Artificial Intelligence and its Impact on Recruitment and Hire for Public Accounting Firms

Open Access
- Author:
- Proefrock, Casey
- Area of Honors:
- Accounting
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Samuel Burton Bonsall, IV, Thesis Supervisor
Samuel Burton Bonsall, IV, Thesis Honors Advisor
Edward Eugene Babcock, Jr., Faculty Reader - Keywords:
- Artificial intelligence
accounting
public accounting
recruiting
hiring
machine learning
innovative technology
big data
business structure
technology - Abstract:
- Artificial intelligence has and continues to take the world of technology by storm. The technological revolution, that has been in constant motion for the last 30 years, has only been accelerated by improvement in accuracy and efficiency. Many worry that artificial intelligence is a threat to their well-being, more specifically, their careers. An industry that had been forever deemed as a professional field run by the people was Accounting. There was an understanding that man-power would always be needed to accomplish the functions of the trade. However, artificial intelligence has completely altered that outlook. Artificial intelligence has flooded the accounting industry, as more public accounting firms begin to adopt this technology and integrate it into policies and procedures for conducting business activities. This movement has sparked fear that “robots” will be replacing the workforce, which brings much apprehension to potential future accountants. This study goes on to reveal the attitudes and expectations of public accounting firms as progression into an artificially intelligent world continues to impact companies entirely, and how it is expected to impact hiring and recruitment of employees. Interviews were conducted to gain this insight. The interviews uncover not only, a positive outlook on artificial intelligence and machine learning, but also, an idea of it being a necessity to compete in this market in the long-term. If firms are not willing to improve their business structure to include advanced technology, then they will fail to retain clients and fall behind. In addition, if universities and institutions are unable to improve the skills that students are exposed to prior to hire, there are consequences reflected on recruitment efforts that are put into that particular school. Further research should be done to define the financial impacts of adoption of artificial intelligence and its profitability over time.