Ryan and Indi are back with your weekly dose of accounting tech news and fintech news, headlined by the launch of a new AI-native accounting platform set to challenge the established players - this episode sponsored by Content Snare.

The big story this week is the emergence of Artifact AI, an "agentic AI accountant" backed by a $4 million seed round from Andreessen Horowitz. Is this the beginning of the end for traditional ledgers? Ryan, who has been advising the company, shares his inside take on how these AI-native platforms are built from the ground up to automate workflows and disrupt the market.

The news roundup also covers AccountsIQ's move into non-financial metrics, major compliance updates from Bright and Inform Direct, and Zoho Books' competitive free plan for MTD ITSA.

We're also joined by Paul Sparkes from iplicit to discuss the power of integration, and why moving from a closed legacy system to a connected ecosystem is critical for the mid-market. Then, James Rose from Content Snare dives deep into security, exploring how to balance robust protection with a simple client experience that finally moves accountants away from insecure email exchanges.

00:00 Welcome to Digi-Tools in Accrual World
07:00 From Closed Systems to Connected Solutions - iplicit

17:58 App News
18:03 Artifact AI Launches New Accounting Platform with $4M Seed Funding
22:21 AccountsIQ Unveils New Non-Financial Metrics Tracking Tool
25:31 Unleashed Enhances Platform with AI and Workflow Updates
27:44 Bright Continues Expansion with Acquisition of The Payroll Centre
30:18 Inform Direct Adds Identity Verification for ECCTA Compliance
31:58 Zoho Books Offers Free Software for MTD ITSA
33:52 Paradigm Launches Innovative Spreadsheet with AI in Every Cell

36:14 Beyond Email: How Content Snare is Revolutionising Secure Document Exchange
46:58 Enjoyed the episode? Leave us a rating!