AI consulting for accounting firms, tax data stays where it belongs.
I set AI up for accounting, CPA and bookkeeping firms of 10 to 200 people: document requests, client reminders, engagement emails, meeting follow-ups, the inbox. The plan you buy and the written rule on tax return information come first. Every price is on this page.
I'm not a CPA and I don't sell tax software. I'm the person who gets the general assistant your firm already pays for working safely before busy season, and trains the people who use it.
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Justin McKelvey
AI consultant · 15 years building products · Austin, TX
Quick Answer
Justin McKelvey is an AI consultant in Austin, Texas who helps accounting firms set up ChatGPT, Claude or Copilot safely for teams of 10 to 200, at published prices: a $2,500 AI Readiness Assessment (two weeks, a written roadmap), then a done-for-you rollout (from $4,500, about two weeks, training and 30 days of support included). The first 30-minute call is free. The first workflows are the ones with no tax return information in them, because Section 7216 limits what a preparer can disclose without the client's signed consent.
Author: Justin McKelvey · Prices as of October 2026
Who can help an accounting firm roll out AI?
Someone who asks where your tax return information lives before showing you a demo. That's how I start. I work with owners and managing partners of $1M to $50M firms and businesses, and I set AI up for teams of 10 to 200. The engagement is usually two steps: a $2,500 AI Readiness Assessment (two weeks, a written roadmap of which workflows go first, which plan fits and the data-handling rules your staff follow), then a done-for-you rollout on the tool your people already use (from $4,500, about two weeks, training and 30 days of support included). Start the rollout within 90 days and the $2,500 is credited in full. The first step is a free 30-minute call.
Right now
Right now I'm helping a national trade association roll out AI to about 50 staff.
Larger firms (several offices, separate tax, audit and advisory groups, or AI across everyone) get a written custom scope after the Assessment, priced to the work. The published prices are the starting point most firms use, not a ceiling.
What AI consulting costs an accounting firm
Fixed fees, published, the way you'd quote a return: $2,500 for a written AI plan, from $4,500 for a done-for-you rollout, or $397 for a self-paced course.
Strategy call
$0
30 min
A straight answer on what's worth doing first. No pitch.
AI Readiness Assessment
$2,500 flat
2 weeks
A 15 to 25 page written roadmap with governance and data-handling guidance, and a 1-hour walkthrough. Credited in full against an install within 90 days.
AI Team Rollout
from $4,500
~2 weeks
Claude, ChatGPT Business, or Copilot installed for your people, with training and 30 days of support. $1,500 deposit, applied to the invoice.
The Shop
$397
self-paced
8-lesson Claude course. Teams: +$97 per teammate, 2 to 25 people. 30-day money-back.
| Service | Price | Timeline | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strategy call | $0 | 30 min | A straight answer on what's worth doing first. No pitch. |
| AI Readiness Assessment | $2,500 flat | 2 weeks | A 15 to 25 page written roadmap with governance and data-handling guidance, and a 1-hour walkthrough. Credited in full against an install within 90 days. |
| AI Team Rollout | from $4,500 | ~2 weeks | Claude, ChatGPT Business, or Copilot installed for your people, with training and 30 days of support. $1,500 deposit, applied to the invoice. |
| The Shop | $397 | self-paced | 8-lesson Claude course. Teams: +$97 per teammate, 2 to 25 people. 30-day money-back. |
Prices as of October 2026. Seats for the AI tool are paid to Anthropic, OpenAI, or Microsoft, separately. Every rung, side by side with the rest of my services, is on AI consulting services.
Is it worth it? The math for a 15-person firm
Fifteen Claude Team seats at $20 each, billed annually, are $3,600 a year. Add a $4,500 rollout (the $2,500 Assessment is credited into it if you start within 90 days) and year one costs $8,100.
O*NET puts the 2025 median wage for accountants and auditors at $40.23 an hour. Divide and the firm breaks even at about 201 hours a year. Across 15 people, that's 13 to 14 hours each, or about 15 minutes per person per week. That's before benefits and overhead, so the real break-even is lower.
Where do 15 minutes a week come from without touching a return? The document chase. Every firm I talk to has someone retyping the same "we're still missing your 1099s" email in February. Drafted from your template with the client's name and the missing items filled in, approved by a person, that one job usually covers the math on its own.
