Despite long-standing access to accounting software, many core bookkeeping tasks remain manual. Invoices are still keyed in by hand, transactions are manually coded, and accountants spend a large share of their time on low-value administrative work. The problem is not lack of technology, but slow adoption, fragmented systems, and workflows that never fully automated — limiting efficiency and keeping accounting teams from higher-value analysis.

Early Computerized Accounting (1950s–1970s)

The first use of computers for accounting dates back to the 1950s. In 1955, General Electric became the first company to purchase a computer for accounting purposes (handling payroll)[1]. During the 1960s, large businesses began adopting mainframe-based accounting systems as part of early electronic data processing[2]. These early systems were rudimentary by today’s standards and often custom-built for tasks like general ledgers and payroll. While pioneering, they were expensive and used primarily by big corporations and government agencies – not yet “popular” in the sense of widespread use by all businesses.
In the 1970s, accounting software gradually became more accessible. The introduction of minicomputers and packaged solutions (e.g. general ledger programs) made computerized accounting slightly more user-friendly[3]. Still, for most of this period, computerized accounting was limited to organizations that could afford dedicated machines and IT staff. The invention of accounting software can thus be placed in the 1950s–60s era of mainframes, but it remained a niche tool for at least two decades.

Rise of Accounting Software in the 1980s and 1990s

The game-changer for popularizing digital accounting was the personal computer revolution. In 1978, the first electronic spreadsheet (VisiCalc) was released, allowing financial calculations on a microcomputer, and that same year Peachtree Software launched an accounting software package for early personal computers[4]. Suddenly, smaller businesses could use affordable computers instead of costly mainframes for bookkeeping. By the early 1980s, more user-friendly accounting programs hit the market. For example, Intuit’s Quicken (for personal finance) launched in 1983, bringing easy-to-use interfaces to non-accountants[5]. Specialized small-business accounting systems like QuickBooks (introduced in the 1980s and gaining traction by the 1990s) further drove adoption of computerized bookkeeping[6][7].

Widespread popularity of accounting software took hold around the mid-1980s. Within roughly 30 years of the first mainframe solutions, PC-based accounting had entered the mainstream. By 1985, PCs running accounting software were an integral part of many business offices worldwide[5]. In other words, what began as an innovation in the 1950s only became truly popular by the 1980s once technology was sufficiently cheap and accessible. The late 1980s and 1990s saw further expansion with more sophisticated systems (like ERP suites in large firms) and the eventual move to cloud-based accounting in the 2000s. But the key inflection point for popularity was the 1980s PC era – it took a few decades from invention to ubiquity.

Persistent Manual Work in Bookkeeping Today

Ironically, even decades after accounting software became available, a surprising amount of bookkeeping is still done manually. Numerous surveys and studies in the US and Europe show that automation in accounting is far from complete. In fact, many accountants report that over half of their routine processes are not automated[8]. A 2023 industry survey in the UK found that on average only 26–50% of accounting tasks are automated – meaning roughly half (or more) of all tasks are still performed by hand[9]. Bookkeepers and accountants continue to spend significant time on data entry, coding transactions, and other low-tech tasks.

Some recent findings on manual workloads in accounting illustrate the point:

