How much is the 'AI premium?'

December 31, 2025 9:00 AM

AI has been affecting nearly every part of the accounting profession, including what leaders look for in new hires as well as how leaders themselves operate in their own organizations.

Accounting firms, like many businesses, have been particularly interested in those with AI skills and experience, and — according to research — they're willing to pay more for it. How much more, though, varied greatly between our experts. Some thought it could be as low as 10%, others said it could be higher than 50%, and others gave wide ranges in-between. Eva Mrazikova, senior director of product marketing with practice management solutions provider IRIS, felt this tied into the shift away from billable hours and towards value-based pricing.

"It's early days, but the logic is straightforward: if firms are shifting to value-based pricing because AI dramatically increases efficiency, compensation should follow the same principle. An AI-fluent accountant who can deliver the same output in a fraction of the time fundamentally changes the revenue-per-employee equation. In a world where billing is tied to value delivered rather than hours worked, that could justify a 20-30% compensation premium simply because the employee is generating significantly more revenue per hour," she said.

But many others said the premium isn't so much in actual paychecks but career advancement and opportunities, or that they could not make such a determination before seeing what someone specifically does with AI. Avani Desai, CEO of IT-specialist accounting firm Schellman, said it's not so much that AI experts should be paid more out the gate but that those with AI skills will be more productive, which lets them advance faster and get paid more.

"If two staff accountants truly have identical skills and experience, their pay should be the same. Where AI makes a difference is in how someone works. An employee who uses AI effectively to improve quality, efficiency, and insight will often take on more complex work sooner and progress faster over time. That shows up in career trajectory and opportunity rather than an immediate, explicit pay differential," she said.

Though our experts may have disagreed as to the specifics, overall there was a strong consensus that accountants with AI experience are preferable over those with none as the entire profession undergoes a major transformation. From the automation of simple compliance tasks to the aggregation of data for high level advisory insights, AI is increasingly part of the standard accounting toolkit, used in even the most simple of machine learning applications. In fact, Hitendra Patil, CEO of accounting and fintech consultancy Accountaneur, said there might not be so much an AI premium to seek but a lack-of-AI-penalty to avoid.

"I do not believe there will be extra pay just for knowing how to use AI tools. That's now expected. The real advantage of expertise in leveraging AI is moving ahead faster in the career, seeing things more clearly, and having more influence at work and with clients. Fewer mistakes, quicker insights, and hence, better decisions, will add up over time. By 2026, everyone will be expected to know AI. Not having those skills will quietly limit your career," he said.

These experts themselves, for the most part, are enthusiastic users of AI. They report using it for a wide variety of applications, from document summarization to research to communications and documentation. None are necessarily working less because of it, but rather the nature of their work has changed. With all the extra time they've saved, they generally are putting the free minutes into strengthening relationships with both clients and staff. They're also spending more time on high level advisory work and business development.

"AI has taken over many of the micro-tasks that used to fill my day, including summarizing large sets of information, drafting early versions of documents, extracting themes from long reports, and reviewing extensive background materials. What I've gained back is time to think. Instead of being buried in materials and prep work, I'm spending more time on strategy, talent development, and long-horizon conversations about where the profession is going and how Aprio continues to lead it," said Brent McDaniel, chief digital officer for Top 25 firm Aprio.

But not everyone. Donny Shimamoto, founder and managing director for tech-focused consulting firm IntrapriseTechknowlogies, felt the nature of his work means it's better to maintain a human touch with clients.

"I do true thought leadership and innovation. I create things and approach concepts in ways that have not been done before so AI can't do that since it requires past examples to create from. Another large part of my work is advising clients, my team does most of the prep work and they have leveraged AI. However, my role is to help personalize the options for the client and to help talk the client through the options to ensure they make an informed decision that is in their best interest. These are not things that will be replaced by AI," he said.

You can see more below in this, our second entry exploring the answers in this year's AI Thought Leaders survey. Below are our experts' answers to the following two questions:

What is the actual AI premium in terms of compensation? Imagine two identical staff accountants, one who regularly uses AI and the other who has never used AI. Otherwise, their skills and qualifications are exactly the same. How much more is the former paid over the latter?

What parts of your own job, which you used to do yourself, have now been largely automated via AI, and what has come to fill the time you've saved?

You can read Part 1 here.

(note, some respondents declined to answer both questions)

Will Bible

Audit and assurance partner and digital products leader, Deloitte

What parts of your own job, which you used to do manually, have now been largely automated via AI, and what has come to fill the time you've saved?

Many of my responsibilities relate to solving problems or shifting the strategic direction of the organization. When I am confronted with a particularly difficult situation, or I know that a change is needed but I'm not entirely confident in the direction, I use GenAI to challenge myself. I describe the situation and I ask for 4 or 5 potential solutions. I usually pick 1 or 2 that seem feasible and begin to drill into those solutions with more questions and more refinement. In some cases, I task agents with gathering other data to challenge the scenario. I also actively challenge the results, pointing out context that the tool did not know and asking it to revise its evaluation. It is rare for this process to yield the solution entirely, however, it helps me form the narrative that I use to influence the direction of the organization.

In the past, this type of solutioning was usually isolated research or big brainstorming meetings. Using this new approach, I've found I can fit it in between meetings and make progress during small time periods – collecting my thoughts into one space where I can then spend a few hours to really focus.

