The Evolution of Corporate Accounting Functions in the Era of Artificial Intelligence: A Conceptual Framework and Future Research Directions

Abstract

The deep embedding of artificial intelligence into the processes of accounting recognition, measurement, recording, and reporting is transforming the form and operational logic of accounting functions. This paper constructs a conceptual framework for the evolution of corporate accounting functions in the era of artificial intelligence, unfolding at three levels: at the level of technological embedding, intelligent algorithms potentially replace the rules of recognition and measurement, automated processes shrink the boundary of the account recording function, and the accounting objective shifts from historical accounting to real-time prediction; at the level of internal logic, the data-driven mechanism triggers a hierarchical transition in the path of information generation, the transformation of functional attributes drives the reorganization of knowledge components and the migration of capabilities, and the human-machine collaboration context requires the redefinition of the reserved domain of professional judgment; at the level of future form, the framework deduces the distributed reconfiguration of accounting control functions, the impact of dynamic in-process measurement on the accounting period assumption, and the extended theoretical issues arising from cross-organizational data integration. This framework provides an analytical tool for understanding the functional changes in the intelligent accounting system.