AI Engagement Team case / Training Plan and usage rules
Practice case. Prairie Ledger CPA is a made-up firm. All names, records and numbers are fictional.
TRAINING PLAN: Prairie Ledger CPA
PRACTICE RUN. Based on a made-up client.
Team: 14 staff: 2 partners (Dana, Greg), 4 accountants, 5 bookkeepers, 2 admin, 1 office manager (Marcy) Attitude: Mixed. Two younger bookkeepers are keen. Marcy "thinks it's a fad." One accountant asked if people are being replaced. Two accountants already use personal ChatGPT accounts, and one got "a confident wrong answer about a deduction." Champions (to confirm with Dana): Priya for the bookkeepers, and one accountant who already uses ChatGPT, to be chosen by Dana.
All training happens in December and January, before tax season. Nothing new is introduced from February to April.
WORKSPACE SETUP CHECKLIST
| Item | Owner | Date | Done |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buy firm Claude accounts for all staff who will use them | Dana | Nov 30 | |
| Name the workspace admin | Dana | Nov 30 | |
| Invite staff to the workspace | Admin | Dec 1 | |
| Karbon automatic reminders turned on (see Karbon checklist) | Colette and Priya | Dec 1 | |
| "Call client" view saved in Karbon | Colette and Priya | Dec 1 | |
| Usage rules reviewed by Dana and Greg | Dana and Greg | Dec 2 | |
| Usage rules signed by all staff | All staff | Dec 4 | |
| Staff stop using personal AI accounts for work, and delete past chats that contain client information | Each staff member | Dec 4 | |
| Client Answers Project created | Colette | Dec 11 | |
| Approved Answers Library written and signed off (8 topics) | Accountants | Dec 18 | |
| Project access: accountants and partners can use it. Only the champion accountant can edit the library. | Admin | Dec 18 | |
| Monthly Coding Check skill and Firm Coding Rules added | Colette | Jan 9 | |
| Firm Coding Rules reviewed (capital threshold, personal items list) | Dana | Jan 9 | |
| Real-record testing complete (Build Record known limits) | Colette, champion accountant, Priya | Jan 16 |
USAGE RULES
See the one-page draft at the end of this plan. It is a starting draft. Dana and Greg should review it against the firm's professional obligations and privacy rules before staff sign it.
SESSIONS
| # | Session | Who | Length | Date | Goal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AI fundamentals and usage rules | Partners, accountants, bookkeepers (11 people) | 60 min | Week of Nov 30 | Everyone can ask Claude for something useful, check the answer, and knows the rules |
| 2 | Usage rules for admin | Office manager and admin (3 people) | 30 min | Week of Nov 30 | Know the rules and do one small task |
| 3 | Karbon reminders and the "Call client" list | Bookkeepers | 30 min | Week of Nov 30 | Know what clients receive and how to use the "Call client" list |
| 4 | Client Answers | Accountants, partners optional | 60 min | Week of Jan 12 | Each accountant drafts, edits and sends replies to their own recent client emails |
| 5 | Monthly Coding Check | Bookkeepers | 45 min | Week of Jan 19 | Each bookkeeper runs the check on one of their own clients and reviews the flags |
| 6 | Champions | Priya and the champion accountant | 60 min | Jan 21 | Answer colleagues' questions, update the library, report problems |
Time per person (the proposal allows about 2 hours per bookkeeper and accountant, and 30 minutes for everyone else): - Accountants: 60 + 60 = 2 hours - Bookkeepers: 60 + 30 + 45 = 2 hours 15 minutes (15 minutes over) - Admin and office manager: 30 minutes - Champions: 1 extra hour each
SESSION OUTLINES
Session 1: AI fundamentals and usage rules (60 min)
| Time | Block |
|---|---|
| 0 to 10 | What Claude is and is not. It writes drafts and finds patterns. It does not know your clients, and it can be confidently wrong. Use the firm's own example: the wrong deduction answer. |
| 10 to 20 | The usage rules, one page, read together. Firm accounts only. What never goes in. A person always checks. |
| 20 to 30 | How to ask: situation, task, material, format. Live example using a cleaned firm document. |
| 30 to 50 | Hands-on. Each person does one real task from their own week (for example, tidy an internal procedure note, or summarize a cleaned engagement letter). The first answer is a draft. Ask for one change. |
| 50 to 57 | Checking the work. Each person finds one thing in their result they would change before using it. |
| 57 to 60 | Who to ask: the champions. |
Afterward, each person can: ask a clear request, improve a draft with a follow-up, and say what they must never enter.
