KeatonThe AI advisor for accounting firms Book a demo

You're already their advisor. You're just not getting paid for it.

Hire Keaton, the AI advisor that runs the year with every client, not just their books: a Business Review, a 12‑month plan, and someone to call at 9 p.m. Under your firm's name, with your firm making the big calls.

  • ENCRYPTED · EVERY CONNECTION · QUICKBOOKS ACCESS · 256-BITENCRYPTION
  • SECURE CONNECTION · EVERY PAGE · EVERY CALL · TLS 1.3SECURED
  • AUDIT ENGAGED · INDEPENDENT CPA FIRM · SOC 2 · SOC 2IN PROGRESS
No subscription · Pay as you go · No contract
Keaton, from ACME CPASample calls
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Press play: that's Keaton talking. It's an AI, not a person. Every number comes from the client's books. ACME CPA and its clients are fictional

In their words

What changed at their firms.

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Not a chatbot

Not another bot on their books.

Plenty of tools answer a question about the numbers. An advisor does the work between the questions.

It speaks first.

Every week it reads their books and raises what moved, before they think to ask.

It remembers.

Every conversation, every number, every step it agreed, and it follows up on each one.

It knows the business, not just the books.

Their goals, their 12-month plan, and every area of the business scored against their own trade.

It knows its limits.

Tax, borrowing, hiring and the big calls go to your firm. Every time.

Your week, today

Here's where the unpaid hours go.

Your best clients already lean on you between returns. It eats your evenings, it never shows up on an invoice, and you still can't give every client the attention they need.

Your clients' questions don't keep office hours

Can I make payroll?Should I hire?Can I afford this?Am I charging enough?Why is cash tight when we're busy?Should I take this job?Can I pay myself more?Where did last month's profit go?Should I raise prices?Who's slow to pay me?
Can I give raises this year?Buy the truck, or lease it?Is this customer worth keeping?How much should I keep in the bank?Should I chase this late invoice?Which service makes me the most money?Why did my margins drop?Can I take a week off in July?Do I need a line of credit?Am I ready for a second location?
TodayStretched thin
  • A "quick question" at 9 p.m. turns into an hour you never bill.
  • Your advice goes out on a call, and nobody checks it got done.
  • The advisory work you'd love to sell sits there. Nobody has the hours.
  • They see you once a year, and wonder what they pay you for.
With KeatonAlways on
  • It takes the quick questions, any time, straight from their books.
  • Every step gets a date, and once it's due, it asks how it went.
  • Every week it brings you the advisory work worth proposing.
  • Your firm is in their corner all year, under your name.

You keep the relationship and the judgement. It does the hours.

What they get

To your clients, your firm just hired an advisor: Keaton.

Built from their books and a conversation. A 12‑month plan across every area: cash, margins, customers, people, and what the business is worth. All under your firm's name.

Example
ACME CPAYour first conversation · Ridgeline Mechanical
Keaton · ACME CPAWhere do you want Ridgeline to be in five years?
Dave · Ridgeline MechanicalHonestly? Five million in revenue, then sell it.
Keaton · ACME CPAYour books show about $2.8 million today, so that's close to doubling. Who else could run a job start to finish if you weren't there?
Dave · Ridgeline MechanicalNobody, really. That's the problem.
Your clients see the whole thing, under your firm's name.
What it can do

Keaton is your firm's first AI hire.

It doesn't replace anyone at your firm. It takes the 9 p.m. questions, the follow-ups and the first look at every client's books, so your people spend their hours on the work clients pay for. And it spots what they'd miss: the margin that's slipping, the customer paying a little later every month.

