FAQ
Private AI questions accounting firm partners ask.
Direct answers about data, adoption, professional review, cost, and what happens if the fit is not right.
Security & professional responsibility
Your data, your controls, your judgment.
Is our client data really private?
In the on-premises edition, approved AI workloads run on dedicated hardware in your environment. Prompts and customer content are not sent to public model APIs for inference or used to train a shared model. The deployment documentation identifies any approved support, update, backup, logging, or integration paths so your firm can review the complete data flow.
For the public-AI decision, read whether accounting firms can use ChatGPT with client data.
What happens if the internet goes down?
Core local inference is designed to keep working. Features that depend on an external identity provider, integration, scheduled update, or remote support may be unavailable until the connection returns. We document the dependencies for your configuration before launch.
How do you handle AI mistakes and hallucinations?
Outputs are drafts, not autonomous professional decisions. The workflows are designed with source material, review steps, and clear ownership. Your professionals remain responsible for tax positions, workpapers, advice, and anything sent to a client.
What does this do to our Safeguards Rule obligations?
PrivateStride provides documentation for the AI system’s data flows and controls and works with your designated security lead as your firm considers updates to its written information security plan. The system is designed to support your program; it does not certify compliance or replace the judgment of your Qualified Individual, counsel, or other advisers.
See the educational Safeguards Rule and AI guide.
Installation & adoption
A managed change, not a software drop.
Do we need an IT department?
No internal IT department is required. We install, monitor, update, and maintain the PrivateStride system within the agreed service scope. If you have an internal team or managed service provider, we coordinate responsibilities with them.
How long does installation take?
The physical deployment is planned in days, subject to site and network readiness. The complete Absorption Method runs for 90 days because installation alone does not produce recovered time. Baseline, workflow redesign, training, and measurement do.
What if our people don’t use it?
That is the risk the Absorption Method is designed to reduce. Adoption is reviewed weekly, friction is addressed while the rollout is active, and champions help make the approved workflow the normal workflow. Participation requirements and the agreed result target are written into the engagement.
What AI models do you use?
We select commercially permitted open-weight models that fit your approved workloads, hardware, and risk requirements. Model changes follow a controlled update process rather than silently changing the system your team relies on.
Why lease the hardware instead of buying it?
AI hardware improves quickly and needs can change as usage grows. Leasing turns refreshes into a planned service decision instead of leaving your firm with an aging server. The proposal states the equipment, lease term, refresh conditions, and return process.
Results & commercial terms
The relationship stays measurable.
Why is the assessment paid?
Because the report is the product. Two weeks of partner interviews, a data-path map, three baselined workflows, and a capacity model on your own numbers is real work, and a report you paid for gets acted on. The fee is credited in full if you proceed to installation within 90 days.
What if the assessment says we don't need a private installation?
Then the report says so, with the reasoning, and you keep it. That outcome is a success. Most firms your size are better served by a policy and training than by hardware, and the assessment exists to tell you which you are.
Do I have to do the assessment before an installation?
Yes. Every installation is scoped from the assessment so the tier, the three workflows, and the written time-recovery target are set from your baseline rather than an estimate.
What happens at the end of 90 days?
You will have thirteen weeks of adoption and workflow data to compare with the agreed baseline. Most firms then decide which workflows merit continued improvement or expansion. If the written target was not met and your firm satisfied the agreed participation requirements, the guarantee remedy in your proposal applies.
The measurement methodology and guarantee terms summary explain the public framework; signed terms control.
Can we cancel?
Managed AI is a quarterly agreement. Notice periods, service end dates, hardware return, and any remaining obligations are stated in every proposal before you sign.
What happens to our data if we leave?
Your source documents remain in your systems. Before installation, the proposal documents offboarding responsibilities, access removal, hardware return, and the agreed retention or deletion process for PrivateStride-managed configuration and support records.
We have fewer than 10 professionals. Anything for us?
A hosted edition is in development: your own dedicated, encrypted environment without on-site hardware. Join the waitlist and we will notify you when it is ready.
Join the waitlistThe Private AI Assessment
Find out whether your firm needs this. In writing.
Two weeks, remote, fixed fee. Where your client content is going, what your professionals already do with AI, and what a private setup would cost you each quarter. The report is yours whether or not you hire us, and the fee comes off the installation if you proceed.