AI Tax Assistant
The AI Tax Assistant answers questions about your own tax position in plain English. It reads your workspace’s books, filings, payroll and tax calendar for the current year, so it can explain why a number is what it is, or point out something to look at. Each answer lists the records it used and how sure it is. It’s a helper for understanding your figures. It doesn’t file anything, change anything or give tax advice.
Before you start
Section titled “Before you start”- Your role includes using the AI tax assistant. If it doesn’t, the page says Ask a workspace admin for access to the tax assistant. (Team and roles).
- Your plan includes it. See “Which plans include it” below.
- Your books for the year are reasonably up to date. The assistant can only see what’s posted.
Which plans include it
Section titled “Which plans include it”The tax assistant has its own monthly AI allowance, separate from Smart Chat’s, shared by everyone in the workspace and reset on the first of each month.
| Plan | Tax assistant |
|---|---|
| Free | Not included. The page says the assistant is not included in your plan and shows Upgrade your plan, which opens Subscriptions. |
| Basic, Standard | Included, with a monthly allowance. |
| Premium | Included, without a monthly limit. |
When the month’s allowance is used up, the page says so in place of the question box, and the assistant is available again on the first of next month, or sooner if you upgrade. Bokapsys can also set a different allowance for a particular workspace; if you need the assistant on a plan that doesn’t include it, contact Bokapsys (Contact us).
Open the assistant
Section titled “Open the assistant”The assistant has its own page, AI Tax Assistant. It isn’t listed in the sidebar: open it by adding /tax/assistant to the end of your Bokapsys address (for example, if your workspace is at https://ai.bokapsys.com, go to https://ai.bokapsys.com/tax/assistant). You can also ask tax questions in Smart Chat, described below.
Ask a question
Section titled “Ask a question”- On the AI Tax Assistant page, read the AI Tax Assistance Notice card at the top.
- Tick I have read this and I am the person responsible for what is filed. Until you do, the Ask button stays greyed out. You need to tick it each time you open the page.
- Under Ask a question, type your question in the box (Type your tax question). Questions can be up to 2,000 characters.
- Click Ask. The button reads Asking… while it works.
- A message Answer ready appears, and the answer shows under your question.
When you tick the notice, Bokapsys records who accepted it, which version, and when.
Reading an answer
Section titled “Reading an answer”Each answer shows:
| Part | What it means |
|---|---|
| The question and the answer | What you asked, and what the assistant found. |
| Sources | The kinds of records the answer used, such as Income statement, General ledger, Invoices, Bills, Tax filings, Pay runs or Tax payments. Most are links, so you can check the figure on its own page. |
| Assumptions | Anything the assistant had to assume to answer. |
| Confidence | High confidence, Medium confidence or Low confidence: how well the answer is supported by your data. |
| Date and time | When it was answered. |
Treat anything you plan to act on as a draft to check, whatever the confidence. Low confidence usually means the question goes beyond the data listed below.
Your earlier questions and their answers are kept under Earlier questions. Click Show more to see older ones. Click Continue in Smart Chat under the question box to carry on the conversation there.
Good questions to ask
Section titled “Good questions to ask”The page suggests these examples:
- “Why is my Q3 payroll tax higher than Q2?”
- “How much should I set aside for Q4 estimated tax?”
Others that work well because the assistant can see the data behind them:
- “What filings are due this year and what’s their status?”
- “What is my profit so far this year?”
- “How much did my pay runs cost in employer tax this year?”
What the assistant can see
Section titled “What the assistant can see”| It reads | Details |
|---|---|
| Profit and loss for the current calendar year | Revenue, cost of goods sold, operating expenses and other income and expenses from your posted books |
| Invoices and bills for the current year | How many, their totals, and the sales tax on invoices |
| Tax filings for the current year | Each filing’s type, period, due date, status and balance due |
| Pay runs for the current year | Each posted pay run’s pay date, status, gross pay, employer tax and employee tax |
| Your tax calendar | The deadlines on your calendar from the start of the year to the end of April next year |
It only gives a due date that appears in your filings or on your calendar. It doesn’t see last year’s books, individual transactions, bank statements, employee details or anything outside your workspace. It doesn’t browse the internet.
Run a compliance check
Section titled “Run a compliance check”If your role can run tax reconciliation, a Compliance check card appears below the question box. It looks for overdue or soon-due filings and missing registrations.
- Tick the notice at the top of the page if you haven’t already.
- Click Run compliance check. It shows Checking… while it works.
- Read the findings. Each has a coloured dot for how serious it is and, where there is one, the recommended action. If nothing is wrong, it says Nothing needs attention right now.
The check uses the same monthly allowance as questions.
Ask in Smart Chat instead
Section titled “Ask in Smart Chat instead”Smart Chat can also answer tax questions in a normal chat: listing your filings and what’s due or overdue, your tax registrations and gaps, your deposits, your tax estimate, and, if your role allows the AI tax assistant, possible deductible expenses. Smart Chat uses its own AI allowance.
How to check an answer
Section titled “How to check an answer”- Compare any figure with its page in Bokapsys: profit with Financial reports, filings with Tax → Filings, payroll with Payroll reports, estimates with Tax → Compliance → Estimate (Estimates and business taxes). The Sources links take you there.
- If the answer and the page disagree, trust the page.
- For anything about what to file, what is deductible or what you owe, confirm with your accountant.
Common problems
Section titled “Common problems”| What you see | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Ask is greyed out | The notice isn’t ticked | Tick I have read this and I am the person responsible for what is filed. |
| Type a question first | The box is empty | Type your question |
| Ask a workspace admin for access to the tax assistant. | Your role doesn’t include it | Ask your workspace admin |
| The assistant is not included in your plan, with Upgrade your plan | Your plan doesn’t include the tax assistant | Upgrade from Subscriptions, or contact Bokapsys |
| The month’s allowance is used up | Your workspace has used this month’s tax assistant allowance | Wait for it to reset on the first of next month, or upgrade |
| Could not get an answer | The question could not be answered; the message says why | Try again, or rephrase the question |
| The answer talks about the wrong year | It reads the current calendar year only | Ask about earlier years in Financial reports |