Jim Bourke

Managing partner, Withum Advisory Services

What is the actual AI premium in terms of compensation? Imagine two identical staff accountants, one who regularly uses AI and the other who has never used AI. Otherwise their skills and qualifications are exactly the same. How much more is the former paid over the latter?

Great question! Never gave that any thought because right now we pay them the same out of the gate. Having said that, if we have a staff accountant who embraces AI and differentiates themselves through the use of AI, in my opinion they can almost write their own ticket as the years go on. We've seen history repeat this many times...staff accountants that embraced the PC and automated 13 column worksheets are some of the senior leaders of firms today, staff accountants that led firm initiatives of cloud migration are leaders of firms today. Slot in AI and the same story can be told.

What parts of your own job, which you used to do yourself, have now been largely automated via AI, and what has come to fill the time you've saved?

For me, it's leveraging AI and the many tools that have surfaced, to analyze scenarios involving massive amounts of data. That analysis in years past, took days. Today it takes a few minutes. Then as part of that analysis I leverage AI to help me to understand the results in ways that I may have missed in the past. As far as filling time, I believe the profession is trying to figure that one out. Talk to any firm today. Those that I speak with are challenged with under-utilization levels like we have not witnessed in the past. So, we are all trying to figure this one out together....It will take a bit of time, but we'll get there. Maybe the answer is not filling the time we saved, but instead allowing us to have better quality of life, retaining more professionals in our industry for many more years.

Jack Castonguay

Vice president of strategic content development for accounting, finance, and AI, Surgent

What is the actual AI premium in terms of compensation? Imagine two identical staff accountants, one who regularly uses AI and the other who has never used AI. Otherwise their skills and qualifications are exactly the same. How much more is the former paid over the latter?

I think this question needs nuance. There is the question of what the premium should be against what the premium will be at the largest accounting firms. I could make a strong argument that the premium should be 50% or more. If you are proficient at AI and can do your work in a fraction of the time a person who is not proficient then you will save your firm and your clients money. A portion of the savings should be passed onto that professional. We have seen firms noting that some staff utilizing AI are doing work 45-50% quicker so I think that is the starting point for the premium. And I think that the premium is likely happening at some consulting firms outside of the auditing and tax space already.

Unfortunately, at least initially, the premium at the largest accounting firms will likely be $0. They have long refused to differentiate pay based on skills and qualifications. New staff make the same salary whether they have a master's degree, a double major, or an accounting degree with thirty credits in the history of dinosaurs. Staff who are proficient in Excel, coding, or data analysis are paid the same as staff who are not. I think this will change over time as firms seek out AI skills and staff with nontraditional backgrounds, but initially, I doubt we will see a premium.

What parts of your own job, which you used to do yourself, have now been largely automated via AI, and what has come to fill the time you've saved?

The two areas where I have benefited the most from are summarizing accounting and auditing standards to create white papers and slides and meeting attendance. I can now regularly summarize a new ASU and prepare slides for the ASU in under an hour. I also now have my AI meeting companion attend all my meetings with me and sometimes even sit in on the meeting for me and take notes and prepare any action items that I missed. In my free time I brainstorm and create new courses or write new articles that I wouldn't have the capacity to create if I was having to spend all my time updating existing content.

Jin Chang

CEO, Fieldguide

What is the actual AI premium in terms of compensation?

Assuming two staff with identical resumes and experience, the one who effectively uses AI is already adding value not only in output, but in quality and capacity to take on broader responsibility. But the bigger differentiator isn't salary, it's speed of advancement. AI fluency enables staff to contribute at a higher level earlier in their careers, and that accelerates the path to more strategic roles.

What parts of your own job, which you used to do yourself, have now been largely automated via AI, and what has come to fill the time you've saved?

I used to spend a lot of time manually pulling data, taking notes in meetings, or consolidating insights from different tools. That type of coordination work has become far more automated. What's taken its place is more time spent directly with customers and team members – listening, troubleshooting, and co-creating. AI hasn't just freed up time, it's shifted how that time is spent, away from overhead and toward decisions that move the company forward. That's where leadership should live–close to the people, not buried in logistics.

Danielle Supkis Cheek

Senior vice president of AI, analytics and assurance, Caseware

What is the actual AI premium in terms of compensation? Imagine two identical staff accountants, one who regularly uses AI and the other who has never used AI. Otherwise their skills and qualifications are exactly the same. How much more is the former paid over the latter?

I don't think the AI premium shows up as a simple, explicit pay differential for using AI tools. In practice, AI makes it easier for many people to produce competent, 'good enough' work, which increases overall output but differentiation becomes harder.

The real premium accrues to professionals who apply sound judgment, ask better questions and surface issues earlier. A Harvard Business Review article describes the risk of 'workslop' - polished, plausible output that lacks depth or insight and is increasingly easy to generate with AI.

Those who can move beyond this baseline, deploy critical thinking and use AI thoughtfully rather than passively, will stand out. In that sense, any compensation premium should reward discernment, quality and impact, not tool usage.

What parts of your own job, which you used to do yourself, have now been largely automated via AI, and what has come to fill the time you've saved?

