Accounting firms are confident AI will improve their business. Almost none have changed how they run it.
Volume 4 of the BILL accounting firm AI ambition survey, produced with NewtonX, surveyed more than 200 accounting firm leaders on how AI is reshaping firm structure, talent, and pricing.
Eighty five percent expect AI to improve their business model over the next five years. Just 17% expect that improvement to be transformational.1 The rest are planning for incremental gains or taking a wait-and-see approach, and most haven't touched the fundamentals. Fixed fee and hourly pricing still dominate, and structural bets like private equity or alternative practice structures remain undecided territory for more than a third of leaders.2
AI is pushing firms toward new structures, not just new services
Half of firm leaders agree AI is pushing them to consider outside investment, including private equity or alternative practice structures. Another 37% are in the silent middle: neither agreeing nor disagreeing, or genuinely unsure.2
Client advisory services (CAS) is where the pressure is clearest. 67% agree AI is pushing them toward CAS,2 building on Volume 3, which found CAS to be the only service with near parity between current adoption (38%) and planned expansion (39%).1 CAS isn't just a service line growing anymore. It's shaping how firms structure and capitalize themselves.
“The firms pulling ahead aren't necessarily building AI infrastructure from scratch. They're pushing the vendors already in their stack to solve more of the problem, and extending their security and data-governance work to cover AI-specific risk. The one place worth dedicated investment is process. Someone has to own how AI changes client workflows and where the value shows up. At smaller firms that can sit alongside someone's day job. At larger firms, it's dedicated work,” said Ariege Misherghi, SVP, AP & Accountant Channel, BILL.
One survey participant captured the stakes this way: "Adopting AI technologies and translating the capabilities into firm capabilities and market offerings will be a make-or-break moment, and it is critical to have high ambition at this point or risk extinction."
Talent disruption is coming, and it's uneven
Most firms are preparing for real workforce change. 45% expect AI to make work easier and 6% expect it to get harder.2 But the more telling number is headcount: 52% expect AI adoption to reduce it. Large firms (201+ employees) expect it even more: 68%.2
Two-thirds anticipate material skill shifts for current employees. 58% say the same for new hires. And demand isn't disappearing, it's shifting: 47% expect AI to increase the need for IT and technical roles.2 Complexity isn't going away. It's moving from front line accounting to data, systems, and AI orchestration.
Scaling capacity without adding headcount is one of the most cited AI goals across surveyed leaders, but just 9% report substantial results for this goal.2 The real restructuring is still to come, and early movers have room to lead.
Pricing: slow to shift, but early movers have an edge
Despite the shifts that AI is driving in the profession, most accounting firms haven't changed how they price. Fixed fee (66%) and hourly (60%) models still dominate, and 68% are either ruling out new pricing strategies or undecided.2
Among firms now offering subscription or value based pricing, roughly one in five say AI drove the shift. A minority, but it points to where the profession is headed.
Firm leaders describe the logic in practical terms: "The hourly-fee structure is becoming less profitable because our work became very quick after AI adoptions."
Another noted: "AI should allow us to more thoughtfully provide a value-based advisory pricing package, allowing us to spend more time on higher-level recommendations."
About the survey
The BILL accounting firm AI ambition survey was conducted with NewtonX in late 2025 and includes responses from more than 200 accounting firm leaders, managers and above, across firms of all sizes.
This is the fourth and final volume. Prior volumes cover AI awareness and adoption (Vol. 1), AI strategy and investment profiles (Vol. 2), and services and delivery transformation (Vol. 3).
The full report for volume 4 is available at https://www.bill.com/guides/ai-ambition-survey-vol-4.
You can also view the top highlights from all the volumes here.
Disclaimer: This content is presented 'as is,' for informational purposes and is not intended to provide tax, legal or financial advice. Please consult your advisor with any questions.
1 BILL accounting firm AI ambition survey, vol 3 - Reinventing services and delivery
2 BILL accounting firm AI ambition survey, vol 4 - Business model and pricing innovation—monetizing AI
