{ "title": "The AI Exposure Index: Accounting", "vertical": "accounting", "reviewed": "2026-08-02", "changelog": [ { "date": "2026-07-31", "change": "Removed the per-vendor `vector` field and its `vectorMeaning` labels. Verdicts, practices, companies, sources and figures are unchanged." } ], "field": { "companies": 118, "shown": 118 }, "verdictMeaning": { "replaced": "Your client can get this deliverable without you, so the work moves in-house.", "repriced": "Your client still needs you to run the AI, so you keep the work and bill fewer hours.", "defensible": "The billed work has no AI substitute; only the prep hours under it get repriced." }, "url": "https://upshiftco.com/for/accounting-firms/ai-exposure-index", "downloads": { "json": "https://upshiftco.com/data/ai-exposure-index/upshift-ai-exposure-index-accounting-2026-08-02.json", "csv": "https://upshiftco.com/data/ai-exposure-index/upshift-ai-exposure-index-accounting-2026-08-02.csv" }, "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/", "attribution": "Upshift LLC (upshiftco.com). Licensed CC BY-ND 4.0: cite it with attribution to “The AI Exposure Index: Accounting” and a link to the Index URL. No derivatives: do not republish a modified or rebranded copy.", "feedback": "Corrections and additions welcome (missing company, wrong verdict, better primary source) with a URL: shawn@upshiftco.com. Subject line: AI Exposure Index: Accounting - correction or addition.", "practices": [ { "practice": "Bookkeeping & monthly close", "group": "Compliance & core accounting", "verdict": "replaced", "vendors": [ { "name": "Basis", "sells": "AI agents that run accounting workflows inside CPA firms, including client accounting services engagements and month-end close, returning finished work for accountant review.", "figure": "$100M Series B led by Accel with GV, Khosla Ventures and Lloyd Blankfein, announced February 24, 2026, at a $1.15B valuation; $138M raised in total, and the company says approximately 30% of the top 25 accounting firms use it.", "url": "https://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/2026/02/24/basis-raises-100-million-to-deploy-ai-agents-for-accounting-firms/178759/" }, { "name": "Truewind", "sells": "An AI close platform that applies firm rules to transactions, builds prepaid and fixed asset schedules, reconciles third-party data against the books, and produces GL-ready journal entries; sold to CPA firms and to company finance teams.", "figure": "$13M Series A co-led by Rho Capital and Thomson Reuters Ventures with participation from Pathlight Ventures, announced December 11, 2024, bringing total funding to over $17M; the company says the platform absorbs 47% of month-end close tasks.", "url": "https://www.truewind.ai/blog/announcing-truewind-series-a" }, { "name": "Digits", "sells": "An AI-native general ledger doing continuous transaction categorization, reconciliation and an agentic month-end close, sold self-serve to business owners from $65 per month and separately to accountants through Digits for Firms.", "figure": "$65M Series C led by SoftBank with GV, Benchmark and 20VC Growth, announced March 24, 2022, at a $565M valuation, bringing total funding to $97.5M.", "url": "https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/digits-launches-digits-reports-announces-65m-series-c-led-by-softbank-301509712.html" }, { "name": "Puzzle", "sells": "Accounting software whose AI agents draft categorization, reconciliation and journal entries for human approval before anything posts to the ledger, sold to startups directly and to accounting firms as a capacity tool.", "figure": "$30M led by S32 and XYZ Capital with General Catalyst, Felicis and others, announced November 14, 2023, bringing total funding to $50M.", "url": "https://puzzle.io/blog/puzzle-raises-an-additional-30m-to-fuel-a-new-era-of-ai-powered-accounting" }, { "name": "Docyt", "sells": "An AI engine for reconciliation, transaction categorization and month-end close, sold to accounting firms through Accountant Copilot and directly to multi-entity and multi-location operators such as hotels and restaurants.", "figure": "$12M pre-Series B led by Pivot Investment Partners, reported August 6, 2025 alongside the launch of its High Precision Accounting Intelligence engine.", "url": "https://siliconangle.com/2025/08/06/ai-bookkeeper-docyt-debuts-precision-trained-ai-agents-accelerate-accounting-automation/" }, { "name": "Synthetic", "sells": "A fully autonomous AI bookkeeper that connects to a company’s financial accounts and produces accrual-basis financials without a human accountant, sold directly to AI and software startups.", "figure": "$10M seed led by Khosla Ventures with Basis Set Ventures and Shopify CEO Tobias Lutke, announced May 14, 2026; founded by Ian Crosby, who previously co-founded Bench Accounting.", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/14/khosla-ventures-is-betting-10m-on-ian-crosby-whose-last-startup-bench-imploded/" }, { "name": "Kick", "sells": "Self-serve bookkeeping software that categorizes business expenses and produces tax-ready financials, sold directly to entrepreneurs and self-employed owners.", "figure": "$9M seed round with participation from the OpenAI Startup Fund and General Catalyst, announced October 17, 2024, with the company reporting over 1,000 businesses on the platform at the time.", "url": "https://medium.com/kickfinance/kick-has-raised-9m-to-automate-the-boring-stuff-f3932a05282a" }, { "name": "Pilot", "sells": "An outsourced monthly bookkeeping and close service combining software-driven categorization with human bookkeepers and controllers, sold on subscription directly to startups and small businesses.", "figure": "$100M expanded Series C with Bezos Expeditions and Whale Rock Capital, announced March 26, 2021, at a $1.2B valuation.", "url": "https://pilot.com/blog/pilot-unicorn-bezos-expeditions-whale-rock" }, { "name": "Rivet", "sells": "An AI-assisted tax and accounting firm selling business and personal tax prep alongside bookkeeping and CFO services direct to founders, execs and venture-backed companies.", "figure": "1,100+ clients supported this season and a 40+ person bench of credentialed CPAs, EAs and accountants, per rivet.tax (accessed August 2026)", "url": "https://www.rivet.tax/" }, { "name": "Last Accounting Company", "sells": "A full-stack AI accounting firm selling bookkeeping and tax filings to startups and SMBs, where proprietary agents run the work and a certified accountant signs off.", "figure": "Y Combinator Summer 2026 batch, founded 2026, team of 4 in San Francisco (YC company page, accessed August 2026)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/last-accounting-company" }, { "name": "Balance", "sells": "An AI accounting firm that closes monthly books for SMBs, with an agent named Bea doing reconciliation, categorization and reporting and real accountants signing off.", "figure": "Y Combinator Winter 2026 batch, founded 2026, team of 4 in London (YC company page, accessed August 2026)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/getbalance" }, { "name": "Afternoon", "sells": "A managed bookkeeping, compliance and tax service for founders and ecommerce brands, pairing its own platform and AI automation with accountants who handle the filing.", "figure": "Y Combinator Fall 2024 batch, $2M pre-seed announced July 2025, team of 4 in New York (YC company page, accessed August 2026)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/afternoon" }, { "name": "Fondo", "sells": "A subscription bookkeeping and tax service for startups and SMBs that combines its own software and AI with staff accountants who close the books monthly, quarterly or annually.", "figure": "$7M seed led by Money Forward at a $66M valuation, roughly 1,200 customers and $6M ARR (TechCrunch, November 22, 2024)", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/22/yc-backed-fondo-raises-funding-for-its-ai-powered-bookkeeping-and-taxes-platform" }, { "name": "Zeni", "sells": "An AI bookkeeping service for venture-backed startups that updates the books daily rather than at month end, with AI categorization and reconciliation backed by an assigned controller, bookkeeping manager and analyst.", "figure": "$20B in transactions managed annually, per zeni.ai (accessed August 2026)", "url": "https://www.zeni.ai/" }, { "name": "Every", "sells": "A startup back office that sells accrual bookkeeping and monthly, quarterly and annual financial statements alongside payroll, banking and taxes, with AI categorization and an in-house controller on the account.", "figure": "$22.5M Series A led by Redpoint Ventures with 150+ customers, 78% on the full back office suite (every.io announcement, September 5, 2024)", "url": "https://www.every.io/blog-post/why-i-built-every-announcing-our-22-5m-series-a-to-transform-back-office-stress-into-founder-success" }, { "name": "Finally", "sells": "An AI finance platform for small and mid-market businesses selling self-serve invoicing, cards and expense tools alongside a done-for-you bookkeeping tier where its US team of QuickBooks-certified experts closes the books, plus a partner program for accounting firms.", "figure": "Over 3,500 companies, from startups to large enterprises, trust Finally, per finally.com (accessed August 2026)", "url": "https://finally.com/" }, { "name": "inDinero", "sells": "An outsourced accounting provider selling bookkeeping through monthly reporting, positioning AI-enabled workflows for data processing with its own professionals applying judgment and signing off.", "figure": "500+ regular customers and 150+ delivery professionals, pricing from $750/mo, per indinero.com (accessed August 2026)", "url": "https://www.indinero.com/" }, { "name": "airCFO", "sells": "An integrated startup back office replacing the separate bookkeeper, tax firm and fractional CFO, with bookkeeping and close delivered by its own team on top of a proprietary data and AI platform.", "figure": "Trusted by 300+ startups, per aircfo.com (accessed August 2026)", "url": "https://aircfo.com/why-aircfo" } ] }, { "practice": "Client accounting services & outsourced controller", "group": "Advisory", "verdict": "replaced", "vendors": [ { "name": "Basis", "sells": "AI agents that run multi-step accounting workflows for a firm’s client accounting services team, posting to QuickBooks and Xero and returning work for a human reviewer.", "figure": "$100M Series B led by Accel with GV, Lloyd Blankfein and Khosla Ventures at a $1.15B valuation, announced February 24, 2026; the company says its platform is used by about 30% of the top 25 accounting firms.", "url": "https://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/2026/02/24/basis-raises-100-million-to-deploy-ai-agents-for-accounting-firms/178759/" }, { "name": "Numeric", "sells": "Close management and reconciliation software that runs month-end close, flux analysis and controller-level review for a company’s in-house accounting team.", "figure": "$51M Series B led by IVP with Menlo Ventures, Founders Fund, Alkeon, 8VC and others, announced November 19, 2025.", "url": "https://www.numeric.io/blog/numeric-raises-51m-series-b" }, { "name": "Digits", "sells": "An AI general ledger that categorizes transactions and produces financial statements, sold self-serve to startups and small businesses and separately to accounting firms on per-client plans.", "figure": "Nearly $100M raised from Benchmark, SoftBank and GV, stated in the March 10, 2025 launch announcement for the Autonomous General Ledger; self-serve pricing starts at $100 per month.", "url": "https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/03/10/3039814/0/en/AI-Startup-Digits-Takes-on-QuickBooks-with-the-World-s-First-Autonomous-General-Ledger-for-Accounting-Xero-Co-founder-Craig-Walker-Joins-Digits.html" }, { "name": "Vic.ai", "sells": "Accounts