• Manual Data Entry of Invoices: On average, about 57% of all invoice information (bills, purchase invoices, expense receipts) has to be entered into systems manually[10]. In smaller companies this is even more pronounced – an estimated 86% of small businesses (SMEs) still enter invoice data by hand[11]. Mid-sized firms aren’t far behind (around 65% manual invoice entry), whereas larger enterprises have adopted more automation (only ~22% of enterprise-level businesses rely on manual invoice entry)[11]. This shows that across the developed world, from the U.S. to Europe, the task of keying in invoices and expenses remains prevalent, especially in small-to-mid size organizations. Notably, one source reports only 5% of accounts payable teams have a fully automated invoice processing workflow, underscoring how many companies still handle invoices with labor-intensive processes[12].
• Time Spent on Manual Tasks: Bookkeepers today devote a considerable share of their work hours to manual processing. Studies have found that roughly 30% of an accountant’s time is spent on manual data entry and transaction reconciliation (e.g. typing in numbers, matching receipts)[13]. When looking at all clerical bookkeeping activities (filing paperwork, coding transactions to the ledger, chasing down missing information, etc.), the total portion of time spent on manual tasks rises even higher – by one estimate, about 63% of accountants’ time is consumed by such manual processes[14]. In other words, well over half of a typical bookkeeper’s day can be spent on work that accounting software could handle, if it were fully utilized. This includes things like manually recording purchase invoices, classifying expenses to the right accounts, and inputting data from receipts, as opposed to reviewing or analyzing the financials.
• Automation Potential: The heavy manual workload persists not because accounting tasks can’t be automated, but often because of slow adoption of technology or fragmented systems. In fact, it’s estimated that around 86% of the tasks accountants and bookkeepers perform could be automated with current technology[15]. Yet, as noted, less than half of processes are automated in practice at many firms. This gap suggests a huge potential to free up time – and it explains why 56% of accountants say they feel bogged down by mundane, manual work that keeps them from higher-value activities[16]. Until more advanced software tools (such as OCR data capture, bank feed integrations, AI-based categorization, etc.) are fully implemented, bookkeepers will continue spending a large portion of their day on data entry and similar manual tasks.

In summary, computerized accounting has been around for well over half a century, and became common decades ago, but it hasn’t eliminated manual bookkeeping labor. Many accounting workflows in developed countries (US, Europe, etc.) still involve hand-keying data from invoices and receipts, manually coding transactions, and other time-consuming tasks. The situation is gradually improving as new automation tools spread – for example, cloud accounting platforms and AI-driven software can automatically import bank transactions or even categorize expenses – but as of recent data, the profession remains heavily reliant on manual effort. This longstanding reality highlights the contrast in accounting’s evolution: we have powerful software at our disposal, yet a significant percentage of bookkeeping work is still done the old-fashioned way – by human hands entering and organizing financial data[8][17]. The challenge (and opportunity) moving forward is to accelerate the adoption of technology so accountants and bookkeepers can spend less time on drudgery and more on analysis and strategic work.

Sources: The historical timeline and adoption details are based on documented milestones in accounting technology[1][4][5]. Statistics on manual bookkeeping workloads come from recent surveys and studies of accounting professionals and firms in the US/UK[10][11][13][14], illustrating how much of today’s accounting work remains manual.

[1] [7] History of Accounting: How It’s Evolved Over Time | Maryville Online
https://online.maryville.edu/blog/history-of-accounting/
[2] [3] History of accounting tech: From clay to cloud software
https://www.netgain.tech/blog/history-of-accounting-technology
[4] [5] [6] History of Accounting Software: From Paper to the Cloud | 4Sight Group
https://4sight.group/blog/history-accounting-software-paper-cloud/
[8] [13] How Accountants Save Hours Every Week with Uncat’s Automated Categorization — Uncat
https://www.uncat.com/blog/how-accountants-save-hours-every-week-with-uncats-automated-categorization
[9] [16] Mundane and manual: Dext survey reveals nearly 60% of accountants spend too much time on manual tasks | Bdaily
https://bdaily.co.uk/articles/2023/05/10/mundane-and-manual-dext-survey-reveals-nearly-60-of-accountants-spend-too-much-time-on-manual-tasks
[10] [11] [12] Invoicing statistics :: Skynova
https://www.skynova.com/blog/invoicing-statistics
[14] [17] Assess the Efficiency of Pre-Accounting Tasks against Industry Standards | AccountingWEB
https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/community/industry-insights/assess-the-efficiency-of-pre-accounting-tasks-against-industry-standards
[15] What Does an Accountant Do? Responsibilities, Skills, and Trends
https://bachelors-completion.northeastern.edu/knowledge-hub/what-does-an-accountant-do/