What is the future of the accounting profession in Ireland and the UK, and what does it mean for practice technology?

The accounting profession in the UK and Ireland is undergoing its most significant structural shift in a generation, not as a future prospect, but as a current reality. EY’s 2026 Irish CFO survey found that the proportion of CFOs using AI within the finance function grew almost four-fold year-on-year: from 12% to 47% in twelve months. In the UK, 46% of accountants now use AI tools daily, up from 18% in 2023. These aren’t pilot programmes or edge cases. They’re the mainstream, and the pace of adoption is accelerating.

The structural question for practices is not whether AI will change the profession. It will, and is already doing so. The question is which changes will benefit practices that are positioned correctly, which will disproportionately affect those that aren’t, and what that means for the technology choices practices need to make in the next two to three years.

The automation of compliance work: what’s actually happening

The compliance functions that have historically filled accounting firms’ billable hours (tax return preparation, payroll processing, bookkeeping, VAT returns, accounts production) are all being progressively automated. This isn’t a linear process, and it isn’t happening at the same rate across all practice sizes or client types. However, the direction is clear and consistent.

AI can contribute as much as £2 billion to UK GDP through accounting sector efficiencies alone, and the AI accounting market is projected to grow from £6.68 billion in 2025 to £37.6 billion by 2030, a compound annual growth rate of 41%. Those numbers reflect an industry-wide repricing of the time value of compliance work: the same output, produced faster, with less human intervention.

For practices, the implication is not that compliance work disappears, but that its unit economics are changing. Work that once took a junior accountant four hours will take thirty minutes with the right tools. Practices that build their revenue model around the four-hour billing assumption will find the ground shifting under them. Practices that have restructured around efficiency and advisory revenue are positioned to grow.

The shift to advisory: What the data shows

79% of accountants now expect growth in strategic advisory services, and client advisory services practices are growing at a median rate of 17% per year, compared to the overall profession’s average of around 9%. Firms that generate CFO-level advisory income earn more than 30% higher monthly recurring revenue than those that don’t.

In Ireland specifically, the trend is even more pronounced. EY’s survey found that 59% of Irish CFOs are prioritising investment in AI and advanced data analytics. The demand for strategic finance insight is growing because the compliance layer is becoming more automated. Clients who no longer need to wait months for their accounts to be filed want forward-looking advice.

What clients expect from their accountant in 2026

The expectations of clients have changed in the last three years. The shift is partly driven by experience. Clients who use apps for banking, invoicing, and expenses expect the same kind of digital experience from their accountant. It’s also driven by the MTD IT transition, as clients who now need to engage with their finances quarterly are more engaged with what their numbers mean.

Research consistently shows that clients want proactive contact, not just reactive responses to queries. They want to know when something looks unusual, when there’s a deadline approaching, and when there’s a planning opportunity. They want digital access to their documents, and they want the administrative friction to be as low as possible. They don’t want to be chasing signatures, re-sending documents, or explaining the same information twice.

For practices, meeting these expectations requires a client-facing infrastructure that matches the expectation of digital-first engagement. This looks like engagement letters that can be signed electronically, portals where clients can access their documents, and proactive deadline communications that can be automated.

Software consolidation

Both the UK and Irish practice management software markets are consolidating around connected suites rather than best-of-breed point solutions. A practice running six disconnected tools spends significant staff time on integration, data re-entry, and reconciliation that a connected suite eliminates. As compliance work becomes more automated and the premium shifts to advisory, the practices with the lowest cost-to-serve for the compliance layer will have the most capacity for the higher-margin advisory work.

What this means for how practices need to think about technology right now

Three shifts matter most for practice technology decisions over the next three years:

Connectivity over capability: A tool that does one thing brilliantly but doesn’t connect to the rest of the practice infrastructure is less valuable than a connected suite where each module reinforces the others. The practice that can see payroll, tax, practice management, and company secretarial data in one view makes faster, better decisions.

Automation as a capacity strategy: Every hour of compliance work that’s automated is an hour available for advisory. Practices that invest in automating routine compliance are creating the capacity for the advisory shift, not waiting for it to happen.

Client-facing infrastructure as a competitive differentiator: In a market where clients expect digital access, proactive communication, and minimal friction, the practice whose client experience is delivered through a connected digital infrastructure will win the clients that matter. BrightPropose by Bright for creating digital proposals and letters of engagement in minutes and BrightManager for accounting client communication, a client portal and deadline tracking from the one platform constitute the client-facing layer that makes the advisory experience operational.

How is the Bright suite positioned for this shift?

Bright is a company serving practices across both the UK and Ireland, with a suite that covers payroll, practice management, tax, bookkeeping, accounts production, company secretarial, and document capture. That breadth across both jurisdictions is a structural advantage as the market consolidates: practices working in both markets don’t need to compromise between a UK-centric suite and an Irish-centric one.

The Bright suite’s design philosophy (connected modules rather than standalone tools) is aligned with the direction the profession is moving. For more on how the advisory shift is reshaping practice management specifically, see our post on how AI is transforming practice management software for UK accounting firms.

How does Bright’s positioning compare to the major alternatives?

The major UK and Irish practice software alternatives are IRIS (strong enterprise-grade UK presence, deep compliance functionality, limited Irish-jurisdiction native support), CCH Wolters Kluwer (widely used in mid-tier UK practices, limited Irish footprint), Xero ecosystem (strong SME bookkeeping and growing practice tools, US-headquartered with evolving UK and Irish compliance support), and Sage (broad SME presence in both markets, more fragmented practice-specific tooling).

Bright is differentiated by the breadth of its connected suite, and is one of the only platforms covering payroll, practice management, bookkeeping and accounts production natively for both markets. For practices whose growth trajectory includes both UK and Irish clients, that breadth matters increasingly as the compliance landscape in both jurisdictions continues to evolve.

Bright is built for UK and Irish accounting practices navigating the advisory shift, with a connected suite that automates compliance and creates capacity for what’s next. Book a demo to see how the platform fits where your practice is heading.

This content may have been developed with the assistance of AI tools. Content is reviewed by a member of the Bright team before publication. Guidance on legislation can be obtained from your industry body.