Resources
Short, plain-English definitions — no jargon added back in.
Software that can take multi-step actions inside your firm's rules — sync QuickBooks, categorize transactions, draft close work — rather than only answering a chat prompt. In accounting, agents prepare work; humans approve mutations.
Related: AI Agents product overview
A client-safe assistant in your firm's branded portal that answers questions from approved reports and live ledger data — not from draft or internal-only work.
Related: Client portal
A required human sign-off before an AI-suggested change posts to QuickBooks or becomes client-visible. Pending approval is not completion.
Related: Workflows & checkpoints
Ongoing bookkeeping, close, and advisory work a firm provides a client, billed monthly instead of per return. CAS firms scale on recurring revenue and repeatable processes.
Related: For accounting firms
Assigning bank and card transactions to chart-of-accounts categories in QuickBooks. High-volume, rule-friendly work — often the first step firms automate with AI, with human review on exceptions.
Related: AI Agents
A chatbot answers questions in a thread. An agent runs governed steps in your workflow — sync, categorize, reconcile — and leaves an audit trail. Copy-paste from chat is not bookkeeping automation.
Related: Will AI replace bookkeepers?
A firm-branded site where clients see approved reports, upload documents, answer questions, and optionally chat with an AI CFO — without email archaeology.
Related: Client portal
The written agreement that defines scope, fee, and services for a client. When it lives on the client record — not in a folder — scope creep is easier to spot before it kills margin.
Related: Engagement letters
Your firm's accumulated operating preferences and corrections — vendor rules, escalation habits, client wording — applied to agent work so March's fix doesn't have to be relearned in April.
Related: AI Agents
A workflow step that must be completed or approved by a person before the next step runs or before work becomes client-visible. Checkpoints are how firms keep AI preparation without losing control.
Related: Workflows
The recurring process of finalizing a client's books for a period: categorization, reconciliation, adjustments, review, and published reporting. Close quality is only as repeatable as the checklist enforcing it.
Related: Month-end close checklist (blog)
Revenue minus direct labor, payroll load, and tool cost for one client org — not firm-wide averages. The number that tells you which engagements to reprice or scope-tighten.
Related: Profitability
Software billed by connected QuickBooks company (client ledger), with unlimited firm users. Contrasts with per-seat pricing that rises every time you hire regardless of client count.
Related: Pricing
Tools that organize tasks, deadlines, time, and client communication — Karbon, Canopy, and similar. They track who should do the work; they don't execute ledger work themselves.
Related: Synoro vs Karbon
Two-way connection between QuickBooks Online and your operations platform so transactions, accounts, and vendors stay current for workflows, AI, and reporting without manual export.
Related: How Synoro works
Matching bank and credit card activity in QuickBooks to statements for a period, with exceptions explained. A core close step — often partially automated, always human-signed for material accounts.
Related: Workflows
When a senior re-does work a junior or AI already touched because preparation quality was inconsistent. Hidden margin killer — shows up as "we're always behind" rather than on the P&L.
Related: Profit per client (blog)
Work the client receives that was never in the engagement letter — extra entities, ad-hoc reports, unlimited "quick questions." Kills margin on flat-fee CAS.
Related: Engagement letters
A bounded period of work for one client company — e.g. July 2026 monthly bookkeeping — with a checklist of work items, owners, and status. Operational truth for what's done vs. pending.
Related: Workflows
A single step on a service cycle checklist — reconcile Amex, publish P&L, send client question — with assignee, due date, and audit history.
Related: Tasks & team