Year two is just the seats. And on fixed-fee work (most returns, monthly bookkeeping, payroll), the hours saved stay with the firm, which is the opposite of an hourly law practice. The AI for accounting firms guide goes job by job.
What Section 7216 means for the rollout
Section 7216 of the tax code and its regulations limit how a tax return preparer discloses or uses tax return information. Below is how I build each point the IRS FAQ makes into a rollout, so each one has an owner and a written answer before anyone gets a seat. This is a summary of the IRS's published FAQ, not tax or legal advice; your firm and its advisors make the calls.
| What the IRS FAQ says | What it becomes in the rollout |
|---|---|
| Disclosures not specifically allowed by the regulations need the taxpayer's advance signed consent, in a form with required language (Treas. Reg. 301.7216-3, Rev. Proc. 2013-14). | A written firm decision on whether tax return information ever goes into an AI tool, made by your partners and advisors before rollout. Until then, it doesn't. |
| Contractors that receive tax return information from a preparer are treated as preparers, and the preparer must give them a written notice of the rules. | Every vendor and connector on a list, with what data it can reach. Connections run under the narrowest login that does the job. |
| The civil penalty (IRC 6713, $250 per disclosure) doesn't require that the disclosure was knowing or reckless. | A never-paste list every person signs, and training on it, because an honest mistake still counts. |
| Some disclosures need no consent, such as to the IRS or to other U.S.-based preparers who help prepare the return. | The first workflows are the ones that need no exception at all: engagement letters, document requests, reminders, internal docs, the inbox. |
The plan matters too. Anthropic's pricing page, read October 11, 2026, lists Claude Team ($20 per seat per month billed annually, $25 monthly, 2 to 150 seats) with no model training on your content by default, while its individual plans make training an opt-out. ChatGPT Business also does not train on business data by default. Staff on personal accounts is the problem to fix first. For one tool in detail, see ChatGPT for accountants.
Which tool? The one your firm already lives in
I set up Claude, ChatGPT Business, and Microsoft 365 Copilot, and I pick by where your staff already works. A firm that runs on Outlook, Excel and SharePoint usually means Copilot. People already living in ChatGPT means ChatGPT Business. If you want Claude, it's Claude. Same price and timeline for all three.
What I don't do is tax prep, audit or practice-management software. Those come from their vendors. The Assessment shows where the general assistant stops and a specialist tool earns its seat.
How it runs, and when to start
About four weeks of calendar time from plan to trained people: two for the Assessment, about two for the rollout. Firms that want it working before busy season start in the fall.
-
1
A free 30-minute call
Where the unbilled hours go, which tools your staff already has open, and where client data lives today. You leave with a straight answer on the next step.
-
2
The Assessment: weeks 1 and 2
A workflow audit, every realistic AI opportunity ranked by impact and effort, tool recommendations for the stack you already pay for, governance and data-handling guidance, and a 30-60-90 day plan. A 15 to 25 page roadmap on day 14, with a 1-hour walkthrough.
-
3
The rollout: about 2 weeks
The permission check on whose login each connection runs under, the firm context the AI works from, up to 5 tools or sources connected, and one workflow pack. Roughly 3 hours of your time. The rule on every workflow: the AI drafts, a person approves.
-
4
Training and handoff
A training session on the workflows I built, a plain-language handoff doc, then 30 days of support. If something I set up isn't working, I fix it. No extra invoice.
Assessment slots are capped at 2 to 3 a month, so a 2 to 6 week lead time is typical. Already know the workflow and the tool? Skip step 2.
A free first step
Not ready to talk? The free AI readiness checklist is 30 yes-or-no questions you can answer without an email. Leave one and it saves your score with a recommendation.
Score your AI readiness first.
The AI Readiness Checklist: 30 yes/no questions across data, workflows, team, governance, and execution. You can answer them without an email. Leave one and your score and recommendation are saved.
Or answer the questions first, no email needed. One-click unsubscribe from anything I send.
“Justin doesn't just write code; he thinks like a CEO. He understands the business impact of every technical decision, which is rare in this industry.”
AI consulting for accounting firms: common questions
- Who can help my accounting firm set up ChatGPT or Claude safely?
