For accounting firms

AI that gets you through busy season without putting client data at risk.

We help CPA and accounting firms put AI to work across tax, audit, advisory, and firm operations, with the taxpayer-consent, confidentiality, review, and security controls the profession requires. Led by the former Chief Digital Officer of Citrin Cooperman and CIO of Berdon LLP.

Schedule an AI readiness conversation See how we map to the rules

Every tax-season request, checked before it runs

Request from a tax senior · Individual return · Tax year 2025

Summarize the K-1s received, compare them to last year, and list missing documents.

IRC §7216Taxpayer consentSigned consent on file naming this AI provider.
AICPA CodeConfidential client informationRuns in the firm's private tenant. Nothing is used to train the model.
Circular 230Due diligenceOutput routes to the reviewer before it reaches the client or the IRS.
SQMS No. 1Quality managementTool is approved and monitored in the firm's quality system.
FTC / IRS 4557Written security planAccess logged and covered by the firm's WISP.

Approved to run. Logged to the firm's AI audit trail.

The shift

Your staff are already using AI on client work. The question is whether the firm approved it.

Seniors paste workpapers into consumer chatbots to get through busy season. Staff upload client documents to free summarization tools. None of it is approved, logged, or reviewed, and with tax return information, that is more than a policy problem.

The rules are specific to this profession. IRC §7216 restricts how tax return information is used and disclosed. Circular 230 holds the practitioner responsible for everything they sign, whoever or whatever drafted it. The AICPA Code requires client consent before confidential information leaves the firm, and the FTC Safeguards Rule requires a written security program that covers the tools you use.

Meanwhile fewer graduates are entering the profession and private equity is reshaping the market. The firms that adopt AI with the right controls will do more work with the people they have. The rest will keep losing their best people to burnout.

Questions clients, regulators, and buyers are asking

Do you use AI on our returns and financial statements?

Did we consent to that provider seeing our tax information?

Who reviews AI output before it goes to the IRS?

Would your security plan hold up after a breach?

Where AI helps

Client service and running the firm need different answers.

We treat them separately, because the risks, the users, and the returns are different.

Client service

For partners, managers, and staff in tax, audit, and advisory

Tax preparation and review: Source documents read and organized, prior-year comparisons, and missing-item lists, with a reviewer signing off on every return.
Audit and assurance: Document matching, sample support, and first-draft workpapers and memos, inside the firm's quality management controls.
Client accounting and advisory: Faster month-end close, reconciliations, and management reporting commentary for CAS and outsourced accounting clients.
Firm knowledge you can search: Tax research memos, prior-year workpapers, and firm guidance made findable, without leaving the firm's environment.

Running the firm

For managing partners, COOs, finance, HR, and IT

Engagement letters and onboarding: Engagement letters, 7216 consents, and client onboarding tracked and completed with fewer manual handoffs.
Busy-season capacity: Workload visibility across teams, earlier warning on extensions, and better planning for the next filing season.
Billing and realization: Cleaner WIP, fewer write-downs, and pricing informed by what engagements actually take.
Operations automation: Agents that handle staff onboarding and requests across HR, identity, email, and practice management systems.

Built around the rules you already follow

Every safeguard maps to a professional or regulatory duty.

GovernanceLift™ for accounting firms turns these requirements into policies, controls, and workflows your partners and staff actually follow.

IRC §7216

Tax return informationUse and disclose taxpayer information only as the rules permit.

Consent language that names each AI provider, a consent register by client, and controls that keep tax data out of tools the client hasn't approved.

Circular 230

Due diligence and competenceThe practitioner is responsible for every return and position they sign.

Reviewer checkpoints for AI-assisted work, documented firm procedures, and training records for every person using the tools.

AICPA Code

Confidential client informationDon't disclose client information without consent.

Vendor security review, private deployment, no-training terms, and retention settings that keep client information inside the firm's control.

SQMS No. 1

Quality managementThe firm's quality system covers the resources it relies on, including technology.

AI tools brought into the quality management system, with approval, monitoring, and remediation for accounting and auditing engagements.