payable automation that reads invoices, codes them and runs approvals and payment, sold to corporate finance and AP teams.", "figure": "$52M Series C led by existing investors ICONIQ Growth and GGV Capital, announced December 13, 2022, bringing total raised to $115M; named customers include PwC, BDO and Armanino.", "url": "https://www.vic.ai/news/vic-ai-secures-52m-in-series-c-funding-to-expand-suite-of-ai-enterprise-fintech-offerings" }, { "name": "Truewind", "sells": "Software that performs transaction coding, bank reconciliation, journal entries and flux analysis for month-end close, posting into QuickBooks and Sage Intacct.", "figure": "$13M Series A from Thomson Reuters Ventures, Rho Capital and Pathlight Ventures, announced January 8, 2025, bringing total investor-led funding to more than $17M; customers include EisnerAmper and Frank Rimerman.", "url": "https://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/2025/01/08/truewind-accounting-ai-platform-raises-13-million-in-series-a-funding/154157/" }, { "name": "LiveFlow", "sells": "Reporting software that syncs QuickBooks and Xero into live dashboards, forecasts and management reporting packs, sold to accounting firms and to in-house finance teams.", "figure": "$13.5M Series A led by Valar Ventures, announced September 24, 2024; customers include BDO, KLR, Wendy’s and Crumbl Cookies.", "url": "https://liveflow.com/blog/liveflow-series-a" }, { "name": "Finally", "sells": "An all-in-one bookkeeping, bill pay, expense and corporate card suite sold directly to small business owners, replacing the outside firm’s monthly retainer.", "figure": "$50M Series B equity from PeakSpan Capital plus a $150M credit facility from Encina, reported September 9, 2024.", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2024/09/09/miami-based-ai-bookkeeping-startup-finally-has-raised-another-big-round-200m-in-equity-and-debt/" }, { "name": "Double (formerly Keeper)", "sells": "Month-end close, client collaboration and file review software for the bookkeeping and CAS teams inside accounting firms.", "figure": "$6.5M Series A led by Album Ventures with Jack Altman and Y Combinator, announced December 11, 2025, bringing total raised to more than $12.5M; used by more than 4,000 accounting and bookkeeping firms across North America.", "url": "https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251210027851/en/Double-Raises-6.5-Million-Series-A-from-Album-Ventures-Jack-Altman-and-Y-Combinator-to-Double-Accountants-Productivity" }, { "name": "Pilot", "sells": "Outsourced back office for startups and small businesses covering bookkeeping, controller and CFO services, tax, and R&D credits, now fronted by an autonomous AI Accountant that runs onboarding through monthly close.", "figure": "Own announcement, Feb 4, 2026: Pilot has served ‘over 7,000 startups and small businesses over the past decade’ and unveiled a fully autonomous AI Accountant; covered by CPA Practice Advisor and Accounting Today the same day. Pilot.com homepage, accessed Aug 2026: ‘Trusted by 3,000+ growth-driven startups and small businesses’.", "url": "https://pilot.com/blog/pilot-unveils-ai-accountant-a-major-leap-toward-artificial-general-intelligence-in-accounting" }, { "name": "Fondo", "sells": "AI-powered bookkeeping with monthly, quarterly or annual close plus corporate tax filings and R&D credit work, sold to venture-backed startups as an all-in-one accounting platform.", "figure": "TechCrunch, Nov 22, 2024: $7M seed led by Money Forward at a $66M valuation, roughly 1,200 customers, $6M ARR, profitable, with customers including ElevenLabs, PostHog and Karat. YC company page, accessed Aug 2026: ‘Bookkeeping, tax, & tax credits on autopilot for 2,000+ startups’, W18 batch, team size 80.", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/22/yc-backed-fondo-raises-funding-for-its-ai-powered-bookkeeping-and-taxes-platform/" }, { "name": "inDinero", "sells": "Outsourced finance-as-a-service covering bookkeeping, accounting, controller-level reporting, CFO services, payroll, 409A valuations and business tax, positioned as ‘Expert-led. AI-accelerated’ where AI speeds execution and people keep the judgment.", "figure": "Own site, accessed Aug 2026: ‘500+ Regular customers’, ‘150+ Delivery Professionals’, ‘5 yrs+ Avg. Client Partnership’, ‘20+ Industries served’, ‘Pricing starts at $750/mo’; named customers include UpCounsel, Qualifi, Smartschool, Masterpiece Cuisine and Williamsburg Learning.", "url": "https://www.indinero.com/" }, { "name": "Zeni", "sells": "AI bookkeeping, accounts payable and bill pay, and financial reporting bundled with a dedicated human finance team, fractional CFO, tax and payroll service, sold to venture-backed startups by funding stage.", "figure": "Own site, accessed Aug 2026: ‘$20B in transactions managed annually by Zeni’, with named customers including Campfire, Teambridge, Matic, Wander Maps, Truthset and Relm.", "url": "https://www.zeni.ai/" }, { "name": "airCFO", "sells": "Integrated back office for venture-backed startups that replaces the separate bookkeeper, tax preparer, fractional CFO and HR consultant with one team, priced by funding stage.", "figure": "Own site, accessed Aug 2026: ‘520+ Startups served’, ‘$25B in total funding raised by airCFO clients’, ‘70+ VC firm partnerships’, and ‘Trusted by 300+ Startups’; the pricing page lists Finance (fractional CFO) starting at $1,600/mo at seed, $2,500/mo at Series A and $4,200/mo at Series B+.", "url": "https://aircfo.com/pricing" }, { "name": "Rivet", "sells": "Business and personal tax practice that also sells full-service accounting and strategic finance support, bundling bookkeeping with CFO services, direct to founders, executives and their companies.", "figure": "Own site, accessed Aug 2026: ‘Trusted by 1,100+ world class teams’, a ‘40+ person bench of credentialed CPAs, EAs, and accountants’ including ex-Big Four accountants and former IRS leadership, ‘$5.6B+ raised by our customers in 2025’ and ‘$18M+ saved for our clients this season’.", "url": "https://rivet.tax/" }, { "name": "Balance", "sells": "Real-time, audit-ready bookkeeping and accounting run by an AI agent and signed off by human accountants who also file the returns, sold to SMBs and founders.", "figure": "YC company page, accessed Aug 2026: Winter 2026 batch, founded 2026, team size 4, based in London. No client count or revenue disclosed.", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/getbalance" }, { "name": "Last Accounting Company", "sells": "Agent-native accounting firm selling the same bookkeeping and tax filing service as a traditional firm, where agents do the work on a proprietary general ledger and a certified accountant signs off, aimed at startups and SMBs.", "figure": "YC company page, accessed Aug 2026: Summer 2026 batch, founded 2026, team size 4, based in San Francisco. No client count or revenue disclosed.", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/last-accounting-company" } ] }, { "practice": "Business tax preparation & filing", "group": "Compliance & core accounting", "verdict": "replaced", "vendors": [ { "name": "Byron", "sells": "AI agents that prepare 1065, 1120 and 1120-S business returns for CPA firms, turning source documents into review-ready workpapers and handling depreciation schedules and partnership allocations.", "figure": "$6.5 million seed led by Square Peg, announced at public launch on May 27, 2026.", "url": "https://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/2026/05/27/byron-launches-with-ai-agents-for-business-tax-preparation-workflows/184034/" }, { "name": "Accrual", "sells": "AI tax preparation and review platform sold to accounting firms, covering federal and state forms plus unstructured inputs such as emails, spreadsheets and handwritten notes.", "figure": "$75 million raised at launch, led by General Catalyst with Pruven Capital and Edward Jones, announced February 5, 2026.", "url": "https://www.accountingtoday.com/news/tax-platform-accrual-launches-with-ai-automation-support-for-all-forms" }, { "name": "Basis", "sells": "AI agents that run accounting, tax and audit workflows inside CPA firms.", "figure": "$100 million Series B at a $1.15 billion valuation led by Accel, with GV, Khosla Ventures and Lloyd Blankfein, announced February 24, 2026; the platform is used by approximately 30% of the top 25 accounting firms.", "url": "https://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/2026/02/24/basis-raises-100-million-to-deploy-ai-agents-for-accounting-firms/178759/" }, { "name": "Filed", "sells": "AI preparation software for accounting firms covering 1065, 1120-S and 1120 business returns alongside 1040, 1041 and 990, working inside the firm’s existing tax software rather than replacing it.", "figure": "$17.2 million in pre-seed and seed funding announced May 21, 2025, led by Northzone with Day One Ventures and Neo.", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/21/filed-raises-17m-to-automate-the-drudgery-of-tax-prep/" }, { "name": "Instead", "sells": "AI tax platform that prepares and e-files business returns, sold to CPA firms and tax preparers and also available by free direct signup to businesses, corporate tax teams, family offices and high net worth individuals.", "figure": "Strategic investment from Skylark Partners announced March 25, 2026, amount undisclosed; the company says it has signed many of the nation’s top 100 accounting firms.", "url": "https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/03/25/3262308/0/en/Instead-Announces-Strategic-Investment-from-Skylark-Partners.html" }, { "name": "Fondo", "sells": "Subscription bookkeeping and corporate tax filing for startups, including federal Form 1120, Delaware franchise tax and state filings, sold to the company itself rather than to its accountant.", "figure": "$7 million oversubscribed seed led by Money Forward announced November 22, 2024, with over 1,200 startup customers and more than $6 million in ARR at the time.", "url": "https://fondo.com/blog/fondo-announces-7m-oversubscribed" }, { "name": "Rivet", "sells": "A tax and accounting firm sold direct to founders and executives that prepares and files business returns (1120, 1120-S, 1065) plus state compliance, R&D credits, audit defense, bookkeeping and CFO work, on a single annual price.", "figure": "1,100+ teams served and a 40+ person bench of credentialed CPAs, EAs and ex-Big Four accountants, with a claimed $18M+ saved for clients this season, per rivet.tax as of August 2026.", "url": "https://rivet.tax/" }, { "name": "Last Accounting Company", "sells": "A full-stack AI accounting firm selling the same deliverables as a traditional firm, bookkeeping and tax filings, to startups and SMBs, with agents doing the work and a certified accountant reviewing and signing off.", "figure": "Y Combinator Summer 2026 batch, founded 2026, team of 4 in San Francisco, per its YC company page as of August 2026.", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/last-accounting-company" }, { "name": "Gelt", "sells": "An AI-native tax firm that prepares and files federal and state entity returns for S-corps, C-corps and partnerships alongside the owner’s personal return, priced from $2,500 per entity per tax year for compliance, sold direct to business owners as a replacement for their current CPA.", "figure": "$13M Series A announced September 30, 2025, bringing total funding to $21.2M, with the company stating it has tripled its user base year over year.", "url": "https://www.joingelt.com/blog/gelt-raises-13m-series-a-to-redefine-tax-strategy-as-year-round-wealth-optimization" }, { "name": "Pilot", "sells": "Outsourced