Cranston AI
Cranston provides an AI-powered tax preparation and planning platform that works inside the tax software CPA firms already use, including Drake, Lacerte, UltraTax, CCH Axcess, and ProSeries. The system reads client documents, checks them against prior-year returns, enters data, calculates returns, and flags findings for human review before anything is filed. Cranston also supports tax planning scenarios and cited tax research, with flat-rate pricing per return.
- Artificial Intelligence
- AI Agents
- Software Only
Funding
Raised to date
$500KRaised to date based on public sources. This may differ from the amount the company actually raised and is based only on what is publicly available on the internet.
Founders
Founder details are not available yet.
Product
Problem
CPA firms handling tax preparation and bookkeeping face significant manual workloads: gathering client documents, reconciling bank and credit card activity, drafting returns, and managing client communications. These repetitive tasks consume substantial staff time and slow down engagement timelines, especially during peak tax season.
Solution
Cranston provides an AI-powered tax preparation and planning platform that works inside the software firms already use, including QuickBooks, Drake, CCH Axcess, TaxDome, Lacerte, UltraTax, and ProSeries. The system prepares the work—drafting returns, reconciling books, and flagging discrepancies—while human reviewers retain final approval authority before anything is sent or filed. Cranston reads the client's document package, checks it against last year's return, enters the return in the firm's tax software, runs calculations, and links every figure to its source. The platform also supports tax planning scenarios calculated on copies of real returns and tax research with cited primary authority. Cranston centralizes each client's documents, books, returns, and email correspondence in one integrated workflow, and automatically drafts client requests for missing documents before prep begins. The platform is SOC 2 Type II certified, with a pricing model that bills a flat recurring rate per book and a one-time fee per return, with no per-form, per-seat, or hourly charges.
Target Audience
The primary customers are CPA and accounting firms that handle bookkeeping and tax preparation for multiple client entities and want to reduce manual work while maintaining human oversight.
Features
- AI-driven preparation of tax returns and bookkeeping entries within existing firm software (QuickBooks, Drake, CCH Axcess, TaxDome, Xero, Gmail, Lacerte, UltraTax, ProSeries)
- Automated document-gap detection that drafts client requests for any missing items before preparation starts
- Bank and credit card reconciliation that flags discrepancies and drafts suggested fixes for review
- Human-in-the-loop approval workflow ensuring nothing posts, files, or reaches clients without reviewer sign-off
- Unified client workspace keeping documents, books, returns, and email history together for seamless handoffs
- Tax planning scenarios calculated on copies of the client's actual return in the firm's tax software, with line-by-line comparisons and client-ready deliverables
- Tax research with plain-English questions, primary federal authority citations, and inspectable sources linked to every conclusion
- Flat-rate pricing model: recurring monthly cost per book plus a one-time fee per return, with no platform fees or onboarding charges