Accounting and bookkeeping clerks
Almost every task can be done with generative AI, with little uncertainty. This is where the change is biggest — and where switching makes most sense.
Exposure is not job loss: it shows how much of the work generative AI could do today. Whether that turns into transformation, productivity gains or cuts depends on employers, regulation — and on you.
0 = today’s generative AI cannot perform any of the job’s tasks, 100 = it could do all of them fully. The pale band is the spread across tasks.
Work out your own score ↓What can you do?
🤖 Written with AIThis text was written by artificial intelligence from the data points shown; it is built on verified figures but may contain mistakes.· 11/10/2026How is it made?
With an exposure score of 64/100, routine billing, data entry, and ledger maintenance face extensive automation. However, strong replacement demand remains, shifting clerk responsibilities toward anomaly resolution, compliance oversight, and direct vendor coordination.
What changes
- Automated invoice calculation and statement preparation according to established billing rules.
- AI-driven software operation handling routine numerical recording, data storage, and standard postings.
- Automated compilation of recurring balance sheets, cash receipts, and accounts payable reports.
What stays human
- Investigating ambiguous entries, document discrepancies, and compliance irregularities flagged by automated systems.
- Directly liaising with clients and suppliers to resolve contested billings and payment terms.
- Applying contextual judgment to non-standard transactions and complex tax classification edge cases.
What to learn
- Mastering ERP automated workflow configuration, exception handling, and digital audit-trail verification.
- Building financial data analysis skills to interpret variances and operational trends from reports.
- Strengthening client communication and dispute resolution techniques for vendor accounts.
Task by task
The ILO scored every task of the occupation separately, as the average of two AI models (GPT-4o and Gemini). The pale band is the range between the two models' scores, the dot the ILO's final score (for a few tasks expert review placed it outside the band).
- Calculating, preparing and issuing bills, invoices, account statements and other financial statements according to established procedures.71
- Operating computers programmed with accounting software to record, store and analyse information70
- Compiling statistical, financial, accounting or auditing reports and tables pertaining to such matters as cash receipts, expenditures, accounts payable and receivable, and profits and losses.64
- Classifying, recording and summarizing numerical and financial data to compile and keep financial records, using journals and ledgers or computers62
- Checking figures, postings and documents for correct entry, mathematical accuracy and proper codes53
How much does it affect you?
Every job is different: mark which of these tasks you do and how much, and we'll compute your own, time-weighted score.
For each task: I don't do it · sometimes · most of my job.
- Calculating, preparing and issuing bills, invoices, account statements and other financial statements according to established procedures.(71)
- Operating computers programmed with accounting software to record, store and analyse information(70)
- Compiling statistical, financial, accounting or auditing reports and tables pertaining to such matters as cash receipts, expenditures, accounts payable and receivable, and profits and losses.(64)
- Classifying, recording and summarizing numerical and financial data to compile and keep financial records, using journals and ledgers or computers(62)
- Checking figures, postings and documents for correct entry, mathematical accuracy and proper codes(53)
You are exactly at the occupation average. (The occupation's score: 64.)
About 100% of your working time goes to highly exposed tasks (score ≥ 50).
- • Calculating, preparing and issuing bills, invoices, account statements and other financial statements according to established procedures.
- • Operating computers programmed with accounting software to record, store and analyse information
- • Checking figures, postings and documents for correct entry, mathematical accuracy and proper codes
- • Classifying, recording and summarizing numerical and financial data to compile and keep financial records, using journals and ledgers or computers
An estimate from the ILO task scores. Everything is computed in your browser — nothing is sent or stored.
How many people work in this occupational group?
Share of the Numerical and material recording clerks group in total employment, by country (Eurostat, ISCO 2-digit — 4-digit breakdowns are not public by country).
Table view
| Country | Numerical and material recording clerks |
|---|---|
| Belgium | 4.6% · 238 thousand · 2025 |
| Croatia | 4.4% · 75 thousand · 2025 |
| Slovakia | 4.3% · 112 thousand · 2025 |
| Netherlands | 3.8% · 372 thousand · 2025 |
| Germany | 3.6% · 1,504 thousand · 2025 |
| Estonia | 3.5% · 25 thousand · 2025 |
| Czechia | 3.1% · 164 thousand · 2025 |
| Slovenia | 3.1% · 31 thousand · 2025 |
| Sweden | 3.0% · 160 thousand · 2025 |
| Poland | 3.0% · 519 thousand · 2025 |
| Spain | 3.0% · 666 thousand · 2025 |
| Italy | 3.0% · 719 thousand · 2025 |
| Switzerland | 2.9% · 143 thousand · 2025 |
| Cyprus | 2.9% · 15 thousand · 2025 |
| Austria | 2.9% · 128 thousand · 2025 |
| Norway | 2.8% · 81 thousand · 2025 |
| France | 2.4% · 707 thousand · 2025 |
| Malta | 2.4% · 8 thousand · 2025 |
| Bulgaria | 2.3% · 67 thousand · 2025 |
| Hungary | 2.3% · 106 thousand · 2025 |
| Latvia | 2.2% · 19 thousand · 2025 |
| Ireland | 2.2% · 61 thousand · 2025 |
| Denmark | 2.1% · 64 thousand · 2025 |
| Lithuania | 2.0% · 30 thousand · 2025 |
| United Kingdom | 2.0% · 669 thousand · 2025 |
| Luxembourg | 1.9% · 6 thousand · 2025 |
| Portugal | 1.8% · 94 thousand · 2025 |
| Romania | 1.8% · 137 thousand · 2025 |
| Greece | 1.6% · 70 thousand · 2025 |
| Finland | 1.4% · 35 thousand · 2025 |
| Iceland | 0.5% · 1 thousand · 2025 |
What do they earn?
Mean gross monthly earnings in the major occupational group (Clerical support workers). Eurostat's earnings survey only publishes pay by occupation at 1 digit, so this is the job's broader group. Enterprises with 10+ employees, 2022.
By country, at purchasing power parity (PPS/month), so countries with different price levels can be compared.
- Switzerland4,326
- Luxembourg3,358
- Denmark3,338
- Belgium3,291
- Norway3,160
- Germany2,927
- Ireland2,900
- Iceland2,825
- Austria2,768
- Netherlands2,680
- EU272,590
- Italy2,521
- Sweden2,451
- Finland2,386
- Spain2,121
- Slovenia2,111
- Malta2,089
- Lithuania2,049
- France2,018
- Croatia1,847
- Greece1,837
- Poland1,796
- Romania1,755
- Estonia1,740
- Czechia1,725
- Cyprus1,685
- Hungary1,682
- Latvia1,617
- Slovakia1,583
- Portugal1,421
- Bulgaria1,203
Source: Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey (earn_ses22_21), every four years. The United Kingdom is not covered by the survey.
Outlook to 2035
Employment in the Numerical and material recording clerks group according to Cedefop's 2026 forecast.
thousand · Cedefop Skills Forecast 2026 · 2026–2035: projection
Replacement demand is the jobs left by people retiring or changing careers — even a shrinking occupation can have many openings.
According to the WEF
Accounting, Bookkeeping and Payroll Clerks — among the FASTEST-DECLINING jobs (rank 7)
Future 2035 →Related occupations
Sources: ILO WP140 (2025) · Eurostat lfsa_egai2d · Cedefop Skills Forecast 2026 · WEF Future of Jobs 2025 · ESCO. The exposure score measures how much of an occupation's tasks generative AI could perform — not whether the job disappears. For information only, not career advice. How do we calculate this?