FTC Safeguards, IRS Pub. 4557

Written information security programProtect customer information with a documented, working security program.

A WISP updated for AI tools and vendors, plus MFA, encryption, access reviews, and a tested incident response plan.

Mapped to IRC §7216 and Treas. Reg. §301.7216, Treasury Department Circular 230, the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct, AICPA SQMS No. 1, the FTC Safeguards Rule (16 CFR Part 314), and IRS Publication 4557. We also align policies to your state board's requirements. This is operational guidance, not legal or tax advice.

How an engagement runs

From shadow AI to a program the firm can stand behind, planned around busy season.

Select a phase to see what we do and what the firm walks away with.

Find out what is really happening today.

We interview partners and staff across tax, audit, and advisory, review systems and data, and surface where AI is already in use, approved or not. We also review your security program, because AI risk and security risk travel together.

The firm walks away with: an AI readiness report, a shadow AI inventory, a WISP gap review, and a prioritized list of opportunities.

Service line and staff interviews
Shadow AI and tool usage inventory
Tax, audit, and practice management systems review
WISP and cybersecurity review aligned to NIST CSF 2.0
Opportunity ranking by value and risk

Why Vantara

We have run technology inside accounting firms. Most AI consultants haven't.

"Partners don't adopt technology because it's impressive. They adopt it when it gives their people time back in busy season, protects the client, and doesn't create a problem they'll have to explain later."

Clifford Forrester, Founder and Principal. Former Chief Digital Officer of Citrin Cooperman and CIO of Berdon LLP, with more than 20 years as CIO, CTO, and CDO in accounting and law firms.

We know busy season

We understand deadlines, extensions, realization, and why a firm can't change its systems in March.

Governance comes first

Policy, 7216 consent, and confidentiality controls are in place before a single workflow goes live.

Security is part of the job

Tax and financial data makes accounting firms targets. Every AI engagement includes a look at the security gaps AI can widen.

Ready for PE-backed growth

We help platforms and acquired firms bring their systems, policies, and AI programs together, with the documentation buyers expect.

Get started

Three ways to begin.

Assessment3–4 weeks

Accounting firm AI readiness assessment

Where AI is already used, where it should be, and what stands in the way, including a review of your WISP and security controls. You get a prioritized roadmap and a shadow AI inventory.

Request an assessment

BriefingHalf day

Partner and leadership AI briefing

A candid session for firm leadership on what AI can and cannot do in tax, audit, and advisory, the rules that apply, and the decisions the firm needs to make before next busy season.

Book a briefing

Governance4–6 weeks

GovernanceLift™ for accounting firms

A firm AI policy, approved tools, 7216 consent process, and audit trail, adapted to your service lines and state board and ready for leadership approval.

Discuss governance

Common questions

What managing partners ask us most.

Have a question that isn't here? Call us at 347 674-1471.

Can our staff use ChatGPT or similar tools on client tax data?

Not without safeguards. Tax return information is protected by IRC §7216 and the AICPA confidentiality rule, so consumer AI tools are the wrong place for it. Firms that use AI safely rely on enterprise tools with no-training terms, client consent where required, a written firm policy, and reviewer sign-off on everything AI drafts.

Do we need new 7216 consents before using AI?

Often, yes, when an AI provider will receive tax return information outside the narrow exceptions in the regulations. We help you decide where consent is needed, draft language that names the provider, and track consents by client. Your tax counsel should confirm the final approach.

Will this disrupt busy season?

No. We plan the work around your deadlines. Assessments and policy work fit in quieter periods, and pilots go live after the filing deadline so the firm is ready before the next season.

We're PE-backed and acquiring firms. Can you help?

Yes. We help platforms bring acquired firms onto common systems, a single AI policy, and one security program, and we document it in the form investors and future buyers expect to see.

Does using AI change our WISP?

It should. Your written information security program needs to cover the AI tools you approve, the vendors behind them, who can use them, and how you would respond if client data were exposed. We update the WISP as part of every governance engagement.