EP559: John McClane - Confidence Follows The Tools: Why AI-Using Bookkeepers Expect Growth With A Human In The Loop

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Plooto CEO John McClane joins Louie Prosperi to walk through the company's recent survey of more than 550 Canadian bookkeeping and accounting businesses. The headline is an optimistic one: 81% of respondents expect to grow in 2027, and the firms most confident about it are the ones already putting technology and AI to work. John also explains what "agentic" AI means, why the payments-to-reconciliation gap is where bookkeepers lose hours, and what peers say you should do before 2027 arrives.

Chapters

• [00:00] Welcome and John's background
• [01:30] Why Plooto ran the survey
• [03:20] Why AI users expect more growth
• [08:00] Agentic AI explained simply
• [13:00] Accuracy, security, and starting safely
• [16:00] Capacity, hiring, and burnout
• [21:00] Strengths and gaps in firms
• [25:00] Payments, reconciliation, and integrations
• [29:00] Peer advice for 2027
• [32:30] Big takeaways and where to learn more

Confidence follows the tools

Respondents were more upbeat about their own businesses than the economy: 81% expect growth, against 60% who feel positive about the Canadian economy. A quarter expect growth of 20% or more. The split between users and non-users is the striking part. 93% of respondents using AI across several workflows expect to grow, compared with 52% of those not using AI. John's read is that the optimism comes from agency: "If you're engaging with it, it's exciting. And if you're really hesitant to engage with it, then it's kind of concerning." Firms that name tech adoption as a strength came in near 90%, against about 80% overall.

Agentic AI explained, and why a human stays in the loop

Louie asked John to unpack the "agent" language, and the answer is practical. The same model behind a chatbot can now work in a browser or inside professional software, such as classifying expenses and handing you a draft to approve instead of making you do the line-by-line work. John points out that traditional software is deterministic while large language models are statistical and can still hallucinate. His advice is to "strike that right balance and have a human being in the loop, especially before you get into something like actually moving money." For hesitant firms, trying AI inside software you already trust is a good first step.

Accuracy, security, and starting with rules-based work

The survey shows enthusiasm paired with caution. 40% of respondents named accuracy and reliability as their top concern, and 37% named data security and client confidentiality. John calls that healthy for a profession that answers for the numbers. His suggested order of operations is to start with predictable, auditable, rules-based work like payments, then layer AI on top. As Louie put it, garbage in, garbage out.

Capacity, hiring, and burnout

76% of respondents are prioritizing client acquisition over hiring. John's explanation is that automation is freeing capacity, so firms can add service lines and clients without staffing up. One customer, Marilyn Henschel of 2450 Solutions, saves at least 30 hours a month by automating payments and expects to double her business next year without hiring. John also stresses that "staff turnover is actually the number one driver of client turnover," so giving the team room to breathe protects client relationships. Louie added that spare capacity makes it easier to absorb a departure.

Strong on relationships, short on operations

Firms rated client relationships (42%), pricing and profitability, and staff expertise (35%) as their top strengths. Technology adoption and operational efficiency each landed at 27% and were also named among the most important areas to improve. The payments data shows the gap: 47% say clients pay digitally, but only about a third say those clients reconcile digitally. John's tip is to choose systems that talk to each other and to ask any vendor to demo reconciliation, including returns and failed payments, not just data import. 87% of respondents want to automate at least one core payments workflow next year.

Advice for 2027

The advice respondents gave their peers was consistent:

• Train your team and plan rollouts so new tools get used.
• Use the time you save for clients and strategic work.
• Put safeguards in place, review outputs, and protect client data.
• Start small and build confidence.
• Keep your people at the center, because "technology's not going to replace your team."

Links mentioned

• Plooto: plooto.com
• Download the survey report: plooto.com/2027report
• Plooto page for Successful Bookkeeper listeners and demo booking: plooto.com/TSB
• The Successful Bookkeeper: thesuccessfulbookkeeper.com

About the guest

John McClane is the CEO of Plooto, a payments automation platform serving bookkeeping and accounting firms and their small and medium business clients in Canada. He has spent nearly 25 years in business software and payments, based in Silicon Valley, working with companies from small businesses to large enterprises. Plooto offers two-way sync with QuickBooks Online and Desktop, Xero, and NetSuite.

About the host

Michael Palmer

Michael Palmer is the host of The Successful Bookkeeper podcast — almost 600 episodes and counting — and founder of The Successful Bookkeeper Global. He's spent over 15 years in the bookkeeping industry, working one-on-one with thousands of bookkeepers across the globe. He started this work because of his father — a brilliant electrical contractor who worked twice as hard as he should have had to, because nobody on the financial side was in his corner. That gap is what The Successful Bookkeeper exists to close. His view: bookkeepers are the most undervalued force in small business — and every bookkeeper who builds a real business changes two families: theirs, and their clients'.