I wouldn't say AI has meaningfully reduced the amount of time I spend working. It has helped improve the quality and polish of written materials, and it has made it easier to refine or repurpose existing documentation. It's also reduced friction in areas like spelling and formatting.

Content can now be produced faster and in much greater volume so review timescales can often increase, particularly when longer documents can still contain conceptual flaws. The key lesson is that you largely get out what you put in: high-quality output depends heavily on the quality of the prompt. Clear intent, good context and thoughtful framing make a significant difference to output quality, while vague inputs will tend to produce generic results.

Ellen Choi

CEO, Edgefield Group

What is the actual AI premium in terms of compensation? Imagine two identical staff accountants, one who regularly uses AI and the other who has never used AI. Otherwise their skills and qualifications are exactly the same. How much more is the former paid over the latter?

The AI compensation premium varies by seniority. For partners, effective AI leverage increases compensation by directly expanding their revenue capacity: she can serve more clients with the exact same number of hours, do more business development to generate higher-quality clients or increase revenue/client, all of which flow through existing partnership economics. In this scenario, my guess is that the delta is 10-40%.

For mid-level and junior staff, however, most firms do not yet tie AI-driven productivity gains to individual compensation, which is a huge structural problem. Current partnership models largely limit non-partners from capturing the economic upside of AI, deflating incentives for some accountants who are most incentivized by their earning potential.

Until compensation structures evolve, AI adoption will plateau below its true potential impact.

What parts of your own job, which you used to do yourself, have now been largely automated via AI, and what has come to fill the time you've saved?

Anything that requires content generation, spanning business development through client delivery, has been largely automated by AI. Concrete examples include drafting engagement proposals for prospects, creating client-ready handouts, and generating AI training supporting documentation.

This has enabled my firm to scale without additional headcount; for example, the current volume of work on the go-to-market side would be impossible for a single fractional founder/CEO (me) to manage entirely without hiring dedicated business development support absent AI.

I will say that currently, AI functions mostly as a powerful assistant rather than a fully autonomous system: its output consistently requires human review, judgment, and correction, sometimes minor and sometimes material.

Woosung Chun

CFO, DualEntry

What's the AI premium in compensation?

I don't really see it as an "AI premium" - it's not like we're paying extra just because someone knows ChatGPT. It's more that these people are simply more valuable. An accountant who uses AI effectively gets through work faster, catches issues earlier, produces better documentation. They're operating above their level. That naturally puts them ahead for promotions and raises, but it's about the output, not the AI skill itself. If someone can redesign processes using these

tools and teach the team, they're on the management track anyway. The compensation follows the value they create, not the tools they use.

What parts of your job have been automated, and what filled the time?

First drafts of almost everything - board narratives, variance explanations, KPI summaries, quick policy lookups.

The time savings goes into scenario planning and working with other departments. More time on strategy discussions with the executive team. Also spending more time making sure our automation is actually working correctly - you'd be surprised how often it needs adjustment.

Sergio de la Fe

Digital enterprise leader, RSM

Sergio de la Fe

What is the actual AI premium in terms of compensation? Imagine two identical staff accountants, one who regularly uses AI and the other who has never used AI. Otherwise their skills and qualifications are exactly the same. How much more is the former paid over the latter?

The "AI premium" in compensation is not yet formally standardized, as it depends on the industry, employer and how AI skills are applied. For two identical staff accountants, one leveraging AI to automate routine tasks, improve efficiency and generate insights, employers may perceive greater productivity and value. While exact figures vary, market analyses show double-digit pay premiums for AI skills across professional roles. Over time, as AI proficiency becomes increasingly critical, this premium is likely to grow, reflecting enhanced efficiency, output quality and strategic contribution.

What parts of your own job, which you used to do yourself, have now been largely automated via AI, and what has come to fill the time you've saved?

A few years ago, I spent significant studying, looking for content and knowledge. Today, I am able to research and tap sources of knowledge that were difficult to reach whether they were inside or outside my firm. Access to knowledge and content has transformed how I prepare and how I work. This has allowed me to fill that time is far more strategic work: shaping our digital roadmap, engaging with clients on how technology transforms their business and mentoring teams. Automation hasn't reduced my role, rather it's elevated it, allowing me to focus on decisions that drive impact for our clients and the firm.

Mary Delaney

CEO, Karbon

What is the actual AI premium in terms of compensation? Imagine two identical staff accountants, one who regularly uses AI and the other who has never used AI. Otherwise their skills and qualifications are exactly the same. How much more is the former paid over the latter?

I don't see an "AI premium" as a line item on a paycheck. I see it in how quickly people grow.

When someone is comfortable using AI, they tend to move out of entry-level work faster. They can handle more responsibility, contribute to bigger conversations, and support more clients without burning out. Over time, that leads to better roles and higher pay, but through progression, not instant rewards.

The real shift is leverage. AI lets people spend less time on tasks and more time on thinking. And in any business, people who can think, decide, and advise are more valuable. The premium shows up in opportunity.

What parts of your own job, which you used to do yourself, have now been largely automated via AI, and what has come to fill the time you've saved?

A lot of my time used to go to preparation — pulling together notes, reviewing background materials, or starting drafts. AI now handles much of that setup work.

What I get back is space. More time to listen to firm leaders. More time to think through hard decisions. More time to coach my team and ask better questions.

