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Practical, plain-language tax and bookkeeping insights for El Paso individuals and small businesses. New posts added regularly.

I Use AI to Market My Business. I'll Never Use It on Your Books.

October 6, 2026

Something that might surprise you coming from a bookkeeper: a lot of the words on this website were drafted with help from an AI assistant called Claude. That includes the industry pages, the resource lists, and the descriptions of my services. It even helped me settle on brand colors.

And something that shouldn't surprise you: not one bank statement, tax return, Social Security number, or client spreadsheet has ever gone into an AI tool on my watch, and none ever will.

Both of those are true at the same time. AI is a good tool for some jobs and the wrong tool for others. For anyone who handles other people's financial information, knowing where that line sits is part of the job. This post explains how I think about it, and what you should expect from anyone who keeps your books.

Where I first learned to use AI

Like most people, I'm still new to AI. My first professional experience with it was in government, where data security standards are very high and a trained cybersecurity team writes and enforces the rules.

Before I was allowed to use AI at work, I had to complete training on the legal requirements. Even then, the tool I could use lived strictly inside our organization. It couldn't take our data out to the internet, and it couldn't search the web for ways to use it. It only had access to what we already had internally. If I asked it to make a spreadsheet look better, it couldn't touch the file. It would just give me general tips on spreadsheet formatting.

So I used it for what it does best: writing and proofreading. AI chatbots are exceptional at both.

Even with all of those safeguards, we still had to be careful about how much we told it. Human resources is a good example. You could ask an AI tool to help you word a memo about a new leave policy. You could not paste in an employee's name, Social Security number, medical leave details, or disciplinary history. That kind of personally identifiable information is protected, and Texas requires every local government employee to complete annual cybersecurity training that covers how to handle it.

My point is that I had years of rules and training before I ever typed a word into an AI tool. The average person using AI today hasn't had that training, and may not even realize there's a danger.

What AI is good at for a small practice

I'm a one-person firm. I don't have a marketing department, a web designer, or a copywriter. Starting a new business meant building all of it from scratch: a website, a social media presence, and the written materials that explain what I do.

An AI assistant made that possible. Here's what it actually helps me do.

Drafting website content. A blank page is the hardest part of writing anything. I describe what a page needs to accomplish, who it's for, and what it should cover, and I get a first draft in minutes. Then I rewrite it in my own voice and check every fact. The industry pages on this site, covering construction, trucking, professional services, and nonprofits, started that way.

Research and organization. When I put together the Business & Tax Filing Links and Veteran-Owned Business Resources pages, AI helped gather and organize dozens of government links across Texas and New Mexico. I verified every one before it went live, but it saved hours of clicking through agency websites.

Social media. Coming up with a steady stream of useful posts is hard when you'd rather be reconciling accounts. AI helps me turn a tax rule into a short, plain-language post, suggest a headline, or tighten something I wrote that runs too long.

Design and consistency. It helped me pick a color palette and font that match my logo, and keep that look consistent across the website, documents, and graphics.

Editing. It's a patient proofreader. It catches the missing word, the sentence that says the same thing twice, and the paragraph that buries the point.

For any small business owner, these are real gains. If you've been putting off a website or a social media presence because you don't have the time, an AI assistant is worth trying.

Where AI still needs a human

AI tools can be confidently wrong. They can state an outdated tax threshold, mix up two states' rules, or produce a link that looks right but goes nowhere. They learn from information that may be months or years old, and tax law changes constantly. The 1099 reporting threshold, for example, jumped from $600 to $2,000 starting with 2026 payments, the first change in decades.

So I treat AI like a fast, eager new assistant: helpful on a first draft, never trusted on a final answer. Every dollar figure, deadline, and rule on this website was checked against the IRS, the Texas Comptroller, or the relevant New Mexico agency before I published it. My name is on the page.

Why client data is different

Marketing copy is my information. Your financial records are yours, and the law treats them very differently.

Bookkeepers and tax preparers are legally "financial institutions." Under the federal Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, tax and accounting professionals are considered financial institutions and must protect customer information. The FTC's Safeguards Rule requires a written information security plan, which is a documented program for how client data is stored, who can access it, and how it's protected. The IRS publishes a template for this (Publication 5708) and regularly reminds tax professionals that the plan is required.

There's a breach notification clock. Since May 2024, the Safeguards Rule has required covered businesses to notify the FTC of a security event affecting 500 or more people, generally within 30 days of discovering it. A firm that copied client files into a tool it doesn't control has no clear way to know where that data went, let alone report it.