Session 2: Usage rules for admin (30 min)
| Time | Block |
|---|---|
| 0 to 10 | The usage rules, read together |
| 10 to 25 | Hands-on: one admin task of their choice (for example, a draft of an office notice) |
| 25 to 30 | Questions |
Session 3: Karbon reminders and "Call client" list (30 min)
| Time | Block |
|---|---|
| 0 to 10 | What clients now receive, and when. Show a real reminder email. |
| 10 to 20 | Hands-on: each bookkeeper opens the "Call client" view and finds their own clients on it |
| 20 to 30 | What to do when a client replies, uploads late, or asks to stop reminders |
Session 4: Client Answers (60 min)
| Time | Block |
|---|---|
| 0 to 10 | Why it only uses approved answers, and why the accountant always decides. Show a STOP FLAG and a NOT IN LIBRARY example. |
| 10 to 20 | Demo: one practice email, from paste to sent reply in Outlook |
| 20 to 45 | Hands-on: each accountant runs 3 of their own recent client emails (cleaned of SINs and bank details), edits the drafts, and notes the time it took |
| 45 to 55 | How to ask for a new approved answer. When the same question comes up twice, send it to the champion. |
| 55 to 60 | Time tracking for February |
Session 5: Monthly Coding Check (45 min)
| Time | Block |
|---|---|
| 0 to 10 | What the check does and does not do. It flags. You decide. Show the 9 checks in plain words. |
| 10 to 15 | Demo on the practice café client |
| 15 to 35 | Hands-on: each bookkeeper exports one of their own clients' December transactions and payee history, runs the check, and reviews every flag |
| 35 to 45 | "Needs information" items, and the new memo rule for purchases over $1,500 |
Session 6: Champions (60 min)
| Time | Block |
|---|---|
| 0 to 15 | Common questions and how to answer them |
| 15 to 35 | Hands-on: add one new approved answer to the library and test it on 2 emails |
| 35 to 50 | How to report a problem: what happened, which email or client, what it should have done |
| 50 to 60 | Monthly check-in with Colette during the support period |
LIKELY CONCERNS AND ANSWERS
| Concern | Who | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| "Will this replace me?" | An accountant | No. Dana has said so. These tools draft and flag. You still decide, edit and sign off. The goal is less admin and no Saturdays, not fewer people. |
| "It's a fad." | Marcy | That is fair to test. Judge it at 30 days on two numbers: hours spent chasing documents, and Saturdays worked. If it does not move them, we say so. |
| "I don't trust it. It got a deduction wrong." | Accountants | Good, and it should not be trusted alone. That is why Client Answers only uses answers your own accountants wrote, and why every reply is checked. In Session 4 you will see it refuse to answer what it does not know. |
| "I used ChatGPT with client info. Am I in trouble?" | 2 accountants | No. There were no rules before. Delete those chats, use firm accounts from now on. |
| "I don't have time to learn this." | Everyone | Each session uses work you already have to do this week. Nothing new starts in tax season. |
| "I'll look slow in front of others." | Less confident staff | Role sessions are small, and you work on your own screen. Champions are there for one-on-one help afterward. |
30-DAY ADOPTION CHECK
Date: February 26 (30 days after handover). A 10-minute survey only, because it is tax season.
Measures: - Client Answers: how many of the 4 accountants used it each week (target 4 of 4), and drafts per week - Coding Check: share of bookkeeping clients checked for the January books (target all) - "Call client" list: used each month by all 5 bookkeepers (target 5 of 5) - Hours spent chasing documents and answering client emails, compared with Dana's estimates (40 hours a month, and 10 hours a week per accountant in tax season) - Staff using personal AI accounts for work (target 0) - The main complaints
Survey questions: 1. Which of the new tools did you use in the last 2 weeks, and about how often? 2. Roughly how much time did they save you each week? (None / under 1 hour / 1 to 3 hours / more than 3 hours) 3. What is the one thing that makes them harder to use than they should be?
USAGE RULES (STARTING DRAFT)
Prairie Ledger CPA: Using AI at Work Draft for Dana and Greg to review against the firm's professional obligations and privacy rules.
1. Use firm accounts only. Use only the firm's Claude workspace for work. Do not use personal ChatGPT, Claude or other AI accounts for anything to do with clients or the firm.
2. Never enter these: - Social Insurance Numbers - Bank account, credit card or login details - Passwords - Anything a client has asked us to keep confidential beyond normal practice
3. Remove what is not needed. Before pasting a client email or document, remove details the task does not need.
4. A person always checks. Nothing AI writes goes to a client until a staff member has read it, corrected it and sent it themselves. AI never recodes a transaction. A bookkeeper does.
5. AI does not give tax advice. Client replies use only the firm's approved answers. Tax positions, CRA letters, missed deadlines and legal questions are always handled by an accountant or partner.
6. When unsure, ask. Ask a champion (Priya or [champion accountant]), or Dana.
7. Mistakes are reported, not hidden. If something goes wrong, tell a champion or Dana. We fix the rules, not blame the person.
Signed: ____ Date: __