# Accountants and Auditors

US SOC code 13-2011. Markdown version of https://futurehistory.earth/timeline/13-2011

Also called: Accountant, Auditor, CPA, Certified public accountant, Internal auditor.

## In brief

The record starts at an estimated **23,000** accountants in 1900. Today there are **1.45 million**. Median pay was **$83,680** a year in May 2025. Of the BLS counts since 2003, the May 2025 count is the highest. The last full technology era for accountants and auditors: AI-powered audit analytics, 2015 to 2022.

## What the sources say

### Official outlook

BLS projects employment to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035. Source: [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=13-2011&ioType=o).

### AI exposure studies

- **52%** of this job's tasks are exposed to large language models. Not a forecast of job losses. [Eloundou and others, 2023](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv)
- **0.94** estimated probability that the whole occupation could be computerised, over an unspecified number of years. Not a forecast of job losses. [Frey and Osborne, 2013](https://oms-www.files.svdcdn.com/production/downloads/academic/The_Future_of_Employment.pdf)

### Since the 2013 prediction

In 2013, Frey and Osborne put this job's probability of computerisation at 0.94. BLS counted **1,168,330** of these jobs in May 2013 and **1,449,500** in May 2025 (+24%, a change derived by Future History).

Data as of BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025-35. BLS publishes these counts as yearly survey snapshots and cautions against reading them as a precise trend. In May 2021 BLS changed how it estimates these counts (a model-based method using three years of survey data) and moved fully to the 2018 occupation codes, so part of a change across 2021 can come from the method rather than the work.

## Accountants and Auditors employment and pay by year

- On record since: 1887
- Latest US employment: 1,449,500 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [3]
- Latest US median pay: $83,680 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [9]
- Outlook: +5% by 2035. Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-35 [40]

### In other countries

The latest figure each country's statistics agency publishes for this job. Each uses its own occupation definition, survey basis and currency, so the numbers are not directly comparable with each other or with the US figures.

- **Canada** (NOC 11100)
  - Employment, 2020: 197,825. Source: Statistics Canada Census 2021 [4]. Statistics Canada Census of Population 2021: number of persons with employment income in NOC 11100 Financial auditors and accountants, Canada, reference year 2020. A recipients basis (anyone with employment income during the year), slightly broader than a point-in-time employed count. Statistics Canada Open Licence.
  - Median pay, 2020: C$80,000. Source: Statistics Canada Census 2021 [12]. Statistics Canada Census of Population 2021 (Table 98-10-0586): median employment income for NOC 11100 Financial auditors and accountants, Canada, reference year 2020, full-year full-time workers (the basis comparable to the US OEWS full-time median). Statistics Canada Open Licence.
- **United Kingdom** (UK SOC 2421)
  - Employment, 2025: 75,000. Source: ONS ASHE 2025 [5]. ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Table 14): employee jobs in SOC 2421 Chartered and certified accountants, United Kingdom, 2025 (ASHE "number of jobs", thousands x1000; excludes self-employment). Open Government Licence v3.0.
  - Median pay, 2025: £45,538. Source: ONS ASHE 2025 [13]. ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Table 14.7a): median gross annual pay for all employee jobs in SOC 2421 Chartered and certified accountants, United Kingdom, 2025. Open Government Licence v3.0.
- **Australia** (ANZSCO 2211)
  - Employment, 2025: 223,300. Source: ABS Labour Force Survey March 2026 [6]. ABS Labour Force Survey (Detailed), table EQ08: employed persons in ANZSCO 2211 Accountants, national (summed across sex and state/territory), annual average of 4 quarterly estimates.
  - Median pay, 2025: A$104,156. Source: ABS Employee Earnings May 2025 [14]. Annualised (x52) from A$2,003 median weekly earnings. ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025: median pay for full-time non-managerial employees paid at the adult rate, before tax. Surfaced via the Jobs and Skills Australia occupation profile for ANZSCO 2211.

