Twelve ideas for AI in a small or medium accounting practice.
Practical starting points, not finished products. Each one is a job most practices already do where AI is genuinely worth piloting. Pick the one that matches a workflow your team quietly loses hours to, and use it as a brief for what the work could look like instead.
Use cases
Year-end advisory reviews
The workflow drafts the advisory summary against every year-end file. The partner signs off.
Advisory letters and client queries
The workflow drafts the letter, the email reply, the follow-up. The partner signs, the client gets a same-day response.
Client bank reconciliation
Hand the workflow a month of Xero exports and the bank feed. It matches, flags discrepancies, and drafts correcting journal entries.
AML and client onboarding
Identity documents, Companies House data, risk questions. The workflow assembles the onboarding pack.
Client retention over acquisition
The workflow builds a five-year practice revenue projection. Retention rate, average client value, acquisition rate. Drag either lever and the curve redraws.
Budget scenarios side by side
Type the practice cost split and the variable that might change. The workflow draws three scenarios side by side with a toggle between pounds and percentages.
Tax planning options in one view
The workflow plots every planning option for a client against tax saving, complexity, HMRC risk, and partner time. The client sees the reasoning alongside it.
Chart practice data before you commit
Upload a CSV of time recording, profitability, recovery, or WIP. The workflow builds the correlation grid and flags patterns worth a second look.
Visualise tax calculations live
Interactive visual built inline as you talk. Client-draggable sliders covering marginal rates, dividend vs salary, pension contributions, and BADR thresholds.
Commercial contract review
Upload the contract. Flags tax-position, risk, and reporting clauses. Returns redlines, negotiation points, and HMRC citations formatted for the client.
Explain a tax concept once
Work through how you explain payments on account, AIA, or MTD ITSA. The workflow sketches the visual as you talk - a reusable asset for every client handler.
Map HMRC guidance on contested points
Attach HMRC manuals, case law summaries, and ICAEW guidance. The workflow draws the argument structure inline - clusters by position, blind spots per camp.