Like many of his fellow accountants, Jin Chang tried to quit the industry several times because of the tedium of grunt work. That was until 2020, when he had the idea to build software that could automate the more banal aspects of the job at a time when the accounting profession was hemorrhaging talent. The result, Fieldguide, predated the rise of ChatGPT, though its artificial-intelligence-native approach was buoyed by the success of generative AI.
On Monday, Fieldguide announced a $75 million funding round led by the growth equity group at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, valuing the company at $700 million, with participation from new investor Geodesic Capital and existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners, 8VC, and Thomson Reuters.
“Auditing, on its surface, might seem boring, but actually the purpose behind what they do is quite noble and important for the business world,” said Chang. “We are replacing a fragmented technology stack.”
The future of accounting
As Chang puts it, the certified public accountant, or CPA, industry is going through a talent crisis. “And it’s only getting worse,” he told Fortune. “I would call it existential.” The number of candidates writing the CPA exam is at a 17-year-low, with more than 75% of today’s CPAs expected to retire over the next decade, according to Fieldguide. The work of accounting firms, however, is essential for many larger businesses, such as auditing the quarterly financial reports produced by public companies.
