What a CPA study got right about your job | The Weekly Close

The Weekly Close is the Successful Bookkeeper's weekly note. This is issue 1, from Thursday 8 October 2026.

In this issue: the study that scored CPAs at 37% and what it left out, this week's and last week's podcast listens, BC's paused tax on bookkeeping, Xero's new US prices, and AI that hasn't paid off yet. About four minutes.

From Michael

A study landed on 1 October that you'll see quoted at you for months. Mercor put twelve licensed CPAs, averaging about five years' experience, up against Claude on four simplified month-end tasks: reconciling a hotel's bookings to its books, comparing a charity's spending to its budget, rolling a lease schedule forward. The accountants averaged 37% of the marking criteria over anywhere from thirty minutes to three hours. Claude scored 100% on all twenty attempts, in under ten minutes each.

Before that number lands, look at what the study took out. No client to ask, no colleague to check with, no history with the business. On the full version of the same benchmark, the model scores about 55%, and more than half the tasks have never been fully solved by any model Mercor tested.

So what did it get right? That the entries are no longer where your value is. Debra Kilsheimer said it on the show: if all you're selling is getting numbers onto a page, a chatbot will take that job, but interpretation, insight and relationship are still yours. The reach belongs to the machine now. The judgment, the "I've seen this before and here's what it means", that's you.

The question for your week isn't whether AI takes your job. It's which hour of your week is reach and which is judgment, and whether you're charging for the right one.

On the podcast

This week's listen: David Priemer on why clients still need you in an AI world (EP552).

Last week's listen: Debra Kilsheimer on why AI makes your expertise more valuable (EP551).

In the industry

BC pauses its PST on bookkeeping

British Columbia was set to charge 7% PST on bookkeeping and accounting services from 1 October. On 18 September the province paused it, citing trade disruption and economic uncertainty. Paused, not cancelled, and there is no new date.

What it means for you: if you serve BC clients, keep the pricing update you drafted in a drawer rather than the bin. Everywhere else, notice that a province tried to tax your service. Source: BC Government and CPB Canada.

Xero raised its US prices on 1 October

Early is now $27 a month (up from $25), Growing $59 (from $55) and Established $97 (from $90). Xero says the increase pays for the new features it shipped over the past year.

What it means for you: a few dollars across forty client files is real money. Check how the change reaches your invoices this month, and whether any of it should reach your clients. Source: Xero and Insightful Accountant.

Almost half of firms haven't seen AI pay off

Inside Public Accounting's 2026 technology survey found nearly 73% of firms have bought AI-enabled software, yet almost 43% haven't seen a measurable result and only 3.2% say AI is fully integrated. Donny Shimamoto's warning: wandering costs money, so decide where you're headed before you collect subscriptions.

What it means for you: a tool without a process is a subscription. Pick the one task you want AI to own before you pick the tool. Source: Inside Public Accounting.

Also on the calendar that month: extended individual returns were due Thursday 15 October, and Intuit Connect runs 26 to 28 October in Las Vegas.

Happening at TSB

• Thursday 8 October, 4pm ET: The Firm That Runs Without You, a free session with Lisa Campbell.
• 15 to 16 October: The Successful Bookkeeper Summit, Australia.
• 4 to 5 November: The Successful Bookkeeper Summit, North America. Own Your Authority, and live access is free.

Try this week

Take last week's calendar or timesheet and mark every block R for reach (entries, reconciling, reports) or J for judgment (explaining the numbers, advising, answering "what should I do?"). Add up the hours for each, then look at what you charge for each. If most of your income still rides on R, that's the work to reprice or hand to a system first.

One question

If you had one clear week in November to fix one thing in your business, what would it be? Subscribers can reply to any issue of The Weekly Close, and the answers shape what we teach next.

Michael

Sources this week

Mercor's CPA study (1 October), BC Government and CPB Canada, Xero and Insightful Accountant, Inside Public Accounting (1 October), and Intuit.