bookkeeping, tax and CFO provider that files federal, state and city business income tax returns plus 1099s and Delaware franchise tax, priced from $1,000 a year for a single-member LLC, $2,000 for a partnership or S-corp and $2,450 for a C-corp, sold direct to startups and small businesses.", "figure": "\"Trusted by 3,000+ growth-driven startups and small businesses,\" per pilot.com as of August 2026.", "url": "https://www.pilot.com/" }, { "name": "Graphite Financial", "sells": "Outsourced accounting and tax provider for venture-backed companies that handles tax filing and compliance, multi-state requirements, liability optimization and R&D credit capture, sold direct to founders and finance leads.", "figure": "\"Hundreds of leadership teams\" served, with named clients including Caraway, Vital, AcuityMD, Settle and Traxo, per graphitefinancial.com as of August 2026.", "url": "https://graphitefinancial.com/" }, { "name": "airCFO", "sells": "Back-office provider for venture-backed startups selling federal tax planning and compliance, multi-state nexus management and R&D credit work alongside bookkeeping and people ops, sold direct to founders from pre-seed through Series B.", "figure": "Experience \"preparing taxes for hundreds of high-growth tech startups,\" per the aircfo.com tax services page as of August 2026.", "url": "https://www.aircfo.com/services-offered/tax-services" }, { "name": "Paro", "sells": "Marketplace that uses proprietary AI matching to place fractional CPAs and EAs who do the work, including tax and compliance, bought both by companies wanting the return done and by accounting firms buying staff augmentation.", "figure": "$25M Series C announced June 14, 2023, taking total raised to $67M, with the release stating Paro has tripled in revenue.", "url": "https://paro.ai/news/paro-raises-25-million-series-c-funding/" } ] }, { "practice": "Individual tax preparation (1040)", "group": "Compliance & core accounting", "verdict": "replaced", "vendors": [ { "name": "Black Ore (Tax Autopilot)", "sells": "Automated federal and state 1040 preparation sold to CPA and accounting firms, with the system flagging items for the preparer when it cannot resolve them.", "figure": "Opened Tax Autopilot to broad availability on April 29, 2026 after an early access program covering 75 firms drawn from a wait list of more than 3,700, including 40% of the top 20 US CPA firms.", "url": "https://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/2026/04/29/black-ore-launches-tax-autopilot-for-broad-availability/182311/" }, { "name": "Accrual", "sells": "AI preparer and reviewer for accounting firms that reads client inputs, generates follow-up questions for missing information, and produces a draft return for professional review.", "figure": "Launched February 5, 2026 with $75 million led by General Catalyst, with Go Global Ventures, Pruven Capital and Edward Jones Ventures participating.", "url": "https://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/2026/02/05/startup-accrual-officially-launches-with-75m-in-funding-to-bring-ai-native-automation-to-accounting/177600/" }, { "name": "Filed", "sells": "AI tax preparer for US tax firms that reads source documents and enters the data into the firm’s existing tax software, with 1040 individual returns and supporting schedules alongside business returns.", "figure": "$17.2 million round led by Northzone, with Day One Ventures and Neo participating, announced May 21, 2025.", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/21/filed-raises-17m-to-automate-the-drudgery-of-tax-prep/" }, { "name": "Juno", "sells": "Document extraction and first-pass return preparation for CPA and EA firms, priced at a flat rate per return where a 1040 counts as one return and multi-state does not change the price.", "figure": "$12 million seed round led by Bonfire Ventures, with Impression Ventures and Xfund participating, announced April 13, 2026.", "url": "https://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/2026/04/13/juno-raises-12m-seed-to-scale-ai-tax-preparation-platform-that-automates-90-of-busy-work/181502/" }, { "name": "TaxGPT", "sells": "Tax research and memo assistant for accounting firms that added a Tax Prep Agent driving the firm’s own tax software through browser automation, currently optimized for 1040s.", "figure": "Stated 70,000+ users across the accounting profession as of March 2026, at the Tax Prep Agent launch on March 24, 2026.", "url": "https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/taxgpt-launches-the-first-autonomous-tax-workflow-agent-302722793.html" }, { "name": "april", "sells": "Embedded 1040 filing engine bought by fintechs, banks and wealth platforms so their end users file their own federal and state returns inside the app instead of hiring a preparer.", "figure": "$38 million Series B led by QED Investors, with Nyca Partners and Team8 among the participants, announced July 23, 2025.", "url": "https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250723253218/en/april-Raises-%2438M-Series-B-to-Embed-Tax-into-Every-Financial-Decision" }, { "name": "Keeper", "sells": "Consumer filing app for self-employed and 1099 taxpayers that tracks write-offs and e-files federal and state returns, with a $399 Premium tier covering rental property and K-1s.", "figure": "$13 million Series A announced April 29, 2021, with e.ventures, Matrix Partners and Foundation Capital participating.", "url": "https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/keeper-tax-raises-13m-series-a-to-build-complete-tax-platform-for-gig-workers-and-the-creator-economy-301280206.html" }, { "name": "Rivet", "sells": "A tech-enabled tax firm whose own CPAs and EAs prepare and file federal and state 1040 and 1040-NR returns, covering K-1s, multi-state, equity and liquidity events, expats and crypto, for founders, execs and investors alongside its corporate tax work.", "figure": "1,100+ clients and a 40+ person bench of credentialed CPAs, EAs and accountants stated on rivet.tax as of August 2026; $5.1M seed and 44 employees reported by the Hartford Business Journal, November 2025", "url": "https://www.rivet.tax/" }, { "name": "Deduction", "sells": "A consumer tax firm built around Taylor, CPAI, an AI tax accountant that prepares individual returns by call, text, chat or email, with a licensed CPA reviewing every high-impact decision and the final filing.", "figure": "$2.8M pre-seed led by One Way Ventures and Creator Ventures with Alpine VC and Intuition participating, announced November 2025; filings already completed for tech employees, creators and sole proprietors ahead of the 2026 season", "url": "https://www.onewayvc.com/thoughts/deduction-launches-the-tax-firm-of-the-future" }, { "name": "Rally Tax", "sells": "An IRS-authorized e-file provider selling flat-fee full-service 1040 filing plus year-round planning to high-income individuals with equity, K-1s, rentals and foreign income, pairing an AI document and planning engine with a dedicated CPA on every account.", "figure": "Flat-fee tiers starting at $399, $699 and $999 published on rally.tax as of August 2026; Y Combinator company page lists a 5-person team and a prior venture, iNRI, that ran a tax pilot for 250+ high-income clients", "url": "https://www.rally.tax/" }, { "name": "Taxfyle", "sells": "A tax preparation service where an individual pays to have a licensed CPA or EA prepare and file their 1040, and where accounting firms and RIAs buy the same network as outsourced capacity alongside its AI prep and tax-planning products.", "figure": "Site as of August 2026 states 7,200+ US-based CPAs and EAs, 100K+ returns prepared and 100+ firm partnerships; launched Plan, an AI-native tax strategy platform for RIAs, June 23, 2026 per CPA Practice Advisor", "url": "https://www.taxfyle.com/" }, { "name": "Harness", "sells": "A marketplace and software platform that matches individuals with pre-vetted independent tax firms, which prepare and file the household return from a $1,500 flat fee a year, and that sells the practice software to those same firms.", "figure": "Tax preparation and filing priced from a $1,500 flat fee a year on harness.co as of August 2026; $17M Series A extension taking that round to $32M, reported by TechCrunch, March 5, 2024", "url": "https://www.harness.co/harness-tax-for-clients/" } ] }, { "practice": "Payroll processing & compliance", "group": "Compliance & core accounting", "verdict": "replaced", "vendors": [ { "name": "Gusto (Gusto Pro)", "sells": "Payroll runs, federal and state tax deposits and filings, W-2 and 1099 issuance, and state tax registration, sold direct to small businesses and to accounting firms through the Gusto Pro multi-client dashboard.", "figure": "Over 23,000 accounting firms with an active Gusto Pro account, per internal Gusto data as of April 30, 2026", "url": "https://gusto.com/partners/accountants" }, { "name": "Warp", "sells": "AI-native payroll, tax compliance, and benefits for US companies that opens state tax accounts when a new state is added, files the returns, and resolves agency notices, sold to startups and scaling employers.", "figure": "$60 million Series B led by Battery Ventures announced June 25, 2026, bringing total funding to $85 million", "url": "https://siliconangle.com/2026/06/25/warp-lands-60m-automate-payroll-compliance-hr-ai/" }, { "name": "Niural", "sells": "AI-native payroll, PEO, employer of record, and benefits platform sold to employers hiring in the US and internationally.", "figure": "Series A expanded to $52 million with $21 million in new capital from FOG Ventures and NewView Capital, announced June 23, 2026", "url": "https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/niural-launches-niural-ai-labs-and-grows-its-series-a-to-52-million-302806440.html" }, { "name": "Check", "sells": "Payroll infrastructure API that lets vertical software companies run payroll, tax deposits, and filings inside their own product, so the employer never leaves the software it already uses.", "figure": "$75 million Series C led by Stripe announced February 16, 2022; partners on the platform served over 250,000 businesses and about 4 million employees at the time", "url": "https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/payroll-infrastructure-startup-check-announces-75-million-series-c-led-by-stripe-301483533.html" }, { "name": "Salsa", "sells": "Embedded payroll API sold to software platforms, which then deliver payroll processing and tax filing to the small businesses on those platforms.", "figure": "$20 million Series A led by Altos Ventures announced April 4, 2025, bringing total funding to $30 million", "url": "https://www.salsa.dev/blog-post/our-20m-series-a-will-make-embedded-payroll-even-easier" }, { "name": "Middesk", "sells": "State and federal tax registration product that opens withholding and unemployment accounts in all 50 states, provides registered agent service, and manages agency mail, sold embedded into payroll and HR platforms and to employers hiring across state lines.", "figure": "$57 million Series B co-led by Insight Partners and Canapi Ventures, announced July 8, 2022", "url": "https://www.middesk.com/blog/announcing-our-57m-series-b" }, { "name": "Every", "sells": "Bundled back office for startups that runs payroll and payroll tax filings alongside bookkeeping and tax prep, sold to the founder rather than through an accounting firm.", "figure": "$22.5 million Series A led by Redpoint Ventures, announced September 5, 2024", "url": "https://www.every.io/blog-post/why-i-built-every-announcing-our-22-5m-series-a-to-transform-back-office-stress-into-founder-success" }, { "name": "Central (acquired by Mercury)", "sells": "AI agents plus human experts that run payroll, benefits, PTO, HR admin, and state payroll compliance for startup founders, now sold to Mercury’s banking customers as Mercury’s payroll offering.", "figure": "Mercury announced the acquisition on April 2, 2026, when Central had nearly 500 startup customers and had processed more than $175 million in payroll", "url": "https://mercury.com/blog/mercury-acquires-centralhq" }, { "name": "Last Accounting Company", "sells": "Agent-native accounting firm selling the full service to startups and SMBs, including payroll, bookkeeping, VAT and tax filings, and monthly closes, with AI agents doing the work and a certified accountant signing off.", "figure": "Y Combinator Summer 2026 batch, founded 2026, team size 4, per its YC company page as of 2026", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/last-accounting-company" }, { "name": "Shor", "sells": "Employer of record and international payroll built around AI agents and stablecoin payouts, so a company can hire abroad and have Shor handle localized contracts, compliance, and the pay runs.", "figure": "Y Combinator Summer 2025 batch, founded 2025, team size 4, backed by Polychain Capital, Founders Capital, and Goodwater, per its YC company page as of 2026", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/shor" }, { "name": "airCFO", "sells": "Outsourced back office for venture-backed startups that runs payroll and payroll taxes as part of its people operations service, positioned as one integrated team backed by the firm’s proprietary AI rather than a software product.", "figure": "520+ startups served and 70+ VC firm partnerships, per aircfo.com as of August 2026", "url": "https://www.aircfo.com/" }, { "name": "inDinero", "sells": "Outsourced finance and accounting provider whose payroll service handles employee payments and payroll tax filings for startups through companies past $500M in revenue, marketed as expert-led and AI-accelerated, with credentialed staff signing the work.", "figure": "500+ customers and 150+ delivery professionals, pricing from $750/month, per indinero.com as of August 2026", "url": "https://www.indinero.com/" } ] }, { "practice": "R&D tax credit & incentive studies", "group": "Advisory", "verdict": "replaced", "vendors": [ { "name": "Onshore (formerly SPRX)", "sells": "An AI platform that pulls payroll, engineering and financial records to produce R&D credit studies, 179D deductions and cost segregation studies, with a credentialed tax professional verifying every number and signing off before filing, sold direct to the business.", "figure": "$31 million Series B led by FPV Ventures with Vertex Ventures, Restive Ventures, PruVen and Y Combinator participating, announced February 17, 2026 alongside the rename to Onshore; the post states more than 500 companies have used Onshore to identify and defend over $600 million in incentives.", "url": "https://onshore.com/blog/onshore-series-b" }, { "name": "Neo.Tax", "sells": "Software that ingests engineering and payroll data from Jira, GitHub and payroll systems to generate audit-ready R&D credit studies, ASC 350-40 software capitalization and section 174 documentation, sold to company tax and finance teams.", "figure": "$10 million Series A led by Infinity Ventures with Google Ventures, Acrew Capital and Fin Venture Capital participating, February 10, 2022, following a $3 million seed in June 2020.", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2022/02/10/neo-tax-raises-10m-to-help-startups-get-rd-tax-credits/" }, { "name": "Boast", "sells": "Software that tracks qualifying R&D activity through the year and prepares US R&D credit and Canadian SR&ED claims for the company that files them; CPA firms and advisors participate as referral partners paid a fee by Boast rather than as licensees who deliver the credit themselves.", "figure": "$30 million CAD Series A from Radian Capital, the company’s first institutional financing, announced December 10, 2020.", "url": "https://betakit.com/boast-ai-raises-30-million-from-radian-capital-to-revolutionize-rd-tax-credit-market/" }, { "name": "MainStreet", "sells": "A platform that identifies federal and state R&D tax credits and prepares IRS-ready documentation for the client’s own CPA to file, priced from 15 percent of the credit claimed, sold direct to the business; the product now operates at mainstreet.ai following the Employer.com acquisition.", "figure": "About $75 million raised in total venture capital, and acquisition by Employer.com reported May 5, 2025; the same report puts the company’s 2021 peak valuation at $500 million and a 2022 financing at $200 million.", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/05/employer-com-scoops-up-another-fintech-in-purchase-of-mainstreet-com/" }, { "name": "Arvo Tech (Clarus R+D)", "sells": "Tax credit software and consulting for small and midsize businesses, including R&D credit qualification, expense tracking and Form 6765 preparation through the Clarus R+D platform, sold direct to businesses and to tax practitioners who run an R&D practice for their own clients.", "figure": "$2.5 million Series A led by Bandon Partners, July 17, 2024; the release states Arvo has helped businesses claim over $650MM+ in tax credits.", "url": "https://www.prweb.com/releases/arvo-tech-secures-2-5mm-to-deliver-comprehensive-tax-strategy-solution-to-more-smbs-302199000.html" }, { "name": "Taxnova", "sells": "A London-based AI platform that connects to GitHub, Jira, Linear, Slack and Notion to extract evidence of qualifying research and assemble R&D tax credit claims, sold to technology companies and positioned to work alongside their existing tax advisers rather than replace them.", "figure": "$1 million pre-seed from a16z speedrun, s16vc, Karaoke Club and more than 20 CTO and CFO operators from Revolut, Miro and other tech firms, reported February 3, 2026 as the company came out of stealth.", "url": "https://tech.eu/2026/02/03/taxnova-gets-backing-from-a16z-s-accelerator-and-revolut-and-miro-operators/" }, { "name": "TaxTaker", "sells": "R&D credit qualification, technical study and audit-ready documentation for founders and finance teams, delivered alongside the client’s existing CPA who files the return, sold to the business.", "figure": "No funding round is available from a primary source, so this is an adoption figure only: the company’s own site states, as read on August 1, 2026, that it has secured over $100M+ for its clients.", "url": "https://www.taxtaker.com/" }, { "name": "Rivet", "sells": "An AI-assisted tax firm selling audit-ready federal and state R&D credit studies with no contingency fee, alongside corporate and personal tax prep, bookkeeping, CFO services and audit defense, direct to venture-backed companies and their founders.", "figure": "Site as of Aug 2026: 1,100+ clients supported this season, $18M+ saved for clients this season, customers raised $5.6B+ in 2025, 40+ ex-Big Four accountants and former IRS leadership on staff.", "url": "https://www.rivet.tax/" }, { "name": "Fondo", "sells": "A YC-backed startup accounting firm that identifies qualifying R&D, calculates the credit, files Form 6765 and applies it against payroll taxes or the corporate return, bundled with bookkeeping and corporate tax filing, sold to startup founders.", "figure": "Site as of Aug 2026: 2,000+ startups served, $100M+ saved, credits up to $500k per year; the YC company profile lists Winter 2018 batch, founded 2020, 80 employees, average startup gets $21k back.", "url": "https://fondo.com/tax-credits" }, { "name": "Pilot", "sells": "Conducts the R&D tax study, identifies qualifying expenses and either files the credit or hands the documentation to the customer’s tax preparer, charging 20 percent of the credit received, sold as an add-on to its bookkeeping and tax service for startups and small businesses.", "figure": "Site as of Aug 2026: R&D credit priced at 20 percent of the total credit received (a $30,000 credit costs $6,000); pilot.com homepage claims trusted by 3,000+ growth-driven startups and small businesses.", "url": "https://pilot.com/rd-credit" }, { "name": "TaxRobot", "sells": "Runs the R&D credit study and hands back a completed claim with audit-proof documentation on a no-credit-no-fee basis, and separately licenses the same platform to CPAs and tax professionals who run it for their own clients.", "figure": "About page as of Aug 2026: 100+ clients, $20M+ in credits delivered, >95% retention, founders cite 15+ combined years in tax consulting.", "url": "https://taxrobot.com/about/" } ] }, { "practice": "Sales & use tax and indirect tax compliance", "group": "Compliance & core accounting", "verdict": "replaced", "vendors": [ { "name": "Avalara", "sells": "Sales and use tax calculation, registration, return filing and remittance across US and global jurisdictions, packaged as a set of AI compliance agents (Avi) that execute filing and notice workflows; the buyer is the business, with accounting firms participating only as a referral channel.", "figure": "Avalara’s own April 9, 2026 release states the platform processes 54+ billion transactions annually and supports millions of businesses worldwide.", "url": "https://newsroom.avalara.com/2026-04-09-Avalara-Advances-Agentic-Compliance,-Moving-from-AI-Assisted-to-AI-Executed-Workflows" }, { "name": "Fonoa", "sells": "Global indirect tax platform covering tax ID validation, real time tax determination, e-invoicing and VAT/GST compliance reporting and returns, sold to global enterprises rather than to accounting firms.", "figure": "$110 million Series C led by Headline, with new investors Eurazeo and Forestay Capital alongside Index Ventures, OMERS, Coatue and Dawn Capital, announced May 28, 2026, alongside the acquisition of Indirect Tax Edge from PwC.", "url": "https://www.fonoa.com/company/news/fonoa-raises-110m-funding-and-acquires-edge" }, { "name": "Anrok", "sells": "Global sales tax and indirect tax compliance for digital and software businesses, covering nexus monitoring, registration, calculation and filing, bought by the customer’s own finance team.", "figure": "$55 million Series C led by Spark Capital with Sapphire Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Sequoia Capital and Index Ventures, announced October 21, 2025, bringing total funding to over $100 million; the company states over 3,000 finance leaders use it.", "url": "https://www.anrok.com/resources/announcing-series-c" }, { "name": "Numeral", "sells": "Automated sales tax compliance for ecommerce and software companies covering nexus tracking, state registration, return filing and remittance; the buyer is the operating business, with accounting firms served as a referral channel.", "figure": "$35 million Series B led by Mayfield with Benchmark, Uncork Capital, Y Combinator and Mantis, announced September 18, 2025, at a $350 million valuation, six months after an $18 million Series A; over 2,000 customers at the time of the round.", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2025/09/18/numeral-raises-35m-to-automate-sales-tax-with-ai/" }, { "name": "Zamp", "sells": "Managed sales tax compliance covering registration, filing and notice handling, sold direct to finance teams and as a white label service that accounting firms rebrand and resell to their own clients.", "figure": "$30 million in total funding as of the round led by Acrew Capital with Thomson Reuters Ventures, reported May 6, 2026; 120+ accounting firms use Zamp, with 97.8% client retention in 2025.", "url": "https://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/2026/05/06/zamp-launches-platform-for-sales-tax-with-investment-from-thomson-reuters-ventures/182816/" }, { "name": "Kintsugi", "sells": "AI