The sustainability of the accounting profession is starting to be questioned. Will it still exist, or will it be replaced by technology? This chapter will provide a literature review on the relationship between accounting and artificial intelligence and harmonize them to maintain the sustainability of the accounting profession in Indonesia. The authors conducted this literature review process using the bibliometric analysis method and described it by embedding several assumptions from various literature opinions. In the end, according to the authors' point of view, the accountant profession will not be completely displaced by technology, but the presence of technology will actually facilitate the work of accountants, so that all processes are carried out by system and not manually. This shorter way will produce more accurate, faster, and less workforce output. Meanwhile, the presence of technology can also reduce the need for human resources (accountants). Nevertheless, the emergence of technology also opens up opportunities for the accounting profession with new technology-related expertise, such as digital forensic accounting, environmental management accounting/green accountant, and information systems-based auditing. The green accountant is an accountant who performs green accounting practices. Therefore, the scope of accounting today is no longer limited to financial matters, but also includes social and environmental matters. This integration of financial, social, and environmental accounting is called green accounting.
Top1. Introduction
Currently, globally, businesses have transformed from conventional-based to digital-based (Khalil et al., 2022). This is marked by the emergence of many technology-based companies in the fields of FinTech, E-commerce, etc (Tsai & Peng, 2017). Of course, the current developments have led to many fundamental changes in the business world, especially existing business processes. Respond to changes that are too fast, not all conventional companies are able to compete and eventually go out of business (Serrano-Cinca et al., 2019). This can be minimized if there is a professional role that can help become a value cog that can help the sustainability of a company that is constantly changing (Fleming, 2019). Many business experts refer to the era we are entering as the Industrial Revolution 4.0 era which is marked by the emergence of advanced technology such as artificial intelligence and the disruptive era, where it is feared that sophisticated technology can replace many human jobs (Ruiz-Real et al., 2021). Many people from all walks of life are worried about losing their jobs in the future because of the rise of robots (Lacurezeanu et al., 2020).
The future of the accounting profession is starting to be questioned, will it still exist or will it be replaced by technology (Stafie & Grosu, 2023). The rapid development of technology and information requires all fields of profession to continue to develop ways of working quickly and accurately so as not to be left behind by the times and to achieve goals efficiently (Malva Cakra Dewa et al., 2018). The same applies to the field of accountancy, a branch of science from economics, studying various kinds of financial analysis (Al-refiay et al., 2022). With increasingly modern technology, it demands that accounting be able to make better use of technology. This is proven by the existence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) which is widely discussed in accounting (Oprea et al., 2022). Accounting is an information system that measures business activity, processes the data into a report, and communicates the results to decision makers, which is done by accountants (Bunget & Lungu, 2023). Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a field of study regarding intelligent thoughts that can be used as a form to perform calculations (Chatterjee & Bhattacharjee, 2020). Calculations performed by AI aim to create a more controlled computerized system, make work easier for users, and analyze a problem. However, AI still raises pros and cons in implementation in accounting due to a lack of adequate information (Fleming, 2019).
Over the next few decades, intelligent systems will take on an increasing number of decision-making tasks from humans (Fleming, 2019). While accountants have been using technology for years to improve what they do and provide greater value to businesses, this is an opportunity to reimagine and radically improve the quality of business and investment decisions that is the ultimate goal of the accounting profession (JAYA & Narsa, 2022). The more the company develops, the data that is managed is also increasingly complex. Various processes of accounting are no longer done manually, considering that these processes require a long time, and require a lot of human labor, causing reduced effectiveness and time efficiency (Adamyk et al., 2023). On the other hand, accountants also often make unintentional errors (Human Error) or intentional fraud to benefit individuals and companies (Tapanjeh & Tarawneh, 2020).