An Accountant’s Story: Creating SavvyWise, the AI for Australian Tax
Can AI Really Speak Australian Tax?
The term 'AI' is everywhere. We see it promising to revolutionise every industry and the accounting profession is no exception. While the potential is exciting, a healthy dose of professional scepticism is warranted.
Generic AI that scrapes the entire internet simply doesn’t cut it for tax research. The critical question for Australian practitioners is whether there can be an AI for Australian tax that we can confidently use.
This article is a story that starts in the trenches of a busy public practice firm, born from the firsthand experience of an accountant who grew tired of waiting for a better solution.
A Story Every Accountant Knows
Picture this: it is late in the evening and you are deep into a complex client query. You have multiple browser tabs open such as the ATO legal database, tax legislation, obscure tax papers and maybe even a few conflicting blog posts.
You are searching for that one specific ruling or legislative section that will provide the certainty your client needs. Every minute spent on this research increases the chance that it will be unbillable and a wasted opportunity where time could be better spent on strategic business advice.
This scenario is a regular reality in accounting firms across Australia. The manual research process hampers client response times, places immense pressure on talented staff and acts as a direct brake on accounting practice efficiency.
For partners and managers, it is a constant drain on resources that could be better invested in growing the firm and developing the team. The chronic shortage of skilled accountants magnifies this pain point, making every saved hour more valuable than ever.
From Practitioner to Pioneer: The Vision of Drew Pflaum, CPA
This is a challenge our co-founder, Drew Pflaum, CPA, understands perfectly. Before starting SavvyWise, Drew was a director at Munro’s, one of Perth's leading accounting firms.
His days were spent designing tax minimisation strategies for businesses and investors, navigating the complexities of cryptocurrency tax and leading the firm’s business development initiatives.
Like many in the profession, Drew was intrigued when he first used ChatGPT. The potential was obvious. He thought “I cannot wait until I can do my tax research with AI using quality, authoritative content”. He waited for industry incumbents to deliver an integrated AI solution. And he waited.
Fed up with the slow pace of innovation, Drew decided to tackle the problem himself.
His vision for SavvyWise was born from a passion to reduce the compliance burden at scale, by helping his fellow accountants. He believes that by freeing professionals from the grind of slow tax research they can focus on providing the high-value, strategic advice that helps clients and the economy thrive.
AI-assisted Tax Research
The Australian accounting profession needed a specialised, reliable and secure Australian tax research tool. It needed a professional ChatGPT alternative that understood the nuances of our tax system.
That is the core mission of SavvyWise. It is an AI platform built for Australian tax professionals. Unlike generic models that pull information from unverified sources across the web, SavvyWise exclusively uses a curated library of authoritative content: ATO rulings, legislation, expert commentary and other primary Australian sources.
This means the answers it provides are accurate, relevant and crucially, referenced. It is designed to be a starting point that accelerates your research process by up to 80%. It is the tool Drew wished he had during his years in public practice.
Boosting Your Firm’s Edge
For an accounting firm, adopting a tool like SavvyWise is a strategic decision. It is an investment that assists your most valuable asset: your people.
By drastically cutting down research time, you empower your team to be more responsive to clients and to focus on more engaging and profitable advisory work. This reduces stress and burnout, which is a critical factor in staff retention.
Furthermore, showcasing a commitment to best-practice technology makes your firm more attractive to both prospective clients and the next generation of accounting talent. It sends a clear message that your firm is innovative, efficient and focused on the future.
You’re Invited to Shape the Future of Tax Research
Every great innovation is refined through the feedback of its users. SavvyWise was built by an accountant and we are committed to ensuring it is perfected by accountants.
We are now inviting accounting firms from across Australia to join the free beta of the SavvyWise AI-assistant for tax research (and more).
Your insights and feedback will directly shape the platform, ensuring it evolves to meet the real-world demands of our profession.