Misusing tax return information can be a crime. Section 7216 of the Internal Revenue Code makes it a criminal offense for a tax return preparer to knowingly or recklessly disclose or use a client's tax return information without authorization. The penalty is a fine of up to $1,000, up to a year in prison, or both, and up to $100,000 in cases tied to identity theft. It can also lead to referral to the IRS Office of Professional Responsibility and loss of professional credentials.

And beyond the law, there's trust. You give a bookkeeper a more complete picture of your financial life than almost anyone outside your household will ever see: your income, your debts, your payroll, your customers, and sometimes your family's Social Security numbers. That trust is the whole business.

What happens when someone pastes data into a chatbot

Most people who put sensitive information into an AI chat aren't being careless on purpose. They're trying to save time: "summarize this bank statement," "find the errors in this spreadsheet," "draft a letter to the IRS about this notice." Here's what they may not be thinking about.

• The data leaves the systems built to protect it. Professional accounting software and secure client portals are designed for financial data, with access controls, audit trails, and encryption. A general-purpose chat window usually isn't covered by a firm's security plan at all.

• It may be stored. Conversations can be saved in chat history, and depending on the provider's terms and settings, they may be kept, reviewed, or used to improve future models. Settings and policies vary and change, and most people never read them.

• Accounts get compromised. A chat history full of client statements is only as secure as the password protecting it.

• Mistakes multiply. An AI-generated summary of a financial document can be subtly wrong. If nobody checks it against the source, that error can end up in a client's books or a tax filing.

None of this means AI companies are careless or that the tools are bad. It means client financial data belongs in systems designed and documented for it, under a security plan the firm can stand behind.

My rules

The first four are the same commitments posted on my AI Policy page. The last one covers how I protect your data overall.

• I never outsource your bookkeeping, tax preparation, or financial work to AI. Every return, reconciliation, and report you receive is prepared and personally reviewed by me before it goes out.

• I never upload your private financial information into an AI tool. That includes bank statements, tax documents, Social Security numbers, and any other personal data. Your records stay in secure, professional accounting software.

• Built-in software features get reviewed, not trusted blindly. The online accounting software I use has added some AI features of its own, like suggesting a category for an expense or flagging overdue invoices. Those run inside the accounting platform, and I review the results before anything is final on your books.

• AI does the marketing, not the math. It helps me write about bookkeeping. It doesn't do your bookkeeping.

• I maintain a written information security plan. It's built on the IRS template (Publication 5708), as federal rules require, and it covers how client data comes in, where it's stored, who can access it, and what happens if something goes wrong. Multi-factor authentication protects every account that touches client information. Client documents come in through accounting software and private, secure shared folders, never as plain email attachments. And I keep no paper records to lose. Clients can request a copy of the plan.

Questions to ask whoever keeps your books

Whether or not you work with me, it's reasonable to ask your bookkeeper, accountant, or tax preparer:

1. Do you have a written information security plan?

2. Do you use AI tools in your practice, and if so, for what?

3. Does any of my financial information ever go into an AI tool? If so, which one, and under what settings or agreement?

4. Where are my documents stored, and how do you send and receive files with me?

5. Who besides you can see my information?

A good professional will answer all five without hesitation. If someone gets defensive or vague, that tells you something too.

For fellow bookkeepers and tax preparers

If you're in this field and starting to use AI, here's what I'd suggest:

• Write down your rules before you need them. A short, public AI policy holds you accountable and reassures clients. Feel free to borrow the structure of mine.

• Keep AI on the marketing side of the wall. Drafting, editing, research, and social media are fair game. Client files aren't.

• Practice with made-up data. If you want to see how an AI tool handles a spreadsheet task, build a fake one with invented names and numbers.

• Update your security plan. If you don't have one yet, IRS Publication 5708 is a free template written for practices like ours. If you do have one, make sure it addresses AI tools.

• Verify everything. AI is fast, not always right. Your name is on the work.

The bottom line

AI has made it possible for a one-person bookkeeping firm in El Paso to have a professional website, regular social media, and a library of helpful resources, things that would otherwise take a marketing budget I don't have. I'm grateful for that, and I'll keep using it.

But the line is simple, and I don't cross it: AI helps me talk about finances in general terms. It never sees yours. If something touches your books or your taxes, I looked at it first, every time.

If you'd like a bookkeeper who takes both the technology and the trust seriously, schedule a new client call.

In the spirit of transparency: this post was drafted with help from Claude, then edited and fact-checked by me. That's exactly the kind of work AI is good for.

