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Can accountants use ChatGPT with client data? What ICAEW says

Can accountants use ChatGPT with client data? Not in public AI tools, says ICAEW. What that means in practice, and four questions to ask any AI supplier.

By Gary Dhanda · 6 November 2026 · 3-minute read

Last verified . AI memory features change quickly; dated claims were checked on this date.

Accountants should not put confidential client data into public AI tools such as the free or personal versions of ChatGPT. ICAEW’s guidance says so plainly. AI itself is not banned. The question is which tools, and how you show you chose well.

What ICAEW says about ChatGPT and client data

ICAEW’s Generative AI guide treats confidentiality as a core ethical duty. It tells members to avoid loading confidential information into public generative AI tools, even where that information is already public.

ICAEW does not ban members from using AI. It asks them to keep professional judgement and confidentiality intact while they do.

Can I put client data into ChatGPT if I anonymise it first?

Sometimes, with care. Removing names is not always enough. A combination of turnover, sector and town can still identify a client. If you could not explain the anonymisation to the client, do not rely on it.

UK GDPR still applies to what you paste in. The firm, not the AI supplier, carries the professional responsibility for the work.

Four questions accountants should ask any AI supplier about client data

  1. Where is our data stored? Ask for the country, not just “secure cloud”.
  2. Is any of it used to train models? Ask whether this is off by default or a setting someone can change.
  3. How do we delete it, and can we prove it is gone? Ask how long deletion takes.
  4. Is there a record of who read or changed what, and when? Without one, you cannot answer a client who asks.

If the answers are vague, so is your position with the client.

The safer way for accountants to use AI with client work

  • Use a business or enterprise plan the practice controls, not personal accounts.
  • Write a one-page policy that names what never goes in.
  • Keep client context in one place the firm owns, with a record of access.

Ask those four questions of AI Twin too. The answers are on the AI Twin for accountants page and the trust page. For the wider picture of who holds what your assistant keeps, see AI memory.

Questions people ask

Can accountants use ChatGPT?

Yes. AI itself is not banned. ICAEW's guidance tells members not to load confidential client information into public generative AI tools, and to keep professional judgement and confidentiality intact.

Is anonymising client data enough before using ChatGPT?

Not always. Turnover, sector and town together can still identify a client. UK GDPR still applies to what you paste in, and the firm carries the professional responsibility for the work.

What should accountants ask an AI supplier about client data?

Where the data is stored, whether any of it is used to train models, how you delete it and prove it is gone, and whether there is a record of who read or changed what, and when.

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