For independent tax preparers and small tax offices
It’s March. Forty returns are stuck on one missing form each, and the phone won’t stop.
January to April you prepare all day and chase all night: the 1099 that never came, the client who swears they sent everything, the same “why do I owe this year?” you answered last spring, due-diligence notes on every EITC return, and extension letters for whoever is still missing something on April 10. Most of the year’s income comes in those weeks, and every hour spent chasing is an hour you aren’t preparing.
The Small Firm AI Kit for Tax Preparers: one Claude Skill with 17 ready-made playbooks.
- Personalized document checklists
- EITC and CTC due-diligence records
- Extension and estimated-payment letters
- One-time payment
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- Works on free Claude
Your 2026 document checklist, Client A and Client B (excerpt)
Same as last year: W-2s from Employer 1 (Client A) and Employer 2 (Client B) (Form 1040, line 1a). Form 1098 from Lender 1 for the mortgage interest (Schedule A, line 8a). Form 1099-INT from Bank 1 (Schedule B, line 1).
Childcare: Daycare 1’s name, address and tax ID, and what you paid in 2026 (Form 2441; you paid $4,800 last year).
Checked before you see it
- Checked: Every “same as last year” item tied to its form and line
- Flagged: New income from the intake text, marked NEW, with no form expected
- Verify: Thresholds from the list you confirmed in your Office Profile, marked [VERIFY]
Not a tax preparer? There’s a kit for your practice:
Compare allIf this sounds like your season, keep reading
- A client uploads eleven photos of the same W-2 and nothing else, and you still don’t know if the brokerage 1099 is coming.
- Third call this week asking where the refund is, and the return you were halfway through is waiting on screen.
- A family claiming the EITC and head of household sits down at 6 p.m., and the due-diligence notes get written at 11.
- April 10, twenty-two clients still missing something, and every one of them needs an extension email that says “file, not pay”.
Where the hours go
In season, roughly 16 hours a week go to the same five jobs
The same week with Claude and these playbooks: about 7 hours back
- Today
- With The Small Firm AI Kit for Tax Preparers
Building checklists and chasing missing documents
Today: 4 h/wkWith The Small Firm AI Kit for Tax Preparers: 2 h/wkAnswering the same client questions
Today: 4 h/wkWith The Small Firm AI Kit for Tax Preparers: 2.5 h/wkNew-client intake and prior-year returns
Today: 3 h/wkWith The Small Firm AI Kit for Tax Preparers: 1.5 h/wkEITC, CTC and head-of-household due-diligence notes (Pro)
Today: 3 h/wkWith The Small Firm AI Kit for Tax Preparers: 2 h/wkExtension, estimated-payment and return letters (Pro)
Today: 2 h/wkWith The Small Firm AI Kit for Tax Preparers: 1 h/wk
Today: ≈16 h a week, ≈768 h a year on this work.
Back in your week with Pro, our estimate
≈7 h
With Basic: ≈5 h
Example starting value: $100. Move it to your own number.
- Pro pays for itself after
- ≈60 min
- Time back, each month
- ≈$2,800
How we estimated these numbers
In filing season most of the week is preparing returns, and the work around them repeats on every client: building checklists and chasing what is missing, answering the same questions, taking in new clients, writing up due diligence on credit returns and sending the letters. This is a conservative picture of a February or March week for a one-person office with a good share of families claiming credits. If you take on more new clients or more EITC returns, the hours grow.
- Building checklists and chasing missing documents, 4 h/week: Our estimate: about 10 minutes per returning client to compare last year’s return with what came in and write the chase email, about 25 clients a week in season. No published figure found.
- Answering the same client questions, 4 h/week: Our estimate: about 48 minutes a working day on calls, texts and emails about refunds, balances due and what to bring. No published figure found.
- New-client intake and prior-year returns, 3 h/week: Our estimate: about 45 minutes per new client to read the intake and last year’s return and list what is missing, about 4 new clients a week. No published figure found.
- EITC, CTC and head-of-household due-diligence notes, 3 h/week: Our estimate: about 20 minutes per credit return to write up the interview and the documents reviewed, about 9 such returns a week. No published figure found.
- Extension, estimated-payment and return letters, 2 h/week: Our estimate: about 10 minutes per letter, about 12 letters a week in season. No published figure found.
