Relaycairn julien@relaycairn.com

AI operations for owner-operated accounting & bookkeeping firms

Your partners shouldn’t be the ones chasing clients for a missing 1099.

Partners and senior staff lose billable hours to the same loop: asking clients for missing documents, re-keying intake data, and sending “where are we?” status emails. We design and build the systems that run that loop for you, inside the tools your firm already uses, with your team reviewing anything that carries judgment.

Tell us where your hours leak

Built for firms of roughly 8–80 staff. Done-for-you, scoped fixed price, $5k–$25k per engagement.

Where the hours leak

Four workflows we see most often in firms this size. For each: what goes wrong, what the system does, and what a person on your team still reviews. We confirm which of these fit your firm during discovery; you don’t need all four.

1. Client document chase

The problemRequests go out by hand. Replies land in three inboxes and a portal. Someone has to remember who still owes what, and the follow-up usually falls to whoever is least busy, or to a partner.
What the system doesBuilds the request list from the engagement or checklist, sends the request, tracks what has arrived, and sends escalating reminders on a schedule your firm sets. Stuck items are flagged to the responsible person, and status stays current without anyone typing it.
What a human reviewsThe wording of escalations, any client who needs a phone call instead of a fifth email, and whether the documents that came in are complete and correct.

Example cadence (illustrative only; your firm sets its own): first request, a friendly nudge after a few days, a firmer reminder a few days later, then a task for a staff member to call.

2. New-client engagement onboarding

The problemOnce a proposal is accepted, someone assembles the engagement letter, sends the organizer, invites the client to the portal, and builds the kickoff checklist, re-entering the same client details at each step.
What the system doesOn acceptance, it creates the client record, drafts the engagement letter from your templates, sends the organizer and portal invite, and creates the kickoff tasks and checklist for the assigned team. Intake data is entered once.
What a human reviewsEngagement scope and terms, conflict and acceptance checks, fees, and the final approval before anything goes to the client for signature.

3. Month-end and quarterly close follow-up

The problemBookkeepers wait on bank and card statements, uncategorized-transaction answers and payroll confirmations, then spend close week sending reminders instead of closing.
What the system doesSends scheduled requests tied to the close calendar, collects and logs replies, groups open questions per client, nudges non-responders, and gives the bookkeeper a single view of who is ready and who is blocking.
What a human reviewsAll categorization and adjusting-entry judgment, any message that explains or interprets the numbers, and the decision to close or hold.

4. Inbound lead to proposal handoff

The problemInquiries arrive by web form, email and referral. Follow-up is inconsistent, details get retyped, and proposals wait on whoever has time to start them.
What the system doesCaptures the inquiry, asks the scoping questions you choose, routes it to the right partner, and drafts a proposal shell from your own templates and fee schedule, with tasks and reminders so nothing sits.
What a human reviewsFit and conflicts, the fee, the scope language, and the decision to send.

How an engagement works

A small number of steps, a defined scope, and a system your firm owns at the end.

  1. Discovery callWe walk through how work actually moves through your firm, which tools it touches, and which two or three workflows cost the most time. We tell you plainly if something isn’t a good fit for automation.
  2. Scoped fixed-price proposalYou get a written scope: the workflows, the integrations, the human review points and a fixed price. Pricing is scoped per engagement within a $5k–$25k range and depends mainly on the number of workflows and the number of integrations.
  3. Build and testWe build on your existing stack, such as QuickBooks, Xero, Karbon, TaxDome, Outlook or Google Workspace, and Zapier or n8n where they fit. We test with dummy or limited data first and walk your team through it before anything touches live clients.
  4. Handoff and trainingYour team gets documentation and training, and you decide when each workflow goes live. The workflows are yours to run and change.
  5. Optional support retainerIf you want ongoing tuning, monitoring or new workflows, we can agree a separate retainer. It’s optional and not required to keep what we built.

Tool compatibility depends on what each tool exposes (APIs, email, webhooks, import/export) and on your plan level. We confirm feasibility for your specific stack during discovery, before you commit. Relaycairn is not affiliated with these software vendors; product names belong to their owners.

What we don’t do

  • We don’t give tax or accounting advice. Relaycairn is a systems and automation builder, not a CPA firm, and we hold no accounting credentials.
  • We don’t file anything. No returns, no payroll filings, no regulatory submissions.
  • A human stays in the loop on anything client-facing that carries judgment: interpretations, advice, fee conversations, sensitive situations.

Confidentiality

Your firm decides which systems and which data the automation touches. We can scope a build so it works with client names, deadlines and document status without touching returns or sensitive identifiers.

Your firm’s own data-handling policies and professional obligations come first, and we design around them, not the other way around.

Questions firms ask

Do we need to change our software?
Generally no. The point is to build on the practice management, accounting, email and portal tools you already run. If a tool can’t support what you need, we say so during discovery and discuss options. We won’t make you switch just to suit our build.
Who owns the workflows?
Your firm does. You get the documentation and access to what was built in your accounts. Ownership terms are written into the scope so they’re clear before you sign.
What happens during tax season?
Busy season is a bad time to change how a team works. We’ll plan build and go-live around your calendar, which usually means scoping and building ahead of the rush or switching on workflows after it. You choose the date, and any workflow can be paused.
How long does a build take?
As a typical scoping estimate only, a focused build of one to three workflows often lands in the range of a few weeks to a couple of months. Actual timing depends on the number of integrations, how quickly we get access and feedback, and your calendar. We give a specific estimate in the written scope, and it is not a guarantee.
What does it cost?
Engagements are fixed-price and scoped individually within a $5k–$25k range, depending mainly on the number of workflows and integrations. A support retainer, if you want one, is quoted separately. You’ll see the full price in writing before any work begins.

Tell us where the hours leak

A few details are enough to start. We’ll reply by email to talk through fit and next steps. No obligation.

Please don’t include client names, tax IDs or financial details here.

We use what you submit only to reply to your inquiry. See our privacy policy.

Prefer email? Write to julien@relaycairn.com with your firm name, headcount, top two workflows and current tools.