Intuit's McCurley: continuous close turns accountants into daily advisors

McCurley's comments, made at Intuit Connect during a theCUBE broadcast, frame continuous close as the payoff of a long effort. She learned years ago how to cut a month-end close from 21 days to two, and she describes daily closing as a goal 20 years in the making. The shift matters because advice no longer has to wait 21 days after close or four months until year-end.

The trust question is central. McCurley recalled a panel where the same amortization table, run through two AI tools, came back correct from one and as a complete hallucination from the other. She likened AI answers to junior accountants who try hard but may lack the context to know that a $5 million company runs differently from a $50 million one. That gap, she said, is where accountants earn their keep.

Intuit's product direction reflects this: an expanded intelligence platform for accountants, including Intuit Accountant Suite, aimed at firms juggling hundreds or thousands of client books. McCurley said efficiency is table stakes and that AI will open up creativity of the right brain — a view that positions the technology as a complement to judgment rather than a replacement.