Wizeline Partners With Tax Lab, Inc. to Simplify Bookkeeping and Taxes for SMBs

• Wizeline worked with Tax Lab, Inc. out of Southern California to build a platform that downloads, analyzes, and sorts transactions and helps companies complete their bookkeeping requirements. 
• Testing showed that the software reduced the time spent completing tax forms from an average of 14 hours to 20 minutes
• The solution is built to increase efficiency for SMBs
• AI demonstrated 92% accuracy in correctly classifying transactions

Background

Bismark Tax is tax firm that specializes in tax controversy for small and medium-sized businesses in the U.S. Every year, the tax firm helps its clients sift through mountains of receipts and paperwork, trying to account for every transaction with the same pain that most individuals dread every tax season.

Many SMBs prepare their own taxes with accounting software such as Quickbooks and only hire bookkeepers and accounts as needed.

The opportunity to create Tax Lab, Inc.

Bismark Tax wanted to simplify bookkeeping to tax preparation for its clients by building a software solution that could download financial transactions, itemize income and expenses, calculate profits and losses, and complete tax forms. This would, in turn, make the bookkeeping easier for SMB.

After working as a tax lawyer at Bismark Tax, Isai Cortez created Tax Lab, Inc. in 2018 to address the challenges they saw through technology.

“We’ve streamlined the process so when your bookkeeping is done, your taxes are done. When you use something like QuickBooks, you start with the general ledger. We have fragmented the general ledger and we all start at different places depending on the tax form you file. We’re going to make the categories match your tax return.”

Why Wizeline?

Recognizing the need for AI expertise, Cortez sought out a product development team with specialized skills. “There are so many bookkeeping software programs. I wanted to build something that was easy to understand.”

In his search for data scientists, Cortez encountered what many companies face, and that’s a shortage of specialized technical skills. Data science and data engineering are growing specialized tracks within software engineering. Cortez knew he needed data scientists to build his platform and was willing to hire from outside his region to find the right team. Through networking, Cortez discovered that Wizeline and its engineering and data teams offered the mix of specialized skills he needed. 

Wizeline’s data team thrives on a challenge. They help clients extract value from their data, no matter how messy it gets—and Tax Lab, Inc. presented the perfect challenge.

Building an AI-powered solution

Wizeline kicked off the project with a user experience workshop to explore the solution and align on the end goal. Through brainstorming, user mapping, and design thinking exercises, the team created a product roadmap. The objective was to build an online platform that links to financial transactions, and sorts and classifies expenses using artificial intelligence. The platform would complete bookkeeping systems that match five different tax forms, including Schedule C, Schedule E, Form 1120, Form 1120S, and Form 1065. 

The complexity of the project required a team with specialized skills—a platform architect, a UX designer, as well as data, frontend, and backend engineers knowledgeable in AI and data management. The project was structured into five phases, covering everything from UX design to MVP development and payment integration.

• First phase: Developed UX mockup 
• Second phase: Wrote code for the platform’s different functions 
• Third phase: Built a minimum viable product (MVP)
• Fourth phase: Integrated with Stripe to support customer payments
• Fifth phase: Refined the platform’s UX and functions

Bringing the solution to life

The project team was invested in delivering a powerful and compelling end product for Tax Lab, Inc. The project was delivered successfully after six months. Cortez noted that he was not only impressed by Wizeline’s development capabilities but also the level of customer service it provided. The team consistently looked for ways to improve the product and added enhancements and functionality to the platform, even if they were not part of the original scope. 

ThynkBooks underwent rigorous testing before launch. During an initial test, Tax Lab, Inc. completed tax preparation forms for one of its clients. It used to take 14 hours to compile financial statements, classify transactions, and complete the necessary tax forms. The ThynkBooks software completed the same task in just 20 minutes.Cortez emphasized the significant efficiency gains, noting that clients were impressed by the speed and accuracy of the solution. After reviewing the platform’s output, Tax Lab, Inc. found the ThynkBooks AI to be 92% accurate in correctly classifying the transactions.