AI for Finance and Accounting: 4 Myths vs. Reality

AI is already helping finance teams streamline work with unprecedented speed. Nearly 90% of global finance teams are on the path to AI adoption, and more than half already use AI-powered FP&A tools. In fact, 60% of finance leaders use it every day, according to Planful’s recent data report, The Next Era of Finance: 2025 Global Finance Survey.

But as AI adoption grows, so do the misconceptions. There is no shortage of AI headlines, but how much of it is hype? If you’re an FP&A professional who wants to make a significant impact with AI for finance and accounting, how do you know which information to trust and which to take with a grain of salt?

It can be hard to distinguish hype from helpful information. Let’s discuss the real story behind the myths you’re seeing everywhere, and what’s really happening in finance today.

This is the most widespread fear — that humans are going to lose their jobs to AI bots. Considering the advanced AI capabilities that have already been introduced to the world, it’s easy to see why this fear is so strong. But that doesn’t mean it’s accurate.

Reality: AI requires a human in the loop to be the most effective

Here at Planful, we firmly believe that AI should augment humans, not replace them. AI should reduce the operational burden of manual tasks and give finance teams the power to focus more on analytical and strategic responsibilities.

Fortunately, our research shows this is exactly what’s happening: 57% of finance leaders report having more time for strategic work thanks to AI.

“Finance will need humans in the decision-making loop for many years to come,” says Grant Halloran, CEO at Planful. “I’ve seen AI as augmentation, not a replacement, for quite some time. You can trust AI today to speed up processes, automate mundane work, find errors in millions of records, and more. But, having it make critical decisions is not on the table for the near term.”

The best use of AI for finance and accounting combines the unique specialties that humans and AI bring to the table. While AI tools for finance can dramatically accelerate tasks like anomaly detection, variance analysis, and scenario planning, it takes the expertise of human employees to interpret the insights, apply business context, and determine what to do next.

In a field where precision and accountability are everything, it’s natural to have some skepticism.

Reality: Trust comes from explainable, finance-specific outputs

Trust is non-negotiable in finance, which is why the most effective AI solutions for finance are built with clear auditability, visible logic, and controls that ensure human oversight. Your AI tool for finance should provide a clear narrative and explain how it arrived at its answer so that the human employee is always in control.

When it comes to forecasting, AI’s outputs have passed muster: 59% of finance leaders told us AI has improved their forecast accuracy, which makes them more valuable to their organizations.

Since your AI tool is only as good as the data it’s trained on, Planful AI is trained directly with finance data — not generic datasets — giving it a deep understanding of finance-specific terms, use cases, and metrics. To make AI even more specific to FP&A needs, Planful AI has purpose-built assistants that specialize in anomaly detection, forecasting, and analysis. As a result, the outputs are detailed insights, variance explanations, and actionable recommendations.

From legacy systems to limited resources, it’s easy to assume AI is only for tech giants or companies with dedicated data science teams. Many leaders worry their teams aren’t “advanced enough” to get value from AI.

Reality: AI is designed to help every business work smarter — no data science degree required

Whether you’re in a global enterprise or a fast-growing company, the challenge is the same: doing more with less. AI makes that possible. It helps teams move faster, reduce manual work, and make better decisions — all without needing to hire a full analytics team.

Take Rocket Software, for example. They use Planful AI to analyze thousands of data points and flag errors before they become costly. What used to take hours now takes minutes — empowering their team to deliver faster forecasts and higher-quality variance analyses, even as the demands on Finance grow.

And in today’s talent market, that kind of efficiency is table stakes.

When you look at the first three myths on this list, the logical conclusion is that finance is anti-AI.

Reality: It’s not that they’re unwilling to adopt it; they simply don’t know the best way to move forward

Only 3% of the finance professionals we surveyed said AI isn’t a fit for finance at all. Like any emerging technology, adopting AI is uncharted territory, and even the most eager teams don’t know how to get started.

Our research shows:

• 37% of finance leaders lack internal AI expertise
• 40% say the cost of implementation is a barrier to AI
• 44% have security concerns

This caution isn’t a reason to abandon AI. Rather, it underscores the need for purpose-built, secure, finance-specific solutions.

Now that we’ve dispelled the most common myths, it’s time to move forward. As our 2025 global finance survey shows, AI is no longer optional. It’s essential, and it’s transforming finance. But the goal is not to adopt AI for AI’s sake. Instead, the winners will be the teams who leverage AI across workflows, prioritize transparency and security, and empower people to do their best work.

At Planful, we believe business is better for everyone with AI, especially when it’s built for finance, designed for users, and grounded in trust. Explore our interactive demo to see how Planful’s AI for finance and accounting gives teams just like yours the power to do more.