These are our estimates, not measured results. No published study times these preparer tasks, so we started from the conservative hours above and assumed every task still needs you: interviewing the client, checking each figure against the documents, deciding eligibility, clearing every [VERIFY] and signing. So we cut each task by half at most, and due diligence by a third. For comparison, Karbon’s State of AI in Accounting 2026 report puts the average time saved with AI at 60 minutes a day per employee, and 84% of tax professionals in the Blue J and CPA.com 2026 survey say AI saves them time.
Week: Our basis: a 55-hour filing-season week for a one-person office; no published figure found for independent preparers. NATP’s 2023 fee study found that 65% of a practice’s gross revenue is earned in tax season, 12% in the extension periods and 23% in between.. Yearly figures use 48 working weeks, monthly ones 4.
One Skill · 17 playbooks inside
Describe the client. Get the finished letter.
One Skill in Claude: you say what you need in plain words, its router opens the right playbook, and back comes a draft with every figure tied to its form and line. These are excerpts of what comes back, built on fictional, de-identified facts. The return itself stays in your tax software.
Checklists from last year’s return, and exactly what is still missing.
You ask
“Client A and Client B are coming back. Here is last year’s return. Build their 2026 checklist and tell me what’s new.”
You get
Every form to bring, payer by payer, each tied to last year’s line.
Playbook: document-checklist-builder.md · in every plan
tax-preparers/
├─ SKILL.md
the router: reads your request, opens the right playbook
├─ your profile, saved at setup
└─ playbooks/
├─ confidentiality-preflight.md
├─ tax-rule-guard.md
├─ client-message-writer.md
└─ … 14 more
See all 17 playbooks
In every planBasic · $49
- Client data de-identified before any work starts
confidentiality-preflight.md - Every threshold, date and form number flagged before it reaches a client
tax-rule-guard.md - Client emails and texts you don’t dread writing
client-message-writer.md - A clear answer to “why do I owe this year?”
client-question-answers.md - A personalized document checklist built from last year’s return
document-checklist-builder.md - What’s still missing, client by client, with the chase email written
missing-documents-report.md - A one-page intake summary for every new client
client-intake-summary.md
Added in ProPro · $99
- An EITC, CTC and head-of-household due-diligence record for the file
due-diligence-record.md - Extension notices that say “file, not pay” in plain English
extension-notice-writer.md - Estimated-payment reminder letters with the right dates
estimated-payment-letters.md - A “your return explained” letter for every finished return
return-summary-letter.md - A new client’s old return, read for what carries forward
prior-year-return-review.md - A second look before you sign and e-file
pre-signing-review.md - IRS notices explained, with a draft reply or a referral
notice-explainer.md - A reply to a bad review that stays professional and confidential
review-reply-writer.md - An engagement letter with an AI clause, ready before the season
engagement-letter-ai-clause.md - Every client’s status on one board
season-status-board.md
Why not just ChatGPT?
Why not just paste last year’s return into ChatGPT?
In the Blue J and CPA.com 2026 survey of 1,000 US tax and accounting professionals, 90% use general AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity or Claude, but Karbon’s 2026 report found only 21% of firms have an AI policy. A plain chatbot is quick, but it doesn’t know your client, it doesn’t ask follow-up questions, and much of what it learned was written before the 2026 rules changed.
Generic AI
- Thresholds moved for tax years beginning after 2025: payers now send a 1099-NEC or 1099-MISC from $2,000, not $600, and a 1099-K comes only above $20,000 and 200 transactions (IRS instructions, Rev. December 2026). A checklist from older material tells your self-employed client to wait for forms that may never arrive.
- Due diligence needs questions, not assumptions. Circular 230 §10.34(d) says you must make reasonable inquiries when information looks incorrect, and each Form 8867 failure costs $650 for returns filed in 2026, up to $2,600 on one return. In this kit, Due Diligence Record asks, records the answer and leaves the call to you.
- A client’s return pasted into a consumer chat account is a disclosure question under §7216 that the IRS hasn’t answered for AI tools. The civil penalty under §6713 is $250 per disclosure or use, up to $10,000 a year, and the IRS OPR’s June 2026 guidelines say to use only secure, enterprise-approved AI for client data.
