The Influence of AI on My Personal and Professional Life
Updated: Aug 27
My name is Angela Hernandez, and I’m a CPA and founder of AI Accounting Agency, where I help businesses improve and automate accounting workflows and operational processes using AI-driven systems.
I originally built my business around traditional bookkeeping services. The business was successful, and clients were happy. But as AI tools started emerging, I started experiencing a very personal impact on the goals I was working toward.
The technology forced me to reconsider my place within the accounting profession. It became clear that traditional bookkeeping alone was no longer a strong differentiator in the market. I had to learn new tools and reshape the direction of my work entirely. I am no longer someone impacted by AI. I am now also on the other side, pushing AI.
How would I describe my job and daily tasks before AI became widely used
Over the course of more than 20 years in accounting, I have worked in nearly every area of the profession.
Most recently, in my Controller and Chief Financial Officer roles, I have been fortunate to focus on bigger-picture issues and implement long-term improvements for a company. But that kind of work is extremely time-consuming.
There is a lot of reporting at the executive level, and despite all of the modern reporting tools available, spreadsheets are still used heavily. Spreadsheets are generally easy to work with, but they become a challenge when something does not tie out and you have to retrace every step.
A single misplaced decimal in one of hundreds, or sometimes thousands, of cells can completely distort the final results.
Even though that work can be tedious, I enjoyed it. There is something weirdly satisfying about taking a messy situation and creating structure.
How AI is becoming part of our work and daily lives
AI is at the heart of our company’s work, both externally and internally.
For our clients, we focus on using AI agents and workflow automation to simplify their accounting systems. The goal is to reduce manual work and provide a clearer view of business performance for small and mid-sized businesses.
That can mean using AI to help sort incoming documents, pull key details from invoices, match records, or prepare information for review. These are not abstract use cases. They are the kinds of tasks that often take up hours in accounting workflows because they repeat every week or every month.
For our internal purposes, AI handles a lot of our repetitive work, which leaves us with more of the review and oversight work. That matters because accounting still requires context. A tool can help prepare the data, but people still need to confirm whether the results make sense, whether something looks unusual, and whether the process fits the business.
This approach aligns perfectly with something I always emphasize to my team: let’s set ourselves up for success.
That means we focus on completing the task right now, but we also think about how to make it easier for ourselves down the road. If a task repeats, we ask whether the process can be improved. If information keeps getting entered twice, we look for a better connection. If a report takes too long to prepare, we look for the step that creates the delay.
Over time, those small improvements translate into savings in both time and money. A few minutes saved on one task may not seem significant. But when the same task happens across dozens of clients, hundreds of transactions, or every month-end close, the effect becomes much larger.
That is where AI in accounting is most useful right now. It does not replace the need for skilled review. It helps reduce the low-value manual work around the review, so more time can go toward accuracy and better business decisions.
How AI is transforming the way we work and live
Our most commonly used tools are a combination of AI and automation platforms such as ChatGPT, Claude, Zapier, Make.com, and Python. Zapier and Make.com help us connect systems and automate the flow of information between platforms, while Python allows us to build more customized solutions when a process requires more flexibility or complexity.
System connection tools help us move information between platforms. For example, when one system receives a document or transaction, another system may need to receive that same information. Automation can help pass the data along, trigger a task, or notify the right person that a review is needed.
And because we’re accounting-focused, we take advantage of the AI capabilities built directly into many accounting platforms nowadays. Many modern accounting systems already include features that assist with bank transaction matching, receipt capture, invoice reading, and suggested categories. These features still need review, but they can reduce the amount of manual preparation that happens before review begins.
Other than that, most of our tools and workflows are developed in-house. Whenever we come across a process that can be automated, we don’t hesitate to do so.
The key is not automation for its own sake. The key is choosing the right task. Good candidates usually have a few traits:
The task happens often.
The steps are consistent.
The source information is available in a digital format.
The result can be checked by a person.
The time saved is worth the setup effort.
When those conditions are present, automation can make the accounting process more reliable and easier to manage.
The moment AI started changing work and daily life
Accounting has never really been known as an exciting field. A lot of the work can feel repetitive, so you need to be someone who enjoys structure and gets fulfillment from the small wins.
When I talk to other accountants, it seems that we all have some very specific areas that excite us. For me, it was always solving big-picture problems. I always enjoyed talking to the company leader, understanding what they felt was missing in the company strategy, and finding a solution that solved that problem.
In the past, implementing a solution could take months of manual work or process changes. But suddenly, AI seemed to be able to move everything from idea to execution much faster than I had ever experienced.
I knew that I had to adapt quickly to stay relevant.
What made AI exciting to me
My first reaction to AI was excitement. I've always been somewhat of an adventurer. I love new experiences and opportunities that give me a sense of accomplishment. I've gone skydiving and hiked Machu Picchu, and there are still many adventures left on my list.
So when the opportunity to embark on this unknown path presented itself, I was immediately intrigued.
That said, I believe that excitement and fear can be two sides of the same coin. There's almost always a moment of uncertainty when stepping into unfamiliar territory that can make you hesitate before committing to the next step.
But I've learned that when you focus on the possibilities, you don’t feel as intimidated. Instead, you feel energized and inspired to move forward.
How AI has made my work better
Before AI, my career path felt relatively straightforward. It’s almost the stereotypical career path that is expected for success.
In the accounting field, you go into typical defined categories, such as tax or financial reporting. But AI opened up an entirely new world of possibilities for the profession. It allows me to bring a level of support to small businesses that I couldn’t previously even imagine.
I am now involved in the technological development of accounting, something that I never expected to find myself in. Slowly, I started to recognize the magnitude of the impact I can have on the field of accounting.
