WAJD Learning

AI at work, by industry · Bookkeepers, accountants, tax advisers, finance teams and practice managers

AI in accounting and finance: ethics, evidence and the client

What the Code of Ethics asks when AI helps with the work, how to review it, and what to tell clients.

  • 2modules
  • 1.5CPD hours
  • 90guided minutes
  • Freeto study

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About this course

AI tools can now draft a letter, summarise a contract, categorise transactions and explain a tax rule in seconds. They can also invent a tax case, misread a figure and state it with complete confidence. In accounting the work goes out under a professional's name, and the name is what the client is paying for.

The professional bodies have responded. ICAEW's Code of Ethics was revised in July 2025 with new material on technology, covering competence, confidentiality and the threats that come from relying on a tool you cannot explain. The Financial Reporting Council published guidance on AI in audit in June 2025, and on generative and agentic AI in March 2026.

This course applies the five fundamental principles to AI assisted work, then covers the practical half: how to review it, what evidence to keep, and what to tell the client. It is written for small practices and finance teams as much as large firms.

What you will be able to do

  • Apply the five fundamental principles to work that AI has helped produce
  • Explain why client information must not go into unapproved tools
  • Describe how AI can invent authorities and figures, with a real example
  • Review AI assisted work in proportion to what depends on it
  • Keep the evidence that shows how a conclusion was reached
  • Decide what to tell a client about the use of AI
  • Explain that anti money laundering and regulatory duties are unchanged by AI

Modules

  1. 1 AI and the five fundamental principles 45 min study · 3 min script · 5 question knowledge check
  2. 2 Review, evidence and what to tell the client 45 min study · 3 min script · 5 question knowledge check

Assessment and certificate

Knowledge check after each module and a final assessment at 80 per cent, with unlimited attempts.

A digital certificate, issued the moment you have passed and paid, showing 1.5 CPD hours with a verification code. It evidences knowledge of the ethical and practical use of AI in accounting work. It is not a regulated qualification, it is not awarded or endorsed by any professional body, and whether it counts towards your own body's CPD requirement is for you to judge against that body's rules.

Questions

Can I put client data into an AI tool?

Only into a tool your firm has assessed and approved for that purpose, with terms that protect the information. ICAEW has warned that putting client data into a public AI tool is a potential breach of confidentiality. Removing the client's name is not enough if the details still identify them.

If the AI gets it wrong, who is responsible?

You are, and your firm. The work is issued under your name and your professional body's Code applies to it whatever tool helped produce it. Professional competence and due care includes understanding a tool well enough to rely on it appropriately.

Do I have to tell clients I used AI?

There is no single rule that says always. The principles of integrity and professional behaviour point towards openness, particularly where AI did research or analysis the client is relying on. Many firms now cover it in the engagement letter so that it is agreed in advance.

Does this count towards my professional body's CPD?

That is for you to judge against your body's rules. Most bodies ask you to decide what learning is relevant to your role and to record it. This course gives you a certificate and a record of hours; it is not accredited by any accountancy body.