sales tax platform doing nexus monitoring, rate calculation, registration, filing and exemption certificates; sold self serve to businesses and, since December 2025, white labeled to accounting firms through the CPA.com and Vertex Firm Advisor Program.", "figure": "$18 million led by Vertex at a $150 million post-money valuation, announced April 30, 2025, double its $80 million valuation of November 2024; 2,400 customers at that point.", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/30/ai-sales-tax-startup-kintsugi-has-doubled-its-valuation-in-6-months/" }, { "name": "Sphere", "sells": "Cross-border indirect tax platform automating registration, calculation, filing and remittance for sales tax, VAT and GST through direct integrations with 100+ tax authorities, sold to finance teams at software companies including Replit, Deel, ElevenLabs and Lovable.", "figure": "$21 million Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz with Y Combinator and Felicis Ventures, announced November 18, 2025.", "url": "https://www.getsphere.com/blog/sphere-raises-21m-series-a" }, { "name": "CereTax", "sells": "Cloud sales and use tax calculation and compliance engine for high transaction volume enterprises, sold direct and through channel partners that embed the calculation layer in their own billing systems.", "figure": "$9 million financing led by S3 Ventures with Wild Basin Investments and Leaders Fund, announced June 25, 2024; 20+ channel partners enabled at the time of the round.", "url": "https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ceretax-secures-9-million-to-drive-innovation-and-expand-the-team-302180537.html" }, { "name": "Taxwire", "sells": "A sales tax platform and managed service in one: the engine does product tax coding and geocoded rate calculation across 20,000+ jurisdictions and 100,000+ rules, handles registration and filing, and Taxwire’s team owns the judgment calls and the outcome.", "figure": "$25M in combined seed and Series A co-led by Headline and XYZ, announced June 30, 2026; the investor post reports 300+ customers served in the prior year, millions recovered in customer overpayments, and 150+ legacy systems displaced.", "url": "https://headline.com/blog-latest/article-latest/our-investment-in-taxwire-relieving-the-burden-of-" }, { "name": "Commenda", "sells": "Global compliance for companies expanding across borders, bundling entity management with indirect tax registration and filing: US sales tax permits in all 50 states plus VAT and GST, with returns prepared from ERP transaction data, filed on each local cadence, and payments remitted and confirmed on the client’s behalf.", "figure": "Company site as of August 1, 2026 states $9M raised to build the first AI-managed entity platform, coverage in 70+ countries, and roughly 30 client logos including Razorpay, Remote, Aspire, and CloudSEK.", "url": "https://www.commenda.io/" }, { "name": "Afternoon", "sells": "An AI bookkeeping and tax firm for AI and ecommerce founders that bundles sales tax into the service: its tax experts determine where the client has an obligation, register the client in those states, then file and remit automatically across all 50 states.", "figure": "YC F24, founded 2024, team of 4, $2M pre-seed announced July 24, 2025 per its YC company page; afternoon.co as of August 1, 2026 claims 80+ AI startups as clients and names Riveter, TensorPool, HumanLayer, and Codebuff.", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/afternoon-co" } ] }, { "practice": "Fractional CFO & FP&A advisory", "group": "Advisory", "verdict": "replaced", "vendors": [ { "name": "Iris Finance", "sells": "FP&A and CFO platform built for consumer packaged goods brands, sold directly to the brand rather than through an accounting firm.", "figure": "$6.2 million seed led by Glasswing Ventures, announced September 16, 2025, with seven figures of ARR in its first year and hundreds of CPG brands onboarded", "url": "https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/09/16/3150642/0/en/iris-finance-raises-6-2m-to-scale-ai-native-cfo-platform-for-cpg-brands.html" }, { "name": "Jirav", "sells": "Reporting, budgeting and forecasting software sold two ways: through an Accounting Partner Program that lets accounting and advisory firms deliver FP&A to their own clients at wholesale pricing, and directly to company finance teams.", "figure": "$20 million Series B led by Cota Capital, announced July 11, 2023", "url": "https://www.jirav.com/blog/series-b" }, { "name": "LiveFlow", "sells": "Financial consolidation, dashboards and FP&A reporting on top of QuickBooks and Xero, sold to accounting firms including BDO and KLR and to operating companies such as Wendy’s and Crumbl.", "figure": "$13.5 million Series A, reported September 24, 2024", "url": "https://www.pymnts.com/news/investment-tracker/2024/liveflow-raises-13-million-dollars-new-accounting-automation-products/" }, { "name": "Pilot (CFO Services)", "sells": "Fractional CFO service sold direct to growth-stage companies at published tiers from $1,750 to $5,250 a month, covering financial modeling, budget variance analysis, investor reporting, 13-week cash flow and fundraising support, with weekly to monthly CFO calls. Pitched at companies that need a finance leader and are not ready for a six-figure hire.", "figure": "$100M expanded Series C with Bezos Expeditions and Whale Rock Capital, announced March 26, 2021, at a $1.2B valuation.", "url": "https://pilot.com/pricing" }, { "name": "Zeni (CFO tiers)", "sells": "Fractional CFO advisory bundled onto AI bookkeeping and sold direct to startups with no finance staff, at published tiers from $1,599 to $4,990 a month, the top tier covering board meeting participation, capital strategy and M&A support.", "figure": "Publishes its fractional CFO pricing openly at three tiers; $34M Series B raised August 2021, so the funding figure is older than the product now shipping.", "url": "https://www.zeni.ai/pricing" }, { "name": "airCFO", "sells": "An integrated back office for venture-backed startups that bundles accounting, tax, people ops and a fractional CFO or finance lead, replacing the separate bookkeeper, tax firm, fractional CFO and HR consultant with one team.", "figure": "Trusted by 300+ startups, 520+ startups served, $25B in total funding raised by clients, 70+ VC firm partnerships, named clients including Replit, Anthropic and Apartment List (aircfo.com, accessed August 2026)", "url": "https://aircfo.com/" }, { "name": "inDinero", "sells": "Outsourced accounting, tax, payroll and CFO services for early-stage through enterprise companies, with financial strategy, due diligence, investor relations and forecasting sold as the CFO tier.", "figure": "500+ regular customers, 150+ delivery professionals and a 5+ year average client partnership, pricing from $750 per month month-to-month (indinero.com, accessed August 2026)", "url": "https://www.indinero.com/" }, { "name": "Graphite Financial", "sells": "Finance, tax and accounting services for early-stage and growth-stage venture-backed companies, with a strategic finance and CFO line covering capital modeling, runway forecasting, board-level advisory and scenario planning.", "figure": "Supports hundreds of venture-backed companies whose clients have raised over $1B to date; acquired Furey and took a growth investment from Red Iron Group, announced September 23, 2025", "url": "https://redirongroup.com/insight/news/red-iron-group-backed-graphite-acquires-furey/" }, { "name": "Paro", "sells": "Fractional CFO and FP&A engagements delivered by vetted US finance experts that Paro matches to the buyer, sold both to companies needing budgets, forecasts, variance analysis and management reporting and to CPA firms buying capacity and staff augmentation.", "figure": "60+ industries served, under 2% of applicants accepted, 15 average years of expert experience, 250+ skill sets, 100% US-based talent, 60% of fractional CFOs with startup experience; client logos shown include Shopify, Coupa, Clearco and Lightbank (paro.ai, accessed August 2026)", "url": "https://paro.ai/strategic-fractional-cfo-services/" }, { "name": "Billow AI Labs", "sells": "AI agents that run reconciliation, AP, month-end close and FP&A work such as variance reports, cash scenarios and board decks inside a company’s existing finance stack, with the customer’s own finance manager reviewing and approving each run.", "figure": "Y Combinator Summer 2026 batch, San Francisco, group partner Gustaf Alstromer, two co-founders (Joanathan McIntosh, Philip Moniaga); one published case study, \"Series B company saves 5 days from month-end close,\" with 20 minute setup and one finance manager (ycombinator.com/companies/billow-ai-labs and thebillow.ai, accessed August 2026)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/billow-ai-labs" } ] }, { "practice": "SOC 1 & SOC 2 examinations", "group": "Assurance", "verdict": "replaced", "vendors": [ { "name": "Fieldguide", "sells": "An AI platform for audit and advisory firms that runs SOC 1, SOC 2 and SOC 3 engagements end to end, generating request lists and test procedures, reviewing client evidence, documenting testing, and producing the final report.", "figure": "$75 million Series C led by Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives at a $700 million valuation, announced February 2, 2026, bringing total raised to $125 million.", "url": "https://www.fieldguide.io/blog/series-c-announcement" }, { "name": "Vanta", "sells": "A compliance automation platform sold to the service organization that maps controls, monitors them continuously, and collects the evidence its chosen CPA firm will test for a SOC 2 examination.", "figure": "$150 million Series D at a $4.15 billion valuation, announced July 23, 2025.", "url": "https://www.vanta.com/resources/vanta-announces-series-d" }, { "name": "Drata", "sells": "A continuous control monitoring and evidence collection platform sold to the company being audited, built to cut the readiness and evidence work that precedes a SOC 2 examination.", "figure": "$200 million Series C co-led by ICONIQ Growth and GGV Capital at a $2 billion valuation, announced December 7, 2022.", "url": "https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dratas-valuation-rises-to-2-billion-with-200-million-series-c-funding-301696704.html" }, { "name": "Thoropass", "sells": "A compliance platform bundled with the examination itself: the company owns an AICPA-registered CPA firm (Laika Compliance, LLC dba Thoropass Assurance) that issues the SOC 2 report, so the service organization buys readiness, evidence collection and the opinion on one contract.", "figure": "$50 million Series C, announced November 8, 2022 under the company’s former name, Laika.", "url": "https://www.thoropass.com/company/newsroom/laika-raises-50m-series-c-to-extend-market-leadership-in-end-to-end-continuous-compliance-and-audit-management" }, { "name": "Secureframe", "sells": "A readiness and control monitoring platform sold to the service organization, automating policy setup, control mapping and evidence collection ahead of a SOC 2 examination.", "figure": "$56 million Series B led by Accomplice, announced February 23, 2022, bringing total raised to $79 million.", "url": "https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/secureframe-raises-56m-to-accelerate-automated-security-and-compliance-processes-301488531.html" }, { "name": "Sprinto", "sells": "A compliance automation platform sold to the company being audited that pulls evidence from HR, IT and engineering systems and monitors SOC 2 controls between examinations.", "figure": "$20 million Series B led