Backed by $17.2 million in funding, the new Filed AI Tax Preparer system has been launched, with the goal of making tax firms more productive without adding a single new hire. Filed’s AI Tax Preparer automates the low-value work that consumes nearly half of tax professionals’ time, enabling firms to process 3x more returns without additional headcount.
Working both with onshore teams (to focus on higher-value work), and offshore teams (to standardize throughput of complex tax returns), Filed’s specialized AI plugs directly into existing tax workflows and software rather than forcing organizations to overhaul their processes. The company is also announcing $17.2M in pre-seed and seed funding from Northzone, Day One Ventures, J Ventures, Neo, Raine, and Greens Ventures.
The tax profession’s talent pipeline is broken, with 75% of CPAs eyeing retirement, 17% fewer students enrolling in accounting programs since 2019, and more than 90% of tax firms unable to hire the staff they need. Meanwhile, tax professionals who haven’t jumped ship are drowning in paperwork, with nearly 40% of their time wasted on tasks that could be automated, like data entry, document collection, and progress tracking–routine work that delivers minimal client value.
“Tax firms are drowning in paperwork while their talent walks out the door,” said Leroy Kerry, Co-founder and CEO of Filed. “We’re stepping in as a true partner that plugs directly into existing systems, eliminating the tedious work that’s crushing productivity and allowing firms to scale without the hiring headaches that keep partners up at night.”
Unlike generic AI tools with no tax expertise or narrow point solutions that only solve one tiny piece of the puzzle, Filed automates the complete lifecycle of a tax return–from structuring diverse client documents to validating returns and proactively flagging anomalies based on firm-defined rules. Key capabilities include:
- Specialized AI: Combines foundation models trained on tax returns with a proprietary tax workflow orchestration layer that operates natively on top of existing software, including CCH Axcess, UltraTax, Lacerte, and Drake.
- Customizable “firm profiles”: Mirror existing workflows down to naming conventions, review processes, and client communication preferences for seamless integration.
- Deterministic workflows: Rather than purely generative AI, Filed escalates edge cases and ambiguous tax scenarios for human review, ensuring auditability, traceability, and compliance with IRS standards, while supporting both multi-state and federal returns.
“Tax preparation requires both deep domain expertise and transparent, explainable AI,” said Atul Ramachadran, Co-founder and CTO of Filed. “We’ve created a deterministic architecture that tax professionals can actually trust, with full auditability trail and compliance with IRS standards, while still delivering the transformative power of AI.”
Early adopters have slashed review cycles by 30–50%. Customers like JCG Tax, Smith CPA and KBS Tax, have cited a decline in return turnaround from seven days to overnight, as well as increased confidence and accuracy. The industry has taken notice–Filed was recently selected for the 2025 AICPA/CPA.com Startup Accelerator, further validating its approach to solving the tax industry’s talent crisis.
“Tax season used to be our bottleneck–Filed eliminated it,” said Braedon Porter, Co-founder of Jalada. “Our team is now processing four times the returns with fewer CPAs on staff. What used to be our ceiling is now our starting point–we could handle 1,000 returns effortlessly with our current team. It’s not just automation; it’s multiplication of what each professional can accomplish.”
Co-founders Leroy Kerry (fintech scaling veteran from Juni) and Atul Ramachadran (Engineering Leader at McKinsey and PayPal) have built a team drawing talent from VISA, Spotify, Deloitte, and KPMG to deliver the industry’s definitive AI platform, and it’s only getting better. Each return processed enhances Filed’s predictive capabilities, creating a compounding effect that transforms it from a seasonal tool into a year-round operational infrastructure. Firms can handle peak workloads without panic-hiring while continuously improving efficiency.
“The tax sector has been waiting for its AI moment, but most solutions miss the mark by forcing firms to choose between innovation and stability,” said Jessica Schultz at Northzone. “Filed is the first platform we’ve seen that delivers immediate ROI without disrupting critical workflows. While others talk about AI potential, Filed is already multiplying capacity for firms caught in the talent squeeze–exactly what the market needs right now.”
The company’s long-term vision extends beyond return preparation to become the foundational AI infrastructure for the tax industry, transforming end-to-end firm operations, including client collaboration, document management, audit preparation, and more.
Thanks for reading CPA Practice Advisor!
Subscribe Already registered? Log In
Need more information? Read the FAQs
Tags: Income Taxes, Taxes, Technology
