Can AI Replace “Thought Leaders”? A 2026 Reality Check

Think AI will free you from ‘mundane bookkeeping’ so you can do advisory? Blake and David say it’s the opposite. Hear how owners already use AI as a de facto CFO, why drafting narratives—not matching bank feeds—is the real win, what the ‘AI premium’ means in a billable-hour world, and the two numbers firm owners should track in 2026: monthly recurring revenue and bottom-line profit.

Sponsors
UNC - http://accountingpodcast.promo/unc
OnPay - http://accountingpodcast.promo/onpay
TaxBandits - http://accountingpodcast.promo/taxbandits

Chapters

• (01:35) - News Highlights and Sponsor Acknowledgements
• (03:56) - AI in Small Business Accounting
• (07:04) - AI's Impact on Accounting Tasks
• (10:01) - Thought Leader Survey on AI in Accounting
• (19:56) - AI Premium and Job Automation
• (25:27) - Survey Answers from Accounting Thought Leaders
• (25:54) - AI's Role in Strategy and Decision Making
• (28:24) - Impact of AI on Competitive Landscape
• (30:50) - AI's Effect on Costs in Accounting Firms
• (31:54) - AI Replacing Staff Accountants
• (33:24) - Personal Job Security and AI
• (41:05) - AI Influencers and Future Experiments
• (49:24) - Conclusion and CPE Information

 

Show Notes

These Small-Business Owners Are Putting AI to Good Use
https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/small-business-ai-chatgpt-prompts-0c9a95c4

 

AI Thought Leaders Survey 2026: Process Predictions
https://www.accountingtoday.com/list/ai-thought-leaders-survey-2026-process-predictions

 

Tech Spending Outpacing People Spending as Firms Adopt AI
https://www.accountingtoday.com/list/tech-spending-outpacing-people-spending-as-firms-adopt-ai

 

How Much is the 'AI Premium?' 

https://www.accountingtoday.com/list/how-much-is-the-ai-premium

 

AI Can't Replace Accountants. When Could It? 

https://www.accountingtoday.com/list/ai-cant-replace-accountants-when-could-it

 

Accounting in 2026: The Year Ahead in Numbers
https://www.accountingtoday.com/list/accounting-in-2026-the-year-ahead-in-numbers

 

AI Vending Machine Lost $1,000 to Social Engineering
https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/anthropic-ai-claude-vending-machine-c7baef6f

 

Anthropic's Project Vend Phase 2 

https://www.anthropic.com/research/project-vend-2

 

Trump Commutes Sentence of Private Equity CEO Convicted of Fraud
https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/01/politics/david-gentile-trump-pardon

 

Trump Commutes 7-Year Prison Sentence of Former Private Equity CEO David Gentile
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-commutes-7-year-prison-sentence-former-private-equity-ceo-david-rcna246744

 

California's Controversial Wealth Tax Proposal Leaves Billionaires With Little Way Out
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/08/california-wealth-tax-proposal-leaves-billionaires-with-little-way-out.html

 

California Could Impose a Billionaire Tax. Here's How It Would Work
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/california-billionaire-tax-ballot-initiative-how-it-works/

 

New Tax on the Wealth of Billionaires 

https://lao.ca.gov/BallotAnalysis/Initiative/2025-024

Need CPE?

Get CPE for listening to podcasts with Earmark: https://earmarkcpe.com
Subscribe to the Earmark Podcast: https://podcast.earmarkcpe.com

Get in Touch

Thanks for listening and the great reviews! We appreciate you! Follow and tweet @BlakeTOliver and @DavidLeary. Find us on Facebook and Instagram. If you like what you hear, please do us a favor and write a review on Apple Podcasts or Podchaser. Call us and leave a voicemail; maybe we'll play it on the show. DIAL (202) 695-1040.

Sponsorships

Are you interested in sponsoring The Accounting Podcast? For details, read the prospectus.

Need Accounting Conference Info? 

Check out our new website - accountingconferences.com

Limited edition shirts, stickers, and other necessities

TeePublic Store: http://cloudacctpod.link/merch

Subscribe

• Apple Podcasts: http://cloudacctpod.link/ApplePodcasts
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheAccountingPodcast
• Spotify: http://cloudacctpod.link/Spotify
• Podchaser: http://cloudacctpod.link/podchaser
• Stitcher: http://cloudacctpod.link/Stitcher
• Overcast: http://cloudacctpod.link/Overcast

Want to get the word out about your newsletter, webinar, party, Facebook group, podcast, e-book, job posting, or that fancy Excel macro you just created? Let the listeners of The Accounting Podcast know by running a classified ad. Go here to create your classified ad: https://cloudacctpod.link/RunClassifiedAd

Transcripts

The full transcript for this episode is available by clicking on the Transcript tab at the top of this page