1.Summary
Paddock & Pen is an 8-person practice in Masterton looking after about 420 clients: farms and lifestyle blocks, trades, rental property owners and a handful of small companies. The team is good at the accounting. The time goes on everything around it: chasing records, filing emails, and the engagement letter round every autumn.
The main finding
Most of the lost time comes from one problem. Client records arrive in five different ways (email to anyone, the info@ inbox, texts to a director, paper in the drop box, Dropbox links) and someone has to chase, find and file every piece by hand.
In this example, the team estimated about 14 hours a week across the practice goes on work that a process fix or a tool could take over, rising in the March to July busy season. That estimate comes from what the team told us, not from a time study.
What we recommend, in order
- Five process fixes this month. No cost, no new software.
- A Usage Policy, because three staff are already pasting client details into free personal AI accounts.
- One build: records requested, chased and filed automatically (FYI connected to Xero Partner Hub).
- Engagement letters moved to Ignition before the next roll-over.
- Three smaller automations over three months on the Retainer, then drop to Maintain only.
What to ignore for now: a website chatbot, "AI bookkeeping agents" that reconcile without review, and Microsoft 365 Copilot licences for the whole team. Reasons in section 7.
2.How the work runs today
Scroll the table sideways to see every column.
| Stage | Who | What happens now | Where it hurts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year-end records | Bookkeepers, practice manager | Word checklist emailed per client, then chased by hand from an Excel tracker | Chasing is manual and inconsistent. Some clients get three emails, some none |
| Document intake | Everyone | Records arrive by email, info@, text, paper and Dropbox links | Files saved to SharePoint folders by hand, and naming differs by person |
| Engagement letters and fees | Directors, practice manager | Word template edited per client, PDF emailed, signed copy filed | Concentrated into February and March. Roughly 40 hours a year |
| New clients | Practice manager | ID and AML/CFT documents requested by email, checked, filed | About 2 hours per new client, 3-5 new clients a month |
| Client questions | Accountants | Routine "where's my refund" and "what do I need to send" emails answered one by one | Same answers written many times a week |
| Management reports | Directors | Monthly Xero reports for 25 clients, commentary written from scratch | About 5 hours a month |
| Meetings | Directors | Notes typed up after client meetings, tasks copied into Partner Hub | Notes are late or missing |
Tools already in place: Xero, Xero Partner Hub (the practice tools that replaced Xero Practice Manager and Xero HQ from mid-2026), Microsoft 365 Business Standard (Outlook, Teams, SharePoint), Excel, Hubdoc on some client files, and free personal ChatGPT accounts used by three staff.
3.Time lost per task (in this example)
Scroll the table sideways to see every column.
| Task | Typical hours a week, whole team | Busy season peak |
|---|---|---|
| Chasing year-end records | 4 | 7 |
| Finding and filing emails and attachments | 3 | 4 |
| Answering routine client questions | 2 | 3 |
| New client onboarding and AML/CFT documents | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Meeting notes and follow-up tasks | 1.25 | 1.25 |
| Management report commentary | 1.25 | 1.25 |
| Engagement letters (about 40 hours a year, averaged) | 0.75 | 10 in Feb-Mar |
| Total | about 13.75 |
These are the team's own estimates from the call. We use them to rank the work, not as a promise of hours saved.
4.Fix the process first
These cost nothing, take about a week, and make every build after them smaller. Do them before buying anything.
1. One way in for records
All client documents go to one address (records@) or, once it's set up, the FYI client portal. Directors stop accepting records by text. Put the rule in the next client newsletter and the email signature.
2. One checklist per client type
Farm, trade, rental, company. Four checklists replace the per-client Word document. Send the whole list once, not item by item.
3. Job statuses that mean the same thing to everyone
Agree five statuses in Partner Hub (Requested, Partly received, All received, In progress, With director) and use only those. Every automation later depends on this.
4. One folder and file naming rule
Client code, year, document type. Agree it before any auto-filing is switched on.
5. Stop client data going into personal AI accounts, today
Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat is already included in Business Standard, runs under your work sign-in with enterprise data protection, and Microsoft says it isn't used to train its models. Use it instead while the policy is written.
5.Ranked opportunities
Ranked by payoff for effort and risk, not by the biggest number. Hours are typical in this example. Our prices are + GST. Tool prices were checked on 8 October 2026; check them again before you buy.
