AI for accounting firms: -30% time on repetitive tasks

The paradox of professional services: competent, qualified people spending half their time searching for documents, checking deadlines, and calculating fees by hand. The professional is paid for expertise — but their time goes to procedures.

This is the story of a firm that decided to change.

The firm

• Type: Accounting and tax advisory firm
• Professionals: 12 (4 chartered accountants, 3 bookkeepers, 5 associates)
• Clients: ~400
• Location: Padova province, Italy

The "before": where time was going

The firm was functioning. Clients were satisfied, deadlines were met (almost always), service quality was high. But at what cost?

Deadlines

Managed on a mix of Excel and Google Calendar. Every month, one person spent half a day checking what was due, who needed to do what, and whether everything had been done. Missed deadlines weren't frequent — but when they happened, the cost was high.

Case retrieval

A client calls about the status of their case. The associate needs to: search the client's folder (on Windows, with a folder structure that grew over 15 years), then check the practice management system, then verify emails. Average time: 4 minutes per case. Multiplied by 20 requests per day.

Invoicing

Calculated by hand. The accountant reviewed time spent, activities performed, rates — and produced the invoice. A process requiring 15-20 minutes per client, done at month-end for all clients.

Emails

Hundreds per day. Classified manually. Some urgent, some routine, some to delegate. The managing partner sorted them personally — 30 minutes in the morning, 20 in the afternoon.

What we did

Phase 1: Audit (1 day)

Following our structured method, we identified 6 high-impact areas where AI could deliver measurable value:

1. Deadline management
2. Case and document retrieval
3. Draft invoice generation
4. Email classification
5. Standard document preparation
6. Client reporting

Phase 2: Aitaky Brain integration (6 weeks)

We connected Aitaky Brain through our integration solutions to:

• Practice management software (cases, clients, accounting)
• Microsoft 365 (Outlook, OneDrive, calendar)
• Document archive (Windows folders with 15 years of history)

Phase 3: Automations activated

• Automatic deadline alerts: 7 days before, 3 days before, day of. Automatic assignment to responsible person.
• Natural language case search: "Status of Rossi case?" → complete answer in 10 seconds
• Pre-compiled draft invoices: the system calculates time, activities, and amount based on historical data. The accountant reviews and approves.
• Email classification: urgency, topic, associated client, suggested action. All automatic.

The "after": the numbers

Scalability across firm sizes

This approach scales regardless of firm size. The underlying architecture — connecting AI to practice management, email, and document storage — works the same whether you have 5 professionals or 50. The main variable is the number of data sources and the complexity of client categories.

For larger firms, the ROI is even more pronounced: the time savings multiply with each professional using the system.

The quote

"AI didn't replace me. It gave me back the time to be an accountant. Instead of searching for documents and checking deadlines, I now spend that time with clients — which is why I chose this profession."

— Managing Partner

The lesson learned

AI doesn't replace the professional. It gives them back the time to be a professional. Expertise remains human — the search, classify, calculate, and check work is done by the machine.

The firm didn't change how it works. It stopped wasting time on the parts that didn't require expertise.

Want to find out what AI can do in your professional firm? Let's talk →

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