What the agent handles
- Books client meetings
- Sends document checklists
- Follows up on missing slips
- Takes payroll and bookkeeping enquiries
- Routes calls by client file
Legal, finance and professional
AI receptionist for accounting and bookkeeping
Answers client calls through the busiest weeks of the year, books meetings with the right accountant, and chases missing documents with polite follow-ups.
CallerI've got a shoebox of receipts and a small business. Can you help me get caught up?
CallerWhen's the deadline for my corporate return? I think I might be late.
CallerDid you get the T-slips I dropped off? I wasn't sure who to give them to.
Where calls go
ReceptionBookkeepingTaxPayrollPartners
Warm transfer: If a client has received a notice from the tax agency with a response deadline, the agent warm-transfers to the accountant on their file.
What it books
Client meetings and document drop-offs
Why accounting firms miss calls, and what an AI receptionist changes
An accounting office lives by the calendar. From February to the end of April, again before the June 15 deadline for the self-employed, and around every corporate year-end, partners and staff are heads down in working papers while the phone keeps ringing. Some calls are routine (did you get my T-slips?), some are new business (a restaurant owner with two years of unfiled HST returns), and some can't wait (a letter from the Canada Revenue Agency with thirty days to respond). Whoever picks up has to stop reconciling a bank statement to sort them out.
A RealVoice AI receptionist works as the answering service for your accounting firm. It knows which accountant or bookkeeper looks after which client, so a corporate return question goes to that file's team, a payroll question goes to payroll, and a new enquiry is screened for the kind of work involved: personal tax, a T2 corporate return, monthly bookkeeping, a catch-up job or payroll setup. It books meetings and document drop-offs and texts each client the checklist you use, from T4s and T5s to RRSP receipts, bank and credit card statements and the year's sales and expenses.
It doesn't answer tax questions or give an opinion on a deduction, a penalty or whether a client is late. It tells callers what your firm has asked it to say, writes the question down for the accountant and books time. A client with a notice of reassessment or a review letter that carries a response date is warm-transferred to the accountant on their file, and the date is read to the accountant privately before the call connects.
Example call, start to finish
- CallerHi, it's Dave Kowalski from Kowalski Landscaping. I dropped off a folder of slips and receipts last Tuesday, and I just want to make sure someone has it.
- AI receptionistThanks for checking, Mr. Kowalski. Your file is with Anita in our tax group, and I'll make sure she confirms she has the folder. Was it for your personal return or the company's?
- CallerPersonal. And while I've got you, I got a letter from the CRA yesterday about my HST. It says I have thirty days.
- AI receptionistThat one shouldn't wait. What date is printed on the letter?
- CallerSeptember 29th.
- AI receptionistThank you. Anita is free right now, so I'll put you through to her for both questions.
- AI receptionist(privately, to Anita) Dave Kowalski of Kowalski Landscaping. He wants to confirm you have the personal tax folder he dropped off last Tuesday, and he has a CRA letter about HST dated September 29 with thirty days to respond. Putting him through now.
After the call: Anita takes the call already knowing about the folder and the HST letter. The summary and recording are saved in the RealVoice portal, so the response date is on record for the whole team after the call ends.
How it fits your day
- Personal tax season
- Between February and April 30, clients call to book, drop off and ask what to bring. Each gets a time and your checklist by text while staff stay on the returns in front of them.
- Corporate year-ends
- Clients with a December 31 year-end start calling in January about financial statements and the T2. Calls reach the team on that corporation, or become a message with the company name and year-end.
- HST and payroll dates
- Around filing and remittance deadlines, bookkeeping clients call with last-minute questions. The agent sends them to bookkeeping or payroll instead of letting them land on a partner.
- New business enquiries
- Owners shopping for a new accountant often call in the evening. The agent asks what work they need and how far behind they are, then books an introductory meeting.
Your software
Today it books client meetings and document drop-offs into the RealVoice schedule in the portal, keeps call summaries and recordings there, texts every client a confirmation with your checklist, and sends tax-season reminder texts to last year's clients. If your firm runs QuickBooks Online, Xero, Sage 50 Canada or FreshBooks, the team can set up a connection to it; custom integrations are quoted separately.
What a missed call costs
Take a new small-business client who needs monthly bookkeeping, quarterly HST filings and a year-end corporate return. Together that can bring in $5,000 or more a year in fees, and the relationship tends to last. If your office lets four new-client calls a week roll to voicemail through tax season, and one in four would have signed, that is more than a dozen long-term clients gone by May. The missed-call calculator on our homepage will run it with your own average annual fee.
Questions accounting firms ask
Can it answer clients' tax questions?
No. It won't advise on deductions, deadlines for a particular client or penalties. It takes the question down word for word, routes it to the accountant on the file and books a meeting if one is needed.
How does it know which accountant handles which client?
You give the team a list of clients or companies and who looks after each, and you keep it current. Callers who aren't on the list are treated as new enquiries and screened.
Can it send document checklists?
Yes. It texts the checklist that matches the work, such as a personal return, a self-employed return, a corporate year-end or a bookkeeping catch-up, using your own lists. Clients can text photos of their slips and receipts to your office number, and each one is kept with the call in the portal.
Can an AI answer my accounting firm's phones during tax season?
That's when it helps most. It takes many calls at once, so the April crush doesn't fill the voicemail box, and staff only take the calls that need them.
What about clients who just want their accountant?
They're put through if that person is free, with a short private summary first. If not, a message goes out by text and email right away with the reason for the call.
Hear it as your own accounting firm's front desk
Request a free demo call and the agent will phone you, set up as a business like yours.