Thomson Reuters
Ready to Review
Agentic AI-powered tax workflow that transforms how CPAs prepare 1040 returns
Role
Lead UX Designer
Team
4-5 Designers
Duration
8 Months
Launch
November 2025
The Challenge
Tax professionals were drowning in manual, repetitive work
The accounting profession is at an inflection point. Tax preparers spend countless hours on routine tasks—processing source documents, extracting data from prior-year returns, categorizing information—leaving little time for the strategic advisory their clients truly need.
With CoCounsel already in use at over 1,300+ firms, Thomson Reuters saw an opportunity to go further: build an agentic AI solution that doesn't just assist, but actually transforms the entire 1040 preparation workflow.
"AI is no longer just a productivity tool but a fundamental transformation in how work gets done."Elizabeth Beastrom
President, Tax and Accounting Professionals at Thomson Reuters
The Solution
Ready to Review: From preparers to strategic reviewers
A cloud-based, advanced agentic AI tax workflow application built on the CoCounsel platform. AI agents process source documents and prior-year returns, extract and categorize data, and generate returns that are ready for professional review.
Intelligent Document Gathering
AI-powered workflow that tracks document collection progress, automatically categorizes uploaded tax documents, and flags critical alerts requiring attention.
AI-Powered Data Extraction
Intelligent field extraction with confidence scoring, side-by-side document preview, and smart alerts that highlight fields needing human verification.
AI-Assisted Review Experience
2-year comparison insights with auto-computed changes, AI-generated explanations of income variations, and immediate visibility into what matters most.
The Workflow
Four stages of intelligent tax preparation
Overview
Project dashboard with AI-generated insights and status tracking across all client returns
Gather
Intelligent document collection with progress tracking and automated categorization
Prepare
AI agents extract data from source documents and generate draft returns automatically
Review
CPAs validate AI decisions with full transparency, 2-year comparisons, and one-click corrections
My Contribution
Leading the UX vision for core platform workflows
I led the design for the Overview, Gather, and Guardrails experiences—the foundation of how CPAs interact with AI-processed tax returns. My focus was on creating transparency in every AI decision.
Working closely with product managers, engineers, and stakeholders, I championed a design philosophy where users always understood what the AI did, why it made certain decisions, and how to take control when needed.
The Impact
Real results from early adopters
Faster preparation and workpaper review through AI automation
Saved per simple 1040 return—significant efficiency gains at scale
Firms using CoCounsel platform, with Ready to Review expanding capabilities
"Reducing return preparation time by approximately an hour on each simple 1040 is significant in terms of efficiency gains. For firms like ours, these time savings will be a game changer."Bob Lange
Partner at CLH CPAs & Consultants
Want to dive deeper?
I'd love to walk you through the detailed design process, user research insights, and additional screens during an interview conversation.