According to PYMNTS.com, Maxima has raised $41 million to tackle what they call accounting’s “grunt work” problem. The startup’s platform automates heavy lifting around reconciliation, journal entries and close workflows. This comes as 140 U.S. public companies were forced to restate their financials due to accounting errors in just the first 10 months of 2024—the highest number in nearly a decade. CEO Yogi Goel said he’s seen accountants working 16- to 20-hour days during close periods. Research from MIT and Stanford found accountants using AI handle 55% more clients weekly and work 8.5 percentage points less on data entry tasks. They also logged 21% more billable hours, suggesting the time saved went toward revenue-generating work.
The Accounting Automation Wave Is Here
Here’s the thing—we’ve been talking about automating accounting for years, but the numbers suggest we’re finally hitting an inflection point. When 140 public companies can’t even get their numbers right in a single year, something’s fundamentally broken in the process. And it’s not like these are small operations—we’re talking publicly traded companies with compliance requirements.
What’s interesting is how Maxima is positioning this. They’re not trying to replace accountants entirely. Instead, they’re focusing on what CEO Yogi Goel calls the “repetitive grunt work” that burns out talented professionals. The MIT/Stanford research backs this up beautifully—when you automate the boring stuff, accountants actually become more valuable. They’re handling more clients, working fewer hours on data entry, and billing more. That’s the holy grail of automation right there.
Where This Is Headed
So where does this leave the accounting profession? Basically, we’re seeing a fundamental shift from number-crunching to strategic advising. Accountants who embrace these tools aren’t just surviving—they’re thriving. They’re moving up the value chain into work that actually requires human judgment.
The PYMNTS Intelligence report also highlighted accounts receivable as a particularly promising area for AI investment. When 55% of middle-market CFOs say they’d spend on automating invoice approval, you know there’s serious demand. This feels like one of those rare moments where the technology, market need, and business case all align perfectly.
Think about it—how many other professions have this clear path to augmentation rather than replacement? The research shows accountants aren’t using the extra time for “idle activities” but for higher-value work. That’s probably the most encouraging finding here. The future of accounting isn’t about eliminating jobs—it’s about eliminating the parts of the job that nobody enjoys anyway.
