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Does Gen AI in Accounting Live up to the Hype?

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3 weeks ago

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A new study from Stanford University and MIT is shedding light on whether adopting generative artificial intelligence (AI) is worthwhile for accountants at small- to medium-sized companies. The short answer: Yes.

In a survey of 277 accountants and proprietary data from 79 small- and mid-sized firms, the researchers found that gen AI makes users more productive and lets them finish tasks faster — time they use to meet with clients.

But there are fears as well: The top concern is accuracy, security of the data and also job loss if the AI ends up replacing accountants.

The most striking finding: Accountants using AI handled 55% more clients per week than those who did not use it. They also worked 8.5 percentage points less in data entry and transaction coding tasks, which amounts to 3.5 hours saved per week.

In a sign that they didn’t use the extra time for idle activities, AI-using accountants also logged 21% more billable hours. This shows that they were engaged in activities that boost revenue.

In practice, this meant accountants could spend more time advising clients, addressing complex issues and reviewing work for accuracy.

“AI is augmenting accountants’ capacity by taking over low-level tasks and allowing them to focus more on advisory and analytical work,” the authors wrote.

According to a PYMNTS Intelligence report, CFOs are gaining confidence about using AI to optimize financial processes. Accounts receivable is a particularly promising target for AI investment, with 55% of CFOs in middle-market companies willing to spend on solutions that would automate invoice approval and payment.

See here: CFOs Eye Accounts Receivable as New Direction for AI Investments

Faster, More Detailed Reporting

In the study, the authors used gen AI for lower-level accounting tasks such as data entry, categorizing transactions and preliminary information processing. They used software provided by an AI accounting firm whose system can “understand” receipts, invoices, bank statements and other similar inputs.

The technology’s benefits extended beyond time savings. AI adoption was linked to a 12% increase in granularity in the general ledger — the number of unique accounts used to classify transactions — resulting in richer and more informative financial statements.

It also sped up reporting cycles. On average, AI-using accountants closed their monthly books 7.5 days faster than non-users. They finalize monthly financial statements within two weeks after the end of the month, while non-users take at least a week longer. For many small- and mid-sized businesses, that speed can mean earlier detection of cash flow issues, faster tax preparation and more timely reporting to investors or lenders.

These improvements did not hurt quality of the work, according to the study. In fact, the data suggested quality improved. 

Human oversight remains essential to making AI effective in accounting.

The AI system used by the partner firms provided “confidence scores” indicating how certain it was about a transaction classification. Experienced accountants were more likely to intervene when confidence scores were low to catch potential errors. By contrast, less experienced accountants sometimes accepted AI outputs even when the system was uncertain, which could allow mistakes to slip through. 

The authors concluded: “AI augments, rather than replaces, human judgement.”

Read more:

Intuit Upgrades QuickBooks as Small Businesses Tap AI for Accounting

AI in Accounting Services May Level Playing Field for Small Businesses

Accounting Firms Aim Higher as AI Handles the Heavy Lifting



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Woongjin ThinkBig will officially launch its artificial intelligence (AI)-based reading platform “Bo..

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1 hour ago

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September 1, 2025

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Read a book in the voice that artificial intelligence wants. It won the Best Innovation Award at CES earlier this year

Woongjin ThinkBig announced on the 1st that it will introduce an artificial intelligence-based reading platform for the first time at the Gyeonggi Library, which will open next month.

Woongjin ThinkBig will officially launch its artificial intelligence (AI)-based reading platform “Book Story” in October. The first service will be officially introduced at the Gyeonggi Library, which will open next month.

Woongjin Thinkbig announced on the 1st that it recently signed a delivery contract with Gyeonggi Library and decided to supply book stories and books published by its company.

Accordingly, users of Gyeonggi Library can experience book stories through tablets placed in children’s zones in the library.

The contract was conducted with the aim of providing Gyeonggi-do residents with a differentiated reading and learning experience based on high-tech technology and leading digital reading innovation in the public sector.

Book Story is a reading solution in which AI analyzes the letters of picture books and reads books with the voice of the user’s choice. It increases children’s immersion in reading by adding visual effects, background sounds, and quizzes that fit the story.

Book Story was recognized for its technological prowess and efficacy by winning the AI Best Innovation Award at CES2025, the world’s largest consumer electronics fair, earlier this year.

Woongjin ThinkBig will seek further cooperation with libraries in Gyeonggi-do Province, while also pushing for the supply of libraries nationwide.

“Book Story is a service that helps children naturally get close to books and develop reading habits,” said Kim Il-kyung, head of Woongjin Thinkbig’s DGP business division. “Starting with the delivery of Gyeonggi Library, we will spread new reading experiences through cooperation with public institutions and work to close the digital reading gap.”



