Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks
In short: today's best AI models could do about 88% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about 90% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The conversations, in-person and hands-on work, about 10% of the time, stays with people.
Compute, classify, and record numerical data to keep financial records complete. Perform any combination of routine calculating, posting, and verifying duties to obtain primary financial data for use in maintaining accounting records. May also check the accuracy of figures, calculations, and postings pertaining to business transactions recorded by other workers.
1,373,680 people do this job in the US. $50,670 a year.
Reviewed on September 30, 2026: what each task is made of, and what handing it over would ask.
A typical 40-hour week
- AI could take on5 h
- A person checks AI's work30 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet1 h
- Stays with people4 h
Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 5 hours, 30 hours become checking its work, 1 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 4 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Record and analyze data in accounting software (about 6 h, a person checks); Check figures, postings and codes (about 2 h, a person checks); Compile financial reports and tables (about 2 h, a person checks).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 43%
- 47%
- 3%
- 0%
- 7%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
What handing it over would take, now
The 88% within reach splits by what a model would need. The dates, pace and reliability follow the controls above. Estimates.
of the working time. The material can be handed to a model and the result handed back.
of the working time. The model has to be connected to the system the work lives in.
is conversation short enough by length. This site leaves conversation with people, so it is not in the total.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 3%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 71%. Today's estimate: 88%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Measured use over time
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, 0.34% went to this job's tasks in May 2026, the 78th largest of the 447 jobs that showed up at all; 7 of its 28 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.13% to 0.12% (released February and March 2025); 0.086% to 0.17% (August 2025 to February 2026); 0.34% to 0.34% (April to May 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.13% | 128 of 708 | 10 of 28 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.12% | 145 of 703 | 12 of 28 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.086% | 172 of 655 | 7 of 28 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.14% | 114 of 672 | 11 of 28 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.17% | 102 of 677 | 11 of 28 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.34% | 74 of 434 | 6 of 28 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.34% | 78 of 447 | 7 of 28 |
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 7% of this job's working time as physical work. For 7% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 7% in a purpose-built cell. 0.07 of 3, the 555th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 93%
- In a purpose-built cell 7%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
What changes for the people in this job
From the task-by-task review, by the end of 2028 on the long-run pace at four in five. It says which parts of the work stay with people and which change, not whether anyone keeps a job: that depends on decisions no data set can see.
What stays with people
10% of the working time: the conversation, in-person and hands-on parts of the tasks.
- Do general office duties, the conversation, 5%
- Run calculators and copiers, the hands-on work, 2%
- Prepare bank deposits, the hands-on work, 1%
- Receive, record and bank payments, the hands-on work, 1%
- Look up accounts to answer questions, the conversation, 0.6%
What becomes checking the machine
77% of the working time: desk work a model could do by then, in tasks where a mistake costs something or a licensed person signs. A person checks it. Another 12% is desk work that is small if wrong, which can be handed over with lighter checks.
- Record and analyze data in accounting software, costly if wrong, 16%
- Compile financial reports and tables, costly if wrong, 6%
- Check figures, postings and codes, costly if wrong, 6%
- Compare printouts with journals, costly if wrong, 5%
- Follow policies and regulations, costly if wrong, 5%
- Compile budget data, costly if wrong, 5%
What to learn
- Reviewing work you did not do yourself. The tasks under What becomes checking the machine, where a mistake costs something, stay a person's to check: spotting what a draft gets wrong is a skill of its own.
- Running AI inside the business systems. About 47% of the time is work inside business systems, which a model can do only once it is connected: knowing the systems well enough to set that up and watch it.
- Briefing a model and checking its drafts. About 43% of the time is documents and data, the part models reach first: writing a clear brief, giving the right material, and checking what comes back.
- Where a model fell short: A short plain note with a line-by-line table of the differences. In a graded attempt at "Compare printouts with journals", the model missed this. It is a place a person's check matters.
Your own version of this job: read it against your job description. The headline is free; the full personal report, every task with its timeline and what to learn, is $19 (a sample).
