What should I ask my accountant about AI? Seven questions for your next meeting, and what the answers tell you

"What should I ask my accountant about AI?" Most owners have a sense that they should ask something, and no idea what. This article is for the owner of a company with ten to two hundred people who sees a CPA or outside accountant a few times a year, at the year-end, at the review or audit, and when something odd comes up. It gives seven questions to bring, why each one matters, what a good answer sounds like, what a worrying one sounds like, and what to do if your accountant has not thought about it yet. If your question is the other way round, whether a tool can do some of the bookkeeping at all, can AI do bookkeeping for a small business covers that.

I was COO and then President of a public company that closed more than forty acquisitions, and I ran the integration on most of them. I am a lawyer by training. Now I write fixed-fee AI plans for CEOs of private-equity-backed and owner-led mid-market companies through 013 Labs. This is not legal, tax or accounting advice. I do not know your accountant, your engagement or your rules. Where a question turns on those, the answer belongs to your own accountant or counsel, and I say so.

Why ask at all

Your accountant sees your numbers, your bank details and your payroll. AI may already be touching that material in two places: in your own office, where staff or a bookkeeper use tools, and in the accountant's office. Neither side may have told the other. A short, calm conversation now is cheaper than finding out at year-end, at a review or when a lender asks. If you also want a tool to read the statements your accountant sends you, can AI analyze my financial statements covers what it can and cannot tell you.

You are not testing your accountant. You are making sure the two of you agree about who uses what, on what terms, and who checks the work.

Question one: is my bookkeeping data going into AI tools, and on what terms?

Why it matters. Ledgers, payroll and bank detail are about as sensitive as company data gets. If anyone, on your side or theirs, pastes or uploads them into an outside tool, the account type and the terms decide where that information goes. The piece on whether ChatGPT is safe for business use sets out what to check.

A good answer names the tools, says whether they are company accounts or personal ones, and says what the terms do with the data you send. It is specific.

A worrying answer is "I'm not sure what the team uses", or "it's all fine, it's secure" with no detail.

Question two: does AI change how our numbers are produced, and does that matter for the review or audit?

Why it matters. If a tool now categorizes transactions, drafts journal entries or prepares reconciliations, the way your numbers are produced has changed. Whether that matters for a review or audit, and what the accountant needs from you, is for your own accountant to say. I do not tell you what any standard requires.

A good answer says plainly what, if anything, has changed, and what they want to see from you as a result. It may be "nothing yet", and that is fine if it is said with confidence.

A worrying answer is a shrug, or an assurance that has nothing behind it.

Question three: what records should we keep of who checked what?

Why it matters. When a tool produces a number or a draft, a named person should have looked at it before it counted. If something is later wrong, "someone checked" is not an answer. A name and a date is.

A good answer is small and practical: for each task, who prepared it, who reviewed it, when, and where that is written down. A shared note or a column in a spreadsheet will do.

A worrying answer is "we'll remember", or a record that nobody can find. If your own team uses a tool for the books, ask the same question of yourself.

Question four: how should we handle bank-detail change requests?

Why it matters. A familiar scam is a message that looks like it comes from a supplier or a senior colleague, asking you to pay to new bank details. Tools that write convincing messages make it easier to run. Your accountant or bookkeeper may handle payments or supplier records, so they are in the chain.

A good answer is a dull rule, and one both sides follow: any change to payee bank details is confirmed by calling a number you already held on file, not one in the message, and a second person approves it before the first payment goes. The same rule is the one a bank or insurer will ask about. What to tell your bank about AI and will my insurance ask about AI cover those sides, and your answers should match.

A worrying answer is "we'd notice", or a process that depends on one person's judgment of an email.

Question five: what are other clients like us doing?

Why it matters. Your accountant sees many companies of your size and may have a feel for what is ordinary. This is about useful comparison, not gossip.

Make it clear you are not asking for names. A careful accountant will not give any, and you should be wary of one who does. What you want is a general picture: do most clients have a written rule, do many use AI for the books, what have you seen go wrong in general terms.

A good answer is general and honest, including "I don't see much of it yet" if that is the case. A worrying answer is a confident claim about what everyone does, or a story that identifies a client.

Question six: is anything about our AI use worth a note to the lender or in the financial statements?

Why it matters. Lenders have started to ask owner-led companies about AI, and your accountant often sits in the meeting or prepares the package. Whether anything about your use belongs in a note to the bank, or in the financial statements themselves, is a judgment for your own accountant, and for counsel where it matters. I do not say what must be disclosed.

