The Accounting Disruptors
The Accounting Disruptors is a podcast about AI in accounting, hosted by Paul Peterson and Matt Barbieri of Wiss. Each week, they offer real talk for CPAs, CFOs, and accounting firm leaders, breaking down AI tools, workflow automation, and the shifts reshaping how firms operate. The show avoids hype and focuses on what's working, what's not, and what it means for your firm. Topics include AI tools for CPAs, accounting automation, tax AI, accounting software, and the future of accounting firms.
Episodes
AI in Accounting: Saving Time Is Only the Beginning | Ep.28
Paul Peterson and Matt Barbieri, hosts of The Accounting Disruptors, explore why using AI isn't the same as transforming an accounting firm. They discuss uneven adoption across the profession, private equity's influence, and the tension between immediate results and meaningful changes to how work gets done. Drawing on Wiss's own experience (including a doubling of monthly AI token costs), they exa
AI Is Rewriting the Unspoken Contract at Work | Ep. 27
Paul Peterson and Matt Barbieri, hosts of The Accounting Disruptors, explore how AI is rewriting the psychological contract between professionals and their organizations. They examine research showing that AI can increase efficiency while also creating more work, expanding responsibilities, and raising expectations. The conversation explores how expertise, recognition, belonging, and security shap
The Hidden Grief Behind AI Transformation | Ep. 26
Paul Peterson and Matt Barbieri, hosts of The Accounting Disruptors, explore why the rapid adoption of AI can feel like a grieving process for accountants and organizations. They talk candidly about fears of losing competence, control, professional identity, and job security, as well as the difficult reality that implementing AI often creates more work before it saves time. It’s an honest conversa
Remembering 9/11: What It Taught Us About Humanity at Work | Ep. 25
On the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, Paul Peterson and Matt Barbieri, hosts of The Accounting Disruptors, step away from AI and accounting to reflect on where they were that morning and how the day reshaped their views on leadership and workplace culture. They talk candidly about the organizational divide it exposed at the time, the human need for connection during crisis, and why
The Rallying Cry of Betrayed Accountants | Ep. 24
Paul Peterson and Matt Barbieri, hosts of The Accounting Disruptors, unpack why most firms adopting AI right now are adding cost without changing anything about how the work actually gets done, using a real internal example: a Claude bill that jumps between $600 and $2,600 a month per individual. Paul and Matt also share how Wiss Labs solved a real operational problem inside its own investment por
Your Leadership Says AI is a Priority, but the Usage Data Tells Us Otherwise | Ep. 23
Only 10% of businesses are using AI for real, agentic work, even though 85% of accounting teams call it a strategic priority. On this episode of The Accounting Disruptors, hosts Paul Peterson and Matt Barbieri unpack the newest AI adoption data from RAMP and FloQast to explain why chat subscriptions don't equal transformation. They break down what companies are actually spending on AI per employee
Accountants: Stop Being So Passive. | Ep. 22
Hundreds of billions in AI infrastructure spend from Google and Microsoft aren't landing where you'd expect on the balance sheet, and Paul Peterson and Matt Barbieri open this episode of The Accounting Disruptors asking whether current accounting rules can even capture it. Using a deferred transfer fee case study from Manchester United as a jumping-off point, they dig into materiality, earnings ma
The AR Swivel Chair Problem ft. Caitlin Leksana
Accounts receivable doesn't get the attention accounts payable does, but it's the function that actually gets a business paid. In this episode of This Week in Accounting AI, host Paul Peterson, CEO of Wiss, talks with Caitlin Luxana, co-founder of Fazeshift, about why AR aging buckets fail CFOs and controllers, how structured data, unstructured data, and tribal knowledge combine to create the real
AI is Exposing Everything That is Broken in Accounting
Paul Peterson and Matt Barbieri, hosts of This Week in Accounting AI, break down two client calls that show exactly where AI is changing accounting, and where it isn't. One client wants his books closed weekly instead of monthly. Another discovered a six-figure tax exposure hiding inside a goodwill line nobody had questioned. Paul and Matt use both stories to explain why faster closes multiply the
The Companies Waiting on AI Are Already Behind
AI is forcing organizations to rethink more than their technology. It's reshaping leadership, strategy, and the way people adapt to change.
