ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN ACCOUNTING AND AUDITING: Evidence, Professional Judgment, Adoption, Governance, and Financial Reporting

The literature reviewed in this article indicates that AI is transforming accounting and auditing at both the task level and the professional level. AI can automate repetitive work, increase analytical coverage, support anomaly detection, improve process efficiency, and contribute to financial-reporting and audit outcomes. Recent evidence also shows that GenAI has begun to enter actual accounting workflows and corporate financial disclosures. At the same time, the review does not support the view that AI can independently replace professional accountants and auditors. Instead, the evidence points towards a human–AI complementarity model. AI is strongest where tasks are repetitive, data-intensive, and predictive; human professionals remain essential where decisions require contextual interpretation, scepticism, ethical reasoning, and accountability. The most important implication is that AI adoption should be evaluated together with professional competence and governance. Reliable AI-enabled accounting requires accurate data, appropriate system design, competent users, human validation, confidentiality controls, and explicit accountability. Without these elements, technology may accelerate processes without improving the quality or trustworthiness of the resulting information. The review identifies a clear agenda for future research: empirically test human–AI collaboration, examine professional judgement and AI competency, expand evidence from SMEs and emerging economies such as India, distinguish traditional AI from GenAI, and develop longitudinal evidence on financial reporting, audit quality, skills, and employment. These areas offer a strong basis for a future empirical study in Commerce and Accounting that links AI adoption with accounting efficiency, financial reporting quality, professional judgement, and governance. Overall, the future of accounting should not be framed as human versus AI. The more defensible conclusion from the current evidence is human with AI: technology provides scale and computational power, while accounting professionals provide context, scepticism, ethics, and accountability. The long-term value of AI in accounting will therefore depend on the profession’s ability to integrate technological capability with enduring principles of reliability, transparency, and professional responsibility.

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