Capture every new lead, qualify them automatically, and route to the right person — no manual sorting.
Accounting firm intake between January and April is a fire hose of 1040 prospects, bookkeeping cleanup leads, QuickBooks-conversion inquiries, and business-return shoppers — and most firms handle it with a Gmail inbox and a partner who triages after 7PM. By the time an engagement letter goes out, the prospect has signed with the firm that replied same-day. AI lead intake for accounting firms classifies inbound by service type (1040, 1065, 1120, bookkeeping, cleanup, advisory), pulls prior-year return info if attached, estimates engagement complexity, and routes to the right CPA or EA based on capacity. For bookkeeping leads, it triggers a questionnaire about monthly volume, industries, and current software before the discovery call — so the first call isn't spent on basic qualification.
A three-partner CPA firm in Orlando routes incoming 1040s by complexity (W-2 only vs. Schedule C vs. K-1 vs. multi-state) straight to the right preparer's queue, cutting partner triage time by 8 hours per week during tax season. A bookkeeping-only firm in Portland auto-sends a monthly-volume questionnaire and pulls QBO diagnostic data before the discovery call — close rate up from 31% to 48%. A virtual CFO practice in Austin qualifies SaaS companies by MRR band before routing to the right CFO's calendar, eliminating bad-fit discovery calls entirely.
Connect all lead sources (website form, Google Ads, Facebook Lead Ads, phone) into a single CRM — typically GHL or HubSpot.
When a lead comes in, automatically create a contact record, set the pipeline stage to 'New Lead', and tag by source.
Fire an automated SMS and/or email within 2 minutes: 'Thanks for reaching out! We received your inquiry and will be in touch shortly.'
Use an AI chatbot or SMS sequence to ask 2-3 qualifying questions: service needed, location/zip code, timeline, and budget range.
Based on service type, location, or lead score, automatically assign the contact to the correct salesperson or team member in your CRM.
Send a Slack message or email to the assigned rep with all lead details so they can follow up immediately.
Tuned for Accountants & Bookkeepers. Use as-is or adapt to your voice.
Classify each inbound lead into: 1. 1040 — individual return - Sub-type: W-2 only | Schedule C | K-1 | multi-state | rental | crypto 2. BUSINESS RETURN — 1065 / 1120 / 1120-S - Sub-type: by entity 3. BOOKKEEPING_MONTHLY — ongoing books - Ask: monthly transaction volume, current software 4. CLEANUP — 'our books are a mess' - Ask: months behind, software, last reconciled date 5. ADVISORY / CFO — strategic finance 6. AUDIT / REPRESENTATION — IRS/state notice 7. PAYROLL 8. SALES_TAX 9. ENTITY_FORMATION 10. NOT_A_FIT — e.g., forensic accounting we don't offer Extract from the inbound: prior-year AGI range (if mentioned), entity type, states involved, software in use, urgency (IRS notice = high), estimated engagement fee tier based on complexity. Output JSON.
Before our 30-minute discovery call, please answer these — it lets us come prepared with actual pricing instead of wasting your time with 'it depends': 1. What accounting software are you using? (QuickBooks Online, Xero, QuickBooks Desktop, other, none) 2. Roughly how many transactions per month across all bank/credit card accounts? (<100, 100–500, 500–1,500, 1,500+) 3. How many bank/credit card accounts need to be reconciled monthly? 4. Do you need payroll, or is it separate? (Gusto, ADP, in-house, none) 5. How many employees / 1099 contractors? 6. What's your industry? (construction, e-commerce, services, restaurant, real estate, etc.) 7. Do you need monthly financial reports? Who reads them? 8. Are the books currently up to date, or do we need cleanup first? 9. What's prompting the switch right now? (bad experience, growth, tax prep, lender asking) 10. Target start date? Reply here or complete the form: [link]
IF service=1040 AND sub_type=W2_only AND AGI<$150K → EA tier, 48-hour turnaround queue IF service=1040 AND (Schedule_C OR K1 OR multi_state) → CPA tier IF service=1040 AND crypto OR foreign_income → CPA with international desk IF service=business_return AND entity=1065 → partnership specialist IF service=cleanup AND months_behind>6 → flag as project engagement, separate fixed-fee scope IF service=audit_representation → partner only, same-day response required IF urgency=IRS_notice AND deadline<14_days → SMS alert to partner + same-day callback ELSE → intake coordinator review queue
Hi [First Name]! Thanks for reaching out to [Business Name]. We got your message and someone from our team will contact you shortly. Questions? Reply here anytime.
Hi [First Name], this is [Business Name]. Quick question before we connect — what type of [service] are you looking for, and when do you need it? (We want to send the right person your way!)
New Lead: [Contact Name] | Source: [Lead Source] | Service: [Service Type] | Phone: [Phone] | Email: [Email] | Assigned to: [Rep Name]
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Avoid this workflow if your lead volume is very low (under 5/week) — the setup overhead won't pay off. Also review your qualification questions carefully; asking too many questions upfront can reduce response rates.
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