A taste of the weekly call
What we talk about on the calls.
Every Wednesday, accountants bring the real AI questions from their practice to a live working call, and the group works through them together. Here are a few that came up, with the answer the group gave.
- Getting started
If we want to build a smaller version of an internal AI/automation system, where should we start?
Start with basic infrastructure: Vercel, GitHub, and Supabase, which the speaker found userfriendly and sufficient to get going.
1:00Jul 8 call 1 - Practice mgmt
What should I expect if I want to sell my accounting/tax firm quickly, in terms of process and deal terms?
One member shared their experience selling a fully virtual small accounting and tax firm about a year and a half ago.
1:02:48Jun 16 call 1 - Automation & MCP
What backend tech stack is being used to build an internal AI-powered practice management tool (chat, transcripts, client data)?
The system uses Supabase as the full database, storing everything including QuickBooksrelated data and call transcripts.
Jul 8 call 0 - Getting started
How do I know when to move from a regular Claude chat to something like Claude Code or another Claude surface, and how do I avoid wasting tokens as a beginner?
The suggested approach is to simply tell Claude your constraints as part of the prompt: e.g., "I have no background in AI, I don't want to use up tokens…
48:03Jul 1 call 0 - Security & compliance
What level of specificity does a 7216 consent need regarding AI tool usage and data disclosure?
The 7216 consent has to be fairly explicit about the purpose of use — it can't just say something generic like 'to prepare your taxes.' It needs to name the…
52:47Jun 24 call 0 - Bookkeeping
Why use QuickBooks Online bank connections instead of Plaid for pulling client bank data?
The main reason was concern about connecting bank accounts to Plaid as a thirdparty user — some banks (the example given was Chase) require the actual account…
Jul 8 call 0 - Security & compliance
Does a 7216 consent need to be signed separately from the engagement letter, and does this apply to both 1040s and business returns?
Consent under 7216 must be voluntary and cannot simply be buried inside the general engagement letter.
49:02Jun 24 call 0 - Automation & MCP
What is being used for data storage in a custom-built internal accounting tool, and how is it managed?
Ben confirmed Supabase is used as the cloudbased data storage backend (not a physical server).
Jul 8 call 0 - Getting started
How can I get Claude to pull together everything it has previously taught me or discussed on a specific topic across multiple chats?
You can ask Claude to pull up all chats related to a specific topic and summarize what's been covered — for example, asking it to review all chats where you've…
39:42Jul 1 call 0 - Getting started
What is a 'handoff skill' and how do I use it when a Claude conversation gets too long?
A handoff skill lets you continue a conversation in a new chat once you're approaching the context window limit, by activating a skill (e.g., typing a slash…
33:09Jul 1 call 0 - Practice mgmt
What inspired building a centralized platform to replace multiple disconnected software tools, and how has the team responded?
Ben said team buyin has been mostly positive, though there was some hesitation from staff who were previously employed by BotKeeper, since that company heavily…
Jul 8 call 0 - Security & compliance
Can a 7216 consent be bundled into a general engagement letter, or does it need to be separate and voluntary, especially for 1040s?
The group recalled that 7216 regulations require consent to be voluntary and, for 1040 returns specifically, the consent must be separate from the engagement…
49:13Jun 24 call 0 - Getting started
How do I consolidate and store outputs (markdown files, chat content) across different Claude conversations so I can pick a project back up later?
One practice is exporting outputs into a desktop folder for projects you expect to revisit, then pushing that folder to Dropbox or Google Drive so Claude can…
31:09Jul 1 call 0 - Bookkeeping
How can I build a custom QBO month-end close review tool that flags unreconciled accounts, uncategorized entries, and other close issues, instead of relying on a third-party tool like Keeper/Zenit?
Ben built an internal tool (a QBO 'month and close' reviewer) after having issues with a thirdparty tool (referred to as Zenit), particularly around…
Jul 8 call 0 - Advisory
How can we use Claude/AI to build client-facing benchmarking and analytics dashboards from QuickBooks data?
Ben described connecting all clients' QuickBooks files (clients are concentrated in one niche) into their system and mapping each client's chart of accounts,…
Jul 8 call 0 - Getting started
How do you use voice/speech instead of typing when working with Claude?
You can press and hold the microphone button and speak your request out loud (e.g., "hey, I want to build this") rather than typing.
36:29Jul 1 call 0 - Automation & MCP
What's the difference between Claude chat, Claude Code, and Cowork?
Claude Code used to be terminalbased but now runs directly in the application, so you don't need to go to a terminal anymore.
13:12Jul 1 call 0 - Getting started
Which AI model should I be using right now (Claude vs Codex)?
The latest recommended model is Sonnet 4.5 (referred to on the call as 'Sonnet 5'), released the day before this call, which 'should be your goto now.' There…
16:28Jul 1 call 0 - Automation & MCP
What's the difference between APIs and MCPs?
APIs are the legacy approach for connecting to a service, useful when you want to build a custom application.
9:24Jul 1 call 0 - Automation & MCP
Does Ramp/Stack connect to platforms like Square for income/transaction reports, and what's the current roadmap for integrations beyond QuickBooks?
Not yet, but it's planned.
45:15Jun 18 call 0 - Bookkeeping
Has building custom internal tools actually reduced close time (e.g., a 5-day close) or shown measurable time savings for the team?
Ben said he hasn't noticed overall time savings yet, in part because the tools he shared aren't fully rolled out to the team he's still personally testing and…
Jul 8 call 0 - Automation & MCP
How do you divide responsibilities between yourself and an engineering team when building AI-powered software as a non-technical founder?
The founder handles all of the business logic and subject matter expertise — things like amortization tables, transaction splitting, how a lease flows through…
11:12Jun 25 call 0 - Security & compliance
How long is a 7216 consent valid before it needs to be renewed?
The consent can only be valid for up to a year, so it has to be renewed annually.
53:29Jun 24 call 0 - Automation & MCP
How can our firm build an internal system to store and query all our call transcripts using AI?
One firm built a system where call transcripts (from Fireflies) are pushed directly into a Supabase database via GitHub actions.
Jul 8 call 0 - Practice mgmt
When building an internal platform with many features, is it better to build features separately and combine them later, or start with one unified platform and keep adding features?
Ben said he started with a few standalone tools and combined them into one internal platform pretty early on because he needed a single place to house…
Jul 8 call 0
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