- The same OPR guidelines say practitioners “cannot rely solely on AI”: facts, citations and calculations have to be verified. A chatbot gives you a confident paragraph with nothing to check it against. Here every figure points to a form and line, and every threshold to the list you confirmed.
The Small Firm AI Kit for Tax Preparers
Why this works where a plain chatbot didn’t
- 1
De-identified before anything starts
Confidentiality Pre-Flight runs first on every task: it offers de-identified mode, swaps names for Client A and Employer 1, masks SSNs, EINs and account numbers as SSN-1 and Acct-1, and reminds you about your §7216 consent and Claude’s data settings.
- 2
Built from the client’s own return, figures computed with code
Document Checklist Builder ties every item to the form and line it came from on last year’s return. Client Question Answers compares the two years line by line with code, inputs shown, so “why do I owe?” is answered in the client’s own numbers.
- 3
No thresholds or dates from memory, and your signature last
Thresholds and due dates come only from the list you confirm in your Office Profile, each marked [VERIFY] by Tax Rule Guard. Every output ends with a verification block, the checks it needs and a line for your review, in the shape the IRS OPR’s June 2026 AI guidelines describe.
How it works
Set up once. Then just ask.
No coding, no prompts to copy. You install it the way you would add a document to Claude.
- 1
Download the ZIP
Right after checkout you get one ZIP, ready to download on the page: a single Claude Skill for your office with every playbook in your plan inside. No account, no login, no subscription.
- 2
Upload it to Claude
Add it once in Claude’s settings. After that you just ask for the work: the Skill reads your request and opens the right playbook, so you never pick a file yourself. It runs on every Claude plan, including Free with code execution turned on. For real client files, use a Team or Enterprise plan, which doesn’t train on your data by default; on Free, Pro or Max, turn model training off in your privacy settings first.
- 3
Answer the 5-minute Office Profile interview
Your state, office type, client mix, fees, signature and the tax software you prepare in, plus whether you hold an AFSP Record of Completion or a credential. You also confirm the thresholds and due dates every playbook uses, taken from the IRS forms for the year and never guessed. Saved once and read by every playbook.
Compare your options
What the other options cost
These are the real alternatives a one-person or small tax office has today, at the prices reported for them. None of them is wrong, and the kit doesn’t replace your tax software or your portal. They are priced for a different job, or billed every month.
- A seasonal hireBLS reported a mean wage of $50,390 a year for tax preparers in accounting and tax firms (May 2021); a seasonal hire costs a share of that, plus trainingHard to find (73% of firms in a 2026 GATI/Advancetrack survey turn work away for lack of staff), trained again every January, and every return they touch still needs your review.
- Practice management with a client portal (e.g. TaxDome)$58 a month per user billed annually, per TaxDome’s blog; third parties report $700–$1,000 per seat a yearBuilt to run the office: portal, organizers, signatures, reminders. Good at it, so keep it. The due-diligence write-up, the “why do I owe?” answer and the extension letters are still yours to write.
- Tax AI assistant subscription (CPA Pilot)$29 a month for 20 AI messages, up to $199 a month unlimitedA research and drafting assistant with message caps, billed every month for as long as you use it.
- Prompt packs for tax professionals$37 for 20 prompts and 5 workflows (Payhip) to $149 for a prompt bundle (Gumroad)Prompts you paste and rewrite for every client: no de-identification step, no link to last year’s return, nothing that checks the figures or flags a threshold.
- AI courses for CPE or CE$55 for a 2-credit course to $500 for a 15-workshop series (CPE Today, CPE Inc., 2026)They teach you how AI works. On Monday morning you still write the checklist yourself.
- A generic chatbotAbout $20 a monthNo forms, no line references, no verification, and it may still quote the old $600 1099 threshold. A client’s return pasted into a consumer account raises a §7216 question the IRS hasn’t answered.
- The Small Firm AI Kit for Tax Preparers$49 or $99, once$49 or $99, paid once. Even Pro costs less than four months of CPA Pilot’s entry plan or one $149 prompt bundle, and it never renews.
Pick your plan
One payment. Yours to keep.
Less than you charge for one return: NATP’s 2025 fee study puts the average Form 1040 with schedules at $236. One payment, yours to keep.
