Accrual Launches with $75 Million to Bring AI-Native Automation to Accounting

New platform automates tax preparation and review while preserving the controls and auditability accounting firms require

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Accrual today announced its launch and $75 million in funding to bring AI-native automation to accounting firm preparation and review workflows. The round was led by General Catalyst, with participation from Pruven Capital, Edward Jones Ventures, and a group of industry executives and founders. The funding will support continued investment in product and AI development, team expansion, and onboarding accounting firms as Accrual scales.

Accounting firms play a central role in financial decision-making for businesses and individuals, yet their core workflows remain constrained by fragmented systems and manual coordination. As regulations, data volumes, and client expectations continue to grow, accountants are being asked to deliver faster answers while maintaining rigorous standards of accuracy and review.

Accrual addresses this challenge by unifying preparation and review into a single AI-driven system. The platform uses AI agents that function as a preparer, reading and organizing all client inputs, identifying missing information, generating targeted follow-up questions, and producing draft returns that are ready for professional review. Data is structured as it enters the system, allowing preparation, review, and client guidance to build on one another rather than requiring repeated rework.

“Accounting is a deeply interconnected system, yet most software treats it as a collection of disparate tasks,” said Cosmin Nicolaescu, CEO and Co-Founder of Accrual. “We are building core infrastructure from the ground up to unify these workflows into a single system that amplifies judgment and compounds a firm’s expertise over time.”

Over the past year, Accrual has worked closely with firms including H&R Block, Armanino, Creative Planning, and several other Top 100 accounting firms. These early deployments showed that recent advances in AI can remove long-standing bottlenecks in accounting workflows without compromising accuracy, transparency, or professional judgment.

Today, Accrual is focused on individual tax returns. The platform handles real-world inputs including complex K-1s and 1099s, spreadsheets, emails, photos, and multi-hundred-page statements. It integrates directly with existing tax engines to support prior-year data, carry-forwards, and final filing workflows, allowing firms to continue using the systems they already trust.

“Returns coming out of Accrual are already at manager-review quality,” shared John Karls, National Tax Practice Leader, Private Client Advisors, Armanino. “What used to take hours of staff preparation now processes in minutes. Just as important, Accrual is catching issues that could have led to amended returns and handling documents our existing tools can’t. That shift frees our teams to focus more on higher-value planning and advisory work.”

Firms using Accrual are saving thousands of hours per tax season. Preparation time has dropped by more than 85 percent, while review time has fallen by up to 60 percent. Every 50 complex returns effectively adds the capacity of one accountant without increasing headcount, while improving consistency and accuracy.

“Accounting is one of the largest and most critical professional services markets in the world, yet its core workflows have remained largely unchanged for decades,” said Marc Bhargava, Managing Director at General Catalyst. “Cos and Sidd have spent their careers building software for complex, highly regulated environments and we believe are the right team to rebuild these systems using AI without compromising the trust the profession depends on.”

Accrual is actively onboarding accounting firms across the U.S. and plans to expand the platform beyond individual returns over time. The company is also hiring engineers, product leaders, and accounting experts to help build the next generation of accounting infrastructure.

To learn more or request a demo, visit https://accrual.com/.

About Accrual

Accrual is an AI-native accounting platform built for leading accounting firms. The platform unifies tax preparation and review into a single system that automates manual work while preserving the accuracy, controls, and auditability firms require. Accrual is led by engineers and technology leaders who previously built financial infrastructure at companies including Stripe and Brex, and is backed by General Catalyst, Pruven Capital, Edward Jones Ventures, and a group of industry executives and founders. The company works closely with accounting firm leaders across the U.S. to build core infrastructure for the next generation of accounting workflows.