Want a Peek at the Future: Hire This CPA
February 24, 2026
Another dinobaby post. No AI unless it is an image. This dinobaby is not Grandma Moses, just Grandpa Arnold.
Generally speaking, I have like the accountants I have worked with. Some were green eye shade types (yo, Buddy) and other were knock offs of my colleagues at a blue chip consulting firm (yep, Andy, I am talking about you). However, none of these professionals were futurists. The mental orientation was toward following the money, documentation, and keeping up with those exciting tax regulations and the changes thereto.
An office supply shop in Manhattan has a large number of green eye shades and ledger-books. The two store owners have a question. How would you answer it? Answer: Just ask an AI system. Thanks, Venice.ai. Good enough.
I think I have found a CPA futurist.
Navigate to “What Happened to Software is Happening to Finance and Accounting.” The write up says:
A year ago, AI was 20% of my workflow — a better Stack Overflow. I’d use it to research syntax I didn’t understand. Three months ago, I flipped it to 100% — but I was project-managing every function like if it were a junior developer. Now I hand it a product spec and let it run.
On the surface, the observation does seem like the future in one of those sci-fi books that captivate wizards like Steve Gibson, co-host of Security Now, and some of the people whom I met at assorted high-tech firms who hired me to work on some special projects. But the next layer down we have a person who is a CPA. My father was an accountant, and he seemed quite focused on what Ebenezer Scrooge wanted Bob Cratchit to do with no coal in his grate.
The write up makes clear that a CPA / accountant is a human interfacing with different software; for instance, Excel. The author points out:
But “being great at the interface” is losing its edge. Because the interface is becoming an agent. It’s already showing up in the numbers. Earlier this month, the FT reported that KPMG pressured its own auditor, Grant Thornton, to cut fees — arguing that AI should make the work cheaper. Grant Thornton agreed to a 14% reduction. When a Big Four firm is using AI as leverage to renegotiate its own audit fees, the repricing isn’t theoretical.
My interpretation is that many accounting jobs are history. Furthermore, revenue from humans reading bank statements is going to go down in many use cases. And AI tools have become “leverage” to lower prices. Finally, if you want to be a big time CPA, you will be an orchestrator of agents, not 24 year olds working at whatever is left of the Big Four.
The article states:
The leverage is in designing systems that create auditable truth at startup speed.
What’s interesting is that the essay traverses ground my team and I have have stumbled through for a while. The twist is that the essay is a “hire me” document. Note this passage:
Let’s Talk. If you’re already deep in this: I’d love to compare workflows. There are no best practices yet — we’re all learning by watching each other. If you’re not in it yet: let’s hang out. I’ll show you what this looks like live. No pitch — just the actual workflows running in real time. DM me.
Several observations:
- The document was not plucked from LinkedIn where many “thought leaders” roost I have heard
- The pitch is not to be the accountant but to help create a smart system which is pretty much the accountant (tough luck for the newly minted CPA)
- The same logic can be applied, in my opinion, to general mid-tier consulting work, some legal work, and a great deal of the work at certain government agencies. (Sorry, I just can’t think of any to mention now.)
Net net: A novel approach to getting hired.
Stephen E Arnold, February 24, 2026
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