Design Partnership
Proof & active builds

What we've built.What we're proving now.

Measured case studies show completed outcomes. Active pilots show the systems Keelwater is currently building inside tax and accounting firms.

Measured results

An AI-enabled workflow, measured end to end.

Proof that the implementation capability already works. This engagement was outside accounting, but the operating problem was the same: information lived across calls, CRM and delivery systems, and people manually moved context between them. The resulting AI-enabled workflow connected the systems and automated the handoffs end to end.

Industry: made-to-order products (branded inflatables) · outside accounting

#1 of 17

Brooks’ process. Close rate for the year: 20.5% against a 15.4% company average - the first sales process to average over 20%. Started the year 13th of 15.

Company leaderboard, Jan 1 to Sep 30
24 hrs →35 min

Median time from a web inquiry to the first reply, February vs July.

Web-form leads with exact timestamps
37% →59%

Share of first replies that got an answer from the customer, February to April vs July.

Work mailbox, 5,730 messages
10 hrs →4-8

Length of a busy-season workday, before and after the system.

Estimate
Before · manual coordination
  • Every reply, quote and follow-up typed by hand, one deal at a time
  • Quotes rebuilt line by line in the CRM
  • Follow-ups remembered, not tracked
  • Handoffs to production reassembled from the thread
After · connected systems
  • First replies drafted about the customer's actual project, in minutes
  • Quotes filled automatically, every quote in one searchable index
  • Follow-up cadences and watchdogs on every deal
  • Closed deals handed to production with the full decision history
Company sales leaderboard· Account executives · Jan 1 to Sep 30, 2026
Company sales leaderboard with Brooks Golden ranked number 1 of 17 at a 20.5 percent close rate
The year-to-date leaderboard, captured in mid-September. Other sellers' names, sales scores and gross-profit columns are blurred.

Read the full case study

Active design-partner pilot

Building the operating layer inside a modern tax & advisory firm

The firm was already unusually AI-forward: it used modern software and internal Claude skills. The limitation was not AI awareness. Its systems still operated independently, workflow state lived in multiple places, and staff manually coordinated the gaps between practice management, communication, spreadsheets and financial data.

Workstream 1

Client and project operating layer

ProblemThe firm has multiple working surfaces for client and project status. Practice management is intended to be the system of record, while spreadsheets, Slack and newer task-management tooling also contain operational truth. Owners cannot always see the true stage, blocker, owner and next action without reconstructing it manually.
BuildCreate a thin operating layer above and between the current systems that derives a reliable view of client work and lets natural communication (including Slack instructions) update the workflow without another manual tracker.
SlackKarbonSpreadsheets
→
Keelwater layer: unified client & work view
In progress · baseline measurement underway
Workstream 2

Multi-client QuickBooks / advisory context

ProblemRecurring advisory work requires staff to gather current books, payroll, prior returns, client history and other context. Opening and reconstructing that context client by client creates repetitive work.
BuildCreate secure, permissioned access to the relevant client financial context so the firm's existing advisory and AI process can begin with the information already assembled for human review.
QuickBooks clientsPayrollPrior returnsClient history
→
Keelwater layer: advisory context for human review
In progress · baseline measurement underway
What will be measuredWorkflow visibilityManual coordination removedTurnaroundRequest agingStaff timeAdoptionCapacity improvement

Pilot presented anonymously. Results published only when measured.

Next step

Have the same problem?

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