• Apr 19, 2025

The Firmlever Weekly Roundup: Issue #23

  • Marc Howard

Three AI bots just erased 200 hours of client work

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And now, to this week's Highlights...


The Highlights

  1. OpenAI o3 and 4o-Mini dropped this week. Remember how you stopped using ChatGPT because it forgot stuff? Now it doesn't. On another note, it can also now do some pretty creepy, downright stalker-ish things (play the video to blow your mind):

  1. Three New AI Agents to Automate Your AP: I just spotted three new AI agents in the wild this week—which analyze clients’ past data to predict approvals, auto‑reconcile line items, and learn unique invoice formats to dramatically cut down manual AP steps—I’m not endorsing them, just sharing an interesting find. According to my analysis (see chart), a firm processing ~500 invoices/month could reclaim nearly 200 hours/month by offloading data entry, matching, and approvals—time you can reinvest in high‑value client work .


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What Else I'm Tracking This Week:

  1. Google wants to replace your Loom: Google Vids—Workspace’s AI video creator that turns a few Drive assets and a prompt into polished client‑training videos in minutes (I’m not endorsing them, just flagging a slick time‑saver). I like it because instead of doing a zillion takes using Loom I can get out something more polished for clients:

  • Cuts first‑draft creation by ~60% (from ~3 hrs down to ~1.2 hrs)

  • Trims editing loops by ~70% (from ~4 hrs to ~1.2 hrs)

  • Auto‑generates scripts and voiceovers in seconds

  • Overall, frees up 10–15 hrs per training module you can reinvest in client advisory

    Might be worth a spin next time you need to roll out a new client tutorial—no extra tools, just Workspace.

  1. Speaking of training videos, this is probably the MOST non-boring QBO training I have ever come across (if you know this guy please introduce me!). Just watch the first 60 seconds of his training video and you'll see why.

  2. This engineer wants to automate tax returns including auto-filling a 1040 from your other docs. (YouTube Video)

  3. Podcast Invite: The next round of scheduling is now open for guests on my new podcast, Pitch Your Firm. (Apply Here):

The Pitch Your Firm Podcast

In our latest episode that just dropped today, I sit down with a lawyer‑turned‑accountant who built a fully cloud‑based practice and scaled it to $4 million through 100% organic growth.

In today's episode:

  • How a background in law sparked an unconventional entry into the accounting world

  • The playbook for growing a remote firm across multiple states and countries without acquisitions

  • Why they ditched hourly billing in favor of bundled subscriptions—and how that reshaped their pricing

  • The tech and staffing strategies (from ClickUp mastery to investing in non‑production roles) that keep operations running smoothly

  • Lessons learned from scaling past key revenue milestones and the offshore model that made it possible


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