The challenges of working with AI
From a technical perspective, the biggest challenge is dealing with edge cases. There are always exceptions to every process, and those exceptions add complexity when you’re designing automated workflows.
This requires a mindset that balances structure with the flexibility needed to handle unexpected situations. Fortunately for our customers, we have built a team that thrives in this type of work and genuinely enjoys solving difficult problems.
We see every edge case as an opportunity to strengthen the system, which makes our solutions more resilient and keeps human expertise essential.
At AI Accounting Agency, that balance between thoughtful automation and human judgment is central to how we support small businesses.
How AI has changed my view of my skills and value
Because of AI, I now have the opportunity to approach accounting in a more creative way.
I’ve always been drawn to creating efficient procedures and building systems. But now, I have the ability to reimagine them entirely. My role has shifted from executing tasks to designing the environment in which those tasks happen.
I used to spend my time working inside the reporting and reconciliation process itself. Now, I get to look at the big picture and design how information moves through the system so that complex accounting processes are easier to follow and trust.
For those of us naturally inclined toward structure and systems, this feels like a new kind of art.
The creative part is not separate from the accounting work. It shows up in how a process is built, how errors are reduced, and how information becomes easier to review. A good system makes the work more reliable. It also gives business owners a clearer way to understand what is happening in their finances.
How AI pushed me to adapt faster
The emergence of AI forced me to reconsider how I had been approaching my work within the accounting profession. It became obvious that traditional bookkeeping alone was no longer a strong differentiator in the market.
I had to quickly learn new tools and rethink the direction of my work entirely.
Fortunately, I enjoy change and the process of reinventing my skills and capabilities. I saw that the real value that I could provide was in designing systems and solving business problems.
At the same time, I could see how this could feel overwhelming for many in the workforce as technology is changing how almost all jobs are done. That pressure is real. When a familiar task changes, it can raise larger questions about value, identity, and what skills will matter next.
That’s why I decided to create AI Accounting Agency, where I help businesses improve and automate accounting workflows and operational processes using AI-driven systems.
AI is making advanced business tools more accessible
For all of the disruption that AI has created in some areas, it has also brought substantial benefits in others. One unexpected opportunity that I’ve seen is AI’s ability to make high-level tools and expertise accessible to smaller businesses that previously could not afford them.
Functions such as advanced analytics and forecasting, which were once available only to companies with larger budgets, can now be delivered to much smaller companies. A small business can now use AI-supported tools to review revenue patterns, estimate cash flow needs, and identify changes in customer demand much faster than before.
That matters because these functions are not just “nice to have.” Better forecasting can help a business decide when to hire, when to delay a large purchase, or how much inventory to keep on hand. Advanced analysis can also help owners see patterns that may not be obvious from a basic spreadsheet.
In my opinion, AI has leveled the playing field in this regard for many small businesses, and they should embrace it. Our goal is to remove the fear around the change so businesses can use it to their advantage.
AI is also changing expectations at work
I like to believe that most of us enjoy some aspect of the work we do and that we should stick to our strengths. But I also believe that everyone should be open to making everyday work more efficient so that we can take on different responsibilities or possibly even grow into different roles over time.
These subtle expectations are becoming more common across workplaces, and I can understand why. As an employer, I see how AI can handle a large portion of daily tasks, and how work that used to take hours can now be done much faster.
That does not mean every task should be fully handed over to a machine. I still expect my team to review and refine AI output. It is still machine-generated and needs oversight.
That review process matters. AI can misunderstand a context or produce an answer that sounds confident but still needs checking. In business work, especially around financial decisions, accuracy and judgment remain essential.
But even that layer of work is starting to change, since we can now build tools that handle parts of the review process as well.
Why Human Review Still Matters in AI and How Women Can Lead the Future
The most surprising part of working so deeply in this field is realizing that, even with everything AI can do, human review is still essential.
People's misconception about AI
The most surprising part of working so deeply in this field is realizing that, even with everything AI can do, human review is still essential.
It is true that some roles will change or disappear, just like when we introduced computers. But just as we did back then, we will still need people who understand how the systems work and can make sure that the technology is doing what it’s supposed to do.
When I speak to others about this topic, I encourage them not to focus only on the fear of job loss. We should all strive to position ourselves as people who can work with and manage emerging technology, instead of becoming someone who is left behind by it.
Human judgment is what connects the output to the real-world situation.
How women can thrive alongside AI
There are more women in technical fields today than ever before, but I would encourage women who are not in these spaces to not shy away from AI.
AI is not reserved for people in technical fields. Yes, it involves structure and technology, but it’s also about people. We still need humans to understand real human problems.
If your strength is human connection, that is a real advantage here.
In my opinion, the best use of AI keeps people at the center. When we become too rigid in how we design workflows or focus only on efficiency, we risk making things more frustrating.
As builders of these systems, we have a responsibility to make sure that they serve people first.
Looking ahead at AI with optimism and caution
Overall, I am optimistic about the future of AI. It has allowed us to provide a higher level of support than we could have otherwise.
But there are many limitations. Computers are still too logical to fully understand human nuance. That said, I do think we will eventually reach that point. And when we do, we’ll all have to adapt once again.
If I have any concerns, they’d be about governance and security. I don’t think those concerns are exclusive to AI, though. We already trust our personal information and business records to online platforms every day. There’s always some level of risk involved with technology.
What matters is that we try to be responsible in how we implement and use these tools as they continue to improve.
AI has changed my life by allowing me to reinvent myself and contribute to a major transformation that is affecting every industry and influencing almost every part of our lives.
Being able to participate in that transformation was something I couldn’t pass up.
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