Challenge
Sensiba prides themselves on having a mindset that is open to technological adoption, and their pilot considered how AI tools could introduce efficiency and change the way they are doing things.
One challenge is how time-consuming technical research can be; staff often spend a lot of time digging through accounting guidance and drafting memos from scratch, all of which can lead to delays and or inconsistencies.
Solution
CoCounsel alleviates this by providing quick and structured answers to technical questions. Instead of spending 30 to 45 minutes researching a complex accounting issue, a solid response can be found within minutes with the relevant guidance displayed directly alongside the response.
Introducing efficiencies using CoCounsel Workspaces
Summarization of limited partnership agreements
In venture capital audits, limited partnership agreements (LPAs) are foundational documents outlining the economics and operations of a fund. They are relied upon to validate whether investments and capital allocations are in line with agreed upon terms. Traditionally, summarizing LPAs is a time-consuming process, requiring manual extraction of key terms for audit testing and financial disclosures.
Workspaces LPA automation
With CoCounsel, the team created a workspace template specifically for LPAs, allowing them to extract key economic terms from these lengthy legal documents within minutes. This automated process generates a consistent summary that is ready for review quickly, enabling easy comparison against prior versions or amendments.
Enhanced document management
The audit team has gone on to create other similar templates. The idea of a foundation document that governs an entity’s operations is similar for technology companies — the certification of incorporation — and employee benefit plan audits — the adoption agreement. The use of CoCounsel workspaces allows for the fact that keyword searches won’t necessarily work on these documents.
This integration with authoritative accounting guidance is particularly valued:
The approach to a successful rollout
The rollout of CoCounsel was deliberately timed for a busy time of year — January — so the team could learn using the workspaces that had been developed while they were busy with their client work.
The focus has been on educating staff about the tool’s existence and potential uses rather than enforcing its use, allowing staff to explore and integrate it into their workflows naturally. Staff are encouraged to learn by experimenting with the tool, with minimal formal training.
Other technical implementations were happening, and the concern was that there would be “change fatigue” with the introduction of yet another technology. The introduction of CoCounsel felt quite low effort, however, in part due to the approach taken that CoCounsel is an aid to completing existing workpapers — it is not dictating the approach.
This flexibility has been key to realizing strong adoption across the department. Newer staff, who may be more technologically native and have an expectation that AI tools will be available for use, have particularly appreciated CoCounsel.
The future
Unlike some other AI tools that can have specific terms of use, CoCounsel has broader applications, and the challenge is to think about different ways of using it. The use of templates and workspaces has been a particularly impactful use case, but as there continues to be a roll out of new features, Sensiba anticipates they will continue to refine the way they use it.
Executive summary
Sensiba was one of the first companies to use CoCounsel in its Audit and Assurance department. After introducing it through a pilot program designed to test its research efficiency capabilities, CoCounsel was integrated into the audit department’s workflow and adopted by over 100 people.
About the firm
Sensiba
Independent and partner-owned, Sensiba is a leading Top 75 U.S. firm with a global footprint, maintaining operations across the Americas, Europe, Australia, and beyond. Sensiba is passionate about collaborating with clients to increase efficiency, mitigate risk, and embrace emerging opportunities. As a member of Morison Global, Sensiba supports clients’ international accounting and tax needs. As a certified B Corp, Sensiba fosters a culture where people, families, and communities thrive. Sensiba’s accounting, tax, risk assurance, and consulting services help businesses and people solve problems, establish trust, and build a foundation for sustainable growth.
People
- Emma Castanedo
Audit Director Emma Castanedo has eight years of accounting and auditing experience and specializes in managing audits from the planning stages to issuance. She works extensively with venture-backed technology companies and is experienced in auditing complex revenue and equity transactions. Emma also is the co-lead of the firm’s technical accounting specialist group providing internal and external assistance on technical accounting and auditing concepts.
- Carson Chen
With over seven years of experience, Senior Audit Manager Carson Chen works extensively with clients in Venture Capital and Technology. In the venture capital space, he has served investment fund clients ranging from emerging managers through large institutional multi-entity funds. He specializes in complex fund structures, and valuation and allocations. In the technology space, he has worked with companies ranging from pre-revenue to large multinational companies. His specialties include revenue recognition, stock options, and consolidation.
Thomson Reuters CoCounsel Audit
Designed for the pressure and precision of audit, CoCounsel Audit pairs explainable AI with your internal knowledge and trusted regulatory sources to reduce rework, improve accuracy, and deliver faster results — without sacrificing control.