Cut your tax research time without sacrificing accuracy by leveraging AI that's built specifically for small tax and accounting firms.
Highlights
- Small tax firms need AI research strategies designed specifically for their profession and tight margins.
- Five-step checklist helps evaluate AI tools for tax accuracy, integration, and regulatory compliance.
- Tax-specific AI built on authoritative sources reduces validation time and improves client service.
The research burden facing small tax and accounting firms has reached a breaking point. Your team is stretched thin, especially during tax season. You’re juggling complex tax questions across multiple jurisdictions, managing extension deadlines, and fielding last-minute client questions about estimated payments and state conformity rules.
Consumer-grade AI tools promise to help, but they often create more problems than they solve, like hallucinations, unreliable sources, and answers that require extensive verification.
The good news? You don’t need to choose between efficiency and accuracy. This practical checklist will guide you through building an AI research strategy that actually works for lean teams.
Jump to ↓
Why small tax and accounting firms need a different approach to AI research
Step 1: Verify the AI was built by tax and accounting experts
Step 2: Confirm the AI uses vetted, authoritative tax data sources
Step 3: Ensure seamless integration with your existing tax workflow
Step 4: Select AI that evolves with regulatory changes
Step 5: Combat AI skepticism with transparency and proof
Your path to efficient, trustworthy tax research
Why small tax and accounting firms need a different approach to AI research
Time scarcity is critical. Every hour your staff spends on research is an hour not spent on client service. When a tax analyst researches whether remote workers create nexus in seven states, that time adds up quickly. During busy season, your team doesn’t have enough hours in the day to validate AI-generated answers.
Limited margin for error. When a tax director signs off on a Section 199A deduction or provides guidance on multi-state apportionment rules, that advice needs to be right the first time. You need AI that delivers accuracy immediately, backed by sources you can confirm and defend.
Skepticism is justified, but inaction has costs. While you’re waiting for AI to prove itself, competitors are delivering same-day answers to complex state conformity questions and taking on more engagements during year-end planning season.
The solution is adopting a tax-specific AI research strategy designed for your profession, not one-size-fits-all tools.
Here’s your 5-step checklist for building a research strategy that actually delivers results.
Step 1: Verify the AI was built by tax and accounting experts
The challenge: Off-the-shelf AI doesn’t understand tax nuances. It might process language well, but it doesn’t understand why state apportionment rules require entirely different analysis than federal consolidated return regulations.
Your checklist criteria:
-
- Was the solution developed with input from experienced tax and accounting professionals?
- Is the provider well-established in the tax and accounting industry?
- Does the AI understand the specific questions you actually ask?
Real-world test: Ask the AI about current-year state tax conformity to the OBBBA, economic nexus thresholds for remote workers, or the latest IRS guidance on digital asset reporting. Tax-specific AI will understand these questions immediately and provide code-section citations. Consumer tools will struggle with tax-specific terminology.
Why it matters for small firms: You don’t have time to waste correcting AI mistakes. Purpose-built AI anticipates your actual research questions—like whether a client’s revenue creates economic nexus in 15 different states. Or how recent IRS guidance affects their 1031 exchange timeline.
CoCounsel Tax delivers: Built on our 100+ years of tax expertise at Thomson Reuters and developed alongside practicing tax professionals, CoCounsel Tax is designed specifically for tax research.
Step 2: Confirm the AI uses vetted, authoritative tax data sources
The risk: Unreliable sources equal unreliable answers, which equals wasted validation time.
Your checklist criteria:
-
- Does the tool rely on vetted, relevant data from trusted sources?
- Can you see where every answer comes from with transparent sourcing?
- Are citations from authoritative tax sources—IRS guidance, Internal Revenue Code sections, Treasury regulations, court cases, and state tax authority updates?
The small firm impact: Every hour spent checking AI output is non-billable time that hurts your realization rates and engagement profitability. When you’re on a call with a client who asks about the tax implications of selling their S-Corp, you need to cite specific code sections and revenue rulings. You can’t explain away unreliable AI-generated information.
