Barnes Wendling CPAs, a 90-employee regional firm serving clients across three Ohio locations, has transformed its tax practice through the strategic implementation of Accordance, an AI-powered tax research platform. The firm's experience demonstrates how purpose-built AI can deliver measurable productivity gains while enhancing service quality for complex tax engagements.
The Challange
Research Bottlenecks Hindering Growth
Angela Alexander, Director at Barnes Wendling CPAs, oversees complex corporate tax matters including mergers and acquisitions, consolidated structures, and high-net-worth individual planning. Before Accordance, her team faced significant research challenges that impacted both productivity and client service.
The firm's research workflow was labor-intensive and fragmented. Complex technical research projects could consume most of a workday, forcing the team to tell clients they needed time to research issues and call back later. This approach created delays and prevented the firm from providing immediate value during client conversations.
“One of the largest challenges doing research was finding the right path through our research software. We had two other research software platforms that we paid for. It was hard to drill down to get to the information that I needed.”
Angela Alexander, Director
Solution
Purpose-Built AI for Tax Professionals
Angela discovered Accordance at the AICPA National Tax Conference, where she was impressed by the platform's tax-specific AI capabilities and comprehensive authority database. After extensive evaluation, including security reviews by their internal IT department, the firm implemented Accordance firm-wide in June 2025.
The platform's multi-agent AI architecture, trained specifically on federal and state tax authorities, provided the specialized expertise Barnes Wendling needed. Unlike generic AI tools, Accordance understands the nuances of tax law and provides annotated answers with proper citations to primary sources.
Impact
Immediate & Measurable Returns
Alexander’s technical note example represents a nearly 90% time reduction on complex technical research — from eight hours to one hour for specialized tax matters:
“I had a highly technical footnote I needed to attach due to some reorganizations on a return this past season. I got it done within the hour. Without Accordance, it would have taken me at least a full day.”
Barnes Wendling enhanced their client service by providing immediate responses during calls rather than scheduling follow-up meetings for research-dependent questions.
“We can be on a phone call with a client and get answers with Accordance. We used to say, ‘we’ll do some research and call you back.’”
Firm-wide Improvements to Daily Life
The firm tracks usage metrics, consistently seeing 700+ queries per month across the organization.
"The time and the reliance that we have on Accordance now, even in just the short period of time that the firm has had it, is just altering our daily life," Alexander emphasizes.
Barnes Wendling achieved complete firm buy-in across all 70 professional staff members in various departments:
Tax teams use it for complex research and client advisory work
Audit professionals leverage it for accounting standard interpretations
Administrative staff utilize it to enhance formal client communications
Security & Trust
Critical Validation
Before implementation, Barnes Wendling's IT department conducted thorough security reviews, examining Accordance's SOC audit reports and data-protection measures. "It was very important to us to ensure that our information and questions were not going to be shared outside the firm," Alexander explains.
The platform's enterprise-grade security and transparent source citations gave the firm confidence in both data protection and research accuracy.
"We knew it was safe on the IT and the AI side, but we also know it’s correct by seeing the sources being cited,” Alexander emphasizes.
Bottom Line
The transformation has earned recognition at the highest levels of the firm.
Barnes Wendling plans to discontinue their previous research-platform subscriptions, representing significant cost savings in addition to productivity gains. The firm views Accordance as essential infrastructure for maintaining competitive advantage in an evolving profession.
As the accounting profession faces workforce challenges and increasing client demands, Barnes Wendling's experience illustrates how purpose-built AI can transform traditional practices while maintaining the professional standards and client-service excellence that define successful firms.
“The president of our company said it: bringing on Accordance was life-changing for us.”