### All 27 years of cited US data

| Year | US employment | Annual pay (median unless marked) | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1900 | 23,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., Derived historical estimate [1] |
| 1940 | 180,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., Development of 'The Big Eight'… [2] |
| 1970 | n/a | $10,500 | BLS historical bulletin June 1970 [7] |
| 1999 | n/a | $41,488 | Census 2000 [8] |
| 2003 | 924,640 | $49,060 | BLS OEWS May 2003 [3] |
| 2004 | 995,910 | $50,770 | BLS OEWS May 2004 [3] |
| 2005 | 1,051,220 | $52,210 | BLS OEWS May 2005 [3] |
| 2006 | 1,092,960 | $54,630 | BLS OEWS May 2006 [3] |
| 2007 | 1,115,010 | $57,060 | BLS OEWS May 2007 [3] |
| 2008 | 1,133,580 | $59,430 | BLS OEWS May 2008 [3] |
| 2009 | 1,106,980 | $60,340 | BLS OEWS May 2009 [3] |
| 2010 | 1,072,490 | $61,690 | BLS OEWS May 2010 [3] |
| 2011 | 1,085,150 | $62,850 | BLS OEWS May 2011 [3] |
| 2012 | 1,129,340 | $63,550 | BLS OEWS May 2012 [3] |
| 2013 | 1,168,330 | $65,080 | BLS OEWS May 2013 [3] |
| 2014 | 1,187,310 | $65,940 | BLS OEWS May 2014 [3] |
| 2015 | 1,226,910 | $67,190 | BLS OEWS May 2015 [3] |
| 2016 | 1,246,540 | $68,150 | BLS OEWS May 2016 [3] |
| 2017 | 1,241,000 | $69,350 | BLS OEWS May 2017 [3] |
| 2018 | 1,259,930 | $70,500 | BLS OEWS May 2018 [3] |
| 2019 | 1,280,700 | $71,550 | BLS OEWS May 2019 [3] |
| 2020 | 1,274,620 | $73,560 | BLS OEWS May 2020 [3] |
| 2021 | 1,318,550 | $77,250 | BLS OEWS May 2021 [3] |
| 2022 | 1,402,420 | $78,000 | BLS OEWS May 2022 [3] |
| 2023 | 1,435,770 | $79,880 | BLS OEWS May 2023 [3] |
| 2024 | 1,448,290 | $81,680 | BLS OEWS May 2024 [3] |
| 2025 | 1,449,500 | $83,680 | BLS OEWS May 2025 [3] |

## Sources (123)

### Employment series

1. [Historical estimate of U.S. accountants c.1900 (Wikipedia: Certified Public Accountant / AICPA founding 1887)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Certified_Public_Accountant), Derived historical estimate
2. [Development of 'The Big Eight' Accounting Firms in the United States, 1900-1990 (profession-size estimate)](https://egrove.olemiss.edu/aah_journal/vol19/iss1/1/), Accounting Historians Journal (University of Mississippi)
3. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2003](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm03nat.zip), [2004](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm04nat.zip), [2005](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm05nat.zip), [2006](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm06nat.zip), [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2008](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2024](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)
4. [Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2021, Table 98-10-0586 (Employment income statistics by occupation unit group, NOC 2021), income reference year 2020](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810058601), Statistics Canada
5. ONS: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14.7a (Annual pay - Gross), 4-digit SOC 2421, United Kingdom. Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14. Licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0., Office for National Statistics. Editions: [2002](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2002/2002-table-14.zip), [2006](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2006consistentw_007methodology/2006-table-14.zip), [2010](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2010revised/2010-revised-table-14.zip), [2011](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2011revisedbasedonsoc2010/2011-revised-table-14.zip), [2015](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2015/table142015revised.zip), [2020](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2020revised/table142020revised.zip), [2022](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2022revised/ashetable142022revised.zip), [2025](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2025provisional/ashetable142025provisional.zip)
6. [ABS: Labour Force, Australia, Detailed, table EQ08 (Employed persons by Occupation unit group, ANZSCO 2013), March 2026](https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/employment-and-unemployment/labour-force-australia-detailed/latest-release), Australian Bureau of Statistics

