AI makes accounting careers more attractive to Gen Z

Intuit has published research suggesting AI is making accounting and finance careers more attractive to young Australians. The findings point to AI as a recruitment factor for firms competing for new talent.

A survey of 1,000 Australians aged 18 to 24 found 94% said AI was making a career in accounting and finance more attractive, while 89% said it presented more opportunity than risk for their future career. More than half, 53%, said a firm's use of AI would strongly influence whether they joined it.

The data comes as the accounting profession faces a projected workforce shortfall in Australia. Recent research from CA ANZ found the country will be short 17,900 accounting, audit and finance professionals by 2035, with AI and automation identified as among the pressures affecting the sector.

Intuit's findings suggest AI is not deterring younger entrants from joining the profession. Instead, the technology appears to be shaping how they judge employers and expect their early careers to develop.

The research also found 92% of respondents felt prepared to succeed in an AI-enabled workplace, and 93% believed they would be more capable with AI tools than their future managers or senior colleagues. A further 75% said they used AI daily or multiple times a day to learn, work and solve problems, while 89% said they would be slower without it.

That points to a generation entering the workforce with established AI habits. The survey found 99% viewed conversational AI tools embedded in financial software as extremely or very useful for analysing financial data, generating reports, answering questions and automating tasks.

Changing hierarchy

The results indicate AI may alter traditional workplace structures in finance teams, particularly if younger employees enter organisations with greater practical familiarity with the tools than senior staff. Respondents appeared to expect that shift, with 55% saying younger employees would frequently lead AI adoption within organisations.

At the same time, the research pointed to a continuing role for more experienced staff in oversight and judgement. That was reflected in the gap between technical confidence in AI and concern about how it should be used at work.

"For decades, professional experience naturally flowed from senior colleagues to junior employees. However AI is introducing a new dynamic where graduates arrive with greater practical familiarity with these tools, while experienced professionals continue to provide the judgement, governance and commercial context that AI cannot replace. The opportunity for firms is not choosing between experience and AI fluency, but bringing both together, encouraging learning in both directions," said Ciaran Quilty, Senior Vice President of International, Intuit.

The survey found 83% believed AI would become an essential skill for accountants in every role. Meanwhile, 38% expected to spend more time on higher-value tasks earlier in their careers, suggesting respondents saw automation as a path to earlier exposure to analytical and advisory work rather than only administrative tasks.

Recruitment issue

For employers, the findings add a hiring dimension to AI investment. If younger candidates increasingly view the availability of AI tools as a marker of how a firm works and develops staff, software choices may influence recruitment as well as productivity.

"Beyond productivity, one of the most exciting things about AI is its potential to help firms win the talent they need most. When graduates see AI built into the everyday tools they'll use, it tells them something about how seriously a firm takes their growth, and that's becoming a real factor in where they choose to work. But capability alone won't win that race, it's the combination of AI and human intelligence, the judgement and expertise senior leadership brings, that will. For the industry, it becomes a recruitment opportunity as much as a technology story," said Anthony Capano, Regional Director, Intuit Australia.

Yet the study also found clear limits to Gen Z enthusiasm. While respondents were broadly positive about AI, they also reported concerns about over-reliance, accuracy and data handling.

Three-quarters, 75%, said they were concerned about becoming overly reliant on AI. Another 77% cited concerns about accuracy and reliability, while 94% raised concerns about maintaining data security when using AI tools.

These responses suggest employers may need to pair AI access with clear governance, training and internal controls to meet the expectations of incoming staff. They also show that confidence in using AI does not remove concern about its risks.

Intuit said its wider study covered more than 2,000 accounting students and early-career finance professionals aged 18 to 24 in Australia and the UK. In Australia, the sample included third-year accounting students and people studying towards or recently completing CPA or CA ANZ qualifications.

The Australian results present a picture of a profession in which AI is increasingly part of the offer made to recruits. They also indicate that while young entrants may bring stronger familiarity with AI tools, they still expect employers to set the rules for how those tools are used.