Sources: IRS, "IRS, Security Summit remind tax pros they need a Written Information Security Plan to protect client data" (irs.gov); IRS Publication 5708, Creating a Written Information Security Plan for Your Tax & Accounting Practice (irs.gov); FTC, "Safeguards Rule notification requirement now in effect" (ftc.gov, May 2024); The Tax Adviser, "The many implications of Sec. 7216" (thetaxadviser.com, January 2024); Texas Department of Information Resources, Mandatory Cybersecurity Training FAQ (dir.texas.gov)

The Home Office Deduction Isn't Just for "Real" Offices

September 10, 2026

Working from your kitchen table still counts, if you know the rules.

If you run your business from home, even part-time, you may be sitting on a deduction you're not using. The IRS offers a simplified home office deduction: $5 per square foot of space used regularly and exclusively for business, up to 300 square feet, a maximum deduction of $1,500 a year.

The rule that trips people up is "regular and exclusive use." A desk in the corner of a room that also doubles as the kids' homework spot usually doesn't qualify. A spare bedroom that's become your office, even a small one, usually does.

There are two ways to calculate it: the simplified method ($5/sq ft, capped at 300 sq ft, no receipts needed) or the regular method (the actual business-use percentage of your home applied to real costs like rent, mortgage interest, utilities, and insurance). Which one wins depends on your numbers, worth checking both before you file.

Have questions about whether your home office setup qualifies? Reach out and I'll walk through it with you.

Source: IRS, Simplified Option for Home Office Deduction (irs.gov)

Every Mile You Drive for Business Is Worth 72.5 Cents

September 10, 2026

That trip to the bank, the office supply store, or a client's office adds up faster than you think.

For 2026, the IRS standard mileage rate for business use of a vehicle is 72.5 cents per mile, effective January 1, 2026. If you use your personal vehicle for business errands, client meetings, bank runs, picking up supplies, driving between job sites, those miles are deductible.

Here's the math that surprises people: if you drive just 20 miles a week for business errands, that's roughly 1,000 miles a year, about $725 in deductions, using the standard mileage rate. Do more driving for your business (deliveries, multiple client sites, contractor work) and that number climbs fast.

There are two ways to claim vehicle expenses: the standard mileage rate (track your business miles, multiply by 72.5 cents) or the actual expense method (track the real cost of operating the vehicle and apply the percentage of miles driven for business).

The part everyone skips: a mileage log. The IRS wants a record, date, destination, business purpose, and miles driven. A note in your phone or a simple spreadsheet is enough, but it has to exist. This is the single most common thing I see people lose a deduction over, not because they didn't drive for business, but because they can't document it later.

Not sure which method makes sense for your situation, or want a simple mileage-tracking system that actually sticks? Let's talk.

Source: IRS, 2026 Standard Mileage Rates (irs.gov)

Depreciation Isn't Just an Accounting Word, It's Money Back Now

September 10, 2026

You don't have to wait years to get the tax benefit of buying equipment.

"Depreciation" sounds like something that happens slowly, over years, buried in a spreadsheet. But for small businesses, current tax law lets you front-load most of that benefit into the year you actually buy the equipment.

Section 179 lets you deduct the full cost of qualifying equipment, vehicles, and business property in the year you put it into service, up to $2,560,000 for the 2026 tax year, with the deduction phasing out once total equipment purchases exceed $4,090,000.

Bonus depreciation goes further: for qualifying property placed in service after January 19, 2025, businesses can deduct 100% of the cost immediately, with no phase-out cap the way Section 179 has one.

What actually qualifies? Computers, office furniture, machinery, work vehicles, and other tangible business property, generally not real estate itself. If you bought a laptop, a work truck, or new equipment this year, this is very likely relevant to you, even if "depreciation" isn't a word you'd normally use to describe it.

Bought equipment, a vehicle, or new tools for the business this year? Let's make sure it's deducted the right way, timing and paperwork both matter here.

Sources: Section179.org, 2026 Deduction Limits; figures reflect current IRS inflation-adjusted limits for property placed in service in 2026.

The Deduction Most Self-Employed People Don't Know They're Missing

September 10, 2026

A Keeper Tax analysis of self-employed and gig-work tax returns found that self-employed workers overpay their taxes by an average of 21%, largely because of deductions they didn't know they could claim. For someone earning $25,000 in self-employment or contract income, that works out to roughly $1,550 a year left on the table.

The most commonly missed write-offs in that study? Ordinary things: phone bills used partly for business, and software subscriptions. Not exotic tax strategies, just everyday costs of running a business that never made it onto a return.

If you're self-employed, running a small business, or doing contract work on the side, this is worth a second look. The fix usually isn't complicated, it's just knowing what counts and keeping a simple record of it. This is exactly the kind of thing a second set of eyes catches. Reach out if you want to make sure you're not one of the 21%.

Source: Keeper Tax Research, Gig Workers Overpay on Taxes by 21% (keepertax.com)