Ask a room of bookkeepers about AI and the first question is almost never "what can it do?" It is "where does my clients' information go?" That is the right instinct. You hold tax file numbers, bank details and payroll data, and your clients trust you with it. Before any AI tool touches it, you should be able to get clear answers.
Five questions to ask any AI tool
- Does it train its AI on my clients' data? You want a plain "no", including from the AI company behind the tool.
- What does the AI actually see? A good tool sends only what a feature needs. Drafting an engagement letter needs a client's name and contact details. It does not need their bank statements.
- Where is the data stored, and is it encrypted? Look for encryption in transit and at rest, and for a clear statement of where the servers are.
- Can I switch it off? AI should be optional. If the whole product stops working without it, that is a red flag.
- Is it covered by Australian privacy law? The Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles apply to how you handle client information, so they matter for the tools you choose.
How Bookkeeper Dashboard answers them
- We never sell your information or your clients' information, and we don't use it to train AI models.
- The AI sees only what a feature needs to do its job. Reading a receipt uses the receipt image. Drafting an engagement letter uses the client's name and contact details.
- Information is stored on secure, access-controlled servers in Australia and the United States, and is encrypted in transit and at rest.
- Every AI feature is optional. Clients, tasks, time, signing and the rest work without them.
- We handle information under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles.
The AI requests are processed by Anthropic, the company behind Claude. Anthropic's commercial terms say that information sent through its API is not used to train its models, and is kept only for a limited period for safety and legal reasons. The full detail is on our Security & AI page.
Tell your own clients
Many practices now mention in their engagement letter that they use secure cloud software and AI-assisted tools. It builds trust, it avoids surprises, and it is easy to add. Our engagement letter guide shows where it fits.
Keep your own account tight too
Even the safest tool is only as secure as the login. Turn on two-factor authentication, give team members only the access their role needs, and disconnect integrations you no longer use. In Bookkeeper Dashboard each practice can only see its own data, and connections to Xero, QuickBooks and Google are authorised by you and can be disconnected at any time.