Gini Loh System Tools

AI Automation Index

Will AI Replace Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks?

Task-level automation exposure for Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks: 28 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.

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Developed & audited by Gini Loh

Automation Exposure

72% weighted task index

28 of 28 tasks scored

Median Salary

$50,670 / year

BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation

Employment Level

Very High

1,373,680 people hold this job — size, not growth

Projected 2025–35

-5.6% employment change

144,100 openings a year · BLS line item

Pay by state

BLS OEWS publishes 54 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.

$28,700 – $65,180

Highest medians

District of Columbia $65,180
Connecticut $59,970
Massachusetts $59,830
California $59,230
Washington $58,620

Lowest medians

Puerto Rico $28,700
Guam $33,280
Mississippi $42,840
Arkansas $42,840
West Virginia $42,890

State figures come from the 43-3031 row in the May 2025 state panel. States where the estimate was suppressed or too small to publish are absent.

What the score is made of

Each task is mapped to its work activities, scored for AI automation potential, and weighted by how important those activities are to the job. These are the components.

Automation potential 72%

Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.

Physical work 5%

Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.

Judgment & influence 30%

Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.

Routine administration 26%

Share in documenting, recording, and administrative activities.

Rewritten by O*NET 0%

Share of weighted tasks O*NET rewrote in a recent update. Reported, not folded into the score.

Consequence of error 10/100 Low

O*NET's own rating of how serious an uncorrectable mistake would be here — respondents, not us. Deliberately not in the index: the score measures what AI can do with the task content, and multiplying it by stakes would be our judgment dressed as data.

Constituent Task Mix

28 tasks for this occupation, weighted by work-activity importance. Shares below are of total task weight, not task count.

High exposure (≥ 60% of the task is automatable) 78%

23 tasks

Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 12%

3 tasks

Low exposure (below 35%) 10%

2 tasks

How would you survive?

Move your week away from the high-exposure tasks and toward the ones that need judgment. The simulator recalculates the index as you shift the mix.

Simulate Upskilling →

Constituent Tasks

#2487 · Core · 30% automatable

Operate computers programmed with accounting software to record, store, and analyze information.

physical manipulation — Operating computers is physical interface work

Operate computers or computerized equipment.
#2486 · Core · 85% automatable

Check figures, postings, and documents for correct entry, mathematical accuracy, and proper codes.

data analysis — Transactional data verification is rule-based and reliable

Verify accuracy of financial or transactional data.
#2488 · Core · 65% automatable

Comply with federal, state, and company policies, procedures, and regulations.

decision support — AI tracks regulatory compliance across documents

Monitor organizational compliance with regulations.
#2495 · Core · 20% automatable

Operate 10-key calculators, typewriters, and copy machines to perform calculations and produce documents.

physical manipulation — Physical operation of office machines and jams

Operate office equipment.
#2500 · Core · 35% automatable

Receive, record, and bank cash, checks, and vouchers.

physical manipulation — Handling cash/payment collection in person

Collect deposits, payments or fees.
#2493 · Core · 80% automatable

Code documents according to company procedures.

data analysis — Coding data automatable with human review

Code data or other information.
#2497 · Core · 88% automatable

Perform financial calculations, such as amounts due, interest charges, balances, discounts, equity, and principal.

data analysis — Financial calculations fully automatable

Calculate financial data.
#2496 · Core · 85% automatable

Reconcile or note and report discrepancies found in records.

data analysis — Reconciling transaction records is rule-based matching

Reconcile records of sales or other financial transactions.
#2498 · Core · 59% automatable

Perform general office duties, such as filing, answering telephones, and handling routine correspondence.

interpersonal — Call routing automatable; nuanced calls need human

Answer telephones to direct calls or provide information. File documents or records.
#2494 · Core · 85% automatable

Access computerized financial information to answer general questions as well as those related to specific accounts.

information retrieval — Search files and references for info

Search files, databases or reference materials to obtain needed information.
#2490 · Core · 80% automatable

Classify, record, and summarize numerical and financial data to compile and keep financial records, using journals and ledgers or computers.

data analysis — Maintain financial records; human reconciles exceptions

Maintain financial or account records.
#2489 · Core · 84% automatable

Debit, credit, and total accounts on computer spreadsheets and databases, using specialized accounting software.

data analysis — Financial calculations fully automatable

Calculate financial data. Maintain financial or account records.
#2509 · Core · 85% automatable