One person, even a great oneKeaton
AvailableBusiness hours, when you're not buried in returnsAny hour, any day. Including April.
Calls at onceOneMany clients at the same time
MemoryThe big things, mostlyEvery conversation, every number, every step it agreed
Their booksOnce you've pulled the reportsAnswers in seconds, straight from their QuickBooks
Follow-upWhen you remember toAsks about every step once it's due
Notices a changeWhen the client mentions itReads their books again every week and raises what moved
WhereAt your deskOn their phone or computer, wherever they are
Their tax returnIn a folder from last AprilComing soon Reads it alongside their books, with their consent
A phone numberYour office lineComing soon Its own number, for calls in and out
JudgementYoursBrings every big decision to you

Your clients will soon expect an advisor who picks up at 9 p.m. The only question is whose name is on it.

Book a demoNo subscription · No contract
On their screen

It doesn't just tell them. It shows them.

Your client asks out loud. Keaton answers from their own books, and their page moves with the answer: the figure it means, the month it means, the chart redrawn while they watch. Nobody from your firm is on the line: it's Keaton, their AI advisor, on their own screen, whenever they ask. Big decisions go to your firm.

Hear this callExample · 0:32 · sound only when you press play

Your firm's name, at your firm's address. Coming soon

advisor.acmecpa.comDave's screen · Tuesday, 9:14 p.m.

It holds a real conversation, too. They can cut in, change the subject, or ask it to explain again.

How it works

From invite to first call, you stay in charge.

Their booksQuickBooks Online, read only
Their conversationsOut loud or typed
Their tax returnComing soon
Under your firm's nameKeaton, their AI advisor
Your clientA review, a plan, answers any hour
Your firmThe big conversations
Works beside your team and tools. Replaces nothing, and your client installs nothing.
You stay in control

It keeps everyone on track. Including you.

Tax, borrowing, pay, hiring, leases, anything legal and big spends come to your firm. It helps your client get ready for that conversation; the go-ahead is always yours. You can switch Keaton off for any client.

For your client · Ridgeline MechanicalExample
✓Raise prices on service callsDone. Ticked off on a call.2 Oct
Ask Miller for a 30% depositIt will ask how it went.Fri
Decide on the November hireOnce the cash is in.1 Nov

What to do, why, and when. The next time they open Keaton, it asks how it went.

For your firm · this weekExample
Longview Physical TherapyThriving
Summit ContractingProgressing
Ridgeline MechanicalSlipping
Harborview KitchenStalled

Waiting on you: Harborview asked about signing a new lease, this morning.

You choose the clients

Nobody meets Keaton until your firm invites them.

You see every conversation

Read what was said, or open any client's portal and see exactly what they see.

Your name comes first

To your clients it's Keaton, from your firm. We never contact your clients ourselves.

Where this takes you

Same client. Same books. A bigger fee they're glad to pay.

Most firms already charge by the month. The hard part is justifying a bigger number. This is what justifies it.

Your package today
  • Monthly books
  • Year-end return
  • Questions by email, when you can get to them

They see a cost.

With Keaton
$1,800/ month
  • Everything in today's package
  • A Business Review: their whole business scored, area by area
  • A 12-month plan: what to do each month, and why
  • Keaton, their AI advisor, any hour, that knows their books
  • Their books read every week, with a heads-up when something moves
  • You, for the big decisions: tax, borrowing, hiring

They see someone in their corner.

Nothing to join. Nothing each month for your firm.Pay as you go: you pay only for clients who are using it, and you've already set what they pay you.
More fees, a year$154,000Recurring $144,000 · Projects it brings you $10,000
Work it takes off your team240 hoursAbout 6 weeks of one person's full-time work, without hiring anyone.

Every client starts with a Business Review under your name. Give it to them or charge for it: your call. Either way, it makes the case for the new price in their own numbers.

Example prices and figures; every one is yours to set. For bookkeepers, tax and CPA firms, and fractional CFOs. Your clients pay you directly, and we never take a cut.

Free book
Paid to Advise · free, by Marc Howard

Get paid for the advice you already give.

A short, practical book for firm owners by Marc Howard. He writes for Accounting Today, hosts the Pitch Your Firm podcast, and has helped over 400 accounting practices with pricing, valuation and growth.

