Let an agent prepare your business tax return and check the tax software
- Level Advanced
- Setup1–3 hrs (estimated)
- Evidence Some evidence
- CostNot stated in source
- No-codeNo
What they did
Blake Oliver, host of The Accounting Podcast, handed his S-corp and partnership returns to Claude Cowork. It pulled the general ledger from Xero and QuickBooks, reconciled against last year, caught a QuickBooks cash/accrual report bug, built the book-to-tax workpaper, ran TaxAct, and caught six errors in TaxAct's own calculations and settings.
How it went
Six errors caught, including one that would have stopped the state e-file; each return took the agent about an hour.
Worth knowing
- Detailed first-person blog post by an accounting podcast host; he checked the work and transmitted the returns himself.
- Not tax advice; have a professional review complex returns.
Prompt
Cleaned version rewritten from the source — not a direct quote.
Prepare my [entity type] return for [year]. Pull the general ledger from [Xero/QuickBooks], reconcile the trial balance and P&L against last year's return, build a book-to-tax workpaper and ask me the adjustment questions a preparer would. Then work through [tax software], run its checks, and flag anything its calculations got wrong. Don't file; I'll transmit it myself.
Recommended
Try it in Grok Bot
Originally done with Claude Cowork; this prompt works in Grok Bot.
- Copy the prompt (button below).
- Open Grok Bot chat and paste it. Replace any [bracketed] placeholders.
- Connect the listed tools (as needed) as connectors when Grok Bot asks.
- If the task repeats, ask: "Make this a daily routine."
Alternatives: the same prompt works in Claude Cowork, Claude, ChatGPT Agent, OpenClaw.
Set it up
Stack: Claude Cowork + Xero + QuickBooks + TaxAct
- Read the original source for full context.
- Connect the tools your agent needs.
- Paste the prompt and replace [bracketed] placeholders.
- Run once manually and check the output before scheduling it.
Generic suggested steps, not from the source.
Evidence
Detailed first-person blog post by an accounting podcast host; he checked the work and transmitted the returns himself. Not tax advice; have a professional review complex returns
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