Scroll the table sideways to see every column.
| # | Opportunity | Typical time back | One-off cost | Tool cost | Effort | Risk | How |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Records requested, chased and filed automatically | 4-6 hrs/week, more in season | $2,400 + GST example quote | FYI Pro, NZ$50/user/month + GST (min. 5 users) | Medium | Low | Implementation |
| 2 | Engagement letters and fees in Ignition | 30-40 hrs/year, mostly Feb-Mar | $1,000 + GST | Ignition, listed in US$, plans US$39-399/month plus usage | Medium | Low | Implementation |
| 3 | Drafted replies to routine client questions | About 2 hrs/week | $0 to start (prompt library built in the policy session) | Copilot Chat, included | Low | Medium: replies need a human check | Policy session, then retainer month 2 |
| 4 | Management report commentary, drafted for review | About 1.25 hrs/week | One retainer month | Copilot Chat (included), or Claude Team at US$20/seat/month for 2 seats | Low | Medium: client financials, see privacy notes | Retainer month 1 |
| 5 | New client onboarding and AML/CFT document requests | About 1 hr/week | One retainer month | Ignition and FYI (already in this plan) | Low | Medium: identity checks stay with a person | Retainer month 3 |
| 6 | Meeting notes and tasks from client meetings | About 1 hr/week | $0 to try | FYI AI meeting summaries (beta), or Microsoft 365 Copilot Business at US$21/user/month for the 2 directors only | Low | Medium: beta feature, check before use | Try it yourself, review in 3 months |
US$ prices are as listed on the vendors' sites, checked 8 Oct 2026. We couldn't see NZD prices for Ignition or Microsoft 365 Copilot Business, so confirm them before you buy.
Why this order. Number 1 fixes the problem behind most of the lost time, and only works once the process fixes are in. Number 2 is time-boxed: it has to be live before the February roll-over or it waits a year. Numbers 3 to 5 each fit inside one retainer month (up to 5 hours of build). Number 6 is cheap to try but relies on a beta feature, so it stays at the bottom.
Effort vs impact
Quick wins
High impact, low effort: the process fixes, opportunity 3.
Worth building
High impact, medium effort: opportunities 1 and 2.
Fill-ins
Lower impact, low effort: opportunities 4, 5 and 6.
Not now
See section 7.
Opportunity detail
1.Records requested, chased and filed automatically
- What changes:
- when a job moves to "Requested" in Partner Hub, FYI sends the right checklist for that client type, reminds the client at 7, 14 and 21 days, and files whatever comes back to the right client and job. The tracker spreadsheet goes.
- Tools:
- FYI Pro (syncs with Xero Partner Hub, auto-files emails and attachments, runs custom automations). Pro is needed for custom automations; Intermediate only includes sample ones.
- Cost:
- the build is an example quote of $2,400 + GST. FYI Pro is 8 users x NZ$50 = NZ$400/month + GST, the biggest new running cost in this audit. The cheaper alternative is Power Automate with Outlook rules (included in Microsoft 365), but it's more fragile and doesn't give you a client portal, so we don't recommend it here.
- Watch out:
- the auto-filing is only as good as the naming rule in process fix 4.
2.Engagement letters and fees in Ignition
- What changes:
- the annual roll-over becomes one batch. Each client gets a proposal with the engagement letter, signs online, and can be set up for direct debit or upfront payment. Signed letters sync back to client records.
- Tools:
- Ignition. Plans are listed in US$, from US$39 to US$399 a month plus usage (checked 8 Oct 2026). Ignition's NZ pricing page didn't show figures, so confirm the NZD price and the usage charges before deciding.
- Watch out:
- fee changes still need a director's sign-off before the batch goes out.
3.Drafted replies to routine client questions
- What changes:
- a shared set of ten prompts for the questions that come up every week, run in Copilot Chat. The accountant pastes the question, gets a draft in the practice's tone, checks it, sends it.
- Watch out:
- never paste IRD numbers or bank details. A person checks every draft before it goes.
4.Management report commentary, drafted for review
- What changes:
- the monthly Xero report export goes in, a first draft of the commentary comes out, and the director edits it. The draft follows a template the directors approve once.
- Watch out:
- remove client names before upload if using a tool hosted offshore. The numbers in the commentary are checked against the report every time.
5.New client onboarding
- What changes:
- the Ignition proposal triggers an FYI checklist that requests ID and AML/CFT documents, files them, and creates the verification task for the practice manager.
- Watch out:
- the practice is an AML/CFT reporting entity. The automation collects and files documents; a person still does the verification.
6.Meeting notes and tasks
- What changes:
- meetings from the Outlook calendar are summarised and action items created as tasks.
- Watch out:
- FYI AI is in beta as of October 2026. Check which AI provider it uses and where it processes data before turning it on. Tell clients the meeting is being summarised.
6.Tools and privacy notes
Checked against vendor pages on 8 October 2026. This is a summary of what vendors publish, not legal advice.
