<p>This study explores the multifaceted dynamics of blockchain adoption in intelligent financial accounting systems, emphasizing organizational capabilities and implementation challenges. Utilizing structural equation modeling on survey data from 100 accounting professionals in China’s financial sector, the research analyzes how blockchain adoption interacts with artificial intelligence, big data, and cloud computing integration. The study fills a key gap by examining the mediating role of intelligent system integration and the moderating effects of organizational learning and environmental dynamism. Findings indicate a paradox: blockchain adoption significantly enhances integration (β = 0.521, <i>p</i> &lt; 0.001), yet integration increases perceived implementation challenges (β = 0.508, <i>p</i> &lt; 0.001). Mediation analysis confirms that much of the perceived difficulty stems not from blockchain itself but from the complexities of integration (z = 5.21, <i>p</i> &lt; 0.001). Notably, environmental dynamism has no significant moderating effect (β = 0.007, <i>p</i> = 0.956), challenging assumptions in the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework. The study finds that internal organizational capabilities outweigh external environmental factors in determining implementation success. It also highlights that the correlation between perceived advantages and challenges (<i>r</i> = 0.531, <i>p</i> &lt; 0.01) nearly matches that of advantages and adoption, suggesting a trade-off dynamic. These results call for a reconceptualization of TOE applicability in complex technology ecosystems and recommend integrated adoption strategies over sequential rollouts. The research contributes to both theory and practice by emphasizing the need for synchronized integration planning and reinforcing blockchain’s potential to advance sustainability and transparency in financial reporting. AI is rapidly reshaping accounting and auditing by automating routine work, improving anomaly detection, and enabling more continuous assurance. However, many organizations still struggle to move beyond pilot deployments, encountering barriers that prevent AI tools from becoming dependable parts of everyday workflows. This study identifies the most consequential barriers to AI adoption in accounting and auditing and examines how these barriers influence implementation challenges and AI integration outcomes, while also testing whether environmental dynamism alters these relationships. Survey data were collected from 312 accounting professionals in China’s financial sector. Organizational barriers, implementation challenges, integration outcomes, and environmental dynamism were measured using multi-item scales, and the measurement and structural relationships were analyzed with variance-based structural equation modeling. The results show that organizational barriers are the primary drivers of higher perceived implementation challenges and weaker integration outcomes, indicating that internal readiness is a critical bottleneck for successful adoption. Misalignment in managerial support, limited process redesign, and capability gaps appear more influential than external turbulence during early-stage integration. Environmental dynamism does not exhibit a substantial moderating role in this dataset, suggesting that external uncertainty is less decisive than internal governance and capability building at this stage. Practically, the findings indicate that organizations should prioritize change management, clearer accountability and controls, process standardization where appropriate, and targeted upskilling to reduce implementation frictions and improve AI integration in accounting and auditing. Overall, the study contributes contextual evidence on the relative importance of organizational versus environmental constraints and offers a grounded basis for refining adoption guidance within professional service settings.</p>