An AI assistant for accounting practices

Between July and October an accounting practice answers the same handful of questions hundreds of times. What does a return cost? Are you open Saturday? What do I bring for my rental? Can the fee come out of my refund? The answers are on your website already, or in the checklist you email every client. Botsmith reads them and answers at 10pm on a Sunday in September, and it will not tell anyone what they can claim.

Built for the tax-time spike

Most practices do not need more help in March. They need it for sixteen weeks a year, when the phone lines back up and new clients ring three firms and book with whichever one answers. A website assistant does not get busier in October. It handles the fortieth "what do I need for my rental property" of the week the same way it handled the first, and it keeps a record of every question so you can see what your site is failing to explain.

Ask a sample practice

This assistant belongs to Redgum Accounting, a practice we invented for this page. Every fee, hour, address and phone number is made up. Try asking what a return with a rental property costs, what to bring for it, whether they open on Saturdays in tax time, or whether the fee can come out of your refund. Then ask whether you can claim your car, and see what it says.

Information, not advice

The line an accounting practice has to hold is between what you do and what a client should do. "We prepare rental property schedules, and here is what to bring" is information. "Yes, you can claim that" is tax advice, and a bot has no business giving it. Botsmith answers only from your content and says it is not sure rather than guessing, and on top of that you write a standing instruction. The demo practice's says never give tax, financial or investment advice, never say whether a particular expense is deductible for someone, never estimate a refund, and send anything about a specific return, debt, audit or deadline to a person.

Dates need the same care. The general lodgement dates are public, but a client's own date depends on their history and on whether they are on your agent list. The demo practice's key dates page ends by telling people to ring before relying on any date, so the assistant says that too. Write your own version of that sentence and it will repeat it.

What it does not do

• It does not connect to Xero, MYOB, your tax software or the ATO. It cannot see a client's return, balance or lodgement status.
• It does not collect documents. It tells people how to send them, using the method your site describes.
• It does not take payments or book into your calendar.
• It answers in the language the visitor writes in, but only from the content you have given it; it does not translate your fee schedule into a different fee schedule.

Getting it ready before July

1. Create a bot with your practice's website address and let it read your pages.
2. Upload the documents you already send clients: the tax-time checklist, the fee schedule, the new-client guide. Paste short ones in as text, one topic per entry.
3. Write your standing instructions: information, not advice; which questions go to a person; how you want dates handled.
4. In the dashboard preview, ask the questions from last season's phone log. Fix any wrong answer on the page it came from.
5. Put the chat on your site, or add the link to your tax-time reminder email. See the WordPress or Wix guides.

What it costs

A single-office practice fits Starter at US$19 a month: one bot and 2,000 messages a month. A practice running separate sites for individuals and businesses, or several offices, can use Pro at US$49 a month for five bots and 10,000 messages. The trial is 14 days with no card, which is long enough to run it through a busy fortnight. For what a bot like this should and should not be asked to answer, read what a website support bot should answer, or see the law firm version of this page.