Jobs · Bookkeeping clerk

Will AI replace bookkeepers?

Much of the work, but not all of it. AI could take on about 70% of the working time in a typical bookkeeping clerk job today. The other 30% still needs a person.

Bookkeeping clerk at work

28 responsibilities · a typical bookkeeping clerk job

30% of the work still needs a person.

Still needs a person: 30% of the timeAI could take on: 70%

Median pay $50,670 a year in the U.S. (BLS, May 2025).

Still needs a person

  • Complete tax and government forms

AI can do or help with

  • Record and analyze books in accounting software AI can do it
  • Check entries for errors and wrong codes AI can do it
  • Handle filing, phones, and routine letters AI helps
  • Follow tax rules and company policies AI helps
  • Code documents to the right accounts AI can do it
  • Receive and record cash and checks AI helps

The biggest responsibilities of each kind. "AI helps" means a person still does it, with AI taking on part of the time. See all 28, with the reason for each and the cost of handing them to AI.

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Questions people ask

Will AI replace bookkeepers?

Much of the work, but not all of it. AI could take on about 70% of the working time in a typical bookkeeping clerk job today. The other 30% still needs a person. That is a split of the work, not a forecast of jobs lost.

Which parts of the job can AI do?

The biggest ones AI can do or help with: record and analyze books in accounting software, check entries for errors and wrong codes, handle filing, phones, and routine letters, follow tax rules and company policies, code documents to the right accounts, receive and record cash and checks.

Which parts still need a person?

The biggest ones: complete tax and government forms.

How is this measured?

Each of the 28 responsibilities the U.S. Department of Labor lists for this job (O*NET 31.0) is scored on 4 questions: can AI do it, does it get it right, must a person sign for it, and do people need to deal with a real person. The split is weighted by how much of the job each responsibility takes up. Scores version 0.3.1, updated September 24, 2026.

Responsibilities from O*NET 31.0 (U.S. Department of Labor). Pay from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025. Scores are calibrated to published research and updated every month. How it works.

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