20 AI in Accounting and Finance Statistics for 2026

AI in accounting has moved from pilots to daily use. Gartner found that 59% of finance leaders used AI in their finance function in 2025, up from 37% in 2023, and early field evidence shows faster closes and more time for review work (Gartner, 2025). The same data shows that accuracy, skills and governance now limit how far finance teams can go.

The 20 statistics below come from Gartner, Deloitte, KPMG, Stanford, AICPA & CIMA and CPA.com. Together they show where AI is helping finance teams, where it isn't yet, and why the people reviewing AI output matter more than ever.

Key Takeaways

• AI use in finance has plateaued near 60% of finance functions after a fast jump from 2023 to 2024.
• Large companies are further ahead, with 93% of CFOs at $1 billion-plus companies reporting AI use across key operations.
• Early results are real: one Stanford study found books closed 7.5 days faster at firms using generative AI.
• Accuracy is the leading worry, with 48% of finance teams concerned about AI-generated financial outputs.
• Skills are the bottleneck, as only about a quarter of organizations report enough AI-skilled talent.

AI Adoption in Finance Statistics

1. 59% of finance leaders use AI in their finance function

Gartner's 2025 survey of 183 CFOs and senior finance executives found 59% using AI in finance, up from 58% in 2024 and 37% in 2023 (Gartner, 2025). After a sharp jump, adoption has leveled off.

2. 93% of large-company CFOs say their organizations use AI across key operations

Deloitte's Q2 2026 CFO Signals survey of 200 finance chiefs at companies with at least $1 billion in revenue found 93% using AI across key operations (Deloitte, 2026). In early 2024, 66% of respondents said their companies were only experimenting with or discussing generative AI.

3. 51% of large-company finance functions use AI for productivity tasks

In the same Deloitte survey, 51% of CFOs said their finance functions use AI for operational productivity, 44% for planning and budgeting, and 41% to analyze financial data (Deloitte, 2026).

4. 93% of US companies will deploy or scale AI in finance within 18 months

KPMG's 2026 survey of 1,013 senior finance executives found that 93% of US companies expect to be deploying or scaling AI in their finance functions within 18 months (KPMG, 2026).

5. 60% of tax professionals now use AI for research every week

Weekly AI use for tax research rose to 60% in 2026 from 33% a year earlier, according to a survey of more than 1,000 US tax professionals (Blue J and CPA.com, 2026).

How Finance Teams Use AI

6. 49% of AI-using finance teams apply it to knowledge management

Among finance functions using AI, the top use cases are knowledge management (49%), accounts payable automation (37%) and error and anomaly detection (34%) (Gartner, 2025).

7. 44% of tax professionals use AI on advisory projects

Advisory projects (44%), tax planning (40%) and compliance research (39%) lead AI use among tax professionals, followed by document analysis and drafting (Blue J and CPA.com, 2026).

8. Half of companies plan to build multi-agent AI systems in finance

KPMG found that half of companies are planning to orchestrate or develop multi-agent AI systems, and 47% are already piloting or using AI-assisted "vibe coding" (KPMG, 2026).

Impact of AI in Accounting

9. Firms using generative AI closed their books 7.5 days faster

A Stanford study of 79 small and mid-sized firms found that generative AI adoption cut the monthly close by 7.5 days and increased general ledger granularity by 12% (Stanford GSB, 2025).

10. Accountants shifted 8.5% of their time to higher-value work

The same research found that accountants using AI moved about 8.5% of their time from routine data entry to business communication and quality assurance, and that weekly client support rose 55% (Stanford GSB, 2025).

11. 84% of tax professionals say AI saves them time

Most tax professionals (84%) agree AI saves time, and they report spending it on faster client delivery (50%), work-life balance (47%) and higher-quality advice (46%) (Blue J and CPA.com, 2026).

12. 74% of finance teams say AI ROI meets or beats expectations

In KPMG's survey, 46% said AI ROI is meeting expectations and 28% said it is exceeding them (KPMG, 2026). Slow adoption and change management were the main barriers for the rest.

13. 91% of respondents report low or moderate initial impact from AI

Gartner found that 91% of respondents saw low or moderate impact at first, even as 67% of AI users grew more optimistic than the year before (Gartner, 2025).

Accuracy, Risk and the Review Burden

AI raised the bar for finance work, and human judgment and review remain essential. The statistics below show why the review step is becoming a core finance skill.

14. 48% of finance leaders are concerned about the accuracy of AI-generated outputs

Nearly half of respondents in KPMG's 2026 survey named the accuracy of AI-generated financial outputs as a concern, and 50% named cyber and AI-native security threats (KPMG, 2026).

15. 94% of organizations rely on third-party assurance for AI and data

Almost all organizations (94%) use third-party assurance providers, most often for data security and privacy (60%) and AI model performance and reliability (56%) (KPMG, 2026).

16. 59% of CFOs struggle to balance AI speed with risk

Balancing the pressure to deploy AI quickly against managing risk is the top AI governance challenge for 59% of large-company CFOs, ahead of a lack of governance authority at 51% (Deloitte, 2026).

17. 46% of organizations rank AI among their top 10 risks

Across 1,735 executives, 46% classify AI as a top-10 or major risk, rising to 69% among early adopters (AICPA & CIMA, 2026).

AI Skills and Talent Statistics

18. Only 24% to 27% of organizations have enough AI-skilled talent

Only about a quarter of organizations report adequate AI-skilled talent, IT readiness or regulatory preparedness, and fewer than one in five smaller organizations have the talent or systems they need (AICPA & CIMA, 2026).

19. 64% of finance leaders lack role-specific AI use cases for training

The top obstacles to AI training are a lack of clear, role-specific use cases (64%) and a lack of hands-on practice environments (61%) (KPMG, 2026).

20. Data and technical skills are among the biggest barriers to AI in finance

Gartner lists data literacy and technical skills, along with poor data quality, among the largest obstacles to AI in finance, and 25% of finance leaders are unsure how to move from planning to piloting (Gartner, 2025).

What These Numbers Mean for Finance Teams

AI in accounting is now common, but the gains depend on people who can check the output. A faster close only helps if someone catches the miscoded entry before it reaches the board. That work falls to accountants who understand both the ledger and the tools, at a time when the US accounting pipeline is already under strain, as our accountant shortage statistics show.

Teams that want AI in accounting to shorten the close should staff the review step on purpose. Our month-end close statistics show how much room most teams still have to speed up.

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