That's the pattern I see across the profession as well. AI doesn't replace leadership or responsibility — it gives people room to step into it. Less time preparing, more time leading.

Avani Desai

CEO, Schellman

What is the actual AI premium in terms of compensation? Imagine two identical staff accountants, one who regularly uses AI and the other who has never used AI. Otherwise their skills and qualifications are exactly the same. How much more is the former paid over the latter?

If two staff accountants truly have identical skills and experience, their pay should be the same. Where AI makes a difference is in how someone works. An employee who uses AI effectively to improve quality, efficiency, and insight will often take on more complex work sooner and progress faster over time. That shows up in career trajectory and opportunity rather than an immediate, explicit pay differential.

What parts of your own job, which you used to do yourself, have now been largely automated via AI, and what has come to fill the time you've saved?

I use AI often! I use it for early, mechanical parts of my work, things like synthesizing information, preparing first drafts of emails or firm wide emails, and pulling together background research. That has freed up time to focus on higher-value work, including strategy, decision making, and spending more time with our teams and clients. The goal is not to do less work, but to spend more time on the parts of the job that benefit most from experience, judgment, and leadership.

Kelly M. Fisher

Chief practice officer, Wipfli Advisory LLC

What is the actual AI premium in terms of compensation?

Today, the ability to use AI well is still a differentiator. Professionals who apply it effectively tend to move faster, frame problems more clearly, and arrive at better-informed recommendations. That is reflected in performance, visibility, and opportunities.

Over time, that advantage will narrow as AI use becomes an expectation rather than a choice. At that point, compensation won't hinge on whether someone uses AI, but on the outcomes they deliver. The highest-value contributors will continue to be those who surface issues early, rigorously evaluate options, clearly explain trade-offs, and keep stakeholders aligned on both decisions and their rationale.

What parts of your own job have been largely automated via AI, and what has replaced that time?

I use AI every day as part of how I work, not as a side experiment. I use it to handle first-pass analysis, market and product research, scenario modeling, and early drafts of executive communications. I've also built and trained agents specifically to pressure-test assumptions, surface risks, and expose weak logic before decisions are made.

The impact isn't extra free time—it's better decisions. I spend less time generating inputs and more time aligning stakeholders, making trade-offs, and focusing on longer-term priorities. Because of this, I actively encourage partners to incorporate AI into their operations, not just as a productivity tool, but as a decision-support system.

Prashant Ganti

Vice president of global product strategy, finance and operations BU, Zoho

What is the actual AI premium in terms of compensation? Imagine two identical staff accountants, one who regularly uses AI and the other who has never used AI. Otherwise their skills and qualifications are exactly the same. How much more is the former paid over the latter?

According to a McKinsey report, the demand for AI fluency has grown seven times in two years across industries. This means accounting professionals are likely expected to use AI to automate many of the important but repetitive functions to boost productivity, so that they can focus on more complex work as a strategic advisor. So over time, the premium for being proficient in AI tools will become a norm. This premium underscores AI's role not as mere task automation but as "better glue" for coordination — unbundling and rebundling workflows through systems thinking. Professionals who redesign entire processes and value chains, rather than just optimizing individual tasks, will capture greater contextual value and command sustained higher compensation in the AI driven knowledge economy.

Aaron Harris

Chief technology officer, Sage

What is the actual AI premium in terms of compensation? Imagine two identical staff accountants, one who regularly uses AI and the other who has never used AI. Otherwise their skills and qualifications are exactly the same. How much more is the former paid over the latter?

Accountants who can oversee AI-driven workflows, validate outputs, and translate insights into decisions are increasingly valuable because they create capacity for higher-value advisory work. We're already seeing the financial impact of that shift. Recent (CAS) benchmark data shows firms with established advisory practices reporting mid-teens growth, with revenue per professional up by nearly 30% as more value is delivered through advisory rather than pure execution.

In practice, the premium shows up less as a headline salary gap and more as faster progression, broader responsibility, and higher-impact roles. The real premium is career velocity.

What parts of your own job, which you used to do yourself, have now been largely automated via AI, and what has come to fill the time you've saved?

In some ways, it's more what AI is enabling me to do now that I didn't have time to do in the past. My favorite example is I'm writing code again. I'm not writing code that makes its way into our products, but I am writing code to trial ideas and test hypothesis. And because LLMs are great tutors, I'm also learning new techniques. This also applies to the kind of general research I do. LLMs enable me to quickly dive into any topic of interest, gain a baseline understanding, and then pursue branches of specific interest. In other words, I'm able to learn more and learn faster.

The time that frees up is spent where it matters most, being closer to customers and partners, spending more time on judgement rather than preparation, and ensuring we're building AI that is accurate, transparent, and trusted. AI hasn't reduced what I do but it's allowed me to focus more on the decisions and relationships that matter most.

Wesley Hartman

Founder, Automata Practice Development

SONIA ALVARADO

What is the actual AI premium in terms of compensation? Imagine two identical staff accountants, one who regularly uses AI and the other who has never used AI. Otherwise their skills and qualifications are exactly the same. How much more is the former paid over the latter?

