Does Mia give tax advice? No, and that's on purpose

Here's a made-up scene, but if you run a practice you've probably lived some version of it. It's 7:40 on a Thursday night. A small business client is sitting at her kitchen table with a pile of receipts and a question that won't wait: can she claim the new laptop, and what about the home office? She rings your number.

If you answer, you're giving advice after hours, off the file, with no engagement. If nobody answers, she might ring the next practice on Google. Neither feels great.

So when accountants ask us whether Mia, the RipperReceptionist AI receptionist, will answer that question for them, the short answer is no. She never gives tax advice on the phone. Here's why we built her that way, and what happens to the question instead.

The short answer

Mia doesn't answer tax questions. "Is it deductible?" becomes a booked consultation, because that answer is your billable work. Every call lands with a transcript and an AI summary, so you can see exactly what she said before you call back.

Why an AI receptionist shouldn't give tax advice

There are two reasons, and only one of them is about money.

The first is the rules. The Tax Practitioners Board's factsheet What is a tax agent service describes a tax agent service as advising a client about their "liabilities, obligations or entitlements under a taxation law" in circumstances where the client "can reasonably be expected to rely on it". It also says: "If you provide a tax agent service for a fee or other reward, you must be registered with the Tax Practitioners Board." A registered tax agent is. A receptionist, human or AI, isn't, and shouldn't be the one a client relies on for a deduction call. (We're not lawyers, and this isn't legal advice. Your professional body and the TPB are the people to ask about your own obligations.)

The second is the money. The answer to "Is it deductible?" is what clients pay you for. A receptionist that hands it out for nothing at 7:40pm is giving away your work, and doing it without the file in front of it.

There's a third reason too, if we're being honest. A guess on the phone can go wrong, and you're the one who'd have to clean it up.

For what else to look for in an after-hours service, see our guide to after-hours answering for tax agents.

What Mia does with a tax question instead

She treats it as what it is: a client who needs you.

• She finds out who is calling, what they need and how urgent it is.
• She turns the call into a matter card on your dashboard while the caller is still talking: name, number, need and urgency.
• The tax question becomes a booked consultation instead of a free answer.
• She speaks accountant, so BAS, SMSF, ATO, PAYG and lodgement don't throw her.

In our made-up scene, the client hangs up with a consultation in the diary instead of a guess. You walk in the next morning, read the summary, and the first conversation is a paid one.

The TFN rule

Tax questions aren't the only thing a client blurts out after hours. Sometimes they start reading out their tax file number. If a caller starts reading out a TFN, Mia stops them before it lands in any note. You don't want a TFN sitting in a phone message, and neither does your client.

How you check what she said

You don't have to take our word for any of this. Every call lands with a transcript and an AI summary on the call's page, so you can check exactly what she said.

Calls are answered live, so there's no approval step in the middle of a call. Instead you set her rules from the dashboard: your hours, your messages and what she should capture. If something isn't how you'd want it, you'll see it in the transcript and you can change the rules.

Where you still step in

Mia handles the phone. You handle the judgement. That's the split on our accountants page, and it's the right one: she books the consultation, you give the advice. That answer is your billable work, and it stays that way.

If you want to see everything she does on her own, and where you step in, the table on our page about an AI receptionist for accountants lays it out row by row.

What it costs

• Starter is $19.99/mo + GST.
• Pro is $49.99/mo + GST.
• Pro Max is $999 once + GST for 5 years of Pro.
• Voice is billed at $0.50/min. There's a $0 setup fee and no lock-in.
• Every plan has a 14-day refund, and you only pay for the minutes you use.

Full details are on the pricing page. If you'd rather hear her before you decide, ring Mia on the demo line: +61 2 4072 7246.

Frequently asked questions

Will Mia give tax advice to my clients?

No. She never gives tax advice on the phone. "Is it deductible?" becomes a booked consultation, because that answer is your billable work.

Why shouldn't an answering service give tax advice?

Because advice a client relies on is your job, not the receptionist's. The Tax Practitioners Board says anyone who provides a tax agent service for a fee or other reward must be registered with the TPB. Your practice gives the advice. Mia makes sure the client gets to you.

What happens if a caller reads out their TFN?

If a caller starts reading out a TFN, Mia stops them before it lands in any note.

How do I know what Mia told a caller?

Every call lands with a transcript and an AI summary, so you can check exactly what she said before you call back.

Can I approve what Mia says before she says it?

No. Calls are answered live, so there's no approval step mid-call. You set her rules from the dashboard (hours, messages and what to capture), and you read the transcript afterwards.

Does Mia understand accounting terms?

Yes. She speaks accountant: BAS, SMSF, ATO, PAYG and lodgement.

See exactly what Mia does on an accounting practice's phone.