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Alibaba’s Shares Soar 15% After Making Headway in China AI Boom

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1 hour ago

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September 1, 2025

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Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s stock leapt almost 15% after reporting a surge in revenue from AI, underscoring the steady progress it’s making against rivals in a post-DeepSeek Chinese development frenzy.



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Alphabet Lands $10 Billion Meta Cloud Deal, a Win for Google’s Artificial Intelligence Ambitions and Investors

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2 hours ago

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September 1, 2025

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Meta’s six-year deal with Google Cloud is indicative of where hyperscalers are headed.

Over the last few years, hyperscalers like Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet (GOOGL 0.63%) (GOOG 0.56%) have poured hundreds of billions of dollars into artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.

Much of this capital has been geared toward securing graphics processing units (GPUs) and designing custom silicon from Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices, and Broadcom — the backbones of the AI infrastructure revolution.

But why has big tech been so relentless in its pursuit of AI hardware? On the surface, the answer is simple: build sprawling data centers filled with clusters of high-performance chips to power AI workloads. Yet the deeper motivation is becoming clearer, and Meta Platforms (META -1.69%) may have just handed us the biggest clue.

According to reports, Meta struck a six-year $10 billion deal with Alphabet’s Google Cloud Platform (GCP). This isn’t just about the price tag. It signals how hyperscalers are positioning themselves for the next chapter of cloud computing in the AI era.

Let’s dig into Meta’s recent infrastructure investments and see how they align with this new cloud deal. For Alphabet, the implications of this deal could be huge — and investors should be watching closely.

Meta’s spending spree continues and…

Meta’s partnership with Google Cloud comes as the company is ramping up record capital expenditures.

META Capital Expenditures (TTM) data by YCharts; TTM = trailing 12 months.

Beyond its huge data center buildouts, Meta recently invested $14.3 billion in Scale AI, a leading data-labeling start-up. For those who are unfamiliar with what data labelling is, it’s the process of tagging raw data (i.e. images, audio) so AI models can understand and learn from it. This is vital for Meta because higher-quality datasets are the foundation to accurately train and scale its AI systems. Meta also unveiled a new research group, dubbed Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL). Together, these initiatives highlight Meta’s ambitions to push past traditional large language models (LLMs) and position itself at the forefront of the next frontier in AI: artificial general intelligence (AGI).

… this time it’s Alphabet that benefits

Meta’s collaboration with Google Cloud follows a similar partnership between Alphabet’s cloud platform and ChatGPT maker OpenAI, signaling a subtle but important shift in the cloud landscape.

Even companies deeply tied to incumbents like Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS) are now diversifying to access Google’s tensor processing unit (TPU) chips and its AI-optimized infrastructure, which includes advanced cybersecurity protocols as a major differentiator.

While AWS pioneered the public cloud and Azure figured out how to dominate the enterprise information-technology landscape, Alphabet has carved out a role as an AI-first cloud provider, emphasizing machine learning and data analytics. The fact that both Meta and OpenAI have chosen Google Cloud underscores how strongly Alphabet’s strategy resonates with the companies setting the pace for the AI revolution.

At the same time, multicloud strategies are now becoming the industry norm. Businesses no longer want to be locked into a single vendor, especially as AI training and inference workloads grow more complex. By distributing workloads across providers, companies can optimize for cost, performance, and availability, while avoiding computing bottlenecks.

For Meta, this flexibility is crucial. As it scales up next-generation generative AI tools, develops agentic assistants, and enhances its advertising algorithms, tapping Google Cloud ensures both the capacity and unique specialization required to compete in an intense AI landscape.

A person smiling while looking at a stock chart.

Image source: Getty Images.

Is Alphabet stock a buy?

For Alphabet, the Meta deal stresses its strategic importance in the AI cloud ecosystem. Securing a multiyear, multibillion-dollar partnership not only boosts revenue visibility for Google Cloud but also validates years of heavy investment in AI infrastructure.

GOOGL PE Ratio (Forward) Chart

GOOGL PE Ratio (Forward) data by YCharts.

Yet despite this progress, Alphabet stock remains undervalued relative to peers in the cloud space.

Trading at a forward price-to-earnings multiple (P/E) of just 21, the market still appears to underappreciate the accelerating momentum across the company’s business.

To me, Alphabet stock is a no-brainer opportunity right now. It looks dirt cheap, and the new Meta deal further reinforces the company’s leading position among AI hyperscalers, even if the stock price doesn’t reflect that.

Adam Spatacco has positions in Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Oracle. The Motley Fool recommends Broadcom and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.



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