Match order forms with invoices, and record the necessary information.

data analysis — Transactional data verification is rule-based and reliable

Verify accuracy of financial or transactional data.
#18561 · Supplemental · 55% automatable

Prepare and process payroll information.

data analysis — Financial execution software-mediated; authorization human

Execute sales or other financial transactions.
#2499 · Supplemental · 67% automatable

Prepare bank deposits by compiling data from cashiers, verifying and balancing receipts, and sending cash, checks, or other forms of payment to banks.

data analysis — Transactional data verification is rule-based and reliable

Verify accuracy of financial or transactional data. Compile data or documentation. Prepare cash for deposit or disbursement.
#2501 · Supplemental · 88% automatable

Calculate and prepare checks for utilities, taxes, and other payments.

data analysis — Financial calculations fully automatable

Calculate financial data.
#2505 · Supplemental · 78% automatable

Monitor status of loans and accounts to ensure that payments are up to date.

data analysis — Financial data monitoring is digital and AI-analyzable

Monitor financial information.
#2503 · Supplemental · 85% automatable

Reconcile records of bank transactions.

data analysis — Reconciling transaction records is rule-based matching

Reconcile records of sales or other financial transactions.
#2507 · Supplemental · 85% automatable

Compile budget data and documents, based on estimated revenues and expenses and previous budgets.

data analysis — Compiling data or documentation is largely automatable

Compile data or documentation.
#2502 · Supplemental · 85% automatable

Compare computer printouts to manually maintained journals to determine if they match.

data analysis — Transactional data verification is rule-based and reliable

Verify accuracy of financial or transactional data.
#2506 · Supplemental · 90% automatable

Transfer details from separate journals to general ledgers or data processing sheets.

data analysis — Format conversion fully automatable

Convert data among multiple digital or analog formats.
#2510 · Supplemental · 68% automatable

Complete and submit tax forms and returns, workers' compensation forms, pension contribution forms, and other government documents.

text generation — Compliance docs drafted; human owns regulatory accuracy

Prepare documentation for contracts, transactions, or regulatory compliance.
#2491 · Supplemental · 88% automatable

Calculate, prepare, and issue bills, invoices, account statements, and other financial statements according to established procedures.

data analysis — Financial calculations fully automatable

Calculate financial data.
#2508 · Supplemental · 82% automatable

Calculate costs of materials, overhead, and other expenses, based on estimates, quotations and price lists.

data analysis — Cost calculation from structured inputs

Calculate costs of goods or services.
#2514 · Supplemental · 68% automatable

Prepare purchase orders and expense reports.

text generation — Compliance docs drafted; human owns regulatory accuracy

Prepare documentation for contracts, transactions, or regulatory compliance.
#2504 · Supplemental · 80% automatable

Prepare trial balances of books.

data analysis — Maintain financial records; human reconciles exceptions

Maintain financial or account records.
#2492 · Supplemental · 85% automatable

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.

data analysis — Compiling data or documentation is largely automatable

Compile data or documentation.
#2511 · Supplemental · 82% automatable

Maintain inventory records.

data analysis — Maintain inventory records from provided counts

Maintain inventory records.
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Method

How this was scored

  1. 1. Tasks. O*NET task statements for this occupation, from a release whose newest record is dated 08/2026.
  2. 2. Work activities. Each task maps to 1–5 Detailed Work Activities; each activity belongs to one of 41 Generalized Work Activities that O*NET rates for importance (1–5) in this occupation.
  3. 3. Automation potential. Every work activity carries one score for how far current AI can perform it end-to-end. Tasks inherit the mean of their activities.
  4. 4. Weighting. Task weight = 0.35 + 0.65 × (importance − 1)/4, scaled by how often the task is performed and by 0.7 for Supplemental tasks. Importance is the task's own O*NET rating where it exists (18,369 of 18,838 tasks); the rest inherit their work activities' importance. The index is the weighted mean.

Check: across the 910 occupations where O*NET also rates how far machine speed sets the pace, this index moves opposite to it (Spearman ρ = -0.49). The more a job is paced by equipment, the less of its task content AI can address — the relationship you would expect if the scoring is working.

Sources · O*NET 31.0 (task records to 08/2026) · BLS OEWS May 2025 · BLS projections 2025-2035 · rubric v2.1 · tasks for O*NET, not a forecast

See the full method →

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