AI-enabled operations for tax & accounting firms

Building the next generation of accounting firms.

Keelwater connects the software, data and AI inside tax firms so work moves automatically instead of being coordinated manually - creating more capacity, stronger margins and room to grow.

Built around the tools your firm already uses
Drake Software Lacerte UltraTax CS by Thomson Reuters CCH Axcess by Wolters Kluwer ProConnect Tax TaxDome Canopy QuickBooks Karbon Double BILL Xero Sage Intacct Gusto
For tax and CAS firms

The tools are already there. The work between them is still manual.

Your team already has tax software, practice management, QuickBooks, email, portals and increasingly AI. But people still copy information between systems, rebuild client context, chase requests, update trackers and remember handoffs manually. Keelwater removes the work that lives between the tools.

Current StateGood tools. Manual coordination.
Tax softwarePractice managementQuickBooksEmailSlackSpreadsheets
KeelwaterConnected systems. Automated handoffs.
Tax softwarePractice managementQuickBooksEmailSlackSpreadsheets
Keelwater operating layerOne workflow · one current state · human review
  • See the real status of every job, even when the blocker lives outside practice management.
  • Turn client requests into tracked, timed follow-up without another manual register.
  • Convert Slack and email instructions into accountable work.
  • Assemble client context automatically before advisory and review work begins.
  • Keep professional judgment human while repetitive coordination moves to software.

See what this looks like →

Where the market is

Almost every firm is trying AI. Very few run it firm-wide. Fewer still can show it pays.

95%

of surveyed accounting and bookkeeping professionals are using or exploring AI.1

11%

report firm-wide AI use.1

20%

report measurable ROI.1

1. Financial Cents, 2026 State of AI in Accounting & Bookkeeping.

The Keelwater operating system

Capacity, growth, ownership.

Implementation is the wedge and the proof engine. Ownership is the destination.

01

Capacity

Connect the firm's existing systems, remove repetitive coordination and create reliable operating visibility.

02

Growth

Recovered capacity becomes more clients, packaged advisory, better pricing, expanded accounts and a professional go-to-market.

03

Ownership

For select firms, Keelwater's long-term model is ownership: partnering with great accounting businesses and investing in their people, technology and growth.

For accounting firms

Three ways to work with Keelwater today.

Founding program

Design Partnership

For a limited number of firms helping Keelwater develop the operating system.

  • Workflow diagnosis
  • Baseline measurement
  • Targeted AI deployment
  • Before-and-after measurement
  • Feedback that shapes the platform
Implementation

AI Capacity Build

A structured implementation focused on measurable operating capacity.

  • Workflow redesign
  • Tool selection and integration
  • Human review built in
  • Staff adoption
  • KPI measurement
Growth

Growth Engine

Convert capacity into economic value.

  • Advisory packaging
  • Pricing and positioning
  • Sales and lead generation
  • Cross-sell
  • Revenue operations

7216 built in

Client consent language for AI use, naming the actual providers, set up from day one.

A human signs off

Every automation ends in review by your people. The signing preparer stays in control.

Your data stays yours

Business-grade tools that don't train on your data. No client files in personal AI accounts.

Security first

We check your Written Information Security Plan and MFA setup before we connect anything.

What we believe

AI makes your accountants smarter.
Human judgment is the product.

We take away the repetitive production work that keeps good accountants from serving more clients and doing more valuable work.

Why Keelwater is different

Most AI firms stop at efficiency. Keelwater is built around what comes next.

Typical AI consultantKeelwater
Adds another toolConnects the tools already in the firm
Automates isolated tasksDesigns workflows across systems
Produces demosBuilds inside live operating processes
Stops at hours savedTurns operating leverage into capacity and growth
Generic AI implementationAccounting-specific operations + commercial transformation
Leaves a new process to maintainDesigns for machine-maintained state and minimal human data entry
Who we work with

Built for growth-minded tax and CAS firms.

Best fit today

  • Growth-oriented, and capacity constrained
  • Roughly $2M to $15M in revenue
  • Large enough to have a real team
  • Small enough not to have an embedded AI engineering organization
  • Willing to change workflows
  • Willing to measure before and after
Proof

See what we're actually building.

Measured case studies show what has already worked. Active pilots show where we're applying the operating model inside accounting firms now.

Brooks Golden, founder of Keelwater
Brooks Golden
About the founder

13 years in commercial transformation.

Brooks Golden has worked in commercial transformation since the start of his professional career, 13 years ago. For the past 8 years he has run his own business, building growth systems inside B2B service businesses. Prior engagements generated outcomes including $1M+ in new revenue and 5-20x marketing ROI.

Keelwater is the next step in that same work: more strategic about who he works with, built to reach more businesses in a more scalable way, and aimed at growing a larger company - to the benefit of his clients.

The work now focuses on a new constraint: once AI gives an accounting team more capacity, how do you turn it into enterprise value?

Selected results from prior growth and transformation engagementsKeelwater's accounting-specific proof is being developed through active design-partner implementations.
$1.1M

added revenue in 4 months, after labor costs, with a team of 3 consultants

Mid-market food manufacturer (NDA)
4X

revenue in 14 months - $54,000 to $230,000 per month

quantumSCALE Institute, marketing services
$160K

profit in 13 months, from $0 - 86% margin, bootstrapped

Wealth Investors Club, mastermind
$300K

ARR in 12 months, from $0 - bootstrapped DTC channel

Extreme Fit, eCommerce brand
+80%

production output, with output per direct labor hour up just over 50%

Mid-market food manufacturer (NDA)
3X

ARR in 9 months to a first profitable year - $100K to $300K

Capa Talent, recruiting agency
12 mo

to director-approved go-live, ahead of an 18-month projection

CNH Industrial, Global 1000
3X

lower team cost - Chicago + Eastern Europe hybrid delivery model

CNH Industrial, Global 1000
Get started

See how much capacity is hiding in your firm.

Tell us a little about your firm and we will set up a short call to see where a design partnership makes sense.

Explore a Design Partnership

Or email hello@keelwater.com