Let’s get something straight: The biggest threat to your accounting firm isn’t AI.

It’s your competition using AI better and faster than you.

AI has moved far beyond fringe innovation. It’s a full-blown strategic weapon being deployed across the accounting profession right now, by firms large and small. And I don’t mean “someday” tools. I mean real, off-the-shelf solutions that deliver competitive advantages. Today. Yet many CPAs I meet are still under the illusion that AI is only for tech companies or global conglomerates. Or that it’s a long-term risk they’ll deal with in five years.

This illusion is dangerous and possibly fatal to your firm. Let me show you what’s really happening out there. Because if these stories don’t set off alarm bells, nothing will.

Case No. 1: Moss Adams Quietly Crushes Audit Costs with AI

In 2023, Moss Adams LLP, one of the 15 largest public accounting firms in the U.S., deployed MindBridge AI to assist in auditing work. This platform automates basic checks. More importantly, it uses machine learning to detect high-risk transactions with a level of pattern recognition that no human can match.

The result? Audit planning and testing processes that used to take weeks now get done in days. In addition, the firm flags anomalies faster, increases the quality of its risk assessments and reduces costly review cycles. One manager even quipped that AI “sniffs out trouble faster than any junior staffer ever could.”

While other firms are staffing up for busy season, Moss Adams is scaling smart and eating into competitor’s portfolio of business. If your audit department still relies on sampling and spreadsheets, you’re not just inefficient. You’re obsolete.

Case No. 2: A Mid-Size Firm in Ohio Becomes an AI Advisory Powerhouse

Last year, an Ohio firm with fewer than 50 employees partnered with Vic.ai, a platform that automates invoice processing, classification and approval routing. However, they didn’t stop with simply automation. They used the time savings to pivot into AI advisory services. Using predictive analytics and natural language processing, they offered client insights on cash flow trends, AR risk factors and even M&A preparedness.

The result? Their revenue from advisory services shot up by 42 percent in under 12 months. Their clients now view them as strategic partners rather than just financial hygiene technicians. What’s critical here? It’s not a story about fancy tech. It’s mindset. This firm saw AI not as a threat to their services, but as a springboard to offer higher-value work. While the competition is still selling rear-view mirror reports, they’re selling the GPS system for business growth.

Case No. 3: Big Four Firms Are Training AI to Replace Your Best People

Want the brutal truth? The Big Four aren’t just experimenting with AI. They’re weaponizing it. KPMG recently announced a global collaboration with Microsoft to roll out AI copilots across audit, tax and advisory services. These copilots assist with documentation, automate narrative generation and analyze complex datasets faster than a senior associate.

Similarly, Deloitte’s AI “Greenhouse” platform predicts client churn, employee attrition and potential compliance risks, all with minimal human input. And PwC? They’re investing over $1 billion in generative AI to build tools to create client deliverables, summarize regulatory changes and recommend strategy based on real-time data.

You might think: “Well, I don’t compete with the Big Four.” Well, here’s the kicker: these capabilities don’t stay exclusive for long. As cloud-based platforms spread, the same tools that empower Deloitte’s 300,000 employees will become available to your next-door rival with 30 people. When that happens, your value proposition of low cost, personal touch and years of experience won’t cut it. Especially if the other guy is offering instant insights and predictive analytics on day one.

Case No. 4: Forensic Accounting Gets a Digital Partner

Even in forensic accounting, a field long thought too nuanced for automation, AI makes waves. One California firm uses a specialized tool that ingests thousands of transactions and builds a fraud likelihood model, surfacing red flags in minutes. What took weeks of manual review now takes less than an hour of guided analysis.

Surprisingly, their team didn’t shrink. Smartly, they scaled their services. By offloading routine investigative tasks to AI, their specialists now spend more time advising legal counsel, testifying in court and offering strategic prevention services. In other words: more revenue, higher margins, better outcomes.

The CPA of the Future: Strategic, Analytical, Augmented

Here’s what all these cases have in common: They aren’t about replacing CPAs. They’re about amplifying them.

AI transforms the profession from a compliance-driven model to a value-creation model. In the near future, successful CPAs will be AI enabled advisers who deliver real-time insights, risk foresight and strategic clarity. However, this change doesn’t happen by default. It requires action… taken today.

The firms winning with AI didn’t wait for perfect conditions or total buy-in. They started with small experiments, educated their teams and focused on pain points. More importantly, they realized that getting started was more important than getting it perfect. And they understood something critical: It’s not just about tools. It’s about transformation.

You Can’t Afford to Sit This Out

This isn’t about scaring you. It’s about preparing you. AI is moving the accounting profession from task execution to strategic enablement. That means the firms that thrive won’t be the ones who work harder. They’ll be the ones who think smarter and align their people, processes, and tools to AI powered performance.

Right now, the gap is growing between “AI adopters” and “AI avoiders.” Once that gap becomes a chasm, there’s no catching up. However, the good news is that it’s not too late to adapt. AI isn’t replacing CPAs. It’s replacing traditional thinking.

What to Learn More?

Join me Aug. 1 at CalCPA Members Club Summit, where I’ll be delivering a the keynote and diving deeper into AI for CPAs who are ready to lead, not lag, into the future. From fraud detection to smart audit planning to intelligent assistants and client insight generators, you’ll learn real ways AI is transforming the profession, unlocking new revenue streams, and what skills and roles will thrive in an AI powered practice.