San Francisco-based AI platform Accordance has announced its public launch with $13 million in funding. Led by Khosla Ventures and General Catalyst, other investors include Anthropic, NEA, Bain Capital Ventures, and Sequoia Capital. Built specifically for accounting and tax firms, Accordance aims to transform how tax, audit, and CPA teams manage complex regulations and workflows by acting as an intelligent AI co-pilot that enhances expertise and accelerates productivity.
Accordance was founded by two Stanford dropouts, David Yue and Finsam Samson, with the sole aim of solving the growing expertise crisis in tax and accounting. Their startup combines cutting-edge AI research with deep professional knowledge to create a specialized system that helps tax, audit, and CPA teams work faster and smarter through the most complex regulatory challenges.
“We’re giving every professional superpowers, turning junior staff into experts, and experts into forces of nature,” said David Yue, CEO and co-founder of Accordance. “Instead of hitting walls on complex scenarios or losing sleep over judgement calls, they become unstoppable problem-solvers who shape the financial fabric of the future.”
Addressing the Talent Shortage
Tax and accounting work is known to be very complex, involving thousands of ever-changing rules, regulations, court decisions, and accounting standards spanning federal, state, local, and international jurisdictions. On top of that, the industry faces a big challenge: about 75% of certified public accountants are expected to retire within the next decade. Top talent often gets stuck doing routine tasks without easy access to the deeper expertise they need. This increases research time, delays decision-making, and puts firms at risk of inconsistent advice.
Accordance’s AI platform directly tackles this problem by bringing together decades of expert knowledge into one smart system. Its multi-agent AI system navigates complex regulatory frameworks and court precedents with advanced reasoning capabilities, outperforming major foundation models in specialized tax and accounting judgement tasks. This level of domain expertise allows firms to consistently deliver precise, expert-level insights.
“The Accordance team combines deep technical skill with rare domain knowledge. They’re building trusted AI tools tailored to some of the economy’s most vital knowledge workers, delivering the precision and performance those users demand,” said Max Rimpel, Partner at General Catalyst.
Built on research partnerships with OpenAI, Anthropic, and Stanford University, Accordance ensures its AI models stay ahead when it comes to the latest advancements. The platform constantly updates itself with a vast and trusted library of tax laws, court rulings, treaties, and accounting standards. This dynamic updating and automated legal reasoning empower professionals to generate accurate, fully cited analysis matching that of seasoned experts.
Unlike general-purpose AI tools, Accordance integrates deeply with existing workflows through enterprise-grade security and compliance controls, including SOC 2 Type II certification, and guarantees customer data privacy by not training on user data. It supports role-based governance and audit trail features that align with firms’ quality assurance processes, enabling defensible documentation for audits, tax controversies, and advisory deliverables.
Winning Over ‘The Customer’
Since its early rollout, Accordance has received massive traction, with a reported 10-fold increase in usage over the last six months. Almost 50+ CPA teams, including thousands of professionals, now leverage the platform daily, turning junior accountants into near-experts while increasing the impact of senior partners. The platform’s ability to reduce manual research loops and provide timely, trustworthy advice boosts firm productivity and client satisfaction.
Educational institutions have also adopted Accordance for training future tax professionals. The University of San Francisco School of Law is integrating the platform into its curriculum to prepare students for real-world workflows powered by domain-specific AI to bridge the gap between classroom knowledge and practice.
“We’re witnessing the birth of a new category. AI that doesn’t just assist professionals but fundamentally transforms how expertise is created and distributed. Accordance multiplies expertise, enabling teams to break free from traditional boundaries and reshape accounting and tax services at scale,” said Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures and lead investor.
