Define useful destinations for each request
| Request | Intended next step |
|---|---|
| New prospective client | Collect approved qualification details and request an appropriate consultation. |
| Existing-client status | Use an authorized verified source, or route a callback instead of guessing. |
| Document or appointment question | Use the firm’s approved instructions and current booking context. |
| Tax advice, complaint or unusual situation | Escalate to the named person with a concise summary. |
The firm defines urgency and identity/access checks. A confident automated answer is not a substitute for access to the right client record.
Identify
Understand the request.
Route
Use an approved destination.
Handoff
Preserve context for the firm.
Resolve
Confirm the actual next step.
A scoped pilot design. It does not establish a completed accounting deployment.
Prepare a routing brief the firm can approve
Write the routing rules with the people who answer the calls and perform the client work. Identify common requests, what intake may collect, what approved information may be given and which person receives the exception. “Send urgent calls to the team” is incomplete unless the team agrees what urgent means and how the request will be acknowledged.
| Rule to define | Operational question |
|---|---|
| New-client fit | Which services, client types and timing can be considered before offering a consultation? |
| Existing-client identity | What must be established before any account-specific information is used? |
| Status information | Which authorized source can support an answer, and what happens if it is unavailable? |
| Human request or complaint | Who receives it, with what context and callback expectation? |
| Booking | What evidence distinguishes an invitation or request from a confirmed appointment? |
The firm supplies these definitions and approves the script. A front-desk workflow can route a question without deciding its tax answer. If the source is uncertain, the caller should get a clear next step rather than a guessed status.
How the Front Desk offer and agents fit
AI Front Desk is a separate pilot offer for tax and accounting firms, with scripts, routing and booking tested before launch. Existing practice software stays. The page describes forwarding existing calls and scoping work around the firm’s process; it is not proof that every practice system integration is already deployed.
Figaro supplies relevant inquiry-response and configured follow-up capabilities within its supported setup. Qualification, message rules and any new accounting connection must be scoped; do not infer a live TaxDome or Canopy data feed from the Figaro product page. Oscar’s available analytics can support channel review where connected, but it does not supply tax advice or certify return status.
Use the Stretch Tent pattern without inventing an accounting case
This is a workflow adaptation, not an accounting deployment or customer result. The operating example remains Stretch Tent.
In a fictional Stretch Tent inquiry, the agent can establish that a caller wants a tent for an event and preserve the supplied details. When the caller asks whether a particular site is suitable, the owner must review the situation. The transition is useful because the owner receives the question, the event context and the promised next step together.
For an accounting firm, separate the same three layers: what intake may collect, what a verified source may establish and what a professional must decide. A new inquiry can be qualified for a consultation. A client-specific status question needs appropriate identity and data access. Tax advice and an upset client need the firm’s responsible person.
The public AI Front Desk offer is a pilot scope. It does not establish a completed live connection to every practice-management system. Figaro’s current supported setup also does not prove a Canopy or TaxDome data feed. Name the actual integration and its acceptance tests before presenting a status-lookup capability as operational.
Oscar may support connected-channel review, but website traffic is not a source for a return’s status. Cyrano’s human-call support is a separate possible scope where its phone setup fits; it should not be silently assumed to work inside the firm’s existing telephone or practice interface.
Avoid three systems contacting the same client about different steps
A reminder, a return campaign and an unresolved callback can be individually sensible but confusing together. Before launch, review the contact journey from the client’s perspective. Establish which workflow pauses after a reply, a booked consultation, a request for a person or a resolved issue. Keep service communications distinguishable from acquisition and retention work.
- List the active sources of calls, texts, emails and appointment reminders.
- Choose the record that tells the operator what the client has already received and answered.
- Define who resolves competing next steps rather than allowing independent sequences to continue.
- Test a returning client who replies in a different channel and asks to reschedule.
- Check that the staff member sees the current request and an accurate handoff summary.
Evaluate useful intake, completed handoffs and interruptions avoided, while retaining unresolved and abandoned requests. More automatically answered contacts can conceal poor resolution. The objective is a caller who knows what happens next and a firm that can carry out that next step.
Test before the first client uses the flow
- Approve the scripts, permitted facts, service exclusions and escalation owners.
- Use synthetic callers for a new inquiry, a repeated status call, a requested human and an unsupported tax question.
- Check failed-transfer and unavailable-calendar paths. Do not label a booking confirmed without the required booking evidence.
- Verify what information reaches the team and which sensitive details are unnecessary for intake.
- Review all active contact sequences so reminders and return campaigns do not overlap.
Measure resolution and staff interruption
Compare similar request types: useful intake, completed handoffs, confirmed consultations, unresolved callbacks and staff review time. A lower call count alone may mean better routing or frustrated callers. Review both outcomes before declaring success.
Billing, review requests and client-return campaigns have their own rules and approvals. Document collection is not automatically an Atticus capability; its first planned scope is custom tent sales.
Questions and answers
Will the automated front desk give tax advice?
No. Tax questions and unusual situations go to the firm’s named person.
Must we replace our practice management system?
The offer is designed around retaining it. The supported connection and data access are confirmed during scoping and testing.
What if the front desk cannot verify a client’s status?
Route the request to the authorized person with appropriate context. Missing identity or source access is a reason to hand off, not to guess.
How do we prevent overlapping campaign and appointment contacts?
Inventory the active sequences and define shared stop/ownership rules, then test replies, rescheduling and manual takeover before launch.
Sources and further reading
Put the process into practice
Growth Control implements the tools, workflow and team handoff around an agreed business result.
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