Will AI replace accountants? It’s the question finance and accounting people are asking most right now. AI can draft the report, code the transaction, and reconcile the account in seconds. So where does that leave the person who used to do it?
I put that question to Stephen Moir on episode 2 of The Practical CFO. Stephen has spent decades recruiting finance and accounting professionals across Australia, so he’s watched the profession move through outsourcing, cloud accounting, and now AI. His answer was direct: AI will change finance work, but it won’t wipe out finance careers. What changes is what good finance people are expected to bring.
Here’s what stood out.
AI is the latest shift, not the end of finance
Stephen has seen the “this will replace accountants” claim before. Outsourcing was going to do it. Cloud systems were going to do it. Each wave changed the work without removing the need for people who understand it.
His advice is to stay curious. Nobody knows exactly how AI reshapes every part of finance yet, so the people who do well won’t be the ones who ignore it or panic about it. They’ll be the ones who work out where it helps, where it creates risk, and where human judgement still has to sit on top.
For finance teams, that means learning how AI changes the work without losing the fundamentals: accuracy, control, and trust in the numbers.
Finance moved from the back office to the CEO’s right hand
One of Stephen’s clearest points was how the finance role has changed inside a business. Finance people used to talk about not wanting to be the person in the background counting the beans. That’s over.
Today the finance leader is often the CEO’s right hand: commercial, visible, and close to the big decisions. Many mid to senior finance roles now carry responsibility for areas well beyond traditional finance, from IT and procurement to property and sustainability. In plenty of businesses the CFO is a genuine contender for the CEO seat.
That’s opportunity. It also raises the bar. A modern finance leader needs commercial judgement, communication, and the confidence to speak up when something doesn’t add up, not just technical ability.
Fast growth hides weak finance foundations
Stephen sees a pattern in growing businesses. Founders and leadership focus hard on revenue, which makes sense, because sales are what get a business moving. But when financial rigour is missing from the centre, problems turn up later, and they’re often serious.
A strong finance person gives the business confidence in its decisions. They create discipline and stability. They help leadership understand what the numbers mean, where the risks are, and what to do next.
Growth can hide weak foundations for a while. It doesn’t remove them. This is exactly the gap we think about at Budgetly: without real-time control over spend, fast-growing teams lose sight of where the money is actually going until month-end, when it’s too late to act. (More on that in prevent overspending before it happens.)
AI-written CVs make networking matter more
AI is also changing how people get hired. Candidates use it to write polished CVs and cover letters. Companies use it to screen applications. The result is a strange loop where every application reads well, and real people get harder to tell apart.
Stephen’s advice to finance professionals is practical: don’t rely only on online applications. Spend more time building your network and talking to real people, especially for mid to senior roles. Applications put you in the queue. Relationships put you in the room.
What about graduate accountants?
There’s real concern about entry-level roles, because some of the tasks junior accountants learned on are now automated. Stephen acknowledged that the first job is often the hardest step in a career, and AI may thin out some of those early tasks.
But he still rates accounting as one of the best qualifications you can have. It’s transferable, practical, and it teaches a way of thinking that supports many different careers. The shape of early careers may change. The value of the skills doesn’t.
His practical steer for people early in their careers: get exposure to the parts of finance AI can’t do for you. Sit close to the commercial decisions. Learn how the business makes money, not just how it records it. That’s the experience that compounds.
Outsourcing has a place, but finance needs control
Outsourcing isn’t new in finance. Plenty of businesses have sent transactional work offshore or to a third party for years. Stephen’s caution is to think carefully about what’s actually critical to the business before you hand it over.
Finance isn’t just another support function. It gives the business control, confidence, and stability. For smaller businesses in particular, keeping enough finance capability close to the business matters. The question isn’t only whether outsourcing is cheaper. It’s whether it solves the real problem without weakening control.
That distinction between doing the work and owning the control is the same one that runs through the AI conversation. You can automate or outsource the mechanical tasks. You can’t outsource accountability for the numbers.
Finance leaders need resilience too
Stephen also made a point that’s easy to skip past. CFOs, owners, and finance leaders are working in a constant-pressure environment. Businesses used to get a crisis, then a calmer stretch, then another crisis. Now many leaders feel like they move from one challenge straight into the next.
His advice is not to carry it alone. Good leaders need people they can talk to, whether that’s a leadership team, a board, a mentor, or a trusted peer group. And the basics still apply: exercise, health, breaks, and keeping work in perspective. Resilience is built over time, and leaders who get through the hard stretches usually look back and realise they were more capable than they thought.
The practical takeaway
The story isn’t job replacement. It’s role expansion. Finance people are being asked to be more commercial, more visible, more curious, and more involved in decisions. Business owners need finance leaders who bring rigour, control, and judgement to the centre of the business.
The tools will keep changing. The need for trust, discipline, and good decisions won’t.
Stephen’s full conversation with me is worth a watch if you work in or lead a finance team. We cover AI, hiring, outsourcing, graduate careers, and what business owners really want from finance today.
Watch the full interview with Stephen Moir, or browse the whole Practical CFO series.