The tasks
Sorted by . 28 tasks from . One has a worked example.
| Task | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operate computers programmed with accounting software to record, store, and analyze information.Entries and reports in the accounting software.Done hourly or more by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 16% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Systems 80%, documents 20% | 100%Half by now |
| Perform general office duties, such as filing, answering telephones, and handling routine correspondence.Letters, phone calls and paper filing.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 9% | 25 min8 min to 50 min | Documents 40%, conversation 30%, hands-on 30% | 40%Desk part half by now |
| Compile statistical, financial, accounting, or auditing reports and tables pertaining to such matters as cash receipts, expenditures, accounts payable and receivable, and profits and losses.Building reports from the accounting data.Done more than monthly by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 6% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | Documents 70%, systems 30% | 96%Half by now |
| Check figures, postings, and documents for correct entry, mathematical accuracy, and proper codes.Checking entries against documents.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 25 min8 min to 1.3 h | Documents 60%, systems 40% | 100%Half by now |
| Operate 10-key calculators, typewriters, and copy machines to perform calculations and produce documents.Calculations and documents, with time at the machines.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, OPEX Eagle Remittance Processor (and Falcon+ RED with Rapid Extraction Desk) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 13 min4 min to 38 min | Documents 70%, hands-on 30% | 70%Desk part half by now |
| Compare computer printouts to manually maintained journals to determine if they match.Comparing two sets of figures.Done daily by most who do it.See it done: one graded attempt (passes with named fixes) | 5% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Documents 100% | 100%Half by now |
| Comply with federal, state, and company policies, procedures, and regulations.Working to the rules while keeping the books.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 25 min8 min to 1.7 h | Documents 50%, systems 50% | 100%Half by now |
| Compile budget data and documents, based on estimated revenues and expenses and previous budgets.Gathering and arranging figures for the budget.Done more than yearly by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 5% | 3.3 h50 min to 1.7 work days | Documents 70%, systems 30% | 71%Half by now |
| Reconcile or note and report discrepancies found in records.Tracing differences between records.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 50 min17 min to 2.5 h | Documents 60%, systems 40% | 100%Half by now |
| Classify, record, and summarize numerical and financial data to compile and keep financial records, using journals and ledgers or computers.Entries in the books, with some sorting out first.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 4% | 50 min17 min to 2.5 h | Systems 70%, documents 30% | 100%Half by now |
| Prepare bank deposits by compiling data from cashiers, verifying and balancing receipts, and sending cash, checks, or other forms of payment to banks.Counting and bundling payments, balancing them, and entering the deposit.Done daily by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Brink's CompuSafe / Brink's Complete Enterprise (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 50 min17 min to 1.7 h | Systems 40%, hands-on 40%, documents 20% | 60%Desk part half by now |
| Perform financial calculations, such as amounts due, interest charges, balances, discounts, equity, and principal.Calculation, with figures from the accounts.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 3% | 25 min8 min to 50 min | Documents 70%, systems 30% | 100%Half by now |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach. Made of: how the task's time splits among five kinds of doing. Only the documents and systems parts can count as within reach, so a task that is 30% documents can be at most 30% within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 88% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 90% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five. Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Record and analyze data in accounting software (100% of the task's time now); Check figures, postings and codes (100% of the task's time now); and Compile financial reports and tables (96% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks stay with people?
- Every task has a desk part, so each can come partly within reach; the conversation, in-person and hands-on parts of each task stay with people, about 10% of the working time.
- What should Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks learn as AI takes on more of the work?
- By the job's own task-by-task review, the first things to learn are reviewing work you did not do yourself; running AI inside the business systems; and briefing a model and checking its drafts. By the end of 2028 on the long-run pace at four in five, about 10% of the working time stays with people, 77% becomes checking a model's work and 12% could be handed over with lighter checks. It says which parts of the work change, never whether anyone keeps a job.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026 and tied to a work task, 0.34% went to this job's tasks, the 78th largest share of the 447 jobs that showed up; 7 of its 28 tasks appeared. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 31%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 7% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 7% of the working time. Its index is 0.07 of 3. One example: OPEX Eagle Remittance Processor (and Falcon+ RED with Rapid Extraction Desk) for "run calculators and copiers". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 28 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, reviewed one task at a time on September 30, 2026 for what each is made of (documents, business systems, conversation, in person, hands-on), and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026. The Work Bench has 1 worked example of its tasks: a brief, a rubric written beforehand, one attempt by an AI model and its grade.
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