Guide · Bookkeepers
Five practical ways a small bookkeeping or BAS practice can use AI for the writing that eats the week, plus what to keep out of AI tools entirely.
By the Airkick team · Updated 15 October 2026
The gap
Most of what's written about AI for Australian bookkeepers is about reconciliation, receipt capture and data entry. That matters, and much of it is now built into the ledger software you already use.
But in a small practice, a lot of the week goes on writing: chasing clients for documents, answering the same questions, explaining BAS deadlines, and having the scope conversation. That's where a general AI assistant like ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini helps most, and it's the part people talk about least.
Five workflows
Every month you write the same polite-then-firmer emails asking for bank statements, receipts and payroll reports. Give the AI your three versions (first ask, reminder, final notice) once, then ask it for the batch: who is outstanding, what's missing, which version. You check and send.
"Can I claim this?", "When is BAS due?", "Why is my bill higher?" Keep a document of your best answers and draft from it, so replies stay consistent and in your voice. The answer that needs your judgement still gets it.
The quarterly "here's what we need and when" message, personalised per client from your own notes on where each one is up to.
A first draft of a new engagement letter, or the awkward "that's outside your package" email, drafted from your standard terms so you start from 80% rather than a blank page.
Paste in a messy client email and ask for the actions, the deadline and the questions to send back. Useful on the days when the inbox is the to-do list.
Be careful
Keep these out
Tax file numbers, bank account details, full client financials, and anything that identifies a client's personal circumstances. Use initials or placeholders in the prompt and fill the real details in yourself. If you use a team or business plan, check its data settings, and follow your obligations under the Tax Agent Services Act and your professional body's guidance.
AI drafts. You review, and you lodge. A registered BAS or tax agent stays responsible for the advice and the lodgement.
Tools
Your ledger software's built-in AI features are best for what happens inside the ledger. A general assistant is better for the writing around it, because you can give it your tone, your templates and your standard answers. Most small practices end up using both. Check current plans and data settings before you sign up, since both change often.
Next step
The Bookkeeper's AI Desk is a written guide for exactly this: a 20-minute setup that teaches the AI your practice, the privacy rules, and ten copy-and-paste workflows for the client-facing writing in a bookkeeping practice. It's A$79, opens instantly, and comes with a 7-day refund.
If you'd rather have a plan written for your practice specifically, the AI Audit is A$399 and arrives within 72 hours, with no meetings.
Questions
It can help prepare and draft, but a registered BAS or tax agent remains responsible for the advice and the lodgement. Use AI for the writing and the checking prompts, and keep the judgement and lodgement with you.
Keep identifying details out: TFNs, bank details and full financials. Use placeholders, and check the data settings of the plan you use.
Any of the mainstream assistants (ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini) will do the writing workflows above. Pick one and set it up properly, rather than trying several.
No. Everything here is copy, paste and edit.