by Accel with existing investors Elevation Capital and Blume Ventures, announced April 9, 2024, bringing total raised to $31.8 million.", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2024/04/09/sprinto-funding-security-compliance-management/" }, { "name": "Delve", "sells": "AI agents sold to the service organization that assemble controls and evidence for SOC 2 and other frameworks with the stated goal of removing the manual readiness work.", "figure": "$32 million Series A led by Insight Partners, announced July 22, 2025, with the company serving more than 500 companies at the time.", "url": "https://www.insightpartners.com/ideas/delve-raises-32m-series-a-to-build-ai-agents-for-compliance/" }, { "name": "Comp AI", "sells": "An open-source compliance platform sold to startups and growing companies that automates SOC 2 and HIPAA readiness work, positioned as a developer-facing alternative to the incumbent platforms.", "figure": "$2.6 million pre-seed co-led by OSS Capital and Grand Ventures, announced August 1, 2025, with more than 3,500 companies in its pre-launch testing program.", "url": "https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/comp-ai-secures-2-6m-pre-seed-to-disrupt-soc-2-market-302519788.html" }, { "name": "Workstreet", "sells": "A managed compliance service run on top of Vanta and staffed by ex-Big Four security people, selling SOC 2 readiness, pentesting and security questionnaire work to startups; the attestation itself is issued by an independent CPA firm.", "figure": "Its site as of August 2026 shows 2200+ under the label Customers and 170 under the label SaaS + Big 4 Cyber Experts, with the headline ‘SOC 2, CMMC, pentesting & security questionnaires handled by ex-Big 4 security experts and AI that works behind the scenes,’ and describes itself as Vanta’s largest services partner.", "url": "https://www.workstreet.com/" } ] }, { "practice": "Strategic tax planning & entity structuring", "group": "Advisory", "verdict": "replaced", "vendors": [ { "name": "Instead", "sells": "Tax planning and filing software covering multi-entity scenarios, entity election comparisons and a library of planning strategies alongside return preparation for 1040, 1041, 1120, 1120S and 1065, sold to CPA firms, tax preparers and corporate tax teams and also directly to businesses, family offices and high net worth individuals. Corvee is now an Instead company and corvee.com redirects to instead.com.", "figure": "Strategic investment from Skylark Partners, the family office created by the founders of 8am (AffiniPay, LawPay, CPACharge), announced March 25, 2026, amount not disclosed; the release states Instead has already signed many of the nation’s top 100 accounting firms.", "url": "https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/03/25/3262308/0/en/instead-announces-strategic-investment-from-skylark-partners.html" }, { "name": "Holistiplan", "sells": "Software that scans a client’s tax return and generates a tax planning report with observations and scenario comparisons, sold to financial advisory firms and to CPA and tax firms, never to consumers.", "figure": "States over 30,000 customers nationwide on its own site as of August 1, 2026. No funding figure is disclosed on the company site.", "url": "https://www.holistiplan.com/" }, { "name": "TaxPlanIQ", "sells": "Tax planning software sold to accounting firms that analyzes client returns, recommends strategies and produces a priced client-facing plan, aimed at firms moving from preparation into advisory fees. Plans start at $397 per month.", "figure": "No disclosed funding. States 1,200+ firms use the platform and $5B in tax savings identified, per its own site as of August 1, 2026.", "url": "https://www.taxplaniq.com/" }, { "name": "Gelt", "sells": "An AI-native tax firm selling tax strategy directly to business owners and high earners, covering multi-entity structure design, S-corp election optimization, real estate professional status and state residency, with strategy packages starting at $3,500 for individuals and $8,000 for businesses on top of compliance plans.", "figure": "$13M Series A led by Zvi Limon of Rimon Group with Vintage Investment Partners and TLV Partners, announced September 30, 2025, bringing total raised to $21.2M.", "url": "https://www.joingelt.com/blog/gelt-raises-13m-series-a-to-redefine-tax-strategy-as-year-round-wealth-optimization" }, { "name": "Lettuce Financial", "sells": "An AI operating system sold directly to solo business owners that forms and administers an S corporation, sets and runs owner payroll, and handles ongoing tax optimization and retirement plan selection, which is the entity election and owner compensation work a firm would bill as a project.", "figure": "$28M raise led by existing investor Zeev Ventures announced October 30, 2025, alongside the acquisition of benefits access startup Besolo.", "url": "https://lettuce.co/resources/lettuce-secures-28-million-in-funding" }, { "name": "Collective", "sells": "A back office sold directly to one-person businesses that combines S-corp election and formation, payroll, bookkeeping and tax filing, with the S-corp conversion savings pitch as the core acquisition argument.", "figure": "$50M round announced July 11, 2023 with Gradient Ventures, Innovius Capital, The General Partnership, General Catalyst, QED, Expa and Better Tomorrow Ventures, bringing total raised to $82M.", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2023/07/11/collective-a-financial-management-platform-for-freelancers-raises-50m/" }, { "name": "Rivet", "sells": "An AI-native tax firm selling business and personal tax prep, year-round tax planning and quarterly estimates, R&D credits, state nexus work and IRS audit defense direct to founders, executives, investors and venture-backed companies.", "figure": "Site states 1,100+ clients supported this season, a 40+ person bench of credentialed CPAs, EAs and accountants including 40+ ex-Big Four accountants, $18M+ saved for clients this season, and $5.6B+ raised by customers in 2025 (rivet.tax, retrieved August 1, 2026)", "url": "https://rivet.tax/" }, { "name": "inDinero", "sells": "An outsourced accounting and tax provider running an explicit hybrid model, \"AI handles the volume, experts deliver the value,\" selling proactive tax planning and tax position optimization alongside bookkeeping, CFO services and 409A valuations to startups through $500M+ revenue companies.", "figure": "Site states 500+ regular customers, 150+ delivery professionals, 5+ years average client partnership, 18 days average onboarding and 20+ industries served (indinero.com, retrieved August 1, 2026)", "url": "https://www.indinero.com/" }, { "name": "airCFO", "sells": "An AI-enabled startup finance firm selling strategic tax planning, stated on its tax page as running \"from R&D tax credits to optimal entity structures,\" together with accounting, fractional CFO and people ops, positioning itself as the replacement for a founder’s separate bookkeeper, tax firm and fractional CFO.", "figure": "Site states 520+ startups served, 300+ current startup clients, 70+ VC firm partnerships and $25B raised by clients (aircfo.com, retrieved August 1, 2026)", "url": "https://www.aircfo.com/" } ] }, { "practice": "Transaction advisory & business valuation", "group": "Advisory", "verdict": "replaced", "vendors": [ { "name": "Keye", "sells": "AI due diligence platform that ingests virtual data room files, runs quantitative analysis and benchmarking, flags risks, and produces Excel-ready outputs, sold to private equity deal teams.", "figure": "$5M seed led by Sorenson Capital with General Catalyst, Y Combinator, ERA, Tiferes Ventures, Dunamu & Partners and Palm Drive Capital, announced July 29, 2025", "url": "https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/keye-launches-from-stealth-to-transform-private-equity-due-diligence-302515938.html" }, { "name": "Rogo", "sells": "Finance-specific AI platform that runs comparables, valuation models, deal document analysis and memo drafting, sold to investment banks, asset managers and private equity firms.", "figure": "$160M Series D led by Kleiner Perkins with Sequoia, Thrive Capital, Khosla Ventures and J.P. Morgan Growth Equity Partners, announced April 29, 2026, with the release citing over 35,000 financial professionals at 250+ institutions", "url": "https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/rogo-raises-160m-series-d-to-scale-the-agentic-platform-for-finance-302756546.html" }, { "name": "ToltIQ (formerly DiligentIQ)", "sells": "AI due diligence platform for private markets that reads virtual data room documents and drafts diligence analysis, sold to private equity and investment firms and also to professional services firms running diligence engagements.", "figure": "$12M Series A led by FINTOP Capital, announced February 17, 2025", "url": "https://www.toltiq.com/news" }, { "name": "Valutico", "sells": "Company valuation software that runs DCF, multiples and comparable-transaction analysis and produces the valuation report, sold to corporate finance, M&A, tax and audit professionals and directly to private equity, VC and corporate finance teams.", "figure": "Mid seven-figure equity round from PUSH Ventures, aws Gründerfonds and Erste Group announced January 25, 2023, with the company citing around 600 clients in over 85 countries", "url": "https://valutico.com/valutation-software-valutico-secures-investment-partnership/" }, { "name": "Validis", "sells": "Platform that connects to a target company’s accounting system, standardizes general ledger and transaction data, and delivers transaction-level analysis with drill-down to the journal entry, sold to accounting and audit firms running the engagement and separately to lenders.", "figure": "Strategic investment from Citi and Barclays announced January 14, 2025, amount not disclosed, with the release stating Validis works with over 100 lending and accounting firms", "url": "https://www.validis.com/blog/announcements/validis-secures-strategic-investment-from-citi-and-barclays/" }, { "name": "OffDeal", "sells": "Sell-side M&A advisory for owners of businesses doing $5M to $100M in sales, pairing AI buyer sourcing with a human M&A team that runs the process, on a success fee with no upfront fees or retainers.", "figure": "$12M Series A led by Radical Ventures announced July 29, 2025, bringing total funding to $17M; over 30 sell-side M&A transactions launched in the 10 months before the announcement.", "url": "https://offdeal.io/news/offdeal-series-a-funding-radical-ventures-2025" }, { "name": "Paro", "sells": "Transaction advisory delivered by AI-matched freelance finance experts, covering buy-side and sell-side M&A support, financial due diligence and valuation analysis, sold both to operating companies and to advisory and accounting firms that need M&A capacity for their own clients.", "figure": "$25M Series C led by Top Tier Capital Partners announced June 14, 2023, $67M raised in total; company said revenue tripled since its Q3 2021 Series B and average client spend doubled.", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2023/06/14/paro-raises-25m-to-match-freelance-financial-experts-with-firms/" }, { "name": "409a-valuation.com", "sells": "AI-generated 409A valuation reports for startups, free as a draft and starting at $499 once a credentialed appraiser reviews and signs, with the free report delivered in 2 to 5 business days against the $1,500 to $5,000 and 2 to 4 weeks it quotes for traditional firms.", "figure": "Per its own site as of August 2026: CEO Chezkie Kasnett, three credentialed reviewing appraisers (two CVAs, one CFA), and named customers August Robotics (CFO Jane