CoCounsel Tax delivers: Built on Checkpoint’s comprehensive tax content (the same authoritative sources your team already relies on),every response includes direct citations so your analysts can trace conclusions.
Step 3: Ensure seamless integration with your existing tax workflow
What goes wrong: New technology that disrupts workflows kills adoption. If your team has to learn a completely new platform, they won’t use it, no matter how powerful it is.
Your checklist criteria:
-
- Does it integrate seamlessly into your existing workflows?
- Can your team start using it without extensive training?
- Does it work with the tools you already use daily—Checkpoint for research, your tax preparation software (UltraTax CS, ProSeries, Lacerte) for returns, Excel for workpapers, and your document management system for client files?
Why this matters: You don’t have time for lengthy implementations, especially not during tax season when every minute counts. A low learning curve means faster ROI.
User-centric design essentials: The best AI works within tools you already use, not as a separate platform. It should integrate with your existing tax technology stack, whether you’re using SafeSend for client communication or ShareFile for document management.
CoCounsel Tax integration: Embedded directly in Thomson Reuters Checkpoint, CoCounsel Tax lets you upload client documents for firm-specific analysis and export results to Excel for workpapers or Word for client deliverables, so you can start seeing efficiency gains in week one.
Step 4: Select AI that evolves with regulatory changes
The common mistake: Stale AI equals outdated advice, which equals compliance risk. Tax law changes constantly. Federal legislation, state rule updates, international treaty modifications, and evolving IRS guidance happen throughout the year.
Your checklist criteria:
-
- Does the solution continually update based on regulatory changes?
- Who keeps the AI current with tax law changes?
- How quickly does the AI reflect legislative updates, particularly critical state tax changes?
Your competitive edge: You don’t have time to monitor whether the AI stays current with the latest regulations. Can it track new state pass-through entity tax elections? Update economic nexus thresholds? It must handle this automatically.
CoCounsel Tax meets these requirements: We monitor regulatory developments, ensuring your research stays current without requiring your professionals to track every update manually.
Step 5: Combat AI skepticism with transparency and proof
The reality: AI skepticism is justified. Hallucinations are real. Broad-based AI tools have been caught fabricating case law, inventing tax code sections, and presenting confident-sounding answers with zero factual basis.
Assessment checklist:
-
- Can the AI explain how it arrived at each answer?
- Are citations provided for every claim with specific code sections, revenue rulings, and case citations?
- Can you independently confirm sources?
Why skepticism is healthy: Your firm’s reputation depends on precision. When you’re advising a client on whether cryptocurrency transactions trigger wash sale rules or how to calculate their qualified business income deduction, you need AI that provides verifiable, authoritative answers—not educated guesses.
Three ways to overcome skepticism:
Demand explainability. Every answer should show its work. CoCounsel Tax provides complete citations from our Checkpoint’s authoritative content, so your team can trace every conclusion back to its source.
Understand the difference between consumer and profession-focused AI. Consumer tools are trained on broad internet data that may include outdated tax forums. Specialized solutions like CoCounsel Tax are trained specifically on vetted, authoritative tax sources.
Start with proof, not promises. Request demos and bring your actual research scenarios. Test with low-risk questions first, then measure time savings in your first 30 days.
Your path to efficient, trustworthy tax research
This 5-step checklist provides the evaluation framework you need to choose AI that enhances both efficiency and accuracy.
The firms that modernize their research strategies today will compound their competitive advantages tomorrow. Your team will be able to answer complex questions faster. Your analysts will work more independently, and your directors will spend less time checking work and more time advising clients.
Ready to see how CoCounsel Tax can transform your firm’s research efficiency? Request a demo and experience tax-specific AI in action.
Want to dive deeper into what to look for in AI tools? Download our comprehensive guide: ‘Not all AI is created equal: Expertise matters’
