AI in professional firms: 70.5% already use it and VeriFactu arrives in 2028

The adoption of artificial intelligence in Spanish professional firms has ceased to be a promise and become a measurable reality. Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting España held yesterday in Madrid a new edition of its Advisors Forum, a meeting where revealing data was presented on how the sector is changing. The main conclusion: 70.5% of firms already use AI in their daily work, and 67.5% consider digitalization a strategic priority.

Sergio Liscia, recently appointed vice president and general manager of Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting for Spain and Italy, was responsible for breaking down the fifth edition of the 2026 Advisory Barometer. During his speech, Liscia raised a reflection that sums up the current moment well: the question is no longer whether technology will replace professionals, but what they will dedicate the time it allows them to recover to. And the answer, according to the advisors themselves, points toward preventive activity and advisory services, leaving behind administrative management and regulatory compliance. Almost four out of ten firms are committed to evolving toward a more proactive profile.

What this means for an SME or an IT team

If your company works with a professional firm or if you yourself manage the administrative and tax side, these data are not foreign to you. AI is already present in the relationship with your advisor, and that has direct implications: faster processes, fewer manual errors and, above all, the possibility that your contact dedicates more time to understanding your business and less to entering data.

For an internal IT team, the message is clear: the pressure to integrate AI tools into workflows no longer comes only from management, but also from external providers. Wolters Kluwer presented Expert IA, a solution based on its own content, verified and updated, integrated into its tools and connected to user data. It allows interaction through natural language and, according to the company, operates in a secure environment with human supervision and responsible AI principles.

This approach connects with a discussion we have already addressed in our blog: the difference between open weight and open source is not a minor technical nuance when we talk about tax or accounting data. The accuracy and traceability of sources matter, and a lot.

The round table: proactivity and talent retention

The impact of AI was also analyzed in a round table in which Juan Pañella, director at Gemap; Javier Zamorano, from AYZA Asesores; and Victoria Miravall, director of Product Strategy at Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting for the southern Europe region, participated. Among the ideas heard, two stand out for their relevance to SMEs: AI will help firms be more proactive with clients, and it will be a fundamental technology for retaining talent.

Talent retention is a real problem in the sector. If younger professionals perceive that their work is limited to repetitive tasks, turnover increases. AI, well implemented, can free them from that burden and allow them to develop more strategic skills. For an SME that depends on a firm, this translates into a more stable and higher-quality service.

VeriFactu in 2028: an opportunity, not a threat

Another hot topic was the delay in the entry into force of VeriFactu until 2028, announced this week by the Ministry of Finance. Liscia described it as an opportunity for companies. In his opinion, it is not only about adopting digital tools: training is also needed, knowing how to change internal processes and developing solutions that help when the processes are ready and professionals know how to use them.

For Liscia, the question is not only complying with the regulation when VeriFactu and the Crea y Crece Law come into play. It is a matter of competitiveness and productivity for all companies and SMEs in Spain. This approach is important: if your company only sees the regulation as a burden, it will miss the opportunity to improve its processes. If, on the contrary, it takes advantage of the margin until 2028 to digitalize invoicing, integrate systems and train the team, it will arrive in a much stronger position.

The economic context according to Luis de Guindos

The event included the participation of Luis de Guindos, former Minister of Economy and Finance between 2011 and 2018 and current vice president of the European Central Bank, who analyzed the current economic situation and the Spanish one. De Guindos took advantage of his speech to praise the performance of professional firms and their contribution to the economy. In his opinion, the influence of firms goes far beyond their contribution to GDP, and comes fundamentally from their ability to influence the decisions of their clients, who constitute an essential part of Spanish economic activity.

“The influence of professional firms goes far beyond their contribution to GDP”. — Luis de Guindos

What we recommend from ForgeNEX

If you are an SME or manage the IT of one, these are the steps we suggest:

1. Evaluate your relationship with your firm. Ask them how they are using AI and what concrete benefits you can expect. If they do not have a clear answer, it may be time to look for alternatives.
2. Prepare your data. AI needs clean and well-structured data. Take advantage of the margin until 2028 to organize your invoicing, your accounting processes and your integrations.
3. Train your team. Technology without training is useless. Identify which tasks can be automated and ensure that the people who perform them understand the change.
4. Do not obsess over a single tool. As we already mentioned in this article, loyalty to a single AI model makes little sense in a market that evolves so quickly.

AI in professional firms is no longer a trend: it is a reality with data. The question is whether your company is prepared to take advantage of it or whether it will limit itself to watching it pass by.

Source: Computerworld. Analysis and adaptation: ForgeNEX.