Montenegro’s accounting and audit profession is beginning to integrate artificial intelligence into financial work, potentially shifting routine tasks towards automation while increasing demand for higher-value advisory and verification services.
The 21st International Congress of Accountants and Auditors, held in Ulcinj from Sept. 25-27, brought together more than 400 participants and included presentation of the AI-ACC programme, developed with support from Montenegro’s Innovation Fund.
AI-ACC is intended to help accountants, auditors and tax advisers use existing AI tools for process automation, data analysis and professional decision support.
The commercial significance is productivity.
Accounting firms still spend substantial time collecting documents, classifying transactions, reviewing records and preparing standardised reports.
AI can increasingly assist with those first-stage tasks, allowing professionals to focus on interpretation, tax planning, audit judgement and client advice.
That could change the economics of smaller accounting practices.
Firms able to process more clients without increasing headcount at the same rate can improve margins, while businesses buying accounting services may expect faster reporting and more analytical support.
The shift also creates a technology market.
Accounting firms will need secure AI tools, workflow integration, employee training, data-protection controls and systems capable of handling confidential financial information.
Generic public AI applications may be unsuitable for sensitive payroll, tax and company data unless confidentiality and governance are properly controlled.
Professional firms could therefore favour dedicated or enterprise AI environments.
Auditing presents a separate opportunity.
AI can analyse large transaction sets, identify unusual patterns and prioritise areas for human review, while final audit conclusions remain dependent on professional judgement and evidence.
The competitive divide may therefore emerge between firms that integrate AI effectively and those that remain heavily dependent on manual processing.
For Montenegro’s accounting sector, AI is moving from general technology discussion into practical workflow.
The first commercial impact is likely to be straightforward: fewer hours spent processing information and greater pressure to deliver analysis, judgement and advice that software cannot easily commoditise.
