Compliance
Can Australian accountants use AI? What the TPB actually allows (2026)
Yes — Australian accountants and registered tax agents can use AI in their practice. But the Tax Practitioners Board's 2026 guidance is explicit: AI is a tool that may assist, and it does not replace professional judgement or transfer responsibility. You remain accountable for the work, you must get client consent before putting client information into an AI tool, and you must verify every output.
The short answer
There is no rule stopping an Australian accountant or registered tax or BAS agent from using AI. What the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) has done — in its finalised 2026 guidance on AI and the Code of Professional Conduct — is make clear that your existing obligations apply unchanged when you use it.
In the TPB's own words, AI is a tool that may assist tax practitioners, but it does not replace professional judgement or transfer responsibility. Using it does not lower the standard expected of you.
What the TPB expects when you use AI
Three obligations from the Code do most of the work here:
- Responsibility — you remain accountable for the advice and the output. If an AI result is wrong and you rely on it, that is your responsibility, not the tool's.
- Confidentiality (Code item 6) — you must obtain the client's consent before disclosing their information to a third party, and that includes putting client data into an AI system or external platform.
- Competence and care — you must understand the tool's capabilities and limitations, and exercise reasonable care in reviewing and verifying AI-generated content before relying on it.
What this means in practice
A defensible workflow: use AI for the modelling and the first draft, get the right consents before any client data goes into a tool, verify every figure and reference against authoritative sources (ATO, legislation), and keep a record that you did so.
That record matters. If an outcome is ever questioned, being able to show what you reviewed and verified is the difference between a defensible decision and an unverified one.
How Advisory Stack fits
Advisory Stack is a technology platform used by registered agents — not a registered tax agent service. It is built so AI-assisted output is treated as general information to be verified, not advice: outputs cite the ATO sources behind them, a verify-before-you-advise acknowledgement is logged as an evidence trail, and client data is hosted on Australian infrastructure. You stay the adviser of record throughout.
None of that removes your responsibility — it helps you meet it and evidence it.
The bottom line
AI is allowed, and increasingly normal, in an Australian practice. The accountability never moves. Get the consents, verify everything, keep the evidence, and choose tools that make all of that easy.
Authoritative sources
This article is general information for registered practitioners, not personal tax advice. Advisory Stack is a technology platform used by registered tax agents; the registered practitioner remains the adviser of record and is responsible for verifying any output before relying on it.
Related guides
See it in your practice
Advisory Stack is in invite-only pilot for Australian TPB-registered tax and BAS agents. Apply to join the beta — free during the pilot.
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