Nothing left unchecked: an accountant's view of AI and client privacy

AI gives an accountancy firm more capacity from the same team, as long as everything it produces is checked, client data stays private and the firm isn't tied to one platform. Those were the points Raman Boparai FCCA made when we spoke to her last week, and they match what we see in firms bringing AI in.

Raman owns Vestra Accountants, a firm of chartered certified accountants in Barking, Essex, with clients across the UK. She advises everyone from self-employed individuals to substantial companies, and lately she has been focusing on the businesses that want to grow.

AI's value to a firm is capacity

Raman sees AI as the profession's next step. "I think it's your next step up," she said. "It means it takes you away from the menial duties, but you still keep an eye on it."

That is where the value lies for a firm. The routine hours inside each job are the ones AI can take on, and the time it frees goes back into chargeable work, so the same team can take on more clients, and bigger ones, without adding to its headcount.

The money shows up in the recovery rate. Every job has a time budget, and the fee is set from it. When a job runs over, the extra time is written off, so the firm bills less of the time it recorded. When AI brings jobs in inside their budget, less is written off, and the recovery rate, fee income and gross profit rise together.

The gain holds only if every output is checked

All of that depends on the work being right. Raman was firm about it: "you still look at it and go, 'Actually, this is right, and this is wrong.' Nothing can go left unchecked, as far as I'm concerned. I guess that's the accountant talking, but it's completely true."

AI is generative, so even a solution that is set up well will sometimes get things wrong. Every solution we implement has a named owner who reviews what it produces before anything reaches a client, the way a manager reviews a junior's work. That review is part of the job's time budget, so the cost of a solution includes the time spent checking it. A solution whose output needs little correcting brings the job in under budget, and one that needs a lot of correcting is improved before it goes any further. Either way, the standard of the work stays where it was or rises.

Client data is where the real risk sits

Raman's biggest concern was confidentiality. "That's one of the key issues," she said, "is the confidentiality and the privacy." In her view, "a lot of people don't realise it's not private", and with the kind of information accountants hold, it "can just be detrimental when you start uploading all that information into places." She went further: AI "can completely breach the law without actually realising it."

We see the same. When we ask firms what AI their people already use, we sometimes find free or personal accounts with client data in them. That use has to be brought inside the firm's AI policy before anything new goes on top, and every solution has to pass a compliance check against the rules the firm works under, from data protection law to its professional body.

Where each solution runs then follows from the data it touches. It runs on the AI provider's own cloud only when nothing sensitive is involved. Client work runs on the firm's own server, where the provider never trains on what it sends, or on a machine in the office, where the data never leaves the building.

To know exactly where client data goes when your team uses AI, and how to keep every job private and checked, take the quiz below. It takes a few minutes.

A firm shouldn't be tied to one platform

Raman also made a point many firms miss. AI is "still at the early stages of development. So that makes sense to not be tied into a particular platform." And if a platform were switched off, "it's a huge risk, isn't it? And it's an assessment that every firm should be making."

The answer is for the firm to own its knowledge and rent the AI. Its know-how sits in files and systems it owns, and each solution is set up so a different model can take over if a provider changes its prices or terms, or switches a service off. As the models change, each solution is checked and tweaked so its quality doesn't drop unnoticed, and when a better model arrives, the firm can move to it without starting again.

What firm leaders should do now

Taken together, Raman's points set out the order a firm needs to follow, whoever does the work.

Start with the firm's own work, broken down into the individual tasks and processes that create value for its clients: who does each one, how long it takes, what data it uses and who signs it off. As Raman put it, "every business is different", so the AI that fits one firm won't fit the next.

Before any solution, check the layers those tasks sit on: the business and each department, the tech stack, the quality, completeness and security of the data, compliance and governance, and the people who will work alongside the AI. Where a layer isn't ready, fixing it comes first.

Then set out a roadmap of solutions, each fully costed with the hours it frees up, what it costs to implement, its first-year return and what it does to the recovery rate on the jobs it touches, so the partners can see the case for each one before anything is spent.

Implement the solutions one by one, in the roadmap's order, each with its risks designed out, covered by the AI policy and owned by a named person who checks what it produces. Once they are live, keep managing them as the models change.

Done in that order, the firm gets more capacity from the same team, hits its chargeable time targets and lifts its recovery rate, in a way that is compliant and keeps client data secure.

If you want us to do it for you, book a free call and we'll find you at least $50,000 a year in new business that AI can unlock. It's compliant, data-secure and has governance built in.

Know exactly how to keep client data private when your team uses AI

Our quiz asks which AI your team uses, where client data goes, what your clients have agreed to and who checks the work. Your report shows where your firm stands today and gives you a 30-day plan to make its AI safe with client data.

We'll find you $50,000 a year in new business AI can unlock in 72 hours, or you don't pay.