How Sam Leon Uses Claude to Prep Tax Returns 5x Faster
Solo CPAs can compress tax prep time dramatically—but review remains the irreducible human bottleneck.
Solo CPAs can compress tax prep time dramatically—but review remains the irreducible human bottleneck.
Sam Leon of The Millennial CPA runs a one-person firm structured around Claude projects, converting client documents into workpapers at a claimed fivefold speed gain. The catch: verification still consumes a disproportionate share of recovered time—a pattern Accounting Today's research confirms industry-wide. Leon is now building TaxWeave, a purpose-built platform, suggesting off-the-shelf AI prompting is a bridge, not the destination for serious tax automation. **Watch:** TaxWeave's productization—if it ships, it signals the DIY Claude-workflow era has a short runway.
Watch: TaxWeave's public launch; purpose-built tax AI platforms will commoditize the prompt-engineering edge solo practitioners currently exploit.
Can one accountant really do tax prep five times faster with AI? Blake and David talk with Sam Leon, founder of The Millennial CPA, about how he uses Claude projects to turn client documents into tax workpapers, speed up review, and run a solo firm built around software. They also dig into where AI still falls short, why review remains the bottleneck, and what firms can realistically automate today. Sponsors Digits - http://accountingpodcast.promo/digits The Value Builder System - http://accountingpodcast.promo/value OnPay - http://accountingpodcast.promo/onpay Cloud Accountant Staffing - http://accountingpodcast.promo/cas Chapters (00:00) - Autonomous AI Reality Check (00:11) - Show Welcome and Interview Tease (00:55) - Sponsor Spotlight Digits (02:34) - Trump IRS Deal Dismissed (05:20) - California Billionaire Tax Fight (07:35) - New York Pied a Terre Tax (09:29) - Sponsor Spotlight Value Builder System (11:18) - Xero CEO Pay and Stock Sale (16:39) - Verification Tax and AI Jobs (22:06) - Sponsor Spotlight OnPay (23:21) - 1948 IBM Accounting Machine Lesson (29:56) - Sponsor Spotlight Cloud Accountant Staffing (31:07) - Meet Sam Leon Millennial CPA (32:01) - Solo Firm Vision (33:15) - From Big Firms to Millennial CPA (35:42) - Why AI Agents Weren’t Ready (37:19) - Automating Tax Prep Workflow (40:33) - Smart Intake for Better Scoping (43:06) - End to End Return Automation (46:04) - AI Workpapers and Review (49:38) - Claude Setup and Time Savings (58:18) - Tech Spend and Pricing Strategy (01:02:52) - Building TaxWeave Platform (01:06:21) - Wrap Up and CPE Info Show Notes Judge Smacks Down Trump's IRS Settlement And Orders Sanctions https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/13/politics/trump-irs-judge-ruling-settlement-sanctions Instead of Uniting the Left, California's Billionaire Tax Measure Has Split Democratic Allies https://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/2026/07/08/instead-of-uniting-the-left-californias-billionaire-tax-measure-has-split-democratic-allies/186379/ NYC lawyers slam pied-a-terre tax as a half-baked money grab https://www.audacy.com/1010wins/news/local/nyc-lawyers-slam-pied-a-terre-tax-as-a-half-baked-money-grab A 1948 IBM computer with no memory at all, fed by punchcards, was still doing the accounting at a Texas filtration company as recently as 2020 https://scienceblog.com/t-1948-ibm-402-punchcards-sparkler-filters-accounting-2020/ Time saved by AI partially canceled out by time spent checking AI https://www.accountingtoday.com/news/time-saved-by-ai-partially-cancelled-out-by-time-spent-checking-ai Research Suggests Jobs May be Safer at Companies that Embrace AI https://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/2026/07/07/research-suggests-jobs-may-be-safer-at-companies-that-embrace-ai/186281/ AI Is No Longer Just a Tech Occupation Story: It's Spreading Across Job Titles in the US and Europe https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/07/08/ai-is-no-longer-just-a-tech-occupation-story/ The 2026 Best Accounting Firms for Technology https://www.accountingtoday.com/list/the-2026-best-accounting-firms-for-technology Need CPE? Get CPE for listening to podcasts with Earmark: https://earmarkcpe.com Subscribe to the Earmark Podcast: https://podcast.earmarkcpe.com Meet Our Guest, Sam Leon, CPA LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samuelaaronleon/ Website: https://www.millennialcpa.tax/ Website: https://www.taxweave.ai/ Get in Touch Thanks for listening and the great reviews! We appreciate you! Follow and tweet @BlakeTOliver and @DavidLeary . Find us on Facebook and Instagram . If you like what you hear, please do us a favor and write a review on Apple Podcasts or Podchaser . Call us and leave a voicemail; maybe we'll play it on the show. DIAL (202) 695-1040. Sponsorships Are you interested in sponsoring The Accounting Podcast? For details, read the prospectus . Need Accounting Conference Info? Check out our new website - accountingconferences.com Limited edition shirts, stickers, and other necessities TeePublic Store: http://cloudacctpod.link/merch Subscribe Apple Podcasts: http://cloudacctpod.link/ApplePodcasts YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheAccountingPodcast Spotify: http://cloudacctpod.link/Spotify Podchaser: http://cloudacctpod.link/podchaser Stitcher: http://cloudacctpod.link/Stitcher Overcast: http://cloudacctpod.link/Overcast Classifieds REFRAME 2026 - http://accountingpodcast.promo/reframe2026 Flowglad - https://cal.com/team/flowglad/flowglad Want to get the word out about your newsletter, webinar, party, Facebook group, podcast, e-book, job posting, or that fancy Excel macro you just created? Let the listeners of The Accounting Podcast know by running a classified ad. Go here to create your classi...
- 01Sam Leon of The Millennial CPA runs a one-person firm structured around Claude projects, converting client documents into workpapers at a claimed fivefold speed gain.
- 02The catch: verification still consumes a disproportionate share of recovered time—a pattern Accounting Today's research confirms industry-wide.
- 03Leon is now building TaxWeave, a purpose-built platform, suggesting off-the-shelf AI prompting is a bridge, not the destination for serious tax automation.
- 04**Watch:** TaxWeave's productization—if it ships, it signals the DIY Claude-workflow era has a short runway.