Desk of contents
Introduction
Throughout the Asia-Pacific (APAC) area, advisory providers are more and more seen as important to agency technique. Within the 2025 Future Ready Accountant report, 69% of companies in APAC report advisory is now a key a part of their core providing, up from 52% the yr earlier than. That dramatic shift demonstrates that companies are shifting away from compliance-driven enterprise fashions and embracing expertise because the engine of smarter, extra personalised shopper service.
From Southeast Asia (SEA) to Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), companies are utilizing AI and information analytics not solely to enhance operations, however to remodel how they have interaction, advise, and develop.
Advisory is evolving — and increasing
Right now’s shoppers count on their accountants to offer proactive steerage. Corporations throughout APAC are responding to this demand by increasing their service portfolios, and AI helps them do it at scale.
Within the 2025 Report, 50% of APAC companies mentioned that they had expanded their advisory providers previously three years. That development is especially robust in SEA (59%), the place companies are already leveraging AI instruments for analysis, doc summarisation, and even predictive evaluation. These capabilities enhance advisory accuracy and permit companies to assist extra shoppers with out sacrificing high quality.
“AI is a key enabler of advisory providers, and I see the augmented supply mannequin as a non-negotiable going ahead if companies want to stay aggressive,” mentioned Liam Telford, Nationwide Tax Technical Director for RSM Australia. “Some extent I’ve laboured is that professionals shouldn’t outsource their considering to AI however as a substitute use it as a software to reinforce their supply.”
Knowledge is the muse of efficient advisory
To ship actual worth, advisory should be grounded in well timed, correct, and accessible information. The adoption of cloud platforms and apply administration software program helps companies shut the info hole. These applied sciences present real-time entry to shopper info, enabling extra insight-driven recommendation, and extra agile service supply.
Daniel Leung, Nation Supervisor for the Affiliation of Chartered Licensed Accountants in Singapore, shared, “Cloud accounting, apply administration techniques, and AI-powered audit and assurance instruments are enabling companies to scale with agility whereas delivering extra tailor-made shopper experiences.”
Cloud-based, built-in techniques permit companies to take full benefit of the insights inside agency information to enhance their inside decision-making and inside their shoppers’ information to reinforce the advisory dialog proactively determine shopper wants. Over the previous three years, 44% of APAC companies have enhanced their information analytics capabilities, and 53% have plans to proceed to take action within the subsequent yr. This alerts a transparent shift towards extra insight-driven advisory fashions.
Tech-forward companies are pulling forward
The 2025 Future Prepared Accountant report reveals a widening hole between companies that use built-in techniques, information analytics and enabled superior AI, and those who don’t. SEA companies particularly are main the cost: 53% at present use AI for tax, accounting, and audit analysis (in comparison with 36% of APAC companies), and 49% use AI assistants like Microsoft Copilot to extend effectivity (in comparison with 37% of APAC companies).
AI instruments that summarise laws and spot anomalies are serving to companies elevate the standard of their recommendation. For instance, 56% of APAC companies say they’re probably or very prone to undertake AI to determine shoppers who aren’t assembly compliance obligations. The identical share plan to make use of AI to generate predictive insights primarily based on shopper information.
“Applied sciences corresponding to AI, blockchain, and cloud computing are remodeling how companies function, making processes extra environment friendly and efficient, notably in altering regulatory environments,” mentioned Lydia Tsen, New Zealand Authorities Affairs Chief for Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand. “These forces matter as a result of they drive innovation and enhance effectivity.”
Navigating challenges, embracing change
Regardless of this momentum, many APAC companies nonetheless cite challenges with information high quality, lack of awareness, and safety and privateness issues. However as with different areas, mindset makes the distinction. Tech-forward and high-growth companies usually tend to undertake a “take a look at and study” strategy, implementing AI in managed use-cases and scaling as soon as they see outcomes.
“Expertise – it will likely be advanced, difficult, and costly for a lot of companies to have the ability to perceive the implications of rising expertise,” mentioned Diana Winfield, Affiliate Director of Content material Options in APAC for Wolters Kluwer. “With so many choices, there shall be a technique of trial and error. There isn’t one commonplace possibility. Every agency might want to work out what resolution greatest meets their wants primarily based on the place they, and their shoppers, are at within the adoption course of.”
The subsequent step: advisory constructed on intelligence
For APAC companies, the way forward for advisory lies on the intersection of knowledge, expertise, and human experience. Corporations that construct the correct infrastructure and empower their individuals to make use of it will likely be greatest positioned to ship constant, consultative worth to shoppers.
Whether or not by way of predictive insights, real-time dashboards, or AI-driven analysis, the advisory providers of tomorrow are already taking form at the moment.
To study extra about how APAC companies are advancing advisory with AI and information, obtain the Wolters Kluwer 2025 Future Ready Accountant report.