I don't think it will be a significant difference in the hiring wage but that is because there are still not enough accountants. Both will get hired and will receive comparable wages, regardless of if AI is on their resumes. Internally, an accountant with AI will be more productive and could advance in their careers more quickly. I think that AI can be used as a tool to advance more rapidly if used properly. AI can be that multiplier over the lifetime.

What parts of your own job, which you used to do yourself, have now been largely automated via AI, and what has come to fill the time you've saved?

Basic code generation and code library research. As a developer, coding is only a small part of my role. Research and problem solving is what is important. The "thinking about the solution" and not what ends up on the screen. AI has speed up basic code and research so I can focus on the complex code part and how to get there. I think it should be the same for accountants. Entering data from forms to software or categorizing transactions from a statement is the basic work. AI can do those tasks and allow the accountant to focus on the complex work. Now my time is filled with growing my business and thinking about new ways to make life easier for me and my team. And writing in Accounting Today.

Jon Hilton

AI practice leader and shareholder, LBMC

What is the actual AI premium in terms of compensation? Imagine two identical staff accountants, one who regularly uses AI and the other who has never used AI. Otherwise, their skills and qualifications are exactly the same. How much more is the former paid over the latter?

At this point, its table stakes to be using AI in your daily work. This is a leadership question as much as it is a compensation question. Leaders equip their people to accomplish the vision and mission that the organization puts forth – equipping your people with AI as a leader should be your standard. Its then their responsibility to use it to maximize their work. A well-qualified user of AI in an organization should at least be 10 – 20 % more efficient than the non-user, so that may be a good benchmark for compensation difference based on value generation alone.

What parts of your own job, which you used to do yourself, have now been largely automated via AI, and what has come to fill the time you've saved?

Contractual language and negotiation for engagements have returned great value for me. Nearly every email I produce is proofread by AI and I also find researching efficiencies in the use of AI tools as I strategize on how to approach complex client issues of value.

Kacee Johnson

Principal, be Radical

What is the actual AI premium in compensation?

The AI premium is real, but it's not about knowing how to use tools, it's about leverage. In 2026, I expect a 10–20% compensation premium for professionals who can consistently deliver better outcomes using AI.

Two otherwise identical accountants aren't equally valuable if one can supervise AI workflows, validate outputs, and translate insights into action…and the other can't. Firms don't pay for prompts; they pay for speed, accuracy, and impact.

What parts of your own job have been automated, and what fills that time now?

Research synthesis, first drafts, competitive analysis, and meeting prep are now heavily AI-assisted for me. What used to take hours now takes minutes. That time gets reinvested in higher-order work: pattern recognition across clients, strategic framing, and deeper human conversations.

Randy Johnston

Executive vice president, K2 Enterprises

What is the actual AI premium in terms of compensation? Imagine two identical staff accountants, one who regularly uses AI and the other who has never used AI. Otherwise their skills and qualifications are exactly the same. How much more is the former paid over the latter?

AI skills will be table stakes in the near future. As firms add more "digital seniors," that is, professionals who blend accounting expertise with workflow design, AI oversight, and client communication, almost all team members will have AI skills. In the short term, the AI premium compensation difference is currently worth $6,000 per year or $500/month.

What parts of your own job, which you used to do yourself, have now been largely automated via AI, and what has come to fill the time you've saved?

AI automation has helped with research, providing drafts of large projects, identifying oversights, and refining drafts of documents and emails. The measured productivity gain is between 25-40%. I have chosen not to work as many hours and fill the recovered time with other activities.

Roman Kepczyk

Director of firm technology strategy, Rightworks

What is the actual AI premium in terms of compensation? Imagine two identical staff accountants, one who regularly uses AI and the other who has never used AI. Otherwise their skills and qualifications are exactly the same. How much more is the former paid over the latter?

Regarding the "AI premium in terms of compensation," I believe that once AI processes are in place and being utilized across the firm, I would expect the AI accountant to be at a minimum of 20% more productive than a traditional accountant in 2026 and probably 50% more productive in 2027 and later years. These efficiencies will start to be noticed at the end of 2026, when firm profitability surveys begin to emerge and identify firms that have implemented AI solutions with the intent of benchmarking results.

What parts of your own job, which you used to do yourself, have now been largely automated via AI, and what has come to fill the time you've saved?

In my role as a strategic technology advisor exclusively to CPA firms, I have found that reviewing my work for grammar and suggested word changes, as well as conducting initial research on specific IT solutions or CPA content (Google Chrome on steroids), is very helpful. Any free time I have, I'm investing in various Agentic AI projects, which I believe will significantly change the accounting production landscape, so I can't say I'm saving any time and instead spending more time on cool stuff!

Brent McDaniel

chief digital officer, Aprio

M.I.A Braids

What is the actual AI premium in compensation?

Today, the AI premium shows up in career velocity more than in salary bands. Two accountants with identical backgrounds may not see different base pay, but the one who uses AI confidently will move faster. They are staffed on more complex work, build advisory skills earlier, and quickly become the person teams rely on. The premium is opportunity. It's not a line item on a comp sheet; it's the acceleration of someone's career.

What parts of your own job have been automated, and what has filled that time?

AI has taken over many of the micro-tasks that used to fill my day, including summarizing large sets of information, drafting early versions of documents, extracting themes from long reports, and reviewing extensive background materials. What I've gained back is time to think. Instead of being buried in materials and prep work, I'm spending more time on strategy, talent development, and long-horizon conversations about where the profession is going and how Aprio continues to lead it.