### Wage series

7. [BLS National Survey of Professional, Administrative, Technical and Clerical Pay (PATC), June 1970, Bulletin 1693, Table 1: Accountants III (the most heavily populated work level), private industry, annual median salary $10,500.](https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/national-survey-professional-administrative-technical-clerical-pay-4570/national-survey-professional-administrative-technical-clerical-pay-june-1970-498759/fulltext), BLS-HISTORICAL-BULLETIN
8. [U.S. Census 2000, Earnings by Detailed Occupation (Table 2): Accountants and Auditors, year-round full-time workers, median earnings $41,488 for 1999.](https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial/tables/2000/earnings-occupation/call2usboth.csv), CENSUS
9. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2003](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm03nat.zip), [2004](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm04nat.zip), [2005](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm05nat.zip), [2006](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm06nat.zip), [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)
10. [BLS OEWS May 2008, national cross-industry estimates (flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS)
11. [BLS OEWS May 2024, national cross-industry estimates (flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
12. [Statistics Canada, Census of Population 2021, Table 98-10-0586 (Employment income statistics by occupation unit group, NOC 2021), income reference year 2020](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810058601), Statistics Canada
13. ONS: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14.7a (Annual pay - Gross), 4-digit SOC 2421, United Kingdom. Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14. Licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0., Office for National Statistics. Editions: [2002](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2002/2002-table-14.zip), [2006](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2006consistentw_007methodology/2006-table-14.zip), [2010](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2010revised/2010-revised-table-14.zip), [2011](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2011revisedbasedonsoc2010/2011-revised-table-14.zip), [2015](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2015/table142015revised.zip), [2020](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2020revised/table142020revised.zip), [2022](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2022revised/ashetable142022revised.zip), [2025](https://www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/occupation4digitsoc2010ashetable14/2025provisional/ashetable142025provisional.zip)
14. [Jobs and Skills Australia: Accountants (ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025)](https://www.jobsandskills.gov.au/data/occupation-and-industry-profiles/occupations/2211-accountants), Jobs and Skills Australia / Australian Bureau of Statistics