Pro costs, once
$99
Basic: $49 once
It pays for itself after
≈60 min
of time won back, at $100 for a preparer hour
Get back just 1 hour a month
$100
a month, against a one-time $99. Our estimate is ≈7 h a week.
Break-even = plan price ÷ the hourly value set in “Where the hours go” above.
Basic
The core kit plus the three filing-season essentials.
$49one-time
7 ready-made playbooks
Try it on real work. Not for you? Full refund within 30 days.
- 4 core playbooks: Confidentiality Pre-Flight, Tax Rule Guard, Client Message Writer, Client Question Answers
- Document Checklist Builder, every item tied to last year’s return
- Missing Documents Report with the chase email written
- Client Intake Summary for every new client
- Office Profile interview: set your state, client mix and house style once
- Verification block at the end of every output
Pro
The whole season, from the first checklist to the October extension.
$99one-time
All 17 playbooks
Only $50 more than Basic: +10 playbooks and the Pro bonuses below.
Try it on real work. Not for you? Full refund within 30 days.
- Everything in Basic
- Due Diligence Record for EITC, CTC, AOTC and head of household returns
- Extension Notice Writer
- Estimated Payment Letters with the 1040-ES dates
- Return Summary Letter for every finished return
- Prior-Year Return Review for new clients
- Pre-Signing Review before you e-file
- Notice Explainer, with a referral letter when it’s outside your rights
- Review Reply Writer
- Engagement Letter + AI Clause
- Season Status Board
- Word templates for your checklist, extension notice and estimated-payment letter
- Office Style Guide: your house style, applied by every playbook
- Sample outputs from every playbook, to compare against your own
- 12 months of fixes and adjustments to the included playbooks
30-day money-back guarantee
Run the kit on a real, de-identified client file. If it doesn’t earn its place in your office within 30 days, email us and we refund every cent. No conditions.
- One-time payment, no subscription
- Works on free Claude
Run a different kind of practice? Tax resolutionCPA firmsBookkeepingTell us yours →
No Claude account yet?
No Claude yet? You’re 2 minutes away
Claude is Anthropic’s AI assistant. Its free plan runs The Small Firm AI Kit for Tax Preparers: you create the account, switch on one setting and upload the kit, in about two minutes and without a credit card.
- The free plan works: no subscription and no credit card to start
- About two minutes from sign-up to your first request
- Paid plans only add more usage, for when you want it
Client confidentiality comes first. Every task starts with Confidentiality Pre-Flight, which offers anonymized mode and swaps names for placeholders like Client A and SSN-1. Try the kit free on anonymized facts, then run real files on a Claude business plan, which doesn’t train on your data.
- 1
Create a free account
Go to claude.ai and sign up with your email, Google or Apple account. It’s free and ready right away.
- 2
Turn on one setting
In Settings → Capabilities, switch on “Code execution and file creation”. Skills need it, and it’s free.
- 3
Upload your package
In Customize → Skills, click “+”, choose “Upload a skill” and select the ZIP you received. Then just ask.
Fair questions
What tax preparers ask before buying
Am I even allowed to use AI on client returns?
Nothing forbids it, but the rules are catching up. The IRS Office of Professional Responsibility’s June 2026 guidelines tie AI use to Circular 230: verify facts, citations and calculations, use only secure, enterprise-approved AI for client data, document your AI use and don’t bill for time not spent. On §7216 the IRS hasn’t said whether an AI tool is a disclosure, so we recommend a signed consent in the Rev. Proc. 2013-14 format before identifiable return information goes in. The kit gives you de-identification first, a verification block on every output and an AI paragraph for your engagement letter. Aligned with the guidance; it doesn’t certify compliance.
Is my clients’ data safe?
Every task starts with Confidentiality Pre-Flight, which offers de-identified mode, swaps names for placeholders like Client A and Employer 1 and masks SSNs, EINs and account numbers. On Claude Free, Pro or Max, turn model training off in your privacy settings; Team and Enterprise don’t train on your data by default. For identifiable client files, use Team or Enterprise and have the client’s §7216 consent on file.
Will it get a threshold or a date wrong?
