Preparing Future Accountants in an Age of AI: A Guide for Students and New Professionals
Over the past few semesters, I’ve found myself answering the same question from both students and peers:
“How should we be using generative AI in accounting education?”
It’s a fair question—and an important one. As a CPA with a decade of experience and a college instructor who teaches aspiring accountants in the evenings, I’ve had a front-row seat to see how rapidly our profession is changing. The truth is, we’re teaching in a moment when new professionals enter a workplace very different from the one many of us joined. And we owe it to our students to prepare them for it—without cutting corners on the fundamentals.
The Case for AI in the Classroom
Let me be clear: I believe there is a place for generative AI in accounting education. In fact, I use it myself. When I need help drafting a sample exam problem, writing up a case study, or summarizing a long technical document, AI tools save me time and mental bandwidth. Used thoughtfully, they’re excellent at handling repeatable tasks and generating clean, well-organized content.
Students can benefit in the same way. For example, in my semester-long project, I assign a 10–20 page deliverable where students are expected to present a polished, professional work product. This is an area where generative AI could be helpful—not to think for the student, but to improve formatting, structure, grammar, and readability. If the ideas are the student’s own, AI can be a great tool for making those ideas shine.
Generative AI also has real potential to support learning when it’s used as a thought partner. Asking a tool like ChatGPT to explain a concept or walk through a hypothetical can reinforce understanding—if you know enough to ask the right questions and evaluate the response.
Where AI Falls Short—and Why It Matters
That said, AI is not a shortcut for understanding.
As professionals, we know that tools only work when they’re used with good judgment. Generative AI depends entirely on the quality of the inputs. If a student doesn’t understand debits and credits, no AI is going to magically produce a correct journal entry. If you can’t tell good thinking from bad, you won’t know whether the AI’s answer makes sense—or is subtly, dangerously wrong.
Here’s the part that doesn’t get said enough:
Overusing AI in the classroom, especially at the expense of mastering the fundamentals—can quietly derail your career before it even starts. Why? Because the early years of your career are built on your ability to learn quickly, apply sound judgment, and earn trust. If your foundation is weak, that becomes obvious fast, and it limits the kinds of responsibilities you're given, the confidence others place in you, and the pace of your growth.
In fact, I’ve seen it firsthand. In the past year alone, I’ve watched multiple professionals switch firms only to be let go shortly after starting—not because they lacked effort, but because their fundamental skills weren’t as strong as their résumés suggested. That gap becomes impossible to hide in a new environment.
We also have to acknowledge a broader shift: many of the simple, repetitive tasks that used to help young professionals “learn the ropes” are now being automated by AI. That means students today will be expected to come into their first jobs already equipped with a stronger foundation than ever before. There’s less room for slow, on-the-job learning—and more pressure to get it right, fast.
A Philosophy for Learning with AI
So how do we teach—and learn—in this new environment? I’d offer this philosophy to students and new professionals alike:
Use AI as a thought partner, not a crutch. Let it help you brainstorm, draft, and polish—but make sure you are doing the thinking.
Be fluent in fundamentals. AI can help you write a memo, but it can’t replace your understanding of internal controls, tax treatment, or how to interpret a balance sheet.
Develop professional judgment. Knowing when to use AI is just as important as knowing how to use it. In areas where precision, ethics, or interpretation are key, there is no substitute for human decision-making.
Ask better questions. Good prompts produce good results. Learning how to “talk” to AI tools effectively is a skill—and it starts with understanding your topic well enough to guide the conversation.
Final Thoughts
The future of accounting is not AI or human judgment—it’s both. As educators, we must equip students to thrive in that hybrid reality. And as students and new professionals, it’s your responsibility to embrace new tools without outsourcing your learning.
In the end, AI won’t replace accountants. But accountants who can harness AI while thinking independently? They’ll be the ones leading the profession forward.