatically create 45 minutes of value. Firms must determine whether that time improves turnaround, reduces backlogs, creates advisory capacity or gives professionals more time with clients.
5. AI should reduce the cost of preparation
Professionals spend too much time locating documents, reviewing old notes, searching emails and reconstructing client history. AI should help organize and summarize that information so professionals can spend more time analyzing issues and making recommendations.
6. AI can make institutional knowledge more repeatable
A firm’s most valuable processes often live inside the heads of experienced partners and managers. AI skills and structured workflows can help make that knowledge available across the firm without replacing the professionals who created it.
7. Client intelligence is different from generic AI productivity
The productivity question is whether AI can write an article about Social Security planning. The intelligence question is which clients may need a Social Security planning conversation. The second use case can create a direct client and business outcome.
8. Intelligence must lead to action
Identifying an opportunity is not enough. Firms need a defined process for professional review, client outreach, conversations, proposals, delivery and follow-up.
9. AI should improve both business and human outcomes
A successful AI investment may improve revenue, margins, retention and operating leverage. It should also help clients receive more proactive service and allow employees to spend more time performing work that matches their expertise.
10. Professional judgment remains the boundary
AI can identify issues, organize facts and prepare professionals. It does not remove due diligence, accountability or the need for human review. In professional services, the human in the loop is often part of the product the client is paying for.
We know that everyone digests information differently. That’s why we’re now sharing the full transcript of each episode of The Growth Minded Accountant right here on the CountingWorks PRO blog. Whether you’re short on time, like to scan and highlight, or simply prefer reading over listening, you can catch up on every conversation at your own pace.
Each week, we cover topics that matter most to tax and accounting professionals—from AI and automation to marketing strategies, firm growth, and client relationships. Scroll down to read the full episode, or subscribe to the podcast to listen on the go.
Q. How should a tax or accounting firm measure AI ROI?
AI ROI should be measured across four areas: professional adoption and trust, usable capacity and consistency, client intelligence and action, and business and human outcomes. Time savings may contribute to ROI, but they are only valuable when the firm captures and redirects that time.
Q. Is time saved a reliable measure of AI success?
It is a useful starting point, but it is not enough. Firms must determine what happens to the saved time. If it reduces turnaround, creates additional capacity, improves client service or allows professionals to perform higher-value work, it may produce a measurable return.
Q. Why should adoption be included in the ROI calculation?
Theoretical capability has no economic value when employees do not use the technology. Adoption affects how much time is actually saved, how often work must be corrected and whether AI becomes part of the firm’s operating model.
Q. Do accounting firms need to replace their existing technology to become AI-enabled?
Not necessarily. Many traditional workflows still provide useful visibility and accountability. Firms should identify where existing processes remain effective and where AI can add intelligence, reduce preparation or improve decision-making.
Q. What is the difference between a traditional workflow and an AI workflow?
A traditional workflow generally tracks tasks, stages and status. An AI workflow can also inspect available information, recognize missing facts, surface exceptions, prepare questions and recommend an appropriate next step for professional review.
Q. Can AI replace professional judgment in tax and accounting?
AI can support professional judgment by organizing information, identifying issues and reducing repetitive work. It does not replace the professional’s responsibility to verify authority, apply the client’s facts, assess risk and stand behind the recommendation.
Q. How can AI help firms uncover advisory opportunities?
AI can examine information already available across tax returns, accounting records, payroll data, emails, meeting notes and client documents. It can help identify changes or patterns that may require professional attention, such as retirement decisions, multistate activity, compensation issues or planning thresholds.
Q. What should firms do when employees do not trust an AI tool?
Firms should investigate the reason rather than assuming employees are simply resistant to change. The output may be inaccurate, lack supporting context, provide unclear sources or fail to fit the existing workflow. Trust must be earned through reliability, transparency and clear professional-review boundaries.
Q. Does every saved hour need to generate additional revenue?
No. Created capacity may improve turnaround time, reduce overtime, support employee development, strengthen client service or improve work-life balance. The important point is that the firm intentionally decides how the capacity will be used.
Q. What is the most important question firms should ask about AI?
Rather than asking only what AI can do, firms should ask: What should our professionals and our firm become capable of doing because AI exists?
Listen to other podcast episodes or read other related blog articles with relevant information and insights.
.png)