Scroll the table sideways to see every column.
| Tool | Used for | Where the data is held | Trains AI on your data? | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xero and Xero Partner Hub (incl. JAX) | Ledger, jobs, client records | Xero's privacy notice says data may be processed in countries including Australia, New Zealand and the United States | Xero says data entered in JAX isn't used to train the language models, and its AI providers (it names AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud and OpenAI) don't retain it for training | Already in use |
| FYI | Documents, email filing, automations | AWS Sydney for Australian and NZ practices (FYI support article) | Not stated for FYI AI (beta) | Ask FYI before switching on FYI AI features |
| Ignition | Proposals, engagement letters, payments | United States, on AWS (Ignition security page) | No statement found on the security page | Ask Ignition about its AI Price Insights feature before enabling it |
| Microsoft 365 (Outlook, SharePoint, Teams) | Email, files | NZ tenants default to the Asia Pacific region, not NZ specifically. NZ-only storage needs the paid Advanced Data Residency add-on | Microsoft says prompts, responses and Microsoft Graph data aren't used to train foundation models | Microsoft has an Auckland region, but it isn't the default for Microsoft 365 data |
| Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat | Drafting replies and commentary | Under your work sign-in, with enterprise data protection | Not used to train the underlying models | Included with Business Standard. Since January 2026 Anthropic (Claude) models are on by default in some Copilot features and process mainly in the US. An admin can turn them off in Copilot settings |
| Claude Team (optional) | Report commentary | Stored in the United States | No training on your content by default | Only if Copilot Chat isn't good enough for commentary |
What this means for Paddock & Pen. When a provider only stores or processes client information on the practice's behalf, the Privacy Act generally treats the practice as still holding it, so keeping it secure (IPP 5) is the main duty. If a tool can use client information for its own purposes, the rules on sending information offshore (IPP 12) come in too. The Usage Policy sets out which tools are approved and what can go into them.
7.What to ignore for now
- A chatbot on the website. Clients ring or email about their own file, which a public chatbot can't see. Low payoff, real privacy risk.
- AI bookkeeping agents that reconcile or code without review. Fine to trial on one internal file. Not on client files until you've watched one for a quarter.
- Microsoft 365 Copilot licences for all 8 staff. At US$21 a user a month that's a lot for features Copilot Chat already covers. If meeting notes become a priority, license the two directors only.
- Replacing Xero Partner Hub with Karbon. Karbon is a good tool, but you'd be swapping a practice tool you already have for one listed from US$59 a user a month. Not worth it for this problem.
8.Build plan and prices
All our prices are + GST, with a fixed written quote before any work starts. Software is paid by you, directly to the vendor.
Scroll the table sideways to see every column.
| When | What | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Process fixes (section 4). Your team does these, with a one-page guide from us | $0 |
| Weeks 1-2 | Usage Policy: written policy, one-page staff summary, approved-tools list, 30-minute staff session. The prompt library for opportunity 3 is built in that session | $295 + GST |
| Weeks 2-5 | Implementation A: FYI set-up, Partner Hub connection, four checklists, reminder sequence, auto-filing rules, staff how-to video, 30-day fix window | $2,400 + GSTexample quote |
| Before end of January | Implementation B: Ignition set-up, services and pricing, engagement letter template, Partner Hub and Xero connection, client import | $1,000 + GST |
| Months 2-4 after go-live | Retainer, Build + maintain: one automation a month (opportunity 4, then 3, then 5) plus upkeep of everything built | $495/month + GSTfor 3 months |
| After that | Retainer, Maintain only: upkeep, fixes and tool changes. No new builds. Cancel with 30 days' notice | $150/month + GST |
Audit credit. The $495 + GST audit fee comes off Implementation A if it's booked within 60 days of this audit, so Implementation A would cost $1,905 + GST.
Ongoing software in this plan (paid to vendors): FYI Pro NZ$400/month + GST; Ignition, listed from US$39 to US$399/month plus usage depending on plan; Copilot Chat included. Optional: Claude Team for 2 seats at US$20 each a month (annual billing). US$ prices checked 8 Oct 2026.
What the hours are worth, in this example. 14 hours a week at an internal cost of $45 an hour is about $630 a week. We include this to help you compare the options, not as a promised saving. Your own rate and your own hours are what count.
9.Your first four days
Ten minutes a day, before any build.
Day 1
Directors agree the "one way in" rule and the records@ address.
Day 2
Practice manager drafts the four client-type checklists from last year's Word templates.
Day 3
Team agrees the five job statuses and the file naming rule at the Monday meeting.
Day 4
Everyone moves from personal AI accounts to Copilot Chat under their work sign-in.
10.Next step
We go through this audit together on a 30-minute call. If you want to go ahead with Implementation A, we send a fixed written quote. Nothing starts until you've agreed it.