In this episode of This Week in Accounting AI, Paul Peterson and Matt Barbieri discuss why AI adoption is as much a human challenge as it is a technical one. Drawing from conversations with CFOs and recent industry research, they explore why professionals ofte
AI Adoption Isn't About Technology. It's About Leadership, Policy, and People.
AI adoption isn't just changing technology. It's changing how organizations lead.
In this episode of This Week in Accounting AI, Paul Peterson and Matt Barbieri share lessons from an AI conference and discuss why the biggest challenges businesses face today are organizational, not technical. They explore why leading by example is more effective than mandating AI, the legal and governance risks ma
AI Won't Replace Your Culture. It Will Expose It.
Technology isn't the hardest part of AI adoption. Leadership is.
In this episode of This Week in Accounting AI, Paul Peterson and Matt Barbieri discuss why accounting firms and finance organizations are entering a new phase of transformation where culture, communication, and human connection matter more than ever.
They explore what CFOs, controllers, CPAs, and firm leaders are experiencing as AI
Legacy Data, Lean Startups, and the Real Reason Stanford Students Walked Out on Google
When hundreds of Stanford students walked out on Google's CEO at commencement, most people filed it under "campus drama." Paul Peterson and Matt Barbieri see it differently.
In this episode of This Week in Accounting AI, the Wiss hosts unpack what that walkout signals about generational fear, why AI company leaders keep doubling down on job-displacement narratives that serve shareholders more than
KKR, Baker Tilly, and the Wealth Transfer Nobody's Talking About — What PE Consolidation Really Means for Accountants
56% of CFOs say they've adopted AI. Only 7% say they're getting a return on it. This week, Paul Peterson and Matt Barbieri open with that Gartner data, and make the case that most finance leaders aren't just underperforming on AI, they're measuring the wrong thing entirely.
Speed to close is not the same as speed to the information that runs a business. From there, they get into the week's PE he
AI Native Accounting Is The Three-Point Line - And Most CFOs are Still Playing Post-Up Ball
Paul Peterson and Matt Barbieri just returned from four weeks on the road — BDO's firm conference in Vegas, an investor summit in San Francisco, Boston Tech Week, and NYC Tech Week — and the takeaway is stark: the gap between accounting firms embracing AI and those waiting it out is widening fast.
In this episode of This Week in Accounting AI, they break down what they saw across all four stops,
The ERP Is Broken by Design — And Accountants Are Paying the Price | ft. Adam Riches, Netgain CEO
Netgain CEO Adam Riches joins Paul Peterson to expose why ERP systems deprioritized accounting decades ago — and why CFOs are still paying the price. They cover the history of accounting as a competitive advantage (from the Medici to Carnegie to the IBM mainframe era), how the spreadsheet became a 40-year Band-Aid, and what modern accounting infrastructure actually needs to look like. Adam breaks
Power, Gatekeeping & Control in Accounting - And How Al Is About to Break It Open
In episode 12, Paul and Matt get into the uncomfortable truth about accounting departments: too many of them are held hostage by a single person who has turned a process into a black box. From the controller who "bamboozles" leadership to the commissions guy who made Friday bagels a bigger priority than payroll, Paul and Matt unpack how power and control became baked into the profession, starting
Audit Trails, Hallucinations & Job Security - What Accountants Actually Asked About AI
Fresh off the Wiss Labs Bourbon & Bookkeeping event, Paul Peterson and Matt Barbieri unpack the three biggest questions a room full of CFOs, controllers, and founders brought to the table: How do AI agents handle audit trails? What about hallucinations? And the one everyone wants to ask — are accountants about to lose their jobs? Plus, why the new "intelligent layer" running over the ERP is ma
2 Myths About Al in Accounting That Are Holding CPAs Back (From Real Busy Season Data)
Fresh off the BDO Annual Conference and meetings in San Francisco, Paul Peterson and Matt Barbieri get real about what's actually happening with AI adoption in accounting, and what's not. Drawing on candid feedback from Wiss staff who piloted AI tools through busy season, they dispel two big myths: that AI means fewer accountants, and that AI tools can be distributed like traditional software.
