Who is responsible for auditing AI work? (Hint: You)

Sick of AI talk? Good news–real-life events are back in fashion, and this week we’re sharing one professional’s take on how to incorporate them into your client strategy. Also get some inspiration on how to charge for services you’re already giving your clients for free and learn where to focus for AI search visibility without having the digital footprint of a major firm. 

But before we get started, take a look at the math behind how client retention is crucial for growth for accounting firms.

Checking your list: Four questions to ask about every single client your firm serves

Back to school: Continual learning can help your firm’s success; here are five ways to stay curious

IRL is better: Human connection is at a premium, so consider hosting events like a workshop, fireside chat or gallery walk

Ouch: How to communicate a prospect’s pain point before the product 

Know your worth: More ways to charge for what you usually give clients for free

AI is becoming more important for accounting firm discoverability, which by default benefits larger firms with a bigger digital footprint. How can smaller firms keep up? By incorporating third-party endorsements as part of your marketing strategy. That means getting featured in trade stories, writing articles for industry publications or positioning yourself to appear in an industry ranking list. 

Why this matters: Focusing on third-party validation could give you more traction in AI search visibility compared to solely publishing blogs and resources on your firm’s own website. (CPA Practice Advisor)

Increase your third-party endorsements by being featured in our weekly Q&A’s. Email us at [email protected].

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Ninety percent of accounting professionals want to use AI, but most aren't sure how to bring it into their daily workflow without making things more complicated. You don't need a massive strategy or another disconnected tool—you just need a simple place to start.

The AI Handbook gives you a practical, step-by-step path to bring AI into your firm without the clutter:

Get real answers, cut out the manual steps, and keep everything running smoothly in one place.

Research shows that tax clients value communication and clarity over their final refund number. When thinking about technology upgrades, consider focusing on software that emphasizes the client experience. A client-facing dashboard improves transparency, giving them access to documents, benchmarks and status reports. 

Why this matters: Even though it takes time to implement, automating those touchpoints can improve your client relationships and even free up time for you and your team to focus on more advisory work. (Inside Public Accounting)

Amount raised by Rillet, AI-native accounting software, in 48 hours (TechCrunch)

Using AI to automate accounting workflows is convenient, but the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board recently released guidance stating that human professionals are responsible for the final judgment and quality of any AI-automated work. To protect your firm, treat any new AI integrations as you would onboarding a new team member. You need to define its role, what it can and cannot do and be able to back up the results.

Why this matters: Auditors will now be reviewing AI agentic outputs, so you need to make sure your firm’s processes can be traced and tested. (Forbes)

Thanks for reading this week's edition! You can reach the newsletter team at [email protected]. We enjoy hearing from you.

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The Net Gains is written and curated by Lauren Ward and edited by Bianca Prieto.