It doesn’t state them from memory. Thresholds and due dates come only from the list you confirm in your Office Profile, each marked [VERIFY] by Tax Rule Guard, and a notice’s deadline is read off the notice itself. Figures come from the client’s own documents, with differences computed with code. We don’t promise zero errors. We promise every threshold, date and figure is flagged for you to check.
I already have tax software and a client portal. Why would I need this?
Keep them. The kit doesn’t prepare the return or replace your portal. It writes everything around the return that your software leaves to you: the checklist built from last year, the chase email, the due-diligence write-up, the extension and estimate letters, and the answer to “why do I owe?”.
I’m a one-person office, busy January to April. Is it worth it?
NATP’s 2023 fee study found 65% of a practice’s gross revenue comes in during tax season, which is exactly when an hour matters most and there’s no time to learn a new tool. Install it now, answer the Office Profile once and run your checklists in December. In season you just ask. Pro costs less than the average fee for one Form 1040 with schedules ($236 in NATP’s 2025 study).
Built for your rules
Built around the clients you actually serve
Pick your client mix in the Office Profile and the checklists, questions and letters change with it. Thresholds and dates always come from the list you confirm, marked [VERIFY].
Your setup
W-2 families with credits
Wage earners with children, childcare costs and the credits that come with them.
- Checklists ask for every W-2, the childcare provider’s name, address and tax ID, and the records that show where each child lived
- Due Diligence Record opens on every return claiming the EITC, CTC/ACTC/ODC, AOTC or head of household status
- “Why do I owe?” answers start from withholding and dependents, side by side with last year
Guardrails
Verification isn’t a disclaimer. It’s the product.
Every output ends with the same verification block: key figures, the source of each, the items marked [VERIFY], the checks this document needs and a line for your review. We never promise zero errors. We promise every threshold, date and figure is flagged for you to check, and that you review and sign everything.
Sample verification block
From: Your 2026 document checklist, Client A and Client B (excerpt)
- Checked: Every “same as last year” item tied to its form and line
- Flagged: New income from the intake text, marked NEW, with no form expected
- Verify: Thresholds from the list you confirmed in your Office Profile, marked [VERIFY]
- Checked: Cover email in plain English, with your upload link and cut-off date
- 01
De-identify first
Before any task, de-identified mode is offered: names become Client A and Employer 1, and SSNs, EINs and account numbers become SSN-1 and Acct-1. IP PINs, full dates of birth and e-Services credentials are never asked for.
- 02
§7216: a signed consent, not a guess
As of November 2026 the IRS hasn’t ruled on whether an AI tool counts as a disclosure of return information, and the AICPA’s advice is to be safe. We recommend a signed consent in the Rev. Proc. 2013-14 format before any identifiable return information goes into Claude. We don’t claim that using Claude is §7216-compliant.
- 03
Your WISP covers it
The FTC Safeguards Rule treats tax preparers as financial institutions, so every paid preparer needs a written information security plan; IRS Pub 5708 is the template. The PTIN form (W-12, line 11) asks if you’re aware of that duty. Pub 5708 doesn’t mention AI yet, so the kit treats Claude as a tool your WISP has to cover.
- 04
Due diligence: recorded, never decided
Due Diligence Record asks the questions, records each answer with its date and lists the documents seen. Whether a child qualifies or a status applies is your call, with $650 per Form 8867 failure at stake.
- 05
No thresholds or dates from memory
Every threshold and due date comes from the list you confirm in your Office Profile, marked [VERIFY] by Tax Rule Guard. A notice’s reply-by date is read off the notice. With nothing to read it from, the date stays blank.
- 06
Numbers computed with code
Year-over-year comparisons and differences run as code with the inputs shown. The return itself is computed in your tax software, never here.
- 07
In line with the IRS OPR’s June 2026 AI guidelines
The guidelines ask you to verify AI-produced facts, citations and calculations, use secure tools for client data, and document how you use AI. Each output carries a verification block and an optional AI-use log line for your records. Aligned with the guidelines; it doesn’t certify compliance.
- 08
Claude’s data settings, set before real files
On Claude Free, Pro and Max you choose whether chats are used for training: turn it off in your privacy settings. Team and Enterprise plans don’t train on your data by default. Either way, the kit works fully on de-identified facts.
- 09
You review and sign everything
Every client email, letter and record carries a “Preparer review required before sending” banner. Nothing goes to a client, to the IRS or onto a review site without you, and the return is still yours to prepare and sign.
