Treasury Declares US Insolvent, AI Does Taxes (with Kenji Kuramoto)
01 April 2026

Treasury Declares US Insolvent, AI Does Taxes (with Kenji Kuramoto)

The Accounting Podcast

About

Can AI really prepare a tax return without a human touching the keyboard? Blake and David dig into a wave of new accounting tools that promise exactly that, from AI tax prep and bookkeeping agents to month-end automation. They’re joined by Kenji Kuramoto of Basis to discuss what this means for firms, pricing, and jobs. Plus: the U.S. government’s worsening balance sheet, Tether’s long-awaited audit, and why token costs may become accounting’s next big metric.

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Chapters
    (00:00) - TAP 481
    (02:34) - US Insolvency Breakdown
    (06:04) - Household Budget Analogy
    (07:49) - GAO Disclaimer Explained
    (08:37) - AI Tax Prep Agents
    (11:45) - Kenji Joins the Show
    (15:07) - Kenji New Role at Basis
    (19:40) - Basis Agents for CAS
    (25:36) - AI Skills and Pricing Shift
    (28:04) - Token Billing and FinOps
    (33:55) - Tokens Not Timesheets
    (34:17) - Delve Compliance Fallout
    (36:18) - Xero Adds Claude AI
    (38:16) - Who Really Owns Data
    (41:06) - Ramp Accounting Agent
    (45:19) - Ramp Budgets Reality Check
    (48:27) - Canopy Bookkeeping Module
    (53:11) - Billcom Agents Soapbox
    (55:09) - Audit Tech Fundraising
    (56:37) - Tether Finally Gets Audited
    (59:52) - Costco Tariff Refund Lawsuit
    (01:02:16) - Wrap Up And CPE
 


Show Notes

The Treasury just declared the U.S. insolvent. The media missed it.

https://fortune.com/2026/03/23/us-government-insolvent-fiscal-crisis-fix/

 

TaxGPT AI agent aims to complete the whole tax return

https://www.accountingtoday.com/news/taxgpt-touts-ai-that-automatically-completes-returns-from-start-to-finish

 

As Tax Deadline Approaches, Consumers Are Going to AI Before Filing

https://www.pymnts.com/taxes/2026/as-tax-deadline-approaches-consumers-are-going-to-ai-before-filing/

 

AI Efficiency Gains Push Accounting Firms to Reimagine Pricing

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/ip-law/ai-efficiency-gains-push-accounting-firms-to-reimagine-pricing

 

Accounting Jobs Requiring AI Skills Jump 67%

https://www.accountingtoday.com/news/accounting-jobs-requiring-ai-skills-jump-67

 

Xero and Anthropic Collaborate to Bring AI-Powered Financial Intelligence to Millions of Small Businesses

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260326956055/en/Xero-and-Anthropic-Collaborate-to-Bring-AI-Powered-Financial-Intelligence-to-Millions-of-Small-Businesses

 

Ramp Launches Accounting Agent to Automate Bookkeeping with Real-Time Close

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ramp-launches-accounting-agent-to-automate-bookkeeping-with-real-time-close-302686214.html

 

Ramp Launches Ramp Budgets

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ramp-launches-ramp-budgets-302667840.html

 

Canopy Unveils Canopy Bookkeeping to Eliminate Month-End Friction for Accounting and CAS Teams

https://www.morningstar.com/news/business-wire/20260211348515/canopy-unveils-canopy-bookkeeping-to-eliminate-month-end-friction-for-accounting-and-cas-teams

 

Canopy Expands Tax Workflow With AI-Powered Tax Preparation Through New Filed Integration

https://www.getcanopy.com/blog/canopy-expands-tax-workflow-with-ai-powered-tax-preparation-through-new-filed-integration

 

Double AI Journal Entries

https://doublehq.com/ai-journal-entries/

 

Tech News: Ramp, Canopy Both Announce AI-Powered Bookkeeping Solutions (includes Bill.com AI agents coverage)

https://www.accountingtoday.com/list/tech-news-ramp-canopy-both-announce-ai-powered-bookkeeping-solutions

 

Exclusive: Founded By 2 Brothers In Their 20s, YC-Backed Denki Raises $4.1M To Automate Financial Audits

https://news.crunchbase.com/venture/yc-backed-denki-raise-financial-audit-automation-ai/

 

Tether Taps Big Four Firm KPMG for First Financial Audit of $184 Billion Stablecoin Issuer

https://www.theblock.co/post/395423/tether-taps-kpmg-for-first-financial-audit

 

Americans Are Demanding Refunds from the $180 Billion in Tariffs They Paid, Including Suing Companies Like Costco

https://fortune.com/2026/03/13/americans-demanding-tariff-refunds-suing-costco-fedex/

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