Inside, you'll discover:

  1. The "quick question" you answer for free every week, and the one sentence that turns it into a monthly fee.
  2. Why your best advisory clients are already on your books, and the five signs that show you which ones.
  3. The one thing you must never say the first time you charge for advice. It's the most natural thing in the world, and it sets your price to zero.
  4. How to price advice so clients weigh it against what it saves them, not against your hourly rate.
  5. The three-part offer boutique firms use to turn a once-a-year client into a year-round one.
  6. The word-for-word conversation that gets a "yes" without sounding like a sales pitch.
  7. The quiet mistake that makes clients ignore good advice. (It isn't the advice.)
  8. How to tell, before you start, which clients will pay for advice and which never will.
  9. Your first 90 days, week by week, so your first five advisory clients stay past month three.
  10. How AI lets you be in every client's corner all year, even in the middle of April.
Get it firstFree · for firm owners
We'll send it the day it's out. Nothing else.

Every business owner deserves someone in their corner. Make it your firm.

Book a demo

Try it on clients you know first: run their Business Review yourself and talk to Keaton as if you were them. Nobody is contacted until you invite them.

No subscription · Pay as you go · No contract
Questions firms ask
How much does it cost?

Pay as you go, with nothing to join: no subscription, no contract, no minimums. You pay for each Business Review and for each month a client is using Keaton. You set what your clients pay, they pay your firm directly, and we never take a cut. We'll walk you through the numbers on a demo.

Who is it for?

We bring on a small number of firms at a time and review each one first, so every firm we take on gets our full attention.

It's for you if
  • You do the books or the taxes for small businesses on QuickBooks Online
  • Your firm is 1 to 25 people, solo practices included
  • Clients already call you with "quick questions"
  • You want advisory revenue without hiring advisors
  • You'd rather grow revenue per client than chase new ones
Probably not yet if
  • You're a larger firm with its own advisory department
  • Your clients are mostly individual tax returns
  • Your business clients don't use QuickBooks Online
  • You don't want to talk to clients between tax seasons
Will it make things up?

It's built not to. Every figure it gives comes straight from their books, and when it can't find one, it says so instead of guessing. Tax, borrowing and the big decisions go to your firm, not to Keaton. If their books need cleanup first, you'll see that before you invite them, and their plan starts with your firm bringing the books up to date.

Is their data safe?

It only reads their books and never changes them. The QuickBooks connection is stored encrypted, and disconnecting a client deletes what was read from their books.

Do we have to replace anything?

No. It reads QuickBooks Online and learns from its conversations with your clients. Everything else your firm uses stays as it is.

Does it overlap with our practice management or client portal?

No. It works alongside them, like a colleague who takes care of the advice. Client requests, documents and deadlines stay with your team and your tools.

How secure is it?

Two-factor sign-in for your team, read-only and encrypted access to their books, and built to SOC 2 standards. Our SOC 2 audit with an independent CPA firm is scheduled.

  • ENCRYPTED · EVERY CONNECTION · QUICKBOOKS ACCESS · 256-BITENCRYPTION
  • SECURE CONNECTION · EVERY PAGE · EVERY CALL · TLS 1.3SECURED
  • AUDIT ENGAGED · INDEPENDENT CPA FIRM · SOC 2 · SOC 2IN PROGRESS
Will my clients know it's AI?

Yes. Keaton's page says it's an AI working for your firm, and Keaton tells them if they ask. Everything else carries your firm's name.

Do I keep my clients?

Yes. We never contact your clients outside your firm's name, and you can switch Keaton off for any client, any day.

Who built Keaton?

Marc Howard. Marc writes for Accounting Today, hosts the Pitch Your Firm podcast, and has helped over 400 accounting practices with pricing, valuation and growth. Keaton is how a firm your size gets paid for the advice it already gives, all year, without adding a partner. He wrote Paid to Advise on the same idea.

A 20-minute demo

Book a demo

Tell us a little about your firm. We'll email you within one business day to set up a short call.

How many business clients do you have on QuickBooks Online?