Advisory SuccessStreamline Operations

The AI Enabled Strategic Advisor

Brent Szalay, Founder & Strategic Advisor, reflects on how important AI is to advisory.

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A new responsibility for the modern accountant

For decades, the accounting profession has claimed the title of trusted advisor.

It’s a big claim.

One that gets used a lot in this profession. And in many ways, it is true.

Accountants are trusted with information business owners don’t share with anyone else — not friends, not colleagues, sometimes not even their own families.

They see under the hood of a business.

Not just the numbers, but the pressure behind them.

The stress.
The sleepless nights.
The growth ambitions.

And the question every business owner eventually asks:

“Where the bloody hell is the cash?”

The role is already shifting

Historically, the role of the accountant has been clear.

Record the transactions.
Review the activity.
Report the outcome.

Profit or loss.

But that is no longer enough on its own. Not because it isn’t important — but because it’s no longer where the value ends.

More firms are moving beyond just reporting the numbers.

They’re answering questions.
Giving guidance.
Helping clients think through decisions.

In many cases, advisory is already there.

Just not always structured.
Not always consistent.
Not always something that can be delivered across a team.

Or charged for with confidence.

And this is where the real challenge sits.

The restraint isn’t capability. It’s capacity.

Most firms are already at capacity.

Compliance work isn’t slowing down. Deadlines don’t disappear.

So while advisory might be the direction, it gets pushed aside.

Not because it’s not valuable.
But because there isn’t a clear way to deliver it consistently within the constraints of the firm.

That creates a ceiling. Because without structure:
– It remains dependent on individuals
– It can’t be delivered consistently
– It can’t be scaled across a team
– And it struggles to become a defined, commercial part of the business

What AI actually changes

Technology is changing the nature of this work.

Automation, integrations and artificial intelligence are increasingly capable of recording, reconciling and analysing financial data faster and more accurately than humans ever could.

Not replacing accountants —
but reducing the load.

Used well, it starts to give some time back.

Because AI doesn’t create advisory.
It creates the capacity for it.

What fills that capacity is what defines the role moving forward.

The AI enabled strategic advisor

This is where the role starts to shift.

The AI enabled strategic advisor is not someone who simply reports what has happened — but someone who uses information to create direction and action.

They pull from multiple sources — financial and non-financial.

They analyse it.
Interpret it.
Translate it.

And most importantly, they communicate what it actually means for the business — and what needs to happen next.

Not as a one-off conversation, but as part of a broader role in helping the business move forward.

Because financial insight on its own isn’t enough.

When it’s grounded in a clear understanding of a client’s goals — short and long term — it becomes far more powerful.

Now the conversation shifts.

From explaining the past…
to helping shape what comes next.

Not just numbers.

Clarity.
Direction.
Action.

Where the real value sits

For most business owners, this is where the real value sits.

Because they’re not short of information.

They’re overwhelmed by it.

Running a business is messy.
Constant decisions.
Competing priorities.
Pressure from every direction.

What they want is someone in their corner who can help them make sense of it — and decide what to do next.

That’s always been the foundation of the accountant’s role.

Trust.

The AI shift doesn’t replace that.

It expands it.

Using technology not to replace an accountant’s judgement, but to strengthen it.
Using data not just to report history, but to guide better decisions.

Because the real value isn’t in the information.
It’s in what you help a client do with it.