### Tool eras

15. [Wikipedia — Luca Pacioli (Summa de arithmetica, 1494)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luca_Pacioli), Wikipedia
16. [Wikipedia — Summa de arithmetica](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summa_de_arithmetica), Wikipedia
17. [Wikipedia — Comptometer (Dorr Felt, 1887)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comptometer), Wikipedia
18. [Wikipedia — Burroughs Adding Machine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burroughs_Corporation), Wikipedia
19. [Columbia University Computing History — IBM Tabulators and Accounting Machines](https://www.columbia.edu/cu/computinghistory/tabulators.html), Columbia University / IBM History
20. [IBM — The punched card (corporate history)](https://www.ibm.com/history/punched-card), IBM
21. [Wikipedia — COBOL (history and business adoption)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COBOL), Wikipedia
22. [Wikipedia — VisiCalc (1979 Apple II release)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VisiCalc), Wikipedia
23. [Britannica — VisiCalc (killer app for the Apple II)](https://www.britannica.com/topic/VisiCalc), Encyclopaedia Britannica
24. [Wikipedia — Lotus 1-2-3 (IBM PC killer app, January 1983)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_1-2-3), Wikipedia
25. [Poynter — "Lotus 1-2-3 was the killer app of 1983"](https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2015/today-in-media-history-lotus-1-2-3-was-the-killer-app-of-1983/), Poynter Institute
26. [Wikipedia — Microsoft Excel (history and adoption)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Excel), Wikipedia
27. [Wikipedia — QuickBooks (Intuit, 1992)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QuickBooks), Wikipedia
28. [Wikipedia — SAP R/3 (July 6, 1992 launch)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAP_R/3), Wikipedia
29. [Wikipedia — Sarbanes-Oxley Act (2002)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarbanes%E2%80%93Oxley_Act), Wikipedia
30. [Wikipedia — Arthur Andersen (collapse and Enron context)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Andersen), Wikipedia
31. [MatrixBCG / Xero — Brief History of Xero (founded 2006, NZX-listed 2007)](https://matrixbcg.com/blogs/brief-history/xero), Xero
32. [Hartley Fowler LLP — "The History of Cloud Accounting"](https://hartleyfowler.com/blog/the-history-and-future-of-cloud-accounting/), Hartley Fowler LLP
33. [MindBridge — "World's first commercial AI Auditor platform" (audit and assurance product page)](https://www.mindbridge.ai/industries/audit-assurance/), MindBridge
34. [Vic.ai — AP Automation product (autonomous invoice processing)](https://www.vic.ai/), Vic.ai
35. [PwC US — "PwC US makes $1 billion investment to expand and scale AI capabilities" (press release, May 2023)](https://www.pwc.com/us/en/about-us/newsroom/press-releases/pwc-us-makes-billion-investment-in-ai-capabilities.html), PwC
36. [KPMG — "KPMG Announces AI Integration into Global Smart Audit Platform, KPMG Clara" (July 2024)](https://kpmg.com/us/en/media/news/kpmg-ai-integration-clara-2024.html), KPMG
37. [The Finance Story — "Big 4 firms invest over $4B in AI"](https://thefinancestory.com/big-4-invest-over-usd-4-bn-in-ai), The Finance Story
38. [TechCrunch — "Bench shuts down, leaving thousands of businesses without access to accounting and tax docs" (December 27, 2024)](https://techcrunch.com/2024/12/27/bench-shuts-down-leaving-thousands-of-businesses-without-access-to-accounting-and-tax-docs/), TechCrunch
39. [World Economic Forum — "Future of Jobs Report 2025: fastest growing and declining jobs"](https://www.weforum.org/stories/2025/01/future-of-jobs-report-2025-the-fastest-growing-and-declining-jobs/), World Economic Forum

### Forecasts and exposure studies

40. [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35, National Employment Matrix: 13-2011 Accountants and auditors (2025: 1,595.2 thousand; 2035: 1,674.6 thousand; +5.0%)](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=13-2011&ioType=o), Bureau of Labor Statistics
41. [Frey & Osborne (2013), "The Future of Employment: How Susceptible Are Jobs to Computerisation?", Appendix (SOC 13-2011 Accountants and Auditors: probability 0.94, rank 589 of 702)](https://oms-www.files.svdcdn.com/production/downloads/academic/The_Future_of_Employment.pdf), Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford
42. [Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), "GPTs are GPTs", occupation-level exposure data occ\_level.csv (O\*NET-SOC 13-2011.00, human-rated β 0.52)](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv), OpenAI

### Historical notes

43. [Wikipedia — Luca Pacioli and Summa de arithmetica](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summa_de_arithmetica), Wikipedia
44. [Wikipedia — American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (founding history)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Institute_of_Certified_Public_Accountants), Wikipedia
45. [Certified Public Accountant: Wikipedia (New York Chapter 312, April 17, 1896; Frank Broaker licensee #1; Joseph Hardcastle first by examination)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Certified_Public_Accountant), Wikipedia
46. [SEC Historical Society - "The Accounting Profession" (SEC Role in Accounting Standards Setting), archived via Wayback Machine](https://web.archive.org/web/20230315152324/https://www.sechistorical.org/museum/galleries/rca/rca02a-profession.php), SEC Historical Society
47. [Wikipedia — Arthur Andersen (Enron scandal and collapse)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Andersen), Wikipedia
48. [Frey & Osborne (2013) — "The Future of Employment: How Susceptible Are Jobs to Computerisation?"](https://oms-www.files.svdcdn.com/production/downloads/academic/The_Future_of_Employment.pdf), Oxford Martin School
49. [PwC US — "$1 billion investment to expand and scale AI capabilities" press release (May 2023)](https://www.pwc.com/us/en/about-us/newsroom/press-releases/pwc-us-makes-billion-investment-in-ai-capabilities.html), PwC
50. [TechCrunch — "Bench shuts down, leaving thousands of businesses without access to accounting and tax docs" (December 27, 2024)](https://techcrunch.com/2024/12/27/bench-shuts-down-leaving-thousands-of-businesses-without-access-to-accounting-and-tax-docs/), TechCrunch