Ariege Misherghi

General manager and senior vice president of AP and AR, BILL

What is the actual AI premium in terms of compensation? Imagine two identical staff accountants, one who regularly uses AI and the other who has never used AI. Otherwise their skills and qualifications are exactly the same. How much more is the former paid over the latter?

I don't think the right way to think about an "AI premium" is as a fixed compensation uplift for using a tool. The real differentiator is performance and value generation.

If two accountants have identical qualifications, but one consistently delivers higher-quality output, handles more complexity, or can be trusted with higher-value clients because they're effectively leveraging AI, that difference should be reflected in compensation. Not because they use AI, but because their impact on the business is greater.

The focus should be on outcomes: Are they enabling more throughput? Reducing errors? Creating more capacity for advisory work? When AI helps someone deliver outsized results, compensation should follow value created and not just tool usage alone. In that sense, AI doesn't earn a premium, performance does.

What parts of your own job, which you used to do yourself, have now been largely automated via AI, and what has come to fill the time you've saved?

Much of what I've automated through AI centers on communication, not deciding priorities, but communicating them. That includes generating assets that articulate what has happened, what's happening now, and what's coming next. Drafting, summarizing, and framing those messages is now largely automated.

What that shift enables is far more important than the time saved. It gives me the space to step back and assess whether the right work is actually happening across teams, and whether momentum is building behind the most important initiatives.

With that reclaimed time, I'm spending more energy guiding and coaching individuals, helping teams sharpen their craft, and working closely with product leaders to ensure we're building the right things in the right way. AI hasn't replaced judgment or leadership, it's removed friction so I can focus on the parts of my role that create the most leverage and long-term impact.

Eva Mrazikova

Senior director, IRIS Accountancy

What is the actual AI premium in terms of compensation? Imagine two identical staff accountants, one who regularly uses AI and the other who has never used AI. Otherwise their skills and qualifications are exactly the same. How much more is the former paid over the latter?

This is a value-based question. Increasingly Firms are shifting pricing of services to either fixed or value based because the old 'time on task' is no longer a direct billing metric because of the dramatic increases in efficiency. It is possible that professional services-based workers compensation will also shift along the same lines to value delivered rather than hours worked. In that world the AI premium demands a 20%-30% uplift simply due to the revenue per employee metric RPE. Of course there will be gating factors from the firm on level of relationship with the client, range of services the client consumes, etc but at the lower end of consumable compliance the variance will be significant.

It's early days, but the logic is straightforward: if firms are shifting to value-based pricing because AI dramatically increases efficiency, compensation should follow the same principle.

An AI-fluent accountant who can deliver the same output in a fraction of the time fundamentally changes the revenue-per-employee equation. In a world where billing is tied to value delivered rather than hours worked, that could justify a 20-30% compensation premium simply because the employee is generating significantly more revenue per hour.

Of course, gating factors matter, client relationships, range of services and firm structure, but at the lower end of routine compliance work, where AI can complete tasks in minutes rather than hours, the variance will be significant. High-value advisory relationships may see less immediate impact, but for consumable compliance services, firms that don't adjust their compensation models risk losing talent to competitors who recognize and reward AI fluency as a core skill.

What parts of your own job, which you used to do yourself, have now been largely automated via AI, and what has come to fill the time you've saved?

In my role, many of the more time-intensive but lower-value tasks have been significantly streamlined by AI. Take for example, things message testing, and synthesising large volumes of customer or market data, which may previously have taken days can now be done in hours.

The real impact, though, is not efficiency for efficiency's sake, it's where that time has been redirected towards. AI has created space for deeper, more meaningful conversations with customers and partners, particularly accountants. I'm spending more time understanding the real challenges they face, how their role is shifting from compliance to advisory, and what they actually need from technology to support that transition.

That insight feeds directly into stronger product offerings and a true partnership with many of the firms we support. AI hasn't replaced strategic thinking or customer empathy — it's amplified them, allowing senior leaders to focus less on production and more on value, judgement and connection.

Abigail Parker

Accounting educator, UT San Antonio

What parts of your own job, which you used to do yourself, have now been largely automated via AI, and what has come to fill the time you've saved?

I am a university professor and researcher. As a university professor I use AI to help generate quiz questions based on my course materials. As a researcher I use AI to check grammar and clarity of my writing, and to organize academic references. These allow me to spend more time on tasks that are more meaningful like thinking through research questions and handling challenging research tasks.

Hitendra R. Patil

CEO, Accountaneur

What is the actual AI premium in terms of compensation?

I do not believe there will be extra pay just for knowing how to use AI tools. That's now expected. The real advantage of expertise in leveraging AI is moving ahead faster in the career, seeing things more clearly, and having more influence at work and with clients. Fewer mistakes, quicker insights, and hence, better decisions, will add up over time. By 2026, everyone will be expected to know AI. Not having those skills will quietly limit your career.

What parts of your own job have been automated via AI, and what has filled the time saved?

I leverage AI for time-consuming tasks like gathering relevant information for research, organizing information, creating first-draft outlines, and pulling ideas together, which now take much less time. I use the time saved toward higher-level work, such as deeper thinking, connecting more dots, more strategic planning, deeper analysis, and, best of all, more real conversations with clients about choices and outcomes.

