The Five Engagement Tasks CPA Firms Should Put on Vacation Using AI

By John McGowan, Founder & CEO, HubSync 

Imagine you’re on vacation and staying at a hotel. You unpack and make a mess. But when you come back each night from a day of exploring, the room is scrubbed clean, there are fresh towels, and maybe even a little chocolate on your pillow. The work is gone. The stress: nonexistent. Everything is done automatically.

What if we could bring that energy into your tax and accounting workflow?

HubSync is an AI-powered, end-to-end tax and accounting workflow platform built exclusively for CPA firms. It replaces manual processes with automated and connected workflows. Firms using HubSync could reduce anywhere from 15 to 25 manual steps, turning them into just a few review points.

This post explores how HubSync could help managing partners at top-100 CPA firms transform the engagement process into a vacation-like experience.

What Does the Current Engagement Process in Tax and Accounting Workflows Look Like?

Right now, engagements in tax and accounting workflows look like stuffy, cramped office spaces, requiring manual work across:

1. Engagement letters: Manually reading CRM data, creating a template, and then filling out each line before sending to a client.
2. Client workspaces: Inputting client documentation by hand into a shared workspace. Then, identifying which documents are needed from the client so CPA firms can send a request list.
3. Client Reminders: Having to remember to follow up with clients for signatures, uploads, and payments.
4. Invoice creation: Creating invoices based on the engagement letter fee structure.
5. Document setup: Physically organizing all documents to maintain a comprehensive system of record.

These processes require more effort from tax and advisory professionals than the modern world demands. With reports predicting that AI could save professionals up to five hours per week, HubSync AI-powered tools could be the accounting equivalent of the Bahamas.

How Can AI Improve the Five Areas of the Engagement Process?

Bringing the beach vacation to CPA firms requires looking to the future and identifying where AI could enhance the engagement lifecycle – specifically with AI agents.

Let’s head back to our five initial components of the tax and accounting lifecycle and see how different they would look by employing AI agents:

1. Engagement letters: Agents could read CRM data, automatically select the template, and populate the information based on the previous year.
2. Client workspaces: As soon as the engagement letter is signed, agents could craft a client workspace and form a request list for the client.
3. Client reminders: Agents could send context-aware follow-ups for anything from signatures to uploads and payments.
4. Invoice creation: Agents could auto-generate invoices based on the engagement letter fee structure.
5. Document setup: Agents could organize all documents into a single system of record for CPA firm and client use.

HubSync’s Engagement Letter Wizard and HubSync Gateway platform bring CPA firms one step closer to this reality, reducing time spent and saving accounting firms up to 60% in engagement letter costs.

While these exact AI agents may not be readily available yet (though we may have something in our beach bag), this is the direction the industry is heading, with 77% of accounting firms planning to increase their investments in AI-enabled technology.

Want to Bring that Vacation Mindset into the Office?

Having a little staycation moment at the office doesn’t have to be challenging. By using AI and preparing for future technological possibilities, accounting firms could spend 8.5% less time on back-office processing, making routine engagement work feel like a vacation.

So, grab your cooler and put on your sunblock, because CPA firms are becoming a whole lot more tropical. Visit hubsync.com or request a demo at hubsync.com/contact-us to see how HubSync can improve the engagement process. 

ABOUT HUBSYNC    

HubSync is an AI-powered, end-to-end tax and accounting workflow platform built exclusively for CPA firms. HubSync unifies client portals, engagement letter management, document collection, e-signatures, e-filing, billing, and workflow automation into a single integrated system — eliminating the need for multiple disconnected software tools. HubSync serves mid-market and top-100 accounting firms across the United States, helping managing partners, tax leaders, and client-facing staff deliver exceptional client experiences while expanding firm margins. Learn more at www.hubsync.com.    

ABOUT JOHN MCGOWAN    

John McGowan is the founder and CEO of HubSync, a SaaS company with a next-generation tax and accounting automation platform created with the goal of changing how tax professionals work and how clients interact with CPA firms. Previously, John has over 25 years of experience driving technology innovation and investment at Deloitte and KPMG, where he served as a Partner-in-Charge of Tax Technology and the Global Chief Information Officer, respectively. John holds a BSBA and a Master of Accounting from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.