Zhu), OpenCharter, Difratech, Ledgeroo and K2INOV8. No legal entity, client count or funding disclosed.", "url": "https://409a-valuation.com/" }, { "name": "inDinero", "sells": "Outsourced accounting, tax and CFO firm that also sells signed, audit-ready 409A valuation reports starting at $1,500 to startups and small to mid-sized companies.", "figure": "Founded 2009; 17 years operating with a remote team across 23+ states, and 409A valuation listed as one of its seven service lines, per its about page as of August 2026.", "url": "https://www.indinero.com/about" } ] }, { "practice": "Tax controversy & IRS representation", "group": "Specialty", "verdict": "replaced", "vendors": [ { "name": "Canopy", "sells": "Cloud practice-management platform for accounting firms whose tax resolution module pulls IRS transcripts under 8821/2848, tracks notices and account activity, and produces the resolution filings (offer in compromise, installment agreement, penalty abatement) a practitioner submits.", "figure": "$70 million Series C led by Viking Global Investors, announced 23 April 2025, following a $35 million round in May 2024; the release states Canopy is trusted by over 4,000 accounting firms.", "url": "https://www.getcanopy.com/resources/press-room/canopy-secures-70-million-series-c-to-unclunk-accounting-firms-with-ai/" }, { "name": "NOTICENINJA (Notice Ninja Inc.)", "sells": "SaaS that ingests federal, state and payroll tax notices, routes them by entity and jurisdiction, and drives them to resolution, sold to corporate tax departments, payroll providers, PEOs and financial institutions as well as to CPA and advisory firms handling notices on behalf of clients.", "figure": "$500,000 seed round closed with an unnamed existing cap-table investor, announced 17 February 2025.", "url": "https://blog.noticeninja.com/tax-notice-resolution-compliance-press-releases/notice-ninja-secures-500k-seed-investment-to-drive-growth-and-innovation" }, { "name": "Tax Help Software (THS)", "sells": "IRS transcript management system that bulk-requests and downloads transcripts through e-Services, parses them for underreported income, audit exposure and abatable penalties, and manages 8821/2848 authorizations, sold to tax attorneys, CPAs and enrolled agents.", "figure": "Vendor site states its users have downloaded over 1.5 billion IRS transcripts since 2013 and that 9 out of 10 transcripts downloaded from the IRS come from THS users (checked 1 August 2026). No funding disclosed.", "url": "https://taxhelpsoftware.com/" }, { "name": "TaxRock", "sells": "Continuous IRS account monitoring with an AI assistant that reads transcript activity across a book of clients and flags audits, notices, penalties and collection action early, sold to tax and resolution practices and accounting firms, with secondary lender, payroll-platform and multi-entity-operator audiences listed on the site.", "figure": "Vendor site states \"Trusted by 500+ tax professionals and firms\" (checked 1 August 2026). No funding disclosed.", "url": "https://www.taxrock.com/" }, { "name": "Rivet", "sells": "A tax and accounting firm that files business and individual returns and sells IRS and state audit representation led by a former IRS auditor, plus letter and notice triage, direct to founders, executives and their companies.", "figure": "Site as of August 2026: 1,100+ teams served, 40+ ex-Big Four accountants plus former IRS leadership, accountants with 15+ years at Deloitte, PwC, EY and KPMG, $5.6B+ raised by customers in 2025, and $18M+ saved for clients this season.", "url": "https://www.rivet.tax/" }, { "name": "FlyFin", "sells": "An AI tax engine paired with CPAs that files 1040s for freelancers and self-employed filers and includes audit insurance, where the assigned CPA prepares responses and communicates with the IRS on the filer’s behalf.", "figure": "Site as of August 2026: 250K+ users, 1 million+ tax questions answered, 4.8 out of 5 rating.", "url": "https://flyfin.tax/" }, { "name": "EasAly AI", "sells": "A subscription app for taxpayers with IRS debt that reads IRS letters, pulls up to 13 years of transcripts, syncs financial data and ranks eligible relief programs, sold both to taxpayers directly and to CPAs, attorneys and enrolled agents as TaxResolve AI, with complex cases handed off to an outside professional rather than filed or negotiated by EasAly.", "figure": "PR Newswire, February 3, 2026: launched on the App Store and Google Play. Company site as of August 2026: $149 a month for individuals and $179 for couples for the first six months, then $79 a month, and $299 a month per client for the professional plan. No user counts disclosed.", "url": "https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/easaly-ai-launches-tax-resolution-service-bringing-smarter-and-cheaper-tax-relief-options-to-consumers-and-professionals-302677129.html" } ] }, { "practice": "Estate, trust & gift tax compliance", "group": "Specialty", "verdict": "repriced", "vendors": [ { "name": "Black Ore (1041 Automation)", "sells": "An AI system that classifies trust and estate source documents, builds a standardized fiduciary workpaper binder, and delivers review-ready Form 1041 returns for export into the firm’s tax software. Sold to accounting firms.", "figure": "$60 million raised, co-led by Andreessen Horowitz, announced November 7, 2023 when the company came out of stealth.", "url": "https://blackore.ai/post/andreessen-horowitz-co-leads-60-million-ai-fintech-investment" }, { "name": "Instead", "sells": "An AI tax platform that prepares and e-files returns for trusts and estates alongside individual, corporate, and partnership entities, priced as free software with pay-per-credit agent work. Sold to CPA firms and tax preparers, and also to corporate tax teams, family offices, businesses, and high net worth individuals.", "figure": "Strategic investment from Skylark Partners announced March 25, 2026, amount not disclosed; the same announcement states the company has already signed many of the nation’s top 100 accounting firms.", "url": "https://finance.yahoo.com/sectors/technology/articles/instead-announces-strategic-investment-skylark-135800857.html" }, { "name": "Estateably", "sells": "Cloud estate and trust administration software whose core is fiduciary accounting (income, principal, capital gains, distributions), beneficiary statements, and court forms across US and Canadian jurisdictions. Sold to law firms, trust companies, accounting firms, and private fiduciaries.", "figure": "Company states 5,000+ professionals and 1,000+ firms across North America use the platform, with 550,000+ probate documents generated (estateably.com, accessed August 1, 2026).", "url": "https://www.estateably.com/" }, { "name": "Valur", "sells": "Trust formation plus ongoing administration sold directly to individuals at a flat annual fee of $2,500 to $12,500, with annual trust income tax returns, beneficiary K-1s, gift tax returns, and trust accounting included in the fee.", "figure": "Company states 4,000+ individuals use Valur for tax and estate planning (valur.com, accessed August 1, 2026). The previously claimed $5 million total raised could not be verified against a fetchable primary source and has been removed.", "url": "https://valur.com/" }, { "name": "Alix", "sells": "An AI-assisted estate settlement service that inventories the estate, prepares the required accounting of every asset, expense, and liability before distribution, and runs the probate and tax filing coordination. Sold to executors and families for a single fee.", "figure": "$20 million Series A led by Acrew Capital with Charles Schwab and Edward Jones Ventures, announced July 21, 2025, bringing total funding to $30.65 million.", "url": "https://www.investmentnews.com/fintech/wealth-tech-alix-raises-20m-to-expand-ai-powered-estate-settlement-platform/261389" } ] }, { "practice": "Financial statement audit", "group": "Assurance", "verdict": "defensible", "vendors": [ { "name": "Fieldguide", "sells": "Agentic AI platform for audit and advisory engagements that runs testing procedures, reviews evidence and prepares workpapers, sold to CPA firms.", "figure": "$75M Series C led by Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, announced February 2, 2026, bringing total funding to $125M at a $700M valuation.", "url": "https://www.fieldguide.io/blog/series-c-announcement" }, { "name": "DataSnipper", "sells": "Excel add-in and document AI that automates tickmarking, sampling, and matching evidence to workpapers inside audit files, sold to audit firms and also to corporate finance and internal audit teams.", "figure": "$100M Series B led by Index Ventures at a $1B valuation, announced February 1, 2024.", "url": "https://www.datasnipper.com/resources/datasnipper-raises-100m" }, { "name": "Circit", "sells": "Verification network that pulls bank, fund and transaction confirmations directly from source institutions so auditors get third-party evidence without manual confirmation letters, sold to audit firms.", "figure": "$22M growth equity round led by Ten Coves Capital, announced February 2, 2026; the company states more than 400 audit firms use the platform, including every one of the Top 20 global audit networks.", "url": "https://www.circit.io/post/circit-secures-22-million-growth-equity" }, { "name": "Modus", "sells": "AI audit technology that automates manual procedures and risk assessment, paired with an investment strategy that takes stakes in audit-first accounting firms and deploys the platform inside them.", "figure": "$85M in seed and Series A funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from Comma Capital and Garry Tan, announced April 7, 2026.", "url": "https://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/2026/04/07/modus-raises-85-million-in-funding-for-ai-native-accounting-technology/181119/" }, { "name": "Tellen", "sells": "AI agents that scan audit binders for quality issues, run attribute and control testing, and draft workpapers and financial statement footnotes, sold to accounting and audit firms.", "figure": "$2M from Blumberg Capital in Q3 2024, following $500K from Array Ventures in Q4 2023, per the company’s own funding timeline.", "url": "https://www.tellen.ai/team" }, { "name": "MindBridge", "sells": "Full-population risk scoring and anomaly detection on general ledger and transaction data, used for audit risk assessment in place of sampling, sold to audit firms and to corporate internal audit and finance teams.", "figure": "$29.6M announced June 12, 2019, combining a Series B round with a Government of Canada Strategic Innovation Fund investment.", "url": "https://www.peakspancapital.com/resources/news/mindbridge-ai-secures-29-6-million-in-new-funding-to-accelerate-the-democratization-of-artificial-intelligence" }, { "name": "Caseware", "sells": "Cloud audit and workpaper platform whose acquired Extractly.ai tools extract data from client PDFs and check financial statements for mathematical, internal and prior-period consistency, sold to accounting firms and also to corporations and government regulators.", "figure": "More than half a million users in 130 countries, stated in the company’s January 21, 2025 announcement of its acquisition of Extractly.ai.", "url": "https://www.caseware.com/news/caseware-acquires-extractly-ai" }, { "name": "Current (formerly Crete Professionals Alliance)", "sells": "A national platform that takes ownership stakes in independent CPA firms and runs AI through them; the platform itself is not a licensed CPA firm, so its partner firms sell audit and attest engagements to business and nonprofit clients under their own brands and the client receives the signed audit from the partner firm.", "figure": "Rebranded