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 portfolio management process, and what that experience revealed about what CFOs are actually paying for when they bring in AI tools: trust, not time savings. This episode covers CFO cost structure, accounting ecosystem history, ERP adoption, and why accounting as an industry remains significantly underpriced.

The Accounting Disruptors is produced by Wiss, an AI-optimized CPA and advisory firm serving privately-held and venture-backed businesses.

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, why fully self-driving cars sitting unused in driveways are the best analogy for accounting's resistance to change, and why the "capacity paradox" (accountants too buried in manual work to learn the tools that would free them from it) is the real barrier to adoption. They also cover the trust gap around AI-generated financial data, why data cleanliness matters more than the model itself, and what CFOs and controllers should actually be asking before they roll out AI.

The Accounting Disruptors is produced by Wiss, an AI-optimized CPA and advisory firm serving privately-held and venture-backed businesses.

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 management tactics like Q4 vacation blackout policies, and why openness is becoming Rillet's biggest competitive advantage after its latest funding round. From there, Paul and Matt tackle the accounting talent shortage head-on: 600,000 open positions, a 40% drop in first-time CPA exam sitters since 2016, and the uncomfortable truth about why accountants keep devaluing their own work. They close with a look at what the intelligence layer means for the future office of the CFO.

The Accounting Disruptors is produced by Wiss, an AI-optimized CPA and advisory firm serving privately-held and venture-backed businesses.

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 AR problem, and what it takes to deploy AI agents responsibly in cash application and collections. They cover DSO reduction, the swivel chair problem, and why credit card payments alone won't fix your order-to-cash process. 

This Week in Accounting AI is produced by Wiss, an AI-optimized CPA and advisory firm serving privately-held and venture-backed businesses.

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 workload without the right systems in place, why your ERP can't see the data trapped in your team's spreadsheets, and why AI adoption forces accounting and tech departments to finally talk to each other. 

This Week in Accounting AI is produced by Wiss, an AI-optimized CPA and advisory firm serving privately-held and venture-backed businesses.

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 often experience a sense of "grieving" as AI changes the nature of their work. They also talk about why the organizations that acknowledge those emotions will be better positioned to lead through transformation.

The conversation examines why AI is making accountants and knowledge workers more productive rather than replacing them, what the latest market data says about AI's impact on software companies, and why businesses that delay adoption risk falling behind. Along the way, Paul and Matt unpack lessons on leadership from the world of sports, explaining why the best leaders double down on their strengths instead of making fear-driven decisions.

This Week in Accounting AI is produced by Wiss, an AI-optimized CPA and advisory firm serving privately-held and venture-backed businesses.

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 many companies are overlooking, and why every organization needs an AI policy. 

The conversation also dives into a compelling perspective on the emotional side of transformation: why professionals often need to "grieve" before embracing AI. 

Along the way, Paul and Matt examine how AI is making knowledge workers more productive, why execution may matter more than patents, and what business leaders can learn from both software development and the World Cup. 

This Week in Accounting AI is produced by Wiss, an AI-optimized CPA and advisory firm serving privately-held and venture-backed businesses.

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 reshapes the workplace, why remote work has changed professional development, how organizations should rethink expectations, and why AI is creating opportunities for higher-value work instead of simply replacing jobs.

Through real experiences inside Wiss, Paul and Matt explain why successful AI implementation depends on organizational alignment as much as technology.

This Week in Accounting AI is produced by Wiss, an AI-optimized CPA and advisory firm serving privately-held and venture-backed businesses.

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 workers, and why the most admired companies deploying AI right now are focused on making their products better, not just cutting headcount.

They also get into the stark differences between legacy businesses, SaaS companies, and AI-native startups, a 100-year-old client building an entirely new product from proprietary data, CEOs using Claude for FP&A; (and what they're missing), and why changing your mind frequently right now is the smartest thing you can do.

This Week in Accounting AI is produced by Wiss, an AI-optimized CPA and advisory firm serving privately-held and venture-backed businesses.

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.