No More Worlds for Accounting Software to Conquer?

Why It Matters

If accounting platforms fail to deliver genuine productivity gains, firms risk wasted investment and could see market disruption from tech giants. Understanding this inflection point helps stakeholders prioritize meaningful innovation over hype.

Key Takeaways

• Cloud accounting solved collaboration, remote access issues.
• Recent innovations are mostly incremental, not transformative.
• AI tools add automation but lack proven ROI for accountants.
• Big tech firms target accounting software, could reshape market.
• Vendors risk stagnation if they ignore core user needs.

Pulse Analysis

The cloud accounting revolution eliminated the biggest barriers for small firms—collaboration, remote access, and costly infrastructure—creating a democratized ecosystem of apps and services. However, as the initial wave subsided, vendors have shifted toward polishing existing features rather than inventing new capabilities, leading to a market saturated with modest upgrades that barely move the needle for day‑to‑day practice.

Artificial intelligence has generated considerable buzz, with large language models automating invoice processing and drafting tax returns in demo environments. Yet, most accountants have yet to see consistent, measurable returns from AI projects, and many new tools appear to be marketing experiments rather than solutions to core pain points. The gap between hype and practical value underscores a need for rigorous, outcome‑focused development.

Meanwhile, the entry of megacorporations such as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft signals a potential paradigm shift. Their massive capital and AI expertise could embed advanced analytics, predictive insights, and seamless integration across business functions, redefining what accounting software can do. For incumbents, the strategic imperative is clear: align product roadmaps with genuine user challenges or risk being eclipsed by these tech behemoths, much like the fragmented empire left behind by Alexander the Great.

No more worlds for accounting software to conquer?

By Tom Herbert · Technology editor, AccountingWEB · 15 Jan 2026

“When Alexander of Macedonia was 33, he cried salt tears because there were no more worlds to conquer....”

As Plutarch, or perhaps legendary darts commentator Sid Waddell, once hinted at, there’s a natural ceiling for everything. Whether you’re a rampaging Greek commander or a purveyor of popular accounting software, eventually you’ll run out of road.

The quote above has been on my mind recently, as developments in the industry have left me wondering: has core accounting software arrived at its Alexander moment? Are there more working‑capital worlds left to conquer? And if so, what’s next?

This is obviously a relative statement. In this brave new era of cloud accounting, the major flavours of software are constantly releasing fresh features and fixes, making bold claims about new functionality and generally indulging in the one‑upmanship so beloved of the tech industry.

But the truth is that the vast majority of changes are at best incremental improvements to the working lives of accounting professionals, regardless of how many bells and whistles are attached to them.

New products and innovations dry up

Back in the day, Excel, its forerunners and desktop accounting software in general were genuinely revolutionary. The big flaws were equally obvious: the inability for multiple users to work on the same file, the fact that you couldn’t access data remotely, and the hefty IT infrastructure needed to reach a decent size.

Cloud accounting tools took care of most of these issues. While this was more of a quiet revolution, the way they were built and priced allowed small firms, in particular, to access technology previously out of their budgetary reach, and new kingdoms were built. What they didn’t fix could often be solved by an extended ecosystem of apps.

But as the wave of development that accompanied the cloud has receded, fewer standalone apps have emerged, larger players have consolidated and added more functionality, and more moats have been dug around products that used to welcome collaboration. Over the past decade, the industry has consistently delivered more hype and solved fewer real‑world problems.

We’ve seen thousands of incremental improvements, entire tech hype cycles have risen and fallen, and of course, we’ve welcomed the arrival of ‘the next big thing’. When OpenAI’s Greg Brockman prepared a personal tax return in a live demo of ChatGPT‑4, my inbox almost caught fire as concerned accountants the length and breadth of the country wondered if their jobs would be erased overnight.

The AI elephant in the room

As I’ve touched the live wire, let’s get it over and done with and talk about the deep‑faked purple elephant in the room – artificial intelligence (AI). Many will argue with me about the points above, telling me that, of course, this latest generation of AI is the greatest leap forward in technology since the wheel, fire, Tamagotchis, etc.

Undoubtedly, there are some fantastic AI initiatives in the industry. Just today, I was on a call discussing the improvements and automations to invoice‑processing tools driven by large language models. Fascinating and time‑saving, but an iteration of an existing product.

Perhaps it’s early days, but I’m yet to meet an accountant who can genuinely demonstrate tangible, material and consistent gains from a wholly new AI project.

I’ve had a frankly ice‑cap‑melting amount of hot air about how AI will transform accounting, but four years on, where are we with pragmatic solutions to real‑world problems?

Have accountants been crying out for an email sentiment checker lashed to their inbox? Or to have automated recommendations pumped into their general ledger? Or for AI‑generated financial advice to be sluiced over to their clients without their permission?

I’m sure in some contexts, all of the above are useful developments, but at the moment, are they solving the biggest problems accountants face in their working lives today? At best, they feel like a solution looking for a problem. Perhaps they’re part of the vendors’ continued search for new markets?

AI players seek new worlds to conquer

And lurking in the background like a $4 tn capex investment waiting to be recouped from you and me are the AI players. Corporations with budgets the size of most governments, but with no pesky electorate to keep them in check. Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft – all of whom have hit their own Alexander moments in their respective fields and are greedily eying new worlds to conquer.

It’s been slightly troubling to see how readily some of the big ledger players have leapt into bed with them, when it’s so honkingly obvious to all concerned that the AI monsters would love nothing more than to swallow them whole and continue their ocean‑boiling expansion unhindered.

So perhaps the question shouldn’t be “has core accounting software reached its peak?” but instead it should be “what will accounting software look like when the AI hordes invade?”

When Alexander the Great died suddenly in 323 BCE at the age of 32, he left behind one of the largest empires in history without naming a successor. Legend has it that on his deathbed, he instructed that his kingdom should be left “to the strongest”.

What followed instead was a chaotic period of civil war and political manoeuvring, before what was left of his empire was swept away by the Roman Empire. If accounting software doesn’t focus on the needs of its users, it could follow the same fate.