- I can. I'm Justin McKelvey, an AI consultant in Austin, Texas, and I work remotely with owners and managing partners of $1M to $50M firms and businesses, setting AI up for teams of 10 to 200. The usual order is a $2,500 AI Readiness Assessment (2 weeks, a written roadmap of which workflows go first, which tool fits, and governance and data-handling guidance), then a done-for-you rollout of Claude, ChatGPT Business, or Microsoft 365 Copilot (from $4,500, about 2 weeks, training included). The $2,500 is credited in full if the rollout starts within 90 days. I'm not a CPA or a lawyer: the Section 7216 and professional-standards calls stay with your firm. The first step is a free 30-minute call at justinmckelvey.com/book/strategy-call.
- How much does AI consulting cost an accounting firm?
- With me, every price is fixed and published: the 30-minute call is free, the AI Readiness Assessment is $2,500 flat, and a rollout starts at $4,500 (range $4,500 to $7,500), with a $1,500 deposit applied in full to the install invoice. The Shop, a self-paced Claude course, is $397 plus $97 per teammate. AI seats are paid to Anthropic, OpenAI, or Microsoft separately, about $20 to $25 per person per month on the business plans.
- Can an accounting firm put client tax returns into ChatGPT or Claude?
- Not casually. Section 7216 of the tax code and its regulations limit how a tax return preparer discloses or uses tax return information. The IRS FAQ says disclosures not specifically allowed need the taxpayer's advance signed consent, that contractors who receive tax return information are treated as preparers, and that the related civil penalty (IRC 6713, $250 per disclosure) applies without any showing that the disclosure was knowing. Whether a given AI tool and plan fits an exception is a question for your firm and its advisors. The safe rollout starts with workflows that never touch tax return information.
- What should an accounting firm automate with AI first?
- The unbilled and fixed-fee admin that has no tax return information in it: engagement-letter and document-request emails from your templates, client reminder sequences during busy season, meeting notes and follow-ups, internal process docs, and the shared inbox. High text volume, low risk, and the hours saved land in the firm's margin. Return-adjacent work comes later, after the firm has decided its Section 7216 position in writing.
- Which AI plan should an accounting firm use?
- A business plan, never a personal one. As of October 2026, Anthropic's pricing page lists Claude Team ($20 per seat per month billed annually, $25 monthly, 2 to 150 seats) with no model training on your content by default, while its individual plans make training an opt-out you have to set yourself. ChatGPT Business also does not train on business data by default. A firm that lives in Outlook and Excel is often better served by Microsoft 365 Copilot; I set up all three at the same price.
- Is AI worth it for a 15-person accounting firm?
- Usually, and the break-even is low. Fifteen Claude Team seats are $3,600 a year billed annually; add a $4,500 rollout and year one is $8,100. At the 2025 median accountant wage on O*NET ($40.23 an hour), that pays back at about 201 hours a year across the firm, or roughly 15 minutes per person per week. Most firms find more than that in document chasing alone during busy season.
- Do you set up tax or audit software?
- No. I set up the general assistants (Claude, ChatGPT Business, and Microsoft 365 Copilot) for the firm's operations, client communication and drafting from your own templates. Tax prep, audit and practice-management platforms come from their vendors. The Assessment tells you where the general assistant stops and a specialist tool is worth buying.
- Is there a free AI assessment for accounting firms?
- Yes. The free AI readiness checklist at justinmckelvey.com/ai-readiness-checklist is 30 yes-or-no questions you can answer without an email; leave one and it saves your score with a recommendation. The free 30-minute strategy call is the other free first step. The paid AI Readiness Assessment ($2,500) is the written plan.
Sources
- IRS, Section 7216 frequently asked questions and Section 7216 information center, irs.gov (read October 11, 2026)
- O*NET OnLine, Accountants and Auditors (13-2011.00), 2025 median wages (read October 11, 2026)
- Anthropic, Claude pricing, claude.com/pricing (read October 11, 2026)
- OpenAI, ChatGPT Business plan and data terms (read September 12, 2026)
Read more before you decide
Start with a plan, or start with a call.
The Assessment is $2,500 and credited toward a rollout within 90 days. The call is free and takes 30 minutes. I reply to everything within one business day.