Firms with AI report higher per-employee revenue

Firms that use AI have higher revenue per employee than firms that do not. 

This is according to a survey from accounting-focused cloud services provider Rightworks, which found that firms that are actively using AI in one or more areas report average per-employee revenue of $167,214. Firms that are testing AI in one or more areas reported an average of $128,753 in per-employee revenue. Finally, those not using AI at all said they had an average of $121,811 per-employee revenue. Rightworks CEO Joel Hughes said in an email that while one might argue that firms with higher revenue are more likely to use AI anyway, other data indicated the technology is indeed having a positive effect. 

"It's possible that firms most likely to use AI are more efficient and already have a higher revenue per employee. Yet half of the survey respondents from firms using AI indicate that they are saving on average 2+ hours per week. If others in the firm are also recognizing similar time savings, a higher revenue per employee among firms using AI makes sense. This also aligns with data from our 2024 firm technology survey, which found that tech-mature firms earn 39% more revenue per employee," he said. 

Another causative factor might be quality of service. Among those firms that are using AI, 71% said it has improved service levels. They're generally not planning to adjust staffing levels in response to AI, as 74% of firms using AI said they felt it would have no impact on headcount. 

Among the firms that do use AI, the most common use case is drafting client communications, reported by 24% of such firms, followed by researching information like IRS publications or regulatory changes (22%) and answering questions for clients (17%). 

The least common firm use case was a three-way tie between generating revenue, growing firm service offerings and training staff, all at 4%. When it comes to revenue generation specifically, though, 18% said they plan to use AI to do this in the future, and 52% said they wanted to use AI to do this but aren't sure how. Similarly, while only 6% said they were using AI to increase profitability, 18% said they plan to use AI for this in the future, and 53% said they want AI to do this but don't know how. Hughes said that firms will likely be more comfortable using AI and actually be able to do the things they want to do with it once they get more education on the subject. 

"Given that 58% of firm respondents reported having one to four employees, it's not likely they are using complicated or bespoke solutions that would require substantial investment. However, education could be key to encouraging usage and adoption, especially when the majority are interested in leveraging AI for all 13 usage areas but many are not sure how to proceed," he said. 

Still, Rightworks found that the number of firms actually using AI at all are in the minority: just 39% are either currently using the technology or trying it out. This might explain why only 9% of firms have an AI policy, as there may not be a need for one if nobody is using AI anyway. But even among those that are using it, the proportion of firms with policies of their own is only 19%.