A good answer is a considered "probably not, here is why", or "yes, and here is what we would say". Either is a real answer.

A worrying answer is a quick no with no reasoning, or advice to say nothing about AI without having asked what you actually do. Before you ask, know your own answer: what to tell your bank about AI shows what a lender is really asking.

Question seven: how do you yourselves use AI on our file?

Why it matters. This is the question owners most often skip. Your accountant's firm may use tools for drafting, summarizing, sorting documents or answering your emails. You are entitled to ask where and how, who at the firm checks it, and whether your files are kept apart from other uses.

A good answer is open: here is where we use it, here is where we do not, here is who reviews it, and here is what it means for your file. Many firms will have a written rule, and some will offer to share it.

A worrying answer is defensiveness, a flat "we don't use AI" that surprises a junior team member later, or no clear answer from the person you are speaking to.

What a good answer sounds like overall

Specific, calm and willing to say "I don't know yet, and here is when I will". It names people and tools. It separates what has been decided from what is still being worked out. It does not promise safety it cannot show, and it does not tell you to relax.

What a worrying answer sounds like overall

Vague reassurance. Anything that sounds like a sales line. Answers that move from tools to technology in general without naming one. Pressure to adopt something. Or the opposite, a wave of the hand that AI "doesn't touch what we do", when your own staff may be using it.

If your accountant has not thought about it

Many have not, and that is not a scandal. Do not escalate. Try this.

Say it is a first conversation. Ask for ten minutes at the next meeting, or a short call, and send the seven questions ahead of time so there is no ambush.

Share your side first. Tell them what your own team uses and where, and offer your one-page rule. It makes the conversation easier, and it shows you have done your part. If you do not have one yet, do I need an AI policy for my small business is the place to start.

Ask for a date. "Can you come back to me on questions one, two and seven by the end of next month?" is a fair request.

Write down what you agreed. A short email after the call is enough: what was asked, what was said and what happens next.

Judge by the response, not by the first answer. An accountant who says "good question, I'll find out" is better than one who answers confidently with nothing behind it. If a few months pass and nobody has looked at any of it, that tells you something, and a different firm may serve you better. That is your decision, and one for your own counsel if a contract is involved.

Picture a distributor of ninety people whose owner has an annual meeting with an outside accountant coming up. The owner asks the office manager for a list of the tools people use with the books, and finds that one staff member uses a free personal account to sort invoices. They move it to a company account, write the bank-detail rule on one page, and send the accountant seven questions a week ahead. At the meeting, the accountant answers four clearly, says they will check two with the firm and admits that one has not been looked at. The owner leaves with a date for the follow-up and a note of who checks what. This is a hypothesis, a composite and not a client.

Mistakes that repeat

Assuming the accountant has it covered. Assuming the accountant has not. Asking for client names. Having no record of who checked a tool's work. Letting a bank-detail change through on one person's say-so. Treating a vague reassurance as an answer. Not telling the accountant what your own team uses.

Frequently asked questions

What should I ask my accountant about AI?

Seven things: whether your bookkeeping data is going into AI tools and on what terms, whether AI changes how your numbers are produced, what records exist of who checked what, how bank-detail changes are handled, what similar clients are doing, whether anything is worth noting to a lender or in the financial statements, and how the accountant uses AI on your file.

Should my accountant tell me if they use AI on my file?

You are entitled to ask, and a careful firm will answer. What the firm must tell you is a matter for your engagement terms and for your own accountant or counsel.

Does using AI change my review or audit?

It may change how your numbers are produced, and whether that matters is for your own accountant to say. Ask the question, and ask them to explain it in plain words.

Do I need to mention AI to my lender or in my financial statements?

I cannot say. That depends on your facts and your accountant's judgment, and on counsel where it matters. Ask your own accountant or counsel.

What if my accountant says they do not use AI?

Ask how they know, and whether that includes everyone at the firm and the software they use. Then ask what they would want from you if your own team uses it.

What if my accountant has never thought about it?

That is common. Say it is a first conversation, share your own side, send your questions ahead, ask for a date and write down what is agreed.

Is this legal, tax or accounting advice?

No. It is a list of questions. Ask your own accountant or counsel what applies to you.

Not sure where you stand? Take the 3-minute AI readiness scorecard.