By Jennifer Scheele, CPA, MST.
Tax and accounting firms are facing pressure from both internal teams and external clients to deliver faster, smarter outcomes using GenAI. Thomson Reuters Institute’s 2025 Generative AI in Professional Services report shows how quickly the industry is moving: 71% of tax and accounting professionals now believe GenAI should be applied to their daily work, up from just over half a year ago. And 77% of clients from corporate businesses expect the firms they work with to be using it.
While early AI efforts focused on automation and efficiency, the next wave will be rethinking workflows and value creation. From flagging regulatory risks to modeling tax scenarios in real time, GenAI is changing the expectations around what’s possible—and what’s expected—in tax planning and compliance.
Here’s a closer look at where GenAI is already having an impact and key considerations for firms to integrate and adopt it responsibly.
How Tax Teams Are Using GenAI Today
GenAI usage is gaining traction in the industry, with 21% of tax, audit and accounting firms already using it at an enterprise level, up from just 8% in 2024. Here are some of the most common ways firms are putting it to work today:
Keeping Up with Regulatory Changes. For firms managing clients across multiple jurisdictions, staying current with shifting tax laws can be a significant burden. GenAI offers a way to stay ahead by monitoring global regulatory updates and surfacing relevant changes in real time. These tools help identify potential compliance risks by analyzing current financial data alongside historical filings, giving professionals a clearer picture of where gaps or inconsistencies may exist. The result is a more streamlined, accurate approach to compliance that reduces the risk of errors and penalties.
Automating Routine Tax Processes. Much of tax work involves time-consuming tasks, such as entering data, running calculations, and preparing documents. GenAI reduces that burden by taking on repetitive processes at scale. It enables firms to process large volumes of data quickly and with fewer errors, which improves both speed and accuracy. In particular, firms handling filings across multiple jurisdictions benefit from GenAI’s ability to manage different rates, rules, and reporting requirements in an automated, consistent way.
Optimizing Tax Strategy Through Simulation. Strategic planning depends on the ability to test and model outcomes. GenAI supports this by analyzing both historical records and current inputs to simulate various planning scenarios. It can suggest how to time investments or manage expenses in ways that align with financial goals, helping firms deliver better-informed advice to clients and supporting stronger long-term decision-making.
Making Data More Actionable. With the volume of financial data that tax teams manage, identifying useful insights is not always straightforward. GenAI helps by parsing data at scale and surfacing meaningful trends or opportunities, such as potential deductions or irregularities. It also makes reporting easier, generating clear, structured outputs that support stronger communication between tax professionals and their clients or internal teams.
Tailoring Services to the Individual Client. No two clients are the same, and GenAI helps firms reflect that in their advice. By examining unique income patterns, spending behaviors, and past activity, GenAI can support more customized recommendations. This level of personalization allows firms to offer guidance that feels more relevant and aligned to the client’s situation.
Spotting Signs of Risk or Fraud Earlier. Detecting irregularities in filings—whether accidental or intentional—is a critical part of tax oversight. GenAI tools learn over time, improving their ability to flag anomalies or unusual behavior in tax data. This supports early detection and gives firms more time to respond. Regulatory bodies also apply these capabilities to monitor filings and audits, further reinforcing oversight and transparency across the system.
Elevating, Not Replacing, the Tax Professional
GenAI serves as a force multiplier, not a replacement. By taking on time-intensive, repetitive tasks, GenAI allows professionals to redirect their time and energy toward more strategic work. This shift frees up capacity for deeper advisory roles, such as guiding clients through complex planning decisions, interpreting nuanced regulatory developments, and building stronger, trust-based relationships. The result is a more efficient division of labor, where technology supports the groundwork and professionals bring the context, judgment, and experience that remain essential.
Smart Adoption Requires Smart Governance
As firms explore the benefits of GenAI, it’s equally important to acknowledge the challenges that come with its use, especially in a field as precise and sensitive as tax. These hurdles don’t negate GenAI’s value, but they do require intentional planning and ongoing oversight.
- Model Reliability: AI-generated insights are only as reliable as the models and data behind them. If outputs are inaccurate or incomplete, the risk of introducing errors into tax filings or planning increases. Firms must verify the reliability of AI-generated content and build in quality checks to prevent mistakes from going unnoticed.
- Data Security: Tax data is among the most sensitive information firms handle. Any AI solution must be deployed with strict safeguards to prevent unauthorized access, misuse, or exposure of client information.
- Human Oversight: GenAI can assist with everything from document generation to analysis, but it cannot replace professional judgment. Firms must strike the right balance between automation and accountability, using AI as a support tool rather than a decision-maker.
GenAI is Here to Stay
GenAI is poised to become an integral part of tax practice. Firms that integrate this technology early and thoughtfully will be well-positioned to meet rising expectations from clients and stay competitive in a changing industry. But success won’t come from technology alone. It will require professionals who know how to use these tools wisely, and who continue to lead with insight, integrity, and a client-first mindset.
====
Jennifer Scheele is a Tax Partner at Wiss with an extensive tax background. With over 15 years of public accounting experience, Jenn provides tax compliance and advisory services to various businesses with an emphasis on pass-through entities and corporations (including consolidated groups). Prior to joining Wiss, she worked closely with multi-national/multi-state corporations in the transportation, logistics and freight-forwarding industries while serving clients in other industries including professional services and real estate.
Thanks for reading CPA Practice Advisor!
Subscribe Already registered? Log In
Need more information? Read the FAQs