### Predecessors & successors

51. [Wikipedia — Certified Public Accountant (emergence from bookkeeping tradition)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Certified_Public_Accountant), Wikipedia
52. [Accounting Historians Journal — Big Eight development 1900-1990](https://egrove.olemiss.edu/aah_journal/vol19/iss1/1/), Accounting Historians Journal / University of Mississippi eGrove

### Present-day analysis

- [Eloundou et al. 2024 — GPTs are GPTs (Science)](https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130), accessed 2026-05-22
- [O\*NET 30.3 — Accountants and Auditors (13-2011.00)](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/13-2011.00), accessed 2026-05-22
- [Irish Times — Big Four post more AI-specialist ads than auditor ads (May 2026)](https://www.irishtimes.com/business/2026/05/19/big-four-post-more-job-ads-for-ai-specialists-than-auditors/), accessed 2026-05-22
- [Datarails — The CFO's Office 2.0: 2026 AI Transformation report (primary)](https://www.datarails.com/research/cfos-2026/), accessed 2026-05-22
- [CPA Practice Advisor (Mar 2026) — coverage of Datarails: AI mentions in accountant job postings rise 67%](https://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/2026/03/25/ai-mentions-in-accountant-job-postings-rise-67/180275/), accessed 2026-05-22
- [Stanford GSB — AI Is Reshaping Accounting Jobs by Doing the "Boring" Stuff (2025)](https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/ai-reshaping-accounting-jobs-doing-boring-stuff), accessed 2026-05-22
- [AICPA/CIMA — Future-Ready Finance: Technology, Productivity, and Skills Survey (Dec 2025)](https://www.aicpa-cima.com/membership/landing/tech-productivity-skills-survey), accessed 2026-05-22
- [Journal of Accountancy — How will accountants learn new skills when AI does the work? (Mar 2026)](https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/issues/2026/mar/how-will-accountants-learn-new-skills-when-ai-does-the-work/), accessed 2026-05-22
- [Accounting Today — PwC expects end-to-end AI audit automation within 2026](https://www.accountingtoday.com/news/pwc-expects-end-to-end-ai-audit-automation-within-2026), accessed 2026-05-22
- [BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook — Accountants and Auditors (2024)](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/business-and-financial/accountants-and-auditors.htm), accessed 2026-05-22
- [Vic.ai — Autonomous accounts payable: invoice processing, PO matching, approval workflows](https://www.vic.ai/blog/18-ai-tools-for-accounting-and-finance), accessed 2026-05-22
- [MindBridge — AI Platform: 100% transaction analysis with ensemble AI](https://www.mindbridge.ai/platform/), accessed 2026-05-22
- [Accountio — KPMG AI in Auditing: Next-Generation Audit Agents](https://accountio.co.uk/ai/kpmg-ai-in-auditing-pilot-of-next-generation-audit-agents-begins/), accessed 2026-05-22
- [Intuit — AI-Powered Business Tools: QuickBooks Intuit Assist (2025)](https://quickbooks.intuit.com/ai-accounting/), accessed 2026-05-22
- [Sage — Sage Copilot: Intelligent General Ledger and Close Automation](https://www.sage.com/en-us/sage-copilot/), accessed 2026-05-22

How to read these figures: https://futurehistory.earth/methodology. Every figure links to its own source; gaps stay gaps.