Beyond tax
AI consulting and setup
I run my practice, and a good part of my day, on AI assistants I set up myself. I can set up the same kind of help for your business or your household.
Most people try an AI chatbot, get a clever paragraph back, and stop there. The real time savings come when the assistant is connected to the things you already use (your email, calendar, files and spreadsheets) and given a specific job to do every day, with rules about what it may and may not do on its own.
That is what I set up. You keep the final say: the AI sorts, files and drafts, and you approve anything that leaves your hands.
The fee
One day: 5 hours
$2,500
Three days: 15 hours
$6,000
Setup hours are working time on your own computer and accounts. Before any work begins I tell you which package fits what you describe.
- A look at where your time goes, and what to hand off first
- The AI assistant installed and connected to the tools you already use
- Systems built and running, such as a daily inbox sort with reply drafts, a document filing routine or a dashboard
- Guardrails: what it may do on its own, and what always waits for you
- Plain-English written instructions, and training until you're comfortable
AI and software subscriptions are billed to you directly by the provider. Support and maintenance after the setup is $250 an hour.
What I've built for my own practice
A morning sweep of every inbox
Before I sit down, the AI has read every mailbox and the secure upload portal, filed each client's documents in the right folder, and written reply drafts. Nothing goes out until I've read it and sent it myself.
Client status pages, invoices and this website
Status pages, secure uploads, online invoices paid by card or bank transfer, e-signature tracking and a checklist for every return, plus the site you're reading. All built with an AI developer, no programming firm.
Tax documents organized for preparation
A client's documents become one organized file in the order the return needs them, with prep notes, a prior-year comparison and import files for the tax software.
Bookkeeping
Years of QuickBooks history brought over, bank and card statements matched to the books, and a reconciliation screen that shows what doesn't tie.
Paperwork that writes itself
A status change writes the client's email for me to review, every job gets its own checklist, paper mail is logged, and estimated-tax reminders go to the right list.
Office technology
Email moving to Google Workspace, the domain and its mail records, a battery backup for the office computer, and an encrypted network drive for backups.
And for my own life
Life at a glance on a second screen
My calendar, live weather, news by topic with a QR code to read more on my phone, market and sports tickers, the week's shows and games, and ideas for open evenings, over a slideshow of my own photos. It updates itself through the day.
A private daily tracker
My own app for the daily log and the trends across it. A show watcher reads the local venues' websites every morning and lists new shows that match my taste.
Two years of photos, sorted
Every picture pulled out of one long text conversation, duplicates and near-duplicates removed, and a pick page so I choose which ones join the slideshow.
Who it's for
Small offices
- Tax, accounting and bookkeeping practices
- Realtors and property managers
- Medical and therapy practices
- Contractors and home-services businesses
Households
- One calendar and one dashboard for the family
- Photos gathered, de-duplicated and organized
- Bills, paperwork and records filed where you can find them
The ground rules I build in
- The AI drafts; you send. It doesn't send email, pay, sign or delete on its own.
- Your passwords stay with you. You sign in yourself; the assistant never types or stores a password.
- Nothing is deleted. Anything that looks like clutter is set aside for you to look at.
- Your information stays in your own accounts, and I tell you which provider handles what.
AI assistants make mistakes. Every setup keeps a person reviewing anything that matters, and I'll tell you plainly where the AI is reliable and where it needs watching.
Tell me what eats your time.
Describe the chore you'd hand off if you could. I'll tell you what it would take, and which package fits, before any work begins.