Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting Spain today unveiled the fifth edition of the Advisory Barometer, a report that analyzes the present and the future of the sector and, this year, maps out a profession in full transformation driven by digitalization and the rise of artificial intelligence. It finds that 71% of advisors already use artificial intelligence in their daily work, up 66% from the previous year.
“After five years of taking the sector’s pulse, the Advisory Barometer has established itself as a privileged observatory of its evolution and allows us to view the profession with perspective at a moment of unprecedented transformation. Regulatory changes, digitalization, and artificial intelligence are redefining how advisory firms work and accelerating their shift toward a more strategic, tech-driven, and higher value-added model,” stated Bas Kniphorst, EVP & Managing Director of Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting Europe.
The sector is growing revenue and expanding its client base
The study identifies a business fabric comprised mainly of small firms (77% employ fewer than 10 people), though increasingly professionalized and with a clear growth mindset. Seventy percent of firms increased their revenue in 2025 and 69% expanded their client base, signaling positive momentum compared with the previous year, when 64% grew revenue and 68% grew their client roster.
The fifth edition of the Advisory Barometer shows that technological evolution is accelerating a transformation in the advisor’s role, increasingly oriented toward guidance functions and higher value-added services. Thus, 68% of advisory firms already assign high importance to digitalization, more than 11 points higher than in 2025. An impressive 84% note that technology frees up time by reducing monotonous and repetitive tasks and allows them to devote it to higher-value functions; 51% expect their activity to focus more on advisory work than on administrative tasks, while 38% believe it fosters a more consultative professional profile.
At the same time, artificial intelligence emerges as a key tool to reinforce this strategic value of the advisor: 55% believe it improves client advisory services and 46% believe it optimizes internal processes.
The adoption of AI has spread significantly over the past year: 71% of advisors now use it in their daily work, up from 42% last year, representing a growth of nearly 70%. Automation and efficiency are identified as the main benefits of AI for 71% of firms, though respondents express concerns about data quality (63%) and a lack of internal experience and training (53%). Additionally, AI-powered search and productivity solutions are identified as the top technology implementation priority for the coming years, cited by 27%.
On the other hand, cloud computing and collaborative working models with clients continue to gain traction: 53% of advisory firms already operate with a hybrid model combining cloud and on-premises solutions, five points higher than in 2025, while 74% already use or plan to implement a collaborative model enabled by cloud technology. Likewise, there is a significant advance in the digital maturity of clients of professional firms: the share of companies with a low level of digital maturity falls to 22%, from 39% in 2025, while the medium level rises to 68% from 55% in 2025, and firms with a high level of digital maturity nearly doubles to 10%.
Regulatory overload remains the sector’s primary challenge
Regulatory pressure continues to be the main challenge for advisory firms, according to 64% of advisors. 95% say regulatory developments increase their workload, and 78% turn to software solutions to manage this impact, up from 71% in 2025. Knowledge of new invoicing regulations is also rising: 85% say they are up to date with the Anti-Fraud Law (Verifactu) and the Create and Grow Law (electronic invoicing), two points higher than in 2025 and more than 11 points above 2024. However, doubts persist about the readiness of the business ecosystem, with 61% of firms believing most companies are still not prepared to face these changes (down from 74% in 2025).
Another regulation analyzed is the upcoming digital time-tracking registry. 82% of advisory firms are up to date with this legal development, though they acknowledge that 54% of their clients still record hours manually. On the other hand, more than half of firms (54%) say they already have adapted software in place, and 33% of their clients also use time-tracking software, up 28% from the previous year.
The report also reveals that structural challenges persist in the sector, particularly around talent: 57% of firms report difficulties attracting professionals, unchanged from 2025, mainly due to a lack of qualified profiles, according to 74% of advisory firms, 10 points higher than last year. Fifty-seven percent of advisors consider the advisory profession not attractive, mainly due to excessive bureaucratic and administrative workload (85%) and the low social recognition of the profession (58%), factors that condition the sector’s ability to attract talent and the generational transition, identified by 54% as a risk.
