The AI-Powered Accountant: The Skills Your Need to Thrive
The AI Skills Worth Your Time (And the Ones You Can Skip)
Forget coding bootcamps and generic advice. Chad Davis breaks down exactly which tech skills move the needle for accounting firms, and which trendy tools are wasting your time.
You’ll learn how to:
- Skip the full-stack coding and brittle RPA tools that eat hours and rarely pay off. Learn the one nonnegotiable security skill and a simple yes, no, ask matrix you can build for your own firm instead.
- Set up practical safeguards for testing new AI tools without risking client data, using the same approach Chad rolled out to his own team at LiveCA.
- Turn flat AI output into stories your clients actually act on, and discover which model and automation skills are worth your focus right now versus which ones to skip.
Chad Davis
Co-Founder, LiveCA and Automation Town
About Chad
Chad Davis is a CPA and co-founder of LiveCA, Canada’s first full-service online accounting firm. Since 2012, Chad has grown LiveCA through hands-on experimentation with cloud software, automation, and emerging tech. He also founded Automation Town, a community of 300 accountants and automation nerds testing AI and workflow tools in real firms.
What we’ll cover, minute by minute
The Fake Ending
Why most AI advice for accountants is worthless — and the two lists that replace it: what’s overhyped, and what’s actually worth learning.
The Six Skills
The skills Chad would build from scratch today. Two of them aren’t technical, and one is the thing he says makes everything else pointless if you get it wrong.
What’s Actually Blocking You
The real reasons firms stall on AI — including one pricing model that actively pays you not to automate.
The Non-Negotiable
Security first. The one-page yes/no/ask matrix, the AI use policy question, and what to demand from every vendor.
Models, Agents, and Hype
Picking the right model for the job, and Chad’s case for why AI agents aren’t ready — from someone who talks to the firms spending the most on them.
Wiring It Together
Automations, APIs, and the free self-hosted tool that removes your operation limits entirely.
The bottleneck doesn’t clear itself
45 minutes on Wednesday, Sep 17 at 2:00 PM ET. Free, and the replay comes to your inbox either way.