Artificial intelligence, blockchain and automation in public accounting: global research overview (2021-2025)

Artificial intelligence, blockchain, and robotic process automation are reshaping the accounting profession globally, transforming auditing processes, financial information systems, and job-skill profiles. However, the scientific production on this technological convergence lacks an updated synthesis that allows identifying trends, gaps and research opportunities. The present study aims to analyze trends, thematic structure and patterns of scientific production on emerging technologies applied to public accounting, through a bibliometric analysis of 508 documents indexed in Scopus during the period 2021-2025, processed with Bibliometrix (R). The results reveal a field in rapid consolidation, with an annual growth rate of 33.87% and output that tripled in five years. Knowledge is organized around two driving axes - accounting information systems and process automation - and two transversal axes - artificial intelligence with data analytics, and blockchain with audit. Critical gaps in regional ethical frameworks, organizational impact and curriculum reform are identified. Latin America’s absence in leadership positions is a significant finding. This evidence has direct implications for updating public accounting programs, designing technology adoption policies, and setting research agendas in emerging economies. Data source and search strategy Scopus was used as the data source. The choice of Scopus is based on three criteria: it offers the largest coverage of indexed journals worldwide, with a significant presence of publications in Spanish and Portuguese; it allows filtering by thematic area, which guarantees the disciplinary relevance of the corpus; and its export format is directly compatible with Bibliometrix (R) for reproducible bibliometric analysis.The search strategy was constructed by combining two thematic dimensions in the TITLE field:Disciplinary dimension: TITLE ("public accounting" OR "profession of accountant" OR "professional accountants" OR "financial reporting" OR "accounting education" OR "accounting systems").Technology dimension: TITLE ("artificial intelligence" OR "machine learning" OR "robotic process automation" OR "big data" OR "data analysis" OR "cloud computing" OR "digital transformation" OR "emerging technologies" OR "internet of things" OR cybersecurity OR "natural language processing" OR "Industry 4.0" OR "Industry 5.0").Search was restricted to 2021-2025 (PUBYEAR > 2020 AND PUBYEAR < 2026). A filter by subject area (Business, Administration and Accounting) was applied to ensure the corpus’s disciplinary relevance. The search, carried out on 23 February 2026, yielded a corpus of 508 documents. Software selection: Bibliometrix