Wenzel Reyes

Head of methodology and audit solutions, MindBridge AI

Wenzel Ryan Reyes

What is the actual AI premium in compensation between two identical staff accountants, one who uses AI and one who does not?

The premium is becoming much more visible. Firms and clients expect accountants who can interpret data quickly, extract insights and translate them into actions. Someone who cannot work with AI tools will struggle with the growing volume of information and the pressure to deliver answers fast. Clients now assume that their accountants can use technology to improve accuracy and efficiency. That expectation creates a real difference in value between two staff accountants with identical traditional skills. The one who uses AI becomes a multiplier. They finish work faster, catch more issues and offer better perspectives. As a result, they move up faster and get paid more. The accountant who avoids AI risks falling behind. The market is rewarding those who adapt, because AI fluency is now part of the modern accounting skillset.

What parts of your job have been automated by AI, and what now fills that time?

AI handles much of the data analysis, coding and documentation that once consumed entire days. Extracting data, writing scripts, building tests or drafting detailed documentation used to be the bulk of my workload. Today, AI accelerates that work so I can focus on people. I spend more time having real conversations, exploring creative ideas and debating strategy with leaders and clients. I also coach many new CPAs who are learning how to integrate AI into their workflow. That has become one of the most fulfilling parts of my role. Instead of being buried in spreadsheets, I get to help shape how the profession evolves. The shift has made the CPA job feel more human, not less.

Cathy Rowe, Adam Orentlicher

Senior vice president and segment leader
Chief technology officer
Wolters Kluwer North America

What is the actual AI premium in terms of compensation? Imagine two identical staff accountants, one who regularly uses AI and the other who has never used AI. Otherwise their skills and qualifications are exactly the same. How much more is the former paid over the latter?

The real premium isn't compensation – it's career velocity. In 2026, we believe AI-fluent professionals will begin to advance faster because they'll deliver more value, sooner. CPAs won't be replaced by AI, but those not using it are likely to be outpaced, or replaced, by those who are.

The 2025 Future Ready Accountant Report makes clear that AI isn't just a novelty. AI adoption among tax and accounting pros has quadrupled in one year, with 70% already using AI weekly, and 77% of firms planning to increase AI investment. At the same time, talent priorities are shifting:

31% of firms cite developing advanced technical skills as a top staffing challenge.
Staff expectations for better technology tools surged to 29%, up from 19% in 2024.

Put those signals together, and the conclusion is clear: AI fluency is becoming a career currency. Two accountants with identical credentials won't be valued the same if only one can harness AI for predictive insights, workflow automation, and advisory enablement. Firms are betting big on advisory as their growth engine: Ninety-three percent now offer advisory services, and nearly half plan to expand in the next year. AI and advisory aren't separate trends; they're converging. The accountant who can turn AI-driven insights into strategic guidance will be worth more.

One key takeaway for firms is that talent who want advanced tools are unlikely to want to wait around for their employers to "get on board." They'll gravitate to firms where they can work smarter, not harder. Firms that lag on AI adoption risk losing their best people to competitors who empower them with tech.

Jeff Seibert

CEO, Digits

What is the actual "AI premium" in compensation?

In the near term, the AI premium isn't about mastery of abstract tools — it's the ability to work inside AI-native workflows where automation drives leverage. An accountant who understands how predictive models behave, how to supervise agents, and how to review an AI-prepared close will simply be able to support more clients with higher accuracy and better turnaround. In 2026, I'd expect a 10–20%+ compensation premium for AI-proficient staff, not because firms are paying for novelty, but because these individuals materially expand a team's capacity. Over time, this becomes less of an explicit premium and more of a baseline expectation — similar to the shift from desktop to cloud proficiency.

What has AI already automated in your own job, and what has filled the time saved?

For me personally, AI has completely transformed communication and analysis workflows. I no longer draft emails, internal memos, or board prep materials from scratch—I dictate everything via Wispr Flow and their AI structures, refines, and formats it. Data exploration that used to require dashboards or SQL now happens conversationally through tools like Ask Digits, and note-taking is a thing of the past thanks to Granola. The time saved has gone almost entirely into deeper product thinking and more direct interaction with customers and firms. When the operational friction disappears, you spend far more time on strategy, storytelling, and building the future of the product rather than documenting the present.

Sean Stein Smith

Chair, Wall Street Blockchain Alliance

What is the actual AI premium in terms of compensation?

Across the market, an AI‑literate staff accountant earns between 18-50% depending on firm size and role. Obviously that is a wide range with the bulk of the difference driven by the 1) the size of the firm in question, 2) what specific AI tools or suites the person is well-versed in, and 3) what lines of business the CPA will be employed within. Regardless, coming into a firm with a verifiable knowledge and expertise of AI tools is already delivering a quantifiable benefits in terms of salary levels.

What parts of your own job have now been automated, and what fills the time saved?

AI now handles first‑draft writing (emails, memos, outlines), initial research scans, coding repetitive analyses, and summarizing regulations. By automating these takes I have been able to reallocate time and energy toward deeper research, advisory work, leadership tasks, and creating AI‑centric curriculum and thought leadership (like responding to this survey!). I've also taken to building and launching task-specific GPTs or agents to assist with certain tasks, provide 24/7 responsiveness for colleagues, and to help offload some of the repetitive work that would otherwise occupy me.

