The AI-in-accounting takeover is real, and it’s here. More than one in five professionals at tax accounting and audit firms said they’re already using generative AI technology, a big jump from 8% in 2024, a Thomson Reuters survey found. Just last week, accounting firm RSM announced a $1 billion investment in AI technology.

As AI gains a stronger foothold at accounting firms, the next logical question is how they’re using the technology, exactly. Executives at two of the six largest US accounting firms helped CFO Brew answer that question.

The big takeaway? AI will place employee productivity on a higher plane of existence.

“We expect AI to make us more productive, make sure people are focused on their highest and best use, and not spending their time on lower-value activities,” Eric Miles, CEO-elect of Baker Tilly, told CFO Brew. Baker Tilly, by the way, recently joined forces with Moss Adams to become the sixth-largest accounting firm in the US.

Boredom, begone. One of the potential promises of AI is that it’ll remove the mundane, drudge work from our jobs. For PwC CFO Colin Wittmer, that promise is panning out.

PwC teams have already created AI tools for account reconciliation and consolidations, payroll, expense reports, journal entries, and pieces of internal auditing, according to Wittmer.

For more on how public accounting firms are implementing AI, click here.—JK/AZ

Kurt Hohl, a former EY partner with almost 40 years’ audit and accounting experience, will be the SEC’s next chief accountant, the agency announced last week. He’ll take the reins on July 7. Ryan Wolfe, who served as acting chief accountant, will resume his role as chief accountant in the Division of Enforcement.

Hohl succeeds Paul Munter, who became SEC chief accountant in 2023 and retired this January.

Prior to taking the chief accountant role, Kohl ran consulting firm Corallium Advisors. He spent the bulk of his career at EY, where he worked for more than 25 years. In his final role at EY, as global deputy vice chair for professional practice, he led a group of more than 1,400 people and oversaw “the technical, regulatory, risk, and quality oversight functions of EY’s global professional practice organization,” according to the SEC’s press release.

But before that, Hohl was an associate chief accountant for the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance. He wrote the Staff Training Manual, later known as the Financial Reporting Manual, a guide to federal securities laws for SEC accounting staff and practitioners.

Hohl returns to the SEC at a time of transition. Around 12% of the agency’s staff have taken buyouts or deferred resignations since DOGE restructuring began after President Trump's inauguration in January. Paul Atkins, who has a decidedly deregulatory bent, was confirmed as chair in April.

Keep reading here.—CV

It’s actually (almost) summer, and the temperature isn’t the only thing rising.

Consumer sentiment finally ticked up in June, according to the latest University of Michigan survey. Perhaps you recall: This hasn’t exactly been the norm lately, as tariff worries dragged it down.

Now, things are…turning a corner? Maybe? Kind of?

June’s reading marks the first time consumer sentiment improved in six months. The preliminary reading for the month came in at 60.5, up from 52.2 in May. That was also above the 54.0 expected from economists the Wall Street Journal polled.

“Consumers appear to have settled somewhat from the shock of the extremely high tariffs announced in April and the policy volatility seen in the weeks that followed,” Joanne Hsu, the survey’s director, said in a statement. “However, consumers still perceive wide-ranging downside risks to the economy,” she added, citing persistently negative views on “business conditions, personal finances, buying conditions for big ticket items, labor markets, and stock markets.”

In the year ahead, consumers anticipate 5.1% inflation, down considerably from the 6.6% they anticipated last month. “Long-run inflation expectations fell for the second straight month,” she said, down to 4.1% in June from 4.2% in May. Those two readings mark the lowest in three months.

But how are consumers really feeling?—NP

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