AI and Digital Transformation in Accounting and Business Processes: A Systematic Review and Bibliometric Analysis
Abstract
Purpose: This study investigates how digital transformation (DT) and artificial intelligence (AI) in accounting shape and are shaped by organizational and accounting change. It combines bibliometric analysis and a systematic literature review (SLR) to map research on DT/AI in core business processes and synthesise evidence on micro, meso, and macro level changes. Design/methodology/approach: A corpus of 245 articles (1985–2025) was retrieved from Scopus and Web of Science. Bibliometric techniques using VOSviewer and Biblioshiny include cocitation, bibliographic coupling, and co-word analyses to identify intellectual, social, and conceptual structures. A complementary SLR layer codes focal studies for levels of change (tasks/roles, processes/controls, profession/institutions), theoretical lenses, methods, and organizational contexts. Findings: Science mapping reveals five dominant thematic clusters: AI-enabled auditing and fraud analytics; digital management accounting and control; digital accounting and AIS/ERP-based transformation; ESG/SDG-oriented digital reporting; and behavioral/ethical implications of AI. These clusters link to microlevel tasks and identity change, meso level redesign of processes and management control systems, and macro level shifts in professional standards, regulation, and sustainability governance. Key gaps include a paucity of longitudinal and processual studies, limited integration of organizational and behavioural theories, and sparse evidence from SMEs, the public and nonprofit sectors, and the Global South.
Research Limitations/Implications: Guides DT/AI implementation and curricula, but is constrained by database coverage, citation bias, and timeframe selection. Originality/value: This study advances prior bibliometric reviews by focusing on organizational and accounting change, integrating DT and AI within concrete business processes, and offering a structured future research agenda aligned with JAOC’s interdisciplinary and SDG-oriented mission.
Keywords: Digital Transformation; Artificial Intelligence; Accounting and Organisational Change; Digital Accounting; Robotic Process Automation; Big Data Analytics; Bibliometric Analysis; Systematic Literature Review; Change; Sustainability Reporting