In
Your ERP Treats Accounting as an Afterthought - Rillet Recon 2026 Takeaways
For 30 years, ERPs have been built for operations, and the general ledger got bolted on as an afterthought. Paul Peterson and Matt Barbieri argue that's exactly why so many finance leaders say "the accounting blows", and why it was never an accountant problem in the first place.
Fresh off Rillet Recon 2026, Matt shares what he saw in the room: a community that feels more like an apprenticeship tha
Offshoring is a Bandaid, Not a Fix - How Al-Optimized Firms Win on Context Instead
Paul Peterson and Matt Barbieri make the case that offshoring is a bandaid, not a fix, and that CFOs evaluating accounting partners need to stop asking "how cheap?" and start asking "how are you building intelligence on my business?" They unpack why context is the new competitive advantage in the AI era, why tribal knowledge is the real moat, and the specific questions every CFO should be asking b
Tax Season Is Getting Worse - Not Better. Here's Why Al Hasn't Fixed It Yet
Tax season is over. The real work is just beginning.
In this episode, Paul Peterson and Matt Barbieri pull back the curtain on what actually happens inside an accounting firm during busy season, and why, despite billions spent on software and a wave of AI optimism, this year was harder than the last. They get honest about the hidden costs of AI adoption, why offshoring is a band-aid not a fix, and
Why Accounting Burns Out Its Best People - And How Al Finally Changes That
After 25 years in the trenches together, Paul and Matt get candid about something most firm leaders won't say out loud: accounting has been a soul-crushing profession, and it didn't have to be. Sparked by a piece Paul wrote on the industry's broken culture, this episode unpacks why talented, hardworking accountants have spent careers feeling like they're failing, even when they're not. From the 34
Accounting Has a Soul Problem: 340K Departures, Burnout & What Al Changes
In this solo episode, Wiss CEO Paul Peterson gets candid about a question he recently put in writing: why does accounting sometimes feel soulless? Paul draws on real responses from accounting professionals and sobering industry stats to make the case that the profession has a deeper problem than a talent shortage.
340,000 people left the field during COVID
CPA exam sittings hit a 20-year low in 2
Why Do Growth Companies Hire Finance Too Early?
Paul Peterson and Matt Barbieri break down the costly mistake venture-backed founders keep making — hiring a CFO before the fundamentals are in place, then watching the org chart balloon from the top down.
They unpack the traditional finance build, why it creates mismatched roles and bloated headcount, and why that model becomes even harder to unwind once a company is locked in.
The conversati
Small Wins, Big Shifts: Rethinking Excel and ERP in the Age of AI
This week, Paul Peterson and Matt Barbieri break down two buzzworthy a16z articles asking the questions everyone in finance is thinking: will AI kill Excel? And what happens to your ERP?
Spoiler...neither is going anywhere. Instead, Paul and Matt make the case for an AI layer that works around your existing systems, eliminating the Excel workarounds that have quietly become your source of truth.
Tribal Knowledge: The Hidden Barrier to AI Adoption in Accounting
AI tools are advancing fast, but is your accounting team actually ready to use them? In this episode, Paul Peterson and Matt Barbieri dig into one of the most overlooked obstacles to successful AI adoption: tribal knowledge. Those undocumented, person-dependent workflows that live in people's heads (and endless Excel files) can make or break an AI implementation. They discuss why switching to an A
It's Not the Software's Fault
Everyone's asking how to implement AI. That's the wrong question.
In Episode 1 of This Week in Accounting AI, Paul Peterson and Matt Barbieri get into what's really behind the gap between AI adoption and AI results. Matt shares what he's hearing directly from CFOs — companies that have the tools in place but aren't moving the needle. The culprit? Not the software. It's what the software is sitting
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