Black Ore opens Tax Autopilot to thousands of CPA firms

Black Ore has launched broad availability of Tax Autopilot for CPA firms, opening the product to thousands of firms on its waiting list.

The Austin-based company had previously admitted 75 firms through an early access programme from a waiting list of nearly 4,000. Those users included 40% of the top 20 CPA firms in the US, Black Ore said.

The launch targets a profession facing staffing pressure as demand for tax work rises and the supply of qualified accountants falls. More than 300,000 accountants have left the profession in the past two years, while CPA exam candidate numbers are at a 17-year low, creating what Black Ore described as a 125 million-hour annual shortfall.

Tax Autopilot is designed to automate the preparation of complex tax returns, from document intake to integration with firms' tax software. The system accepts documents including W-2s, 1099s, K-1s, brokerage statements and bank records, then extracts and classifies data, applies federal and state tax rules, generates workpapers and delivers returns for professional review, according to Black Ore.

Each return remains subject to final sign-off by firm professionals. The platform also provides an audit trail by linking data points to source documents and flagging items that need attention.

Early use

Firms in the early access group used the product over multiple tax seasons. Black Ore reported more than 99% accuracy across tens of thousands of returns, an autonomy rate above 98%, preparation time savings of up to 98% and cost reductions of up to 80% per return.

One participating firm, Maxwell Locke & Ritter, highlighted the impact on more complex personal returns involving numerous K-1s. The firm ranks among the top 100 CPA firms in the US.

"Tax Autopilot has proven itself across tax seasons with top CPA firms, and now it's time to scale," said Eyal Shinar, Co-founder and Chief Executive of Black Ore. "Our customers are already seeing substantial time savings and lower costs across tens of thousands of complex returns. We're opening access to thousands more firms today to unlock the capacity, growth and client focus the profession desperately needs in this talent-short era."

Black Ore positions the product as an alternative to hiring more staff or relying on offshore outsourcing to manage workload peaks. It says the software is intended to help firms take on more work while reducing strain on existing teams.

Workflow focus

The system was built around tax preparation workflows rather than as a bolt-on tool, according to the company. No human intervention from Black Ore's own team is required during the preparation cycle, it said.

That distinction matters in a market where accounting firms have often adopted software that still requires extensive manual checks or vendor support. Black Ore is instead pitching a process in which returns arrive prepared for review within the firm's existing software environment.

Security and compliance are also central to adoption in accountancy. Tax Autopilot is SOC 2 Type II certified, runs in encrypted environments and has passed AI, privacy and security reviews, according to Black Ore.

Investors have shown increasing interest in software that addresses labour shortages in professional services, especially in tax, audit and compliance, where work is repetitive, highly regulated and difficult to staff. Black Ore is backed by Oak HC/FT, a16z, Founders Fund, General Catalyst, Khosla Ventures and Trust Ventures, alongside individual investors including Tom Glocer, Max Levchin, Gokul Rajaram and Jason Gardner.

For firms, the central question is whether automation can cut preparation time without introducing errors or weakening oversight. Black Ore says its model preserves that oversight by leaving final judgement and approval to licensed professionals.

"Before Black Ore's Tax Autopilot, preparing a high net worth return with dozens of complex K-1s could take several days," said Kyle Parks, Leading Partner at Maxwell Locke & Ritter. "Now, it's ready for review in minutes with high quality results, improving our efficiency while allowing us to maintain control over the process."

The company also cited support from a former senior executive in the accounting sector. "Black Ore's Tax Autopilot is what every enterprise firm struggles to build and hopes to procure - an AI-native tax platform driving significant, consistent ROI," said Jeff Wong, former Global Chief Innovation Officer at EY. "CPAs that move on this will serve more clients, at higher margins, with a fraction of the hours. The ones that don't will get left behind."