# AI for accountants and accounting firms

Ship AI Studio builds AI workflows for accounting and CPA firms with 10 to 500 people. It chases client documents, prepares the monthly client close, and drafts answers to client email for your staff to approve. CPAs keep every tax position and sign-off. Start with a $1,500, one-week AI Assessment that ends with a fixed build scope or a clear no.

Last updated: 2026-10-27

## Published prices

- [AI Assessment](https://www.shipaistudio.com/services/assessment): $1,500 for one week. One week on one workflow or agent: what to build, and what it is worth.

- [AI Build Sprint](https://www.shipaistudio.com/services/build-sprint): $5,000 for two weeks. One workflow or agent live in two weeks, with approvals and monitoring. One flat price.

- [AI Operations](https://www.shipaistudio.com/services/operations): $999 a month. We run your workflows and agents: monitoring, fixes, upgrades, and a monthly report.

## Workflows we look at first

### Client document collection

- Today: Staff send the same document reminders for weeks, then sort what arrives into the right client folder by hand.
- With the system: Each client gets a list of what is missing, reminders are drafted from it, and uploads are filed and checked against the list.
- Your part: Staff approve each reminder and review what arrived before work starts.

### Monthly client close

- Today: Bookkeepers categorize the same bank transactions each month and write the same notes on the differences.
- With the system: Transactions are categorized from the client's history, and each difference arrives with a drafted explanation.
- Your part: The bookkeeper approves each entry and explanation before it is posted.

### Client inbox

- Today: Client questions arrive all day and pull staff off billable work to look up the same answers.
- With the system: Replies are drafted from the client file and the engagement, and anything that needs judgment is flagged.
- Your part: Staff approve every reply. Tax advice stays with a CPA.

Tax positions and sign-off: CPAs decide every tax position, review, and sign-off. The system prepares the work.

## The AI Assessment

One week on one workflow. For an accounting firm, the week usually starts with document collection or the client close. We sit with a manager and a staff accountant, look at the practice management system and the portal, and count the hours. Book it outside your busiest weeks.

- A map of where leads, hours, and paperwork get stuck today

- What it is worth, in dollars

- Workflow or agent: which one fits, and what it needs access to

- A ranked plan with the tools, checks, and approval points

- A fixed Build Sprint scope, or a clear reason not to build

## Controls

- **A person approves.** Anything that goes out in your name, changes a record, or moves money waits for your yes.

- **Every action on record.** Each step is logged with its inputs, its source, and who approved it.

- **Scoped data access.** Each workflow reads only the client records the job needs. Nothing is copied out to train a model.

We build on the tools you already use: QuickBooks Online, Xero, the client portal, practice management tools such as Karbon or Canopy, tax software, document storage, and email. The Assessment confirms which ones we can reach and how.

## Questions and answers

### How much does AI cost for an accounting firm?

With Ship AI Studio, the first step is the AI Assessment: $1,500 for one week. A Build Sprint is $5,000 flat for one workflow or agent, live in two weeks. AI Operations is $999 a month to keep it running. The Assessment fee is credited in full toward a Build Sprint that starts within 30 days.

### What do we get from the $1,500 AI Assessment?

In one week we review one workflow with your team. You get a map of where the hours go, what the fix is worth in dollars, whether a workflow or an agent fits, a ranked plan with the approval points, and a fixed Build Sprint scope or a clear reason not to build.

### When should an accounting firm start?

Outside your busiest weeks. The Assessment takes one week and the Build Sprint takes two, so you can run both outside filing deadlines, for example May to August or November to December, and go into tax season with the workflow live.

### Will AI prepare tax returns or give tax advice?

No. The system collects documents, prepares entries, and drafts replies. CPAs make every tax decision, and every approval is logged.

### Which tools do you work with?

We build on the tools you already use: QuickBooks Online, Xero, the client portal, practice management tools such as Karbon or Canopy, tax software, document storage, and email. The Assessment confirms which ones we can reach and how.

### Do you guarantee results?

No. The Assessment puts a dollar number on the workflow before you spend more. If the number is too small to pay for a build, the readout says so and you stop there.

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