Sep 2, 2026 · 1h 18m
AI puts tax software pricing and accounting careers under pressure
TurboTax Losing Customers Over Price, Thomson Reuters Builds Own AI
The episode connects cheaper tax automation, AI-native ERP economics, private equity, and regulatory reform to the future shape of accounting work.
- 1TurboTax is growing revenue while losing customers, increasing reliance on human-assisted services as cheaper AI competitors emerge.
- 2Specialist AI models and AI-native ERPs could challenge established software by turning automation and token usage into central cost questions.
- 3Britton Ratcliffe brings a student regulator’s perspective to private equity, accounting education, and the future priorities of CPA oversight.
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The brief
TurboTax faces a strategic squeeze: Intuit’s broader growth contrasts with declining customer volume, while TurboTax Live and cheaper AI tools test the value of human assistance.
Thomson Reuters’ proprietary tax and legal model raises a sharper question than whether AI works: can authoritative, paywalled data and human evaluation beat general-purpose systems?
Rillet’s billion-dollar valuation prompts a debate over whether AI-native ERP platforms can overcome switching costs by helping companies avoid adding accounting and finance staff.
The hosts consider when AI token usage becomes an accounting cost, potentially changing how businesses evaluate model routing, automation investments, and software economics.
Britton Ratcliffe, a student member of the New Mexico Public Accountancy Board, challenges traditional assumptions about CPA oversight, education, private equity, and career ownership.