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AI agents for accountancy firms
FiveForward is a UK consultancy that designs and builds Copilot agents for accountancy firms. The agents run inside your own Microsoft 365 tenant, inherit the permissions you already have and take on named jobs such as document intake, client onboarding, engagement letter drafting and records chasing. A scoped build is from £5,000 fixed, or we train your team to build in-house for £3,950. Every agent runs with agreed review points, so your staff keep professional judgement and sign-off.
Named jobs
A good agent is built for one job, one audience and an agreed set of knowledge. These are the jobs we scope most often for accountancy firms, and what each one takes off your staff.
Reads incoming post and uploaded documents, works out which client and which job they belong to, files them in the right place and drafts the acknowledgement. Exceptions go to a person instead of a pile.
What it replaces
The morning sorting of scans, post and email attachments, and retyping the same details into the practice system.
Collects the details a new engagement needs, requests the identification documents your anti-money laundering checks require, tracks what has arrived and prepares a structured handover for the engagement partner. The checks and the acceptance decision stay with your staff.
What it replaces
Chase emails, half-complete forms and onboarding status held in one person's head.
Assembles a first draft from your approved wording, the agreed scope and the client's details, ready for partner review. Nothing is sent without sign-off.
What it replaces
Copying last year's letter and hand-editing it, with the risk of stale scope and old fee wording.
Chases clients for missing books, receipts and information ahead of deadlines, keeps a live list of what is outstanding and escalates the silent ones to your team. The tone and the timing follow rules you set.
What it replaces
Manual chase emails and the January spreadsheet of who still has not sent their records.
Answers staff questions from your own procedures, templates and current guidance, citing the source document: how the firm onboards, which template is current, what the policy actually says.
What it replaces
Interrupting the manager who knows, or trusting whichever old version the search box found.
Security first
It stays where it already lives. Copilot agents run inside your own Microsoft 365 tenant, so client confidentiality rests on the boundary you already govern.
Agents run inside your own Microsoft 365 environment. Your content is not used to train the underlying models and it does not leave the Microsoft 365 service boundary.
An agent can only read what the person asking is already allowed to see. Your existing SharePoint and Microsoft 365 permissions carry straight over.
Every build uses Microsoft 365, Copilot and Copilot Studio. No extra vendors and no data leaving your Microsoft environment.
That matters in a practice where client records, payroll data and personal information sit under professional confidentiality duties. The Agent Journey security section holds the short answer, and the client data governance guide goes deeper.
Two doors
Door one
We scope the job, ground the agent on your content, test it with the team who will use it, document it and hand it over. Delivered through the Automate stage.
From £5,000
Fixed at Design, typically £5,000 to £15,000 depending on the number of agents, the systems they connect to and the state of the source data.
Door two
We train your team to build agents and automations in-house, with our review alongside them. Delivered through the Enable stage: two delivery days, two build-review sessions and 90 days of support.
£3,950
Fixed price for FiveForward's input while your team builds at their own pace.
Not sure which fits? That is what Design decides, and the consultation before it is free.
Most firms start smaller than they expect: a free consultation, then Discover at £1,500, credited back in full once follow-on work passes £3,500. If your team already knows the job the agent should do, a build can be scoped straight from a paid process review.
Agents also land best when everyone can already use Copilot. That layer is covered by Copilot for accountancy firms, and every training session ends with a real agent built and running in your tenant.
Where to go next
Training route
Role-based training and adoption support built around practice work, for the people who will use Copilot every day.
Capability map
Five stages from using your first agent to running a team of agents, with two doors at every stage.
Build service
The service behind the built-for-you door: scoping, grounding, testing, rollout and handover.
Worked example
Incoming post read, matched against more than 1,500 live clients and filed with an audit trail in about two minutes, with people handling only the exceptions.
Worked example
How an engagement letter workflow moves from precedent hunting to a drafted letter with review points.
Fixed prices
Discover £1,500 credited back, builds from £5,000, train your team £3,950, Embed from £750 a month.
Next step
Tell us the job. A short call is enough to say whether an agent fits it, which door makes sense and what it would cost. Based in Colchester, Essex, working with accountancy firms across the UK.
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