What can go wrong with an AI receptionist in an accountancy practice

The worst thing an AI receptionist can do in your practice isn't a technical failure. It's telling a stranger that someone's your client. I sell one of these, and I'd still want you to read this before you buy anybody's, ours included.

A warning on the evidence. No independent test of AI receptionists on UK accountancy phone lines turned up in my research. What follows is professional guidance applied to phones, plus my judgement. Your body's ethics helpline is the place to test any of it.

Problem 1: It breaks confidentiality

This is the main one. Confidentiality is a principle of the ICAEW Code of Ethics, and ICAEW said in July 2026 that it covers prospective, current and former clients. A receptionist that's friendly and helpful is exactly what can cause a breach.

Here are the calls it could get:

• "Is Tom Reed one of yours? I'm his business partner."
• "I'm calling from the bank to check her accounts are with you."
• "It's his wife. Has his return gone in?"

An AI trained to help could answer those. Yours mustn't.

How to reduce it:

• Don't give it your client list.
• Give it a fixed line: "I can't say whether anyone's a client of ours, but I can take a message."
• Put it on a new-enquiry number, and keep existing clients on a route that reaches you.
• Test it by ringing up and pretending to be a spouse. Then try being persuasive.

Problem 2: Call data goes somewhere you didn't check

A call summary from a client or prospect is confidential information. It sits with a third party, so you need to know where.

ICAEW's July 2026 article expects due diligence and contractual protection before client information goes into a system. You need to know where data's stored and whether it may be used for training.

The guidance on Professional Conduct in Relation to Taxation goes further for tax work. Published in January 2026, it says putting client data into publicly available AI tools is likely to breach confidentiality unless the client has consented, and it suggests reviewing engagement terms and pointing clients to an AI policy on your website.

Ask any provider, in writing:

• Where's call audio and transcript data stored, and for how long?
• Is it used to train models?
• Who at the provider can see it?
• Can you delete it on request?

Providers differ. Fasthosts says its product doesn't record calls. Ours can, and when it does, the greeting tells the caller. Update your privacy notice either way. I didn't confirm the ICO's call recording guidance for this article, so check it if you record.

Problem 3: It gives tax advice

"Can I claim my van?" sounds simple. It's not. The same guidance says AI outputs aren't authoritative advice, and that members stay responsible for their work. It's written about tax work, but I wouldn't expect a phone line to be treated more kindly.

The risky areas:

• Whether something's allowable.
• Whether someone must join MTD, or which date applies.
• Fees quoted as firm, when you'd want to see the records first.
• Saying you offer a service you don't.
• Calling your practice "chartered" if it doesn't meet the rules.

How to reduce it:

• Ban tax answers outright. "That's one for [Name]. I'll get them to ring you."
• Give it "from" prices only, and say a proposal follows.
• List what you don't do.
• Read the summaries every week.

Problem 4: Money laundering and tipping off

Two things here.

First, a receptionist doesn't replace due diligence. HMRC's guidance says the duty stands even if you work virtually or through an automated service. Taking a caller's name isn't identifying them.

Second, tipping off. ICAEW's helpsheet covers this under section 333A of the Proceeds of Crime Act. Talking inside the practice is fine, and so is asking normal questions. Your AI knows nothing about your reports, and that's the way to keep it.

• Never put any suspicion, report or MLRO note in a system the AI can read.
• Keep summaries about calls, not about your views of the caller.
• If someone asks "have you reported me?" or "is there an investigation?", it should say only that it'll pass on a message. Then you take advice.

Problem 5: Scam calls and impersonation

Your clients get scam calls. GOV.UK warns of an automated call saying HMRC is filing a lawsuit against you, and to press 1. A frightened client may ring you straight after one.

Your receptionist shouldn't try to judge whether a call was genuine. Keep it to the plain step: it says someone will ring back, takes the details and tells you straight away. HMRC's reporting routes are its online form for phone calls, phishing@hmrc.gov.uk for emails, and 60599 for texts. You can give those out yourself, on the call back.

It also works the other way. Someone may ring pretending to be your client, asking to change bank details or to get a copy of accounts. The AI shouldn't change anything or send anything. You confirm on a number you already hold. I'd expect more of this as voice cloning gets cheaper, but that's my guess, not data.

Problem 6: A caller in crisis

This is your real safety risk. Tax debt, a failing business and a letter from HMRC can put someone in a dark place, and the first voice they reach may be your receptionist at 11pm on 30 January. I've no figures on how often this happens.

On a number the AI answers, it only knows a call is urgent if the caller says so. You can't rely on it to read distress, and it's no counsellor.

So keep it to the plain step. If a caller talks about harming themselves or not being able to go on, it should:

• Tell them to ring 999 if they're in immediate danger.
• Give them Samaritans, free at any hour, on 116 123.
• Try to transfer the call to you. If you can't pick up, take their details and put them at the top of your summary.

Don't assume any provider does this out of the box, ours included. Your practice needs its own wording, approved by someone qualified to sign it off, and you must set it up and test it yourself. Get a person to ring back first thing, and make that a rule.

For money worries that aren't a crisis, point callers to National Debtline for personal debt, Business Debtline for the self-employed and small businesses, and HMRC's guidance on payment plans and extra support. I couldn't double-check the two debtline numbers, so I haven't printed them. Copy them from each service's own site when you set this up, and test them.

Problem 7: The January bill

Call volumes in a practice aren't flat. Usage-based plans cost most when you're busiest. Fasthosts charges £0.49 or £0.39 for extra calls on its two lower plans, and its top plan is unlimited. Our plans include a monthly usage credit, and extra goes on the bill.

• Check what happens in your peak month, not an average one.
• Ask if spam calls count.
• Watch January closely the first year.

Problem 8: The list nobody rings back

I'd expect this to be the commonest failure, and the AI isn't to blame. In January, a list of 20 callers just makes you feel worse.

Set a daily call-back slot before you switch it on. There's follow-up wording in the template library, and why accountants lose clients before the first meeting shows where a slow call back costs you.

Where ours stands

So you can hold it against any other product:

• It says it's an AI at the start of the call.
• It answers from what you've told it about your services, areas, prices and hours.
• It takes the caller's details, and you get a summary.
• On its own, it doesn't book. You call back and book. The full AI Business Engine adds booking.
• It can record calls, and the greeting says so.
• You can keep one number for urgent calls and give the AI an enquiry number.
• On a number the AI answers, it only knows a call is urgent if the caller says so. Then it tries to transfer the call to you. If you can't pick up, it takes details and puts them in your summary.

We set it up with the wording you give us and make the changes you ask for. The confidentiality line and the crisis wording are for you to decide, have approved and test. Your body's rules apply to you, not to us, so we can't sign these off for you.

None of this makes the risks vanish, whoever's product you pick. For the question of whether it pays at all, read is an AI receptionist worth it?

David Bell, founder of Real Business Systems

David helps small UK businesses get found, answer every enquiry and keep customers coming back. We sell some of the services mentioned here, and we say so where they come up.