Productivity Gains and Staffing Upside

Can AI really prepare a tax return without a human touching the keyboard? Blake and David dig into a wave of new accounting tools that promise exactly that, from AI tax prep and bookkeeping agents to month-end automation. They’re joined by Kenji Kuramoto of Basis to discuss what this means for firms, pricing, and jobs. Plus: the U.S. government’s worsening balance sheet, Tether’s long-awaited audit, and why token costs may become accounting’s next big metric.

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• (00:00) - TAP 481
• (02:34) - US Insolvency Breakdown
• (06:04) - Household Budget Analogy
• (07:49) - GAO Disclaimer Explained
• (08:37) - AI Tax Prep Agents
• (11:45) - Kenji Joins the Show
• (15:07) - Kenji New Role at Basis
• (19:40) - Basis Agents for CAS
• (25:36) - AI Skills and Pricing Shift
• (28:04) - Token Billing and FinOps
• (33:55) - Tokens Not Timesheets
• (34:17) - Delve Compliance Fallout
• (36:18) - Xero Adds Claude AI
• (38:16) - Who Really Owns Data
• (41:06) - Ramp Accounting Agent
• (45:19) - Ramp Budgets Reality Check
• (48:27) - Canopy Bookkeeping Module
• (53:11) - Billcom Agents Soapbox
• (55:09) - Audit Tech Fundraising
• (56:37) - Tether Finally Gets Audited
• (59:52) - Costco Tariff Refund Lawsuit
• (01:02:16) - Wrap Up And CPE

Show Notes

The Treasury just declared the U.S. insolvent. The media missed it.

https://fortune.com/2026/03/23/us-government-insolvent-fiscal-crisis-fix/

TaxGPT AI agent aims to complete the whole tax return

https://www.accountingtoday.com/news/taxgpt-touts-ai-that-automatically-completes-returns-from-start-to-finish

As Tax Deadline Approaches, Consumers Are Going to AI Before Filing

https://www.pymnts.com/taxes/2026/as-tax-deadline-approaches-consumers-are-going-to-ai-before-filing/

AI Efficiency Gains Push Accounting Firms to Reimagine Pricing

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/ip-law/ai-efficiency-gains-push-accounting-firms-to-reimagine-pricing

Accounting Jobs Requiring AI Skills Jump 67%

https://www.accountingtoday.com/news/accounting-jobs-requiring-ai-skills-jump-67

Xero and Anthropic Collaborate to Bring AI-Powered Financial Intelligence to Millions of Small Businesses

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260326956055/en/Xero-and-Anthropic-Collaborate-to-Bring-AI-Powered-Financial-Intelligence-to-Millions-of-Small-Businesses

Ramp Launches Accounting Agent to Automate Bookkeeping with Real-Time Close

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ramp-launches-accounting-agent-to-automate-bookkeeping-with-real-time-close-302686214.html

Ramp Launches Ramp Budgets

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ramp-launches-ramp-budgets-302667840.html

Canopy Unveils Canopy Bookkeeping to Eliminate Month-End Friction for Accounting and CAS Teams

https://www.morningstar.com/news/business-wire/20260211348515/canopy-unveils-canopy-bookkeeping-to-eliminate-month-end-friction-for-accounting-and-cas-teams

Canopy Expands Tax Workflow With AI-Powered Tax Preparation Through New Filed Integration

https://www.getcanopy.com/blog/canopy-expands-tax-workflow-with-ai-powered-tax-preparation-through-new-filed-integration

Double AI Journal Entries

https://doublehq.com/ai-journal-entries/

Tech News: Ramp, Canopy Both Announce AI-Powered Bookkeeping Solutions (includes Bill.com AI agents coverage)

https://www.accountingtoday.com/list/tech-news-ramp-canopy-both-announce-ai-powered-bookkeeping-solutions

Exclusive: Founded By 2 Brothers In Their 20s, YC-Backed Denki Raises $4.1M To Automate Financial Audits

https://news.crunchbase.com/venture/yc-backed-denki-raise-financial-audit-automation-ai/

Tether Taps Big Four Firm KPMG for First Financial Audit of $184 Billion Stablecoin Issuer

https://www.theblock.co/post/395423/tether-taps-kpmg-for-first-financial-audit

Americans Are Demanding Refunds from the $180 Billion in Tariffs They Paid, Including Suing Companies Like Costco

https://fortune.com/2026/03/13/americans-demanding-tariff-refunds-suing-costco-fedex/

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