What we learned at Accountex 2025

AI, intuition, and an existential calendar crisis. Welcome to Accountex 2025.

This year’s event wasn’t just about shiny tools or new regulations. It was about getting to grips with the chaos that defines modern accounting and figuring out how to make sense of it.

We sat in on packed seminars, swapped war stories with firm owners, and watched a worrying number of accountants squinting at QR codes trying to download handouts they’ll never read again.

Here’s what stood out and why it matters.

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1. AI can handle the data. But only you can bring the wisdom.

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One session boldly asked: “Should we trust data or intuition for decision making?” Spoiler: the answer is both but it’s not an even split.

AI is great at telling you what happened and flagging anomalies. But it doesn’t know why that weird transaction matters. It can’t read the nuance in a client’s tone or spot the unspoken tension in a budget meeting. One speaker nailed emulating the words of Jimi Hendrix: “Knowledge speaks, wisdom listens. Data speaks, intuition listens.”

If you’re using AI to run your bookkeeping, you’d better also be training your team to spot the exceptions. Otherwise, AI might just double down on the wrong assumptions and good luck undoing that once it’s baked into your workflows.

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2. Offshoring isn’t the silver bullet it used to be.

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There’s still a place for it, sure. But between rising costs and the new emphasis on real-time accuracy, outsourcing on autopilot no longer cuts it.

And AI? It’s fast, but fragile. It’s not just about speed anymore. It’s about doing things consistently, reliably, and transparently.

If you want AI to support your bookkeeping, start by writing a playbook. A clear way your firm handles tasks. That way, when AI steps in, it's following the firm’s logic, not “how Janine from Accounts used to do it back in 2018.”

AI is for acceleration. But if it’s accelerating the wrong process, it’s just taking you to the wrong place faster.

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3. Want a day back in your week? Start with your calendar.

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We’re all guilty of reacting to the calendar, not planning it.

Paul Holbrook mapped out a ruthless system. Every meeting and task has a category. Every “free” slot has a purpose. So when someone drops by with a “got a sec?” request, you can say: “I’ve only got 5 minutes, I’m prepping X, Y and Z.” No guilt. No waffle. No lost hours.

It’s not about being robotic. It’s about protecting your brain from the mental drain of switching tasks 15 times a day.

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4. Phishing is now powered by AI. And that’s a problem.

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Gone are the days of dodgy fonts and suspicious email addresses. Today’s phishing attacks are slick, fast, and often indistinguishable from the real thing.

Deepfake audio. Hyper-personalised scams. Attacks in Slack, Teams, SMS. Even fake invoices from “HMRC” that look legit enough to fool a forensic analyst. One stat that stopped us cold: 40% of phishing attempts now target collaboration tools, not email.

The fix? Be paranoid. Follow the process even if the message looks real. Verify, don’t assume. And if in doubt, report it because AI makes mistakes fast, and cyber attackers make money faster.

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We had a wonderful time at Accountex 2025

Our final thoughts: technology won’t replace accountants. But accountants who don’t understand how to work with it or guard against its downsides will absolutely fall behind.

Accountex 2025 wasn’t about the future. It was about the now. And now, more than ever, it’s time to lead with both brains and gut.