Donny Shimamoto

Managing director, IntrapriseTechKnowlogies

What is the actual AI premium in terms of compensation? Imagine two identical staff accountants, one who regularly uses AI and the other who has never used AI. Otherwise their skills and qualifications are exactly the same. How much more is the former paid over the latter?

No premium should be paid. Just because someone uses AI regularly in a consumer use case doesn't mean that they will be able to appropriately leverage it in a work setting. The requirements around understanding data quality, response validity, and compliance with standards is very different in a professional setting. Instead the ability to learn and other professional "soft skills" should be assessed. These are the premium skills. You can teach someone to use a technology. It's not as easy to teach someone these more human skills.

What parts of your own job, which you used to do yourself, have now been largely automated via AI, and what has come to fill the time you've saved?

None, I do true thought leadership and innovation. I create things and approach concepts in ways that have not been done before so AI can't do that since it requires past examples to create from. Another large part of my work is advising clients, my team does most of the prep work and they have leveraged AI. However, my role is to help personalize the options for the client and to help talk the client through the options to ensure they make an informed decision that is in their best interest. These are not things that will be replaced by AI.

Mike Whitmire

CEO and co-founder, FloQast

Picasa

What is the actual AI premium in terms of compensation? Imagine two identical staff accountants, one who regularly uses AI and the other who has never used AI. Otherwise their skills and qualifications are exactly the same. How much more is the former paid over the latter?

We are facing a crisis with a shortage of over 300,000 accountants, so the professional who can leverage AI to do the work of three people without burning out is arguably the most valuable asset on the payroll. We are seeing a clear bifurcation. AI-literate accountants are commanding higher salaries and faster promotions not just because they are faster, but because they are solving the capacity crisis that keeps CFOs awake at night. Our data proves that these AI collaborators report significantly higher job satisfaction, better sleep and lower burnout. Smart companies will pay a significant premium for that stability because the cost of losing a key person during a critical close or audit cycle is infinitely higher than the cost of a salary bump for a tech-savvy controller.

What parts of your own job, which you used to do yourself, have now been largely automated via AI, and what has come to fill the time you've saved?

I used to lose hours every week just hunting for data across disparate spreadsheets and static reports just to get a basic pulse on the business's health. I was spending too much time gathering rather than leading. Now, AI-driven reporting synthesizes that data instantly, allowing me to skip the gathering phase entirely and go straight to the analysis phase. I'm a big believer in shedding responsibility to focus on what I'm actually unique at. This technology frees me up to focus on the high-stakes stuff that actually moves the needle. If a machine can aggregate the data, I shouldn't be doing it. My job is to look at that data and decide whether we turn left or right.

Simon Williams

Vice president of emerging solutions, Intuit

What is the actual AI premium in terms of compensation? Imagine two identical staff accountants, one who regularly uses AI and the other who has never used AI. Otherwise their skills and qualifications are exactly the same. How much more is the former paid over the latter?

Just as firms are evolving their pricing structures away from hourly billing to billing that reflects the value and impact delivered to clients, employee compensation should be grounded in the same principles. AI enables accountants to be more productive, delivering higher quality work in less time. They likely handle a greater volume of tasks, identify insights more quickly, and contribute more strategically to the business, therefore maximizing time and effort. Reward the outcomes and tangible value an employee creates. In this new framework, the AI-proficient accountant isn't paid more for the same job; they are compensated for delivering superior results and contributing at a higher level. The premium is attached to the value, not the tool.

What parts of your own job, which you used to do yourself, have now been largely automated via AI, and what has come to fill the time you've saved?

AI has become an integral part of my daily job, transforming both my responsibilities and the way I approach work. Tools like Gong are revolutionizing our sales processes by surfacing critical signals from customer meetings that were previously difficult to identify. This enables our sales teams to be more productive and informed when working with customers during the sales cycle. In marketing, AI allows us to analyze content performance, run more experiments, personalize campaigns, and make data-driven decisions with greater precision. Beyond these strategic applications, AI has also streamlined my day-to-day tasks by automating administrative work. From transcribing meetings and compiling actionable notes to managing my calendar and drafting initial communications, AI has freed up valuable hours. This shift has allowed me to focus more on professional growth, team development, and delivering impactful business outcomes. By integrating AI into both strategic and operational workflows, I'm able to work smarter, not harder, and drive meaningful results.

Joe Woodard

CEO, Woodard

What is the actual AI premium in terms of compensation? Imagine two identical staff accountants, one who regularly uses AI and the other who has never used AI. Otherwise, their skills and qualifications are exactly the same. How much more is the former paid over the latter?

I believe pricing is based on outputs, not inputs. So, I believe the professional who generates the greater outputs should be compensated higher, as the income they generate for the practice will be higher, assuming the firm is pricing on the outputs (i.e. value pricing). Though, in theory the person who uses AI will increase outputs, how the professional generates outputs is incidental.

What parts of your own job, which you used to do yourself, have now been largely automated via AI, and what has come to fill the time you've saved?

Preparing proposals and statements of work. I have saved about one week during 2025 on this one use of AI.