Case study
How a small CPA firm scaled advisory and accelerated research with CoCounsel and Ready to Advise
With trusted, citation-backed AI and repeatable advisory workflows, the firm freed partners from bottlenecks and empowered junior staff.
Company overview
Based in Jacksonville, Florida, The Forde Firm, Inc. is a CPA firm providing tax, audit, bookkeeping, and advisory services to businesses and nonprofits. Founded and led by Linda R. Forde, CPA, the firm serves clients across Northeast Florida and beyond, combining technical depth with a service-led approach.
Introduction
Facing mounting client demand and an industry wide talent squeeze, a 12 person Jacksonville CPA firm needed to scale high value work without sacrificing quality or trust. Leadership adopted a connected approach across Thomson Reuters CoCounsel and Ready to Advise to standardize research and advisory workflows. The trust unlocked when the firm saw they could "lock it down and have it only give legitimate answers," enabling safe adoption of AI across the team. The result is that research and advisory moved faster because staff could contribute sooner with step by step guidance.
Ready to Advise
“Paid for itself in the first couple of clients”
12 seats
Rolled out CoCounsel to all firm employees
12/10
Rating by the firm
“I was terrified about my staff using Chat GPT without any protections or any security protocols in place. So, we went with CoCounsel because of the limited source data that we could lock it down and use data from legitimate sources.”
Linda Forde
Managing Partner, The Forde Firm
The challenge
Like many growing firms, the team was constrained by partner bottlenecks and uneven staff experience. Advisory quality depended heavily on one leader's "35 years of experience," slowing proposals and limiting capacity. At the same time, staff was eager to use AI, but leadership needed a solution that preserved client trust and professional standards. As the managing partner put it, "AI is coming whether we like it or not. I was terrified about my staff using Chat GPT without any protections or any security protocols in place."
“Ready to Advise allows me to help my staff understand better the options that are available without having to have my 35 years of experience.”
Linda Forde
Managing Partner, The Forde Firm
The solution
The firm implemented connected Thomson Reuters solutions to relieve pressure at once.
CoCounsel for research, document analysis, and firm knowledge. Leadership "bought a seat for everyone in the firm" — from bookkeepers to administrative staff — grounding daily work in authoritative sources. Output trust was non-negotiable: "I can click on any conversation and be able to confidently explain to my client why it matters, what code section it came from."
Ready to Advise to standardize and scale advisory. The team now uploads prior-year returns "before we're even delivering a proposal," then reviews AI-matched strategies and client-ready materials. This option preserved institutional trust — strategy guidance grounded in Thomson Reuters expertise — and adoption trust — step-by-step execution so junior staff can contribute. "Using Ready to Advise has helped our engagement process. We can get to the client's goals a whole lot faster."
With these tools, the trust moment was clear; constrained sources, citations, and firm policies inside CoCounsel gave leaders confidence to scale AI with guardrails — "we could lock it down and have it only giving legitimate answers."
The outcome
Capacity and confidence increased across the practice. Partners spend more time advising while staff "put information into Ready to Advise and have it be ready to go," accelerating proposals and client conversations. Research that once stalled delivery now produces documented, defensible memos clients appreciate. "I got an instant response in a memo that I could send directly to my client."
The firm is training the next generation faster with step-by-step guidance that avoids constant partner interruptions. Most importantly, trust became the engine of change. Institutional trust in Thomson Reuters content, output trust through citations and audit trails, and adoption trust from firmwide seats and easy to use workflows. As the managing partner sums up the ROI, "It paid for itself in the first couple of clients," and "I'd give it 12 out of 10."
At a glance
Industry
Accounting, Finance & Tax, Audit
HQ region
Jacksonville, Florida
Solutions
CoCounsel Tax & Audit
Ready to Advise
Year founded
2018
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