Answers
Every question, with the answer the group gave.
Every real question asked on a Lab call, with the answer the group actually gave, linked to the moment it happened. Searchable, so Wednesday keeps working for you all week.
449 answers · 16 sessions indexed · new every Wednesday
108 questions are still open. See what ALFA is working on.
Saw it online instead of hearing it on a call? Signal or Noise is the other half of this desk: ALFA's verdict on what members see in the wild.
- Tax Open question
How might AI-driven review of client investment statements and collaborative skill-building evolve for CPAs reviewing tax returns?
One member described their experience building a skill to carefully review complex investment statements (e.g., from a major brokerage) for a tax return tying…
21:52May 20 call Members-only - Getting started Open question
What is the 'brand voice' option shown at the bottom of Claude's co-work interface?
The speaker was not fully certain about this feature, noting they'd never actually used it, but believed brand voice lets you create a brand package for your…
59:12May 20 call Members-only - Practice mgmt
How do large national firms like Baker Tilly or Andersen price extremely complex individual tax returns compared to smaller firms?
Large national firms serving ultrahighnetworth clients charge fees that are 'competitive to the work' involved on complex returns, and clients pay well into…
29:07May 13 call Members-only - Automation & MCP
How can I use Claude to speed up creation of accounting workpapers?
One approach shared: give Claude full context on how your business/workpapers currently operate, then explicitly ask it for ideas on how to make the process…
32:33May 13 call Members-only - Security & compliance
With ChatGPT Enterprise (data residency in the US, no training on data) versus Teams, is it acceptable to put client PII into the enterprise version?
There's no single correct answer here—it comes down to your firm's risk profile.
39:18May 13 call Members-only - Security & compliance
What deterministic software approach can be used to strip PII from taxpayer data before sending it to an external LLM?
One firm's policy requires that any taxpayer data sent to an external LLM first pass through a piece of deterministic software—described as essentially a…
43:21May 13 call Members-only - Automation & MCP
How usable is the new Claude 'designer'/design portal feature for non-technical users?
One member reported that Claude just launched a designer/design portal feature that they described as pretty sweet, even for people who are totally…
59:01May 13 call Members-only - Automation & MCP
Why build and train your own AI model instead of using a good open-source model run locally?
The vendor explained they built their own model after finding that general models, when they started deploying them about 18 months ago, weren't good enough at…
22:49May 13 call Members-only - Practice mgmt
When evaluating or renewing software vendors, what should firms be asking about data access?
One member said that at every single software vendor renewal, they now ask about the vendor's APIs even if they don't currently need them.
59:59May 13 call Members-only - Security & compliance Open question
Is it safe to put client PII into Claude Chat, Claude Team, or similar AI tools?
This was raised as an open concern rather than resolved.
32:35May 13 call Members-only - Security & compliance
How does an AI-based tool identify and redact PII from tax documents before processing?
One vendor described training their system on roughly 60,000 tax documents so it understands what counts as PII (name, social security number, address, and…
19:00May 13 call Members-only - Automation & MCP
Can firms use AI to build their own custom workpaper/practice tools instead of buying off-the-shelf software (like Carbon)?
One member described a bookkeeping firm owner friend who essentially recreated a Carbonlike tool custombuilt for his niche (shortterm rental property…
57:45May 13 call Members-only - Automation & MCP
Has anyone solved the problem of importing/pulling data out of tax software like CCH or UltraTax via API?
One member said they did solve it, but called it painful.
59:24May 13 call Members-only - Automation & MCP
Has anyone built something useful combining AI with tax workpapers?
One member is tinkering with workpapers via Air Table.
55:58May 13 call Members-only - Getting started Open question
When should I use Claude chat/Projects ('co-work') versus Claude Code for building tools like spreadsheets or apps?
No firm rule was given.
36:36May 13 call Members-only - Security & compliance Open question
Is it safe to put sensitive client information like Social Security numbers into AI tools like Claude or ChatGPT?
The group flagged this as a key open question for the working group to address, since being able to safely use sensitive data would allow much more automation…
8:08May 13 call Members-only - Practice mgmt
Can firms buy or license the vendor's proprietary AI tooling directly?
No.
25:23May 13 call Members-only - Automation & MCP
Is anyone using AI/scripts to automate the tax workpaper process on Google Workspace/TaxDome?
A member mentioned speaking with a TaxDome setup consultant (Jessica Smith) who uses Gemini scripts to automate her workpaper process — pulling from a master…
52:56May 13 call Members-only - Practice mgmt
Has anyone hired an AI consultant for their firm, and was it worth it?
One member did hire an AI consultant and said it was worthwhile overall, though pricey ("charged an arm and a leg").
50:06May 13 call Members-only - Practice mgmt
How much do large rollup firms like Baker Tilly charge for ultra-complex 1040 returns compared to smaller AI-driven competitors?
Participants noted that large rollup firms (Baker Tilly, Moss Adams, Anderson, etc.) charge significant fees for ultracomplex work, with some clients paying…
29:07May 13 call Members-only - Security & compliance
Is it okay to put client information into a paid/higher-tier version of Claude or ChatGPT?
The view expressed is that with the right (paid, businesstier) plan, putting some client information into Claude or ChatGPT is comparable to using AI features…
16:04May 13 call Members-only - Tax Open question
Are there similar scripting-over-LLM approaches that could apply to tax work involving sensitive documents like PDFs?
One approach discussed is locally redacting sensitive information (e.g., Social Security numbers) out of PDFs before doing anything with them, so that once…
12:09May 13 call Members-only - Practice mgmt
What exactly does this AI-driven tax firm offer, and how does it compete with large rollup firms like Baker Tilly?
The vendor described their firm as focused exclusively on ultrahighnetworth, ultracomplex tax clients.
25:52May 13 call Members-only - Security & compliance Open question
What are the security differences between ChatGPT Enterprise, Teams, and personal/free plans for handling client PII?
A participant reported that their firm recently invested in ChatGPT Enterprise and partnered with a security consultant, and found there are vastly different…
39:21May 13 call Members-only - Getting started
How do I actually set up a script to automate a task like the QuickBooks/Slack reconciliation example if I have no coding background?
You don't need prior technical knowledge to get started.
13:27May 13 call Members-only - Automation & MCP Open question
How hard is it to integrate custom workpaper tools directly with tax prep software (like CCH or UltraTax), and has anyone solved the data import problem?
One member said their team did solve direct integration from their workpaper tool into their tax software so no one had to manually touch the data, but called…
59:23May 13 call Members-only - Automation & MCP
What's the difference between using scripts/automation versus putting data into an LLM, and why does it matter for client data sensitivity?
Most of the powerful automation work being built doesn't actually require putting sensitive client data into an LLM query at all.
9:02May 13 call Members-only - Security & compliance Open question
How can a firm build a system to automatically identify and redact PII from tax documents before sending data to an LLM?
One firm described building an internal system, trained on roughly 60,000 tax documents, that identifies what is and is not PII within a tax return and…
18:14May 13 call Members-only - Security & compliance Open question
Do you need clients to sign a 7216 consent form (like the one used when a return is prepared overseas) specifically because you're using AI tools?
The view expressed was that 7216 is a much broader category and that people are somewhat 'shoehorning' the AI issue into it.
44:09May 13 call Members-only
Read all 449 answers
Membership gets you the live sessions and the full answer library.
See membership