Stanford dropouts’ AI startup Accordance raises $13M from Khosla Ventures, General Catalyst for tax & accounting AI

Accounting firms are running headfirst into a talent crisis. Seventy-five percent of CPAs are expected to retire in the next decade, while younger professionals are increasingly reluctant to take their place. The result is an industry facing more regulations, more complexity, and fewer experts to handle it. Into this gap steps Accordance, an AI startup founded by two Stanford AI researchers who dropped out to build what they call the most advanced artificial intelligence platform for tax, audit, and CPA teams.

The company announced its public launch today with $13 million in funding—$10 million in seed capital led by Khosla Ventures and $3 million in pre-seed led by General Catalyst. Anthropic, NEA, Bain Capital Ventures, and Sequoia Capital also wrote checks. Accordance says its AI system is already deployed across 50-plus large CPA firms and has even landed a partnership with the University of San Francisco’s Law School to help train future lawyers.

Accordance positions itself as an “intelligent co-pilot” for professionals, one that can process the thorniest questions in tax and accounting without forcing firms to burn countless hours on research. The startup’s multi-agent system has been trained on an enormous library of federal, state, local, and international tax codes, accounting standards, court rulings, and treaties. The founders claim it consistently outperforms big foundation models on specialized reasoning tasks, offering expert-level insights at a fraction of the time.

“We’re giving every professional superpowers, turning junior staff into experts, and experts into forces of nature,” said David Yue, CEO and co-founder of Accordance. “Instead of hitting walls on complex scenarios or losing sleep over judgment calls, they become unstoppable problem-solvers who shape the financial fabric of the future.”

From Stanford Lab to Startup: How Accordance is Reinventing Tax with AI

Accordance was founded by Yue and Finsam Samson, who previously built fintech startups before leaving Stanford’s AI lab to focus on the accounting expertise gap. They argue the profession can’t scale under current conditions. Too many specialists spend time on tedious work, while firms bleed talent and scramble to maintain compliance. Their AI, they say, allows firms to multiply expertise instead of constantly chasing it.

The vision has attracted not only major venture firms but also strategic research partnerships with OpenAI, Anthropic, and Stanford. According to Accordance, usage of its platform has grown tenfold in the past six months as firms weave the system into their day-to-day operations.

Investor Backing and Big Promises

For Khosla Ventures founder Vinod Khosla, the appeal lies in more than just automation. “We’re witnessing the birth of a new category. AI that doesn’t just assist professionals, but fundamentally transforms how expertise is created and distributed,” he said. “Accordance doesn’t replace expertise; it multiplies it, enabling teams to transcend traditional limitations and reshape the entire landscape of accounting and tax services.”

General Catalyst partner Max Rimpel echoed that sentiment. “The Accordance team has deep technical skill and a rare grasp of the domain,” he said. “They’re building trusted AI tools for some of the most vital and complex knowledge workers in the economy, and doing it with the precision and performance those users demand.”

Aiming to Rewire the Profession

Accordance’s mission is straightforward: to make every tax, audit, and CPA professional more effective, regardless of experience level. With a looming shortage of experts and billions at stake in compliance and advisory services, the company sees itself as the intelligence layer that firms can’t afford to ignore.

The startup, founded in 2024, is betting that accounting—long viewed as slow to adopt new technology—will move quickly once the alternative is losing critical expertise. Whether it can deliver on that promise remains to be seen, but for now, Accordance has the backing, the momentum, and a clear pitch: give every firm an AI brain and watch the profession transform.