Episode 82

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Published on:

6th Aug 2026

AI in accounting - Team member or tool?

AI in Accounting: Team or Tool?

Is AI a team member, a tool, or both? In this episode, Damien Greathead and Penny Breslin dig into how AI is actually being used inside accounting and bookkeeping practices today — not in theory, but in the day-to-day.

Penny walks through a real client cleanup project where she used Claude to turn a messy Excel breakdown into a client-ready proposal in minutes (and caught the AI's own math mistake along the way). The conversation moves into what this means for team development — how firms need to intentionally build critical thinking skills in their people so they don't become passive "bot approvers," and why understanding the full context of a client (not just the transaction data) still requires a human.

They close with practical advice on how to write better AI prompts by giving the "set and setting," and where to find more from Penny and Damien.

Time Stamps:

  • 0:00 — Intro: welcome to It's Not Just The Numbers, meet your hosts
  • 1:49 — Is AI a team member or a tool? Opening debate
  • 7:31 — Real case study: using Claude to build a client cleanup proposal from a messy Excel file
  • 19:17 — Shifting focus to the team: what AI means for an 80-person accounting staff
  • 21:07 — Teaching critical thinking skills in a technical, linear-trained workforce
  • 23:34 — The "rainforest" mindset: seeing complex opportunity instead of fixating on crisis
  • 26:25 — Gamifying work with AI to build critical thinking habits
  • 31:33 — "Set and setting": how to prompt AI like you'd brief a team member
  • 38:42 — Where to find Penny and Damien, and closing thoughts
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About the Podcast

It's not Just the Numbers
Focused on CAS, this accounting podcast helps firm owners build their accounting and bookkeeping business with intention
It’s Not Just the Numbers is a podcast for accounting firm owners, leaders, and professionals building modern firms beyond compliance.

Hosted by Damien Greathead and Penny Breslin, the show explores what it really takes to create a sustainable, advisory-driven accounting practice in a profession undergoing rapid change. From technology, systems, workflow, and pricing strategy to leadership, client experience, staffing, and the future role of the accountant — this podcast goes beyond the spreadsheets and into the real conversations shaping the profession.

Each episode features practical insights, honest discussions, and lessons from firm owners, industry experts, technology leaders, and operators working at the forefront of modern accounting.

Whether you’re building a Client Advisory Services (CAS) practice, refining your operations, navigating AI and automation, or simply trying to build a better firm, It’s Not Just the Numbers delivers thoughtful conversations grounded in real-world experience.

Because the future of accounting isn’t just about compliance.

It’s about strategy.
It’s about relationships.
It’s about systems.
It’s about leadership.
And ultimately, it’s not just the numbers.

A Beyond Numbers podcast.

About your hosts

Penny Breslin

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Penny Breslin is the founder of MoneyPenny, a consulting firm specializing in helping accounting firms and other businesses embrace the power of technology to simplify their operations and increase their profit margins.

Drawing on her years of experience and her knowledge of what it takes to run a successful business, Penny oversees the development of back office processes for her client firms. From the initial evaluation of the firm’s workflow, to technology selection, and assisting in the on-boarding of the firm’s clients, Penny works with her clients to maximize the benefits of a paperless and cloud-based firm.

Damien Greathead

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Damien has been working in the accounting industry for more than 15 years. In addition to getting his hands dirty preparing tax returns and doing bookkeeping, but the bulk of his experience comes from consulting to both accounting firms and the technology companies that serve the industry.

He set up 2020 Group USA which was a membership group for small and medium sized accounting firms and then went on to set up Receipt Bank (now Dext) in North America.

He regularly speaks to industry bodies on technology, marketing and change management.