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AI Data Payout

Updated October 2026

Selling a CPA firm: the workpapers AI buyers want

Independent and sourced. We feature companies that pay us a referral fee. Our scores and reviews don't change for it. How we earn

A practice buyer prices your firm on recurring fees and client retention. AI companies look at what your staff have written for years: review notes, month-end checklists, template letters and the partner's comments on a preparer's draft. They now pay to license a copy of records like these, and accounting is one of the fields they ask for first. Pewter says a 60-person accounting firm was paid $350,000, as reported by its licensing partner.1,2

Match my companyWhat is it worth?

What they license

From review notes to engagement email

In a practice, the records buyers want sit in CCH or Caseware review notes, the Karbon or TaxDome workflow, the shared drive of templates and the engagement email. Buyers name workpapers, SOPs, templates, task histories, email, chat and even the firm's own QuickBooks file among the records they take.3,4,5

Client tax information is the part to settle first. CPA Practice Advisor ran a piece on what to settle before client tax data touches AI, and we do not interpret the rules; they are listed below as questions for the buyer. Buyers say client-held, regulated and third-party records can be left out of a deal.6,7,8

What firms were paid

What accounting firms say they got

Pewter lists two accounting deals: a 60-person firm at $350,000 and an accounting group at $280K. Both name no buyer, and Pewter says the figures in its table are the publishers' own statements, not independently verified, so treat them as a sign of interest. The general ranges mostly run $100K to $2M, as the buyers' own claims too.2,9,10,11,12

What accounting firms say they got
FactValue and source
Pewter's example payouts

A 60-person accounting firm paid $350,000, a 70-person engineering firm $450,000 and a 100-person freight broker $650,000, as reported by its licensing partner

[2] Pewter website · company's own claim ·

Accounting group payment (Pewter's table)

An accounting group: $280K

From Pewter's market table, which it says repeats publishers' own statements, not independently verified. No size, company or buyer is given.

[9] Pewter · company's own claim ·

Who Mode takes

Most businesses or nonprofits need 20+ full-time US office employees; accounting firms 10+ and law firms 6+; several years of records they own

Its launch release says AI labs are prioritizing legal and accounting data.

[1] Mode company data site · company's own claim ·

Who fits

Is my firm big enough?

Accounting gets a lower bar than most fields. Mode takes accounting firms from 10 people, well under the 20 to 30 or more most buyers want, and a few state no minimum. A sole practitioner selling a book to a regional firm will rarely clear these, while a multi-partner firm being rolled up often will. The quiz introduces you to the buyers that take a firm your size.1,13,8,14

How much work

What it takes from the partners

Less than a busy-season weekend. It is mostly a short form, a call, approving the scope and an export, about 1-3 hours by the buyers' own count, and most buyers charge the firm nothing. Speeds vary, but payment usually arrives around 3-6 weeks after signing, sometimes longer, so schedule the export after the April and October deadlines.15,16,17,18,19,20

FAQ

Questions, answered with sources

  • No source we have measures that. The license is quoted separately, and published ranges mostly run $100K to $2M, as the buyers' own claims.10,11,12

  • Pewter says a 60-person accounting firm was paid $350,000 and lists an accounting group at $280K. It names no buyer and says its table is not independently verified.2,9

  • Workpapers, SOPs, templates and task histories, plus the email and chat the team works in every day.3,5

  • Often, if you have 10 or more people. Mode takes accounting firms from 10, most other buyers want 20 to 30 or more, and a few state no minimum.1,13,8,14

  • Usually the licensing side pays the broker at close, and most buyers charge the firm nothing. Brokers and marketplaces can take 8-30%, so ask for any cut in writing.21,18,22,23,24

  • Much faster. Offers usually arrive in a few days to two weeks, and payment usually follows around 3-6 weeks after signing, sometimes longer.25,19,20

  • Every business is different, so this one is best talked through with the buyer you're working with. Their team goes over it with you before anything is signed.

  • Every business is different, so this one is best talked through with the buyer you're working with. Their team goes over it with you before anything is signed.

Before you sign

Questions to talk through with your buyer

Every business is different, so these are best talked through with the buyer you're working with. Their team goes over them with you before anything is signed.

Questions for this kind of business

  • How do AICPA confidentiality rules and IRC 7216 apply to our workpapers, and what will you exclude because of them?
  • Does our engagement letter or the practice purchase agreement restrict licensing firm records?
  • Do professional rules apply (AICPA, IRC 7216, HIPAA, ABA Model Rule 1.17, insurance agency contracts, adviser rules, state boards)?
  • How is the payment taxed?

Questions for any buyer

  • Is the license exclusive, and for how long?
  • Can you sublicense the data, and to whom?
  • Which AI labs will receive it, and will you tell us?
  • How long do you keep it, and how is it deleted?
  • What is your liability cap, and who indemnifies whom?
  • Will the contract ban re-identification of people in the data?
  • Who removes personal data, by what method, and do we approve it first?

How this page was made

Figures come from the published sources listed below, and what a buyer says about itself is its own claim. Anything marked as our estimate is ours, not a buyer quote. Drafted with AI help from our research, then checked against each source. Updated October 2026.

We feature companies that pay us a referral fee. Our scores and reviews don't change for it. See how we earn and how we rank. This site does not give legal, tax or financial advice.

Sources (25)

  1. 1.Mode company data site. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  2. 2.Pewter website. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  3. 3.Pewter website. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  4. 4.Mode company data site. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  5. 5.micro1 Enterprise Data Partnership page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  6. 6.CPA Practice Advisor, published 12 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  7. 7.Polyshares website. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  8. 8.Pewter website. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  9. 9.Pewter. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  10. 10.micro1 company referral page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  11. 11.Polyshares website. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  12. 12.Mode company data site. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  13. 13.Grepped business page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  14. 14.micro1 company referral page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  15. 15.Pewter website. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  16. 16.Pewter website. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  17. 17.Mode company data site. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  18. 18.Mode company data site. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  19. 19.Mode press release (Business Wire, via Yahoo Finance), published 13 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  20. 20.Cognor Labs manufacturing page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  21. 21.Pewter website. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  22. 22.Polyshares website. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  23. 23.Jottings how we get paid page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  24. 24.FileYield data buyers page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  25. 25.Polyshares website. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.