FAQ
Everything else
Didn’t find your answer? Email us:hello@summonskills.com
What exactly is in the ZIP?
One Claude Skill for your office. Inside: a router file (SKILL.md) that reads each request and opens the right playbook, one Markdown playbook per job (7 in Basic, 17 in Pro), each with its instructions, templates and verification block, and the Office Profile interview every playbook reads. Pro also includes the Office Style Guide inside the Skill, plus a bonus pack: Word templates for the checklist, the extension notice and the estimated-payment letter, and sample outputs from every playbook. 12 months of fixes and adjustments to the included playbooks are included (new playbooks for future rule changes are not part of that).
Does it work on Claude’s Free plan?
Yes. The Skill runs on every Claude plan, including Free, as long as code execution is turned on. Free is fine for trying the kit on de-identified or fictional facts with model training turned off. For identifiable client files, use a Team or Enterprise plan, which doesn’t train on your data by default.
I use ChatGPT. Will this work there?
No. The kit is built as a Claude Skill, and ChatGPT has no equivalent way to install it once and have it open the right playbook for each request. Claude’s free plan is enough to try it, an account takes a minute, and you can keep ChatGPT for everything else.
Do I need AFSP or a credential to use it?
No. It is for anyone who prepares returns for pay with a PTIN. The Annual Filing Season Program is voluntary. If you hold a Record of Completion, you can represent clients whose returns you prepared and signed before certain IRS employees, such as customer service representatives and revenue agents. Notice Explainer reads your status from the Office Profile and drafts a referral to an EA, CPA or attorney when a matter is outside your rights.
Do I need my clients’ consent under §7216?
§7216 limits how a preparer uses or discloses tax return information without the client’s written consent, and the civil penalty under §6713 is $250 per disclosure or use, up to $10,000 a year. As of November 2026 the IRS hasn’t said whether an AI tool counts as a disclosure, and the AICPA’s advice is to be safe. We recommend working de-identified, and getting a signed consent in the Rev. Proc. 2013-14 format before any identifiable return information goes into Claude. The AI Compliance Kit add-on includes one.
What about my WISP and the PTIN renewal question?
The FTC Safeguards Rule treats tax preparers as financial institutions, so every paid preparer needs a written information security plan. IRS Pub 5708 is the Security Summit’s template, and a sole practitioner can use a simplified plan. The current PTIN form (Form W-12, Rev. October 2026, line 11) asks you to answer Yes or No to being aware of that requirement; it is an awareness question, not a certification. Pub 5708 doesn’t mention AI, so the AI Compliance Kit adds an AI addendum to your plan.
Does it follow the IRS OPR’s June 2026 AI guidelines?
It is built in their shape. The guidelines, issued June 24, 2026, ask practitioners to verify AI-produced facts, citations and calculations, use only secure, enterprise-approved AI for client data, train staff, vet tools and document AI use and verification. Every output carries a verification block and an optional AI-use log line for your records. The AICPA has asked the IRS to clarify parts of the guidelines, so check for updates. The kit is aligned with them; it doesn’t certify compliance.
Will it prepare the return?
No, by design. Your tax software and your judgment do that. The kit works on everything around the return: getting the documents in, recording due diligence, explaining the result, and the letters and deadlines that follow.
Does it connect to my tax software or portal?
No connector needed. Export last year’s return, the intake form or the client’s uploads as PDFs from Drake, ProSeries, TaxSlayer Pro or whatever you use, and upload them to Claude.
What if it isn’t right for my office?
Email us within 30 days and we refund the full price. No conditions.
Is this tax advice?
No. The kit is for paid preparers and their staff. It drafts and organizes; you interview the client, decide and sign. You remain responsible for every return and every letter that leaves your office.
Your next checklist, chase email and extension letter, every line from the client’s own file.
Last year’s returns, uploads and interview notes in; every item tied to its form and line, differences computed with code, thresholds and dates only from your own settings, and your review and signature last. About 7 hours a week back in season, by our estimate. $49 or $99, paid once. Use it on a real, de-identified file, and if it doesn’t earn its place within 30 days, we refund every cent. Not tax advice; for tax professionals.
One payment, yours to keep · 30-day money-back guarantee