Digitalisation in Accounting 2026/27: An Overview of the Key Trends

How is digitalisation progressing in corporate accounting in Germany, Austria and Switzerland? The latest edition of our study “Digitalisation in Accounting” provides the answers.

Since 2018, our experts, in collaboration with Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, have been using this series of studies to examine the current state of digital transformation on an annual basis, thereby also highlighting longer-term trends. The 2026/2027 edition reveals a remarkable shift: whilst traditional infrastructure topics such as cloud solutions and in-memory databases are stagnating, machine learning and AI-powered systems are gaining in importance.

The use of artificial intelligence is increasing significantly in accounting

33 per cent of companies are already using AI systems in accounting, whilst a further 39 per cent are planning to implement AI. This means that 72 per cent are actively engaged with AI. Only one in four companies states that it does not currently use AI in accounting. Compared with 2025, usage has increased significantly overall.

AI is particularly widespread in standardised and data-intensive processes. Thirty-six per cent of companies use AI for the preliminary processing and data entry of incoming invoices, whilst 30 per cent use it for checking invoice content. 27 per cent are already using AI to generate knowledge and texts, for example for specialist queries or reporting. At the same time, the study shows that rule-based automation remains more widespread than autonomous AI. Chatbots are also used significantly more frequently than AI agents or multi-agent systems.

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Study

Digitalisation in Accounting 2026/27: An Overview of the Key Trends

The survey provides up-to-date insights into the technological transformation taking place within organisations.

The current state of digitalisation in accounts: Key findings at a glance

The digital foundation is in place: paperless accounting, workflow standardisation and other key digitalisation topics have achieved implementation rates of up to 86 per cent. As a result, the transformation is increasingly shifting from fundamental digitalisation projects to new areas of technological application.
There remains a significant gap between automation and autonomy: rule-based systems continue to dominate many processes. There is also a degree of caution when it comes to advanced AI: chatbots are significantly more widespread than AI agents and multi-agent systems. At the same time, regulatory requirements impose limitations. Data protection and data security are cited as barriers by 76 per cent, whilst traceability and transparency are cited by 63 per cent.
The next bottleneck is expertise: 68 per cent intend to specifically expand AI expertise in accounting by 2027, significantly more than for ERP or process expertise, each at 46 per cent. At the same time, the willingness to invest remains high: 44 per cent plan to increase their digitalisation budgets, whilst only 7 per cent plan to reduce them.
Outsourcing, on the other hand, continues to play a minor role: 73 per cent of companies currently rule out business process outsourcing in accounting.

The study is based on an online survey of 183 accounting professionals in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The survey focused in particular on heads of accounting and Chief Financial Officers (CFOs). The quantitative analysis is supplemented by interviews and a case study.

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