from Crete Professionals Alliance in June 2026 with more than 2,000 employees at nearly 30 independent accounting firms and more than $500M in annual revenue in its most recent fiscal year, backed by Thrive, whose Thrive Holdings arm and OpenAI embedded AI engineers on the platform (CPA Practice Advisor, June 3, 2026).", "url": "https://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/2026/06/03/crete-professionals-alliance-rebrands-as-current/184461/" } ] }, { "practice": "Forensic accounting & litigation support", "group": "Specialty", "verdict": "defensible", "vendors": [ { "name": "Valid8 Financial", "sells": "Software that extracts and verifies transactions from bank statements and other source documents to build court-ready financial evidence, sold to forensic accounting practices, law firms, and government investigators.", "figure": "$8.5M Series A led by Silverton Partners, announced November 30, 2023, with CPA.com, Touchdown Ventures, First Trust Capital Partners, and Capital Midwest participating.", "url": "https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/valid8-financial-accelerates-growth-shaping-verified-financial-intelligence-category-302001037.html" }, { "name": "Chainalysis", "sells": "Blockchain investigation and tracing software (Reactor) that follows funds across wallets and identifies counterparties, sold to law enforcement, tax agencies, banks, and exchanges; the company also sells its own investigative services alongside the software.", "figure": "$170M Series F led by GIC at an $8.6B valuation, announced May 12, 2022.", "url": "https://www.chainalysis.com/blog/series-f/" }, { "name": "TRM Labs", "sells": "Blockchain analytics software that traces cryptocurrency movements across chains for asset tracing and seizure work, sold to law enforcement, national security agencies, banks, regulators, tax authorities, and prosecutors.", "figure": "$70M Series C at a $1B valuation led by Blockchain Capital, with Goldman Sachs, Citi Ventures, Bessemer, Thoma Bravo, and Brevan Howard participating, reported February 4, 2026.", "url": "https://www.coindesk.com/business/2026/02/04/trm-labs-hits-unicorn-status-in-usd70-million-fund-raise-with-goldman-s-participation" }, { "name": "IVIX", "sells": "Financial crime detection platform using LLMs and graph analytics over public data to surface unreported income, laundering, and sanctions evasion, sold to government tax and law enforcement authorities that would otherwise retain outside forensic accountants.", "figure": "$60M Series B led by O.G. Venture Partners, announced August 18, 2025, bringing total raised to $85M.", "url": "https://www.ivix.ai/press/ivix-raises-60-million-series-b-to-fight-financial-crime-with-ai" }, { "name": "AnChain.AI", "sells": "An investigations team that takes engagements from law firms, accounting firms, government agencies and fraud victims and delivers crypto tracing, court-ready blockchain forensics reports, litigation support and expert witness testimony, on top of its own AI tracing platform.", "figure": "Strategic investment round announced Dec 2, 2025, backed by Amino Capital, former SunGard CEO Cris Conde and HiveMind’s Emmanuel Vallod; the same release cites $60M+ in victim recovery assisted in Q3 2025, an expert witness role in the Tornado Cash case, and deployments with PwC, GSR, Elbit Systems and Macnica Japan.", "url": "https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/anchainai-announces-strategic-investment-round-to-build-artificial-super-intelligence-for-fighting-fraud-302625811.html" }, { "name": "CounselPro", "sells": "A self-serve forensic financial analysis platform, sold by CounselPro, Inc., that extracts and categorizes bank statements and produces a forensic report on a case, bought by family law and bankruptcy attorneys, paralegals, trustees, and forensic and valuation firms, and positioned against forensic accountants who charge $10k to $30k a matter.", "figure": "Pricing published as of Aug 2026: $499 per matter with 1,000 credits, or annual plans at $1,200 (Core), $3,000 (Plus) and $6,000 (Premier), each with 12,000 credits a year.", "url": "https://www.counselpro.ai/pricing" }, { "name": "eFraud Services (eFraud Investigator)", "sells": "A cloud tool that transcribes financial PDFs, ties every figure to its source page and reconciles running balances for litigation, sold with a free tier to forensic accountants, CPA firms, white collar and family law attorneys, and government agencies who do the analysis themselves.", "figure": "Site as of Aug 2026 cites attorneys for the New York Attorney General in People v. Fischman / Cardis tracing $31M+ across 39 accounts, doing in 2.5 months what they had not done in 2 years; free tier is 50 pages, email only, no credit card.", "url": "https://efraudservices.com/" } ] }, { "practice": "Employee benefit plan audit", "group": "Assurance", "verdict": "defensible", "vendors": [ { "name": "AuditMiner", "sells": "EBP audit software that ingests recordkeeper and payroll reports and generates standardized workpapers for participant, contribution and distribution testing, priced per audit and sold to CPA firms.", "figure": "More than 3,500 plans processed and customers in over 40 states, from sole proprietor to top 100 CPA firms, stated on the company About page as of August 2026. No funding disclosed.", "url": "https://www.auditminer.com/about" }, { "name": "Autire (Autire Technologies)", "sells": "Cloud platform for 401(k), 403(b) and ESOP plan audits covering workflow management, automated data processing and audit documentation, sold to the CPA firm performing the audit.", "figure": "Growth investment from Serent Capital announced March 3, 2026; terms not disclosed.", "url": "https://serentcapital.com/insights/serent-capital-announces-investment-in-autire-a-cloud-based-and-ai-powered-platform-supporting-cpa-firms-in-employee-benefit-plan-audits-2/" }, { "name": "Makosi (EBP Eddy)", "sells": "Outsourced EBP audit teams for CPA firms, paired with EBP Eddy, an AI agent that handles repetitive workpaper tasks and answers EBP technical questions inside live plan audits.", "figure": "Acquired January 9, 2026 by an investor group led by Strait Lane Capital Partners in a 100 percent equity transaction; amount not disclosed.", "url": "https://www.straitlanecapital.com/portfolios/makosi/" }, { "name": "Oath (Oath CPAs PLLC)", "sells": "AI-native audit firm that runs audit procedures as software against a client’s financial systems and signs the opinion itself through its own licensed CPA entity; employee benefit plan is one of six client segments it names on oathverified.com, alongside venture capital, private equity, nonprofits, other private companies and other private funds.", "figure": "Lead investor M25 wrote on May 28, 2026 that Oath had received its CPA license that week and was accepting audit clients, starting with private companies and funds; former PCAOB board member Christina Ho is Chief Assurance Officer of Oath CPAs PLLC; the product is in early access.", "url": "https://www.m25vc.com/blog/why-we-invested-in-oath" }, { "name": "PriceKubecka (401kcpas.com)", "sells": "CPA firm specializing in employee benefit plan audits, sold direct to plan sponsors as a nationwide remote engagement at a flat fee starting at $12,000, with sponsor effort cut to under five hours per audit versus the 15 to 20 plus hours it says traditional firms require.", "figure": "Businesswire release dated March 11, 2025 says founder Brian Price grew PriceKubecka into the top 1% of CPA firms nationwide for 401(k) audit volume and quality before retiring to run Autire full time; the firm’s site says its EBP specialists have audited hundreds of plans and that it serves hundreds of plan sponsors a year.", "url": "https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250311664167/en/PriceKubecka-Founder-Brian-Price-Retires-Transitions-to-Full-Time-CEO-Role-at-Autire" }, { "name": "Human Interest (Audit Relief)", "sells": "401(k) recordkeeper that bundles the annual plan audit into what the sponsor already pays it: Human Interest assembles the audit-ready package from 20 data sources, the sponsor picks an auditor from a curated network inside the Human Interest dashboard, and Human Interest credits up to the full value of the standard audit fee. A network CPA firm signs the opinion, so Human Interest is the packager and payer, not the auditor of record.", "figure": "Announced September 23, 2025, available beginning plan year 2026; the company says nearly 40,000 companies have offered retirement benefits through it, that sponsors save $10,000 or more per plan year in audit fees, and that auditor time falls from 40 to 80 plus hours to about five with full transaction coverage instead of sampling.", "url": "https://humaninterest.com/pressroom/articles/human-interest-new-industry-standard-automated-401k-audits/" } ] }, { "practice": "Reviews & compilations", "group": "Assurance", "verdict": "defensible", "vendors": [ { "name": "InScope", "sells": "AI platform that drafts and formats financial statements and disclosures from ledger data, sold to accounting firms and to in-house finance teams.", "figure": "$14.5M Series A led by Norwest Venture Partners, announced February 20, 2026", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/20/inscope-nabs-14-5m-to-solve-the-pain-of-financial-reporting/" }, { "name": "Caseware (Working Papers and Validate)", "sells": "Engagement file software for audits, reviews and compilations, plus Validate, which runs AI checks on drafted financial statements for casting and math errors and consistency across tables, notes and prior periods; sold to accounting firms.", "figure": "Hg Capital strategic investment announced October 27, 2020, amount undisclosed; the same announcement states Caseware operates in 130 countries servicing over 500,000 users", "url": "https://www.caseware.com/news/caseware-announces-strategic-investment-hg-capital/" }, { "name": "Tellen", "sells": "AI agents that draft financial statements and footnotes, run consistency checks and quality scans, and perform attribute and control testing; sold to licensed CPA firms.", "figure": "Strategic investment from Citrin Cooperman announced May 19, 2026, financial terms not disclosed", "url": "https://blumbergcapital.com/news-insights/citrin-cooperman-invests-in-tellen-to-advance-the-ai-enabled-future-of-audit/" }, { "name": "AuditPro.ai", "sells": "Turnkey AI applications for financial statement audits and reviews, sold to accounting firm engagement teams.", "figure": "No funding figure disclosed anywhere; the sourced traction is selection into the AICPA and CPA.com 2026 Startup Accelerator cohort, announced March 3, 2026", "url": "https://www.cpa.com/news/aicpa-and-cpacom-announce-2026-startup-accelerator-cohort" }, { "name": "Current (formerly Crete Professionals Alliance)", "sells": "An AI-first accounting group whose member CPA firms sell financial statement reviews and compilations directly to private companies, public companies, and nonprofits; its Florida attest firm Assurance Dimensions runs the review and compilation engagements while the group supplies the technology, global delivery, and capital.", "figure": "Nearly 30 partner accounting firms, more than 2,000 employees, and over $500 million in annual revenue at the June 2, 2026 rebrand from Crete Professionals Alliance to Current; its Tax AI pilot with OpenAI and Thrive Holdings processed 7,000 returns in the 2025 tax season at 31% average preparation time savings (CPA Practice Advisor, June 3, 2026).", "url": "https://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/2026/06/03/crete-professionals-alliance-rebrands-as-current/184461/" } ] } ] }