The Smart Firm’s Guide to Artificial Intelligence

Accounting has always been about adapting tools to manage complexity. The earliest records we have — Mesopotamian cuneiform tablets — were accountants’ way of tracking goods and labor. Fast forward a few millennia, and the challenge is the same: adopting new tools to make firms more efficient while safeguarding accuracy and trust.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is simply the latest chapter in that story.

According to a survey conducted in 2025 by Bill Growth and CPA.com, a whopping 97% of accounting firms believe they’re not using tech efficiently. AI is the mother of all tech efficiency breakthroughs, but accountants are understandably reticent. Over and above the learning curve, there are very real ethics and compliance concerns. In 2024, High Radius discovered that 70% of accountants say they’re worried about how AI tools store or use client data.

So how do we bridge the gap between cuneiform tablets and large language models — and actually bring 21st-century efficiency to firms in a secure, compliant way? The answer is to start small, in one area where AI can deliver massive impact with minimal risk: the client intake process.

Why Start with Client Intake?

Client intake is a deceptively simple workflow that sits at the heart of firm growth. It’s the first impression a client has of your firm, and it can either set the stage for a smooth engagement or derail the relationship before it even starts.

Traditional intake relies on long, jargon-heavy questionnaires, endless back-and-forth over missing documents, and risky email attachments. These inefficiencies waste firm time, frustrate clients, and create security gaps.

The good news? AI can make intake smarter, faster, and more client-friendly — without sacrificing compliance.

The 5 Problems That AI Can Solve in Client Intake

Client intake might look simple on the surface, but inside most firms it’s where the cracks start to show. From clients abandoning long questionnaires to staff wasting hours on rework, intake creates friction at every step.

AI can directly address these challenges. Here are the five biggest problems firms face with intake and how AI can solve them.

Problem 1: Clients abandon overwhelming questionnaires

CPA firms routinely lose business due to long, outdated intake questionnaires. It’s hard to track how much, but the anecdotal evidence is all over internet forums.

One Reddit user, referring to a lengthy, jargon-laden PDF intake questionnaire their prospective new CPA had sent them, memorably remarked “Why am I doing my CPA’s job for them?” Another commented “Honestly, it’s easier to use TurboTax. At least I can fix mistakes and get guidance without being charged $300.”

Intake friction is bad for business in every industry. The more complexity you can absorb for your new clients, the happier and more loyal they will be. Yet the traditional questionnaire is focused on what will make life easier for the CPA, not the client.

That’s completely backwards.

How AI can solve this problem

SmartRequestAI scans each client’s prior-year 1040 and generates a concise, personalized questionnaire that only asks what’s relevant. Clear, relevant questions reduce questionnaire abandonment while still giving the CPA the information he needs to effectively serve the client.

Problem 2: Staff waste hours chasing missing documents

Most accounting support staff members know the frustration of chasing down missing documents — endless follow-up emails, phone calls, reminders, sticky notes. This leads to scrambling, missed deadlines, and lost time that could be devoted to higher-level tasks like tax preparation, review, or advisory services. It also leads to decreased morale, staff burnout, and higher turnover within the organization.

How AI can solve this problem

SmartRequestAI generates personalized document request lists and sends reminders to clients. With a real-time dashboard showing what’s in and what’s missing, firms eliminate the guesswork — and staff get back hours per return.

Problem 3: Poor document quality creates endless rework

Chasing down documents from clients isn’t the only time-sink that frustrates CPAs and their staff. Once the documents are received, a whole new problem emerges. Documents received as PDFs must often be downloaded, renamed according to firm naming conventions, and manually filed into the correct document bins. If the document comes through in the wrong format (screenshots, text files, etc.), it must often be manually converted. It’s death by a million papercuts. Don’t underestimate how much personnel time is lost keeping documents from becoming a sprawling, unwieldy mess.

How AI can solve this problem

SmartRequesetAI sends “smart requests” to clients, guiding them to upload files in the correct formats. Additionally, SmartScan technology automatically turns image files to clean PDFs, rename them according to firm naming conventions, and file documents in the correct folder. Plus, it compiles everything into a structured, review-ready workpaper.

Problem 4: Generic forms frustrate everyone

Sending every client the same generic form tends to be a symptom of “firm-centric” thinking as opposed to “client-centric” thinking. The questionnaire is designed to make the CPA’s job easier, as opposed to making it easier for the prospect to become a client. But generic questionnaires often create problems for the CPA and the firm as well, overloading the staff with unnecessary information, “N/A” responses, and blank fields to sift through.

How AI can solve this problem

When every questionnaire is customized to the client, it eliminates the problem of unnecessary information. Mobile-friendly interfaces and progress tracking can make the entire process more “client-centric,” as well as easier on the firm team.

Problem 5: Security risks from unsecure documents

The security concerns around cloud-based AI tools are well-founded, but most current CPA tech stacks aren’t much better. Getting the client to use the secure document upload portal can be like pulling teeth. You’re left with a combination of email, Slack, secure upload portals, and other tools, all of them with incoming sensitive documents. In addition to the data security risk, this creates a nightmare of multiple logins and a scavenger hunt to find what document got uploaded where, as well as the disquiet that some of those communication channels are vulnerable to cyberattack.

How AI can solve this problem

SmartRequestAI runs on private AI models. Client data never leaves SmartVault, never trains public AI models, and is never exposed to third-party platforms. Firms get a single, secure system of record — without adding another login to their tech stack.

SmartRequestAI: Where AI Meets Proven Automation

SmartVault has long been more than “just document management.” As the industry’s leading document management and client portal platform, we’ve helped thousands of firms simplify secure document sharing, automated filing, and retention. SmartRequestAI^™ is the next step in that journey — extending SmartVault’s proven platform to the very start of tax prep with AI-powered intake.

This SmartVault feature empowers firms and their clients with:

Personalized, jargon-free intake questionnaires generated from AI-powered scans of prior-year tax returns. Each questionnaire asks only what’s relevant, reducing abandonment and back-and-forth.
Mobile-friendly uploads with SmartScan. Clients can snap photos of documents, which are instantly saved as clean, professional PDFs.
Automated document organization. SmartRequestAI compiles all responses and uploads into an organized, review-ready workpaper while automatically filing documents into the correct folders — saving firms 60–90 minutes per return.
Real-time tracking and visibility dashboards that show exactly which documents have been submitted and what’s still outstanding.
End-to-end security. Client data never trains public AI models and remains fully protected within SmartVault’s SOC 2 Type 2–compliant platform.
Seamless integration. SmartVault connects directly with leading tax prep apps including ProSeries, Lacerte, ProConnect, UltraTax CS, Drake, and CCH.
Accountant-first design. Unlike generic form apps, SmartRequestAI is built around accounting workflows, making adoption easy and natural for firm teams.

Launching Fall 2025, SmartRequestAI is built directly into SmartVault, delivering personalized intake powered by private AI models that never train on your client data. With >99% accuracy analyzing prior-year 1040s, SmartRequestAI streamlines intake, reduces staff workload, and keeps everything secure — all in one platform.

Join the waitlist today to be the first to experience SmartRequestAI.