AI-specialized accounting platform company Basis has raised $34 million in Series A funding to bolster its autonomous AI agent product, with an investment round that was led by Keith Rabois from Khosla Ventures, alongside Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross, along with additional contributions from heavy hitters like Larry Summers, former US Secretary of Treasury, Jeff Dean, the chief scientist behind Google DeepMind, Noam Brown, the lead researcher for OpenAI’s o1 model, and Jack Altman, former CEO of Lattice and the brother of OpenAI head Sam Altman, and many others. 

“We’re putting every dollar back into the platform and team – to invest in ML research, to continue to bring the most cutting-edge AI to accounting firms, and to open additional slots for firms,” said Matt Harpe, Basis co-founder, in an email. 

Basis, which emerged from stealth last year with $3.8 million in funding, uses generative AI and language models built specifically for extremely high accounting performance to perform various workflows such as entering transactions and double-checking data accuracy. This is in contrast to things like chatbots which can only read data and produce text. The product also integrates with popular ledger systems like Intuit’s QuickBooks and Xero as well as AP systems such as Bill.com and file systems such as SharePoint or Box. It is already in use by firms such as Top 100 firm Wiss and Co., which partnered with Basis earlier this year. The product was compared to having a junior accountant, which Basis said allows human staff accountants to spend their time reviewing the AI agent’s work, rather than doing the work manually. 

“This technology is a new paradigm for accounting. Learning to work with your computer, not just on it, might be an even bigger shift than going from paper to digital. Over the last year, as accountants have experienced what’s possible with the most cutting-edge AI, we’ve seen more and more firms decide that AI must become the top strategic priority. We’re excited to continue to equip firms with AI that actually works,” said Mitch Troyanovsky, Basis co-founder in an email. 

Basis sells exclusively to accountants versus selling directly to businesses or building ‘new’ accounting firms, and is tailored specifically for use by expert accountants. Basis focuses on building agents that understand, and can operate on, accounting broadly instead of isolating only a specific task. This allows Basis to work across clients and workflows without losing context, and to quickly take on new workflows, said Basis. Accountants onboard Basis to engagements and assign it core workflows for one-time or ongoing execution

“Accounting is a massive industry, and Basis is clearly leading on the AI side. This is one of the few AI agents that’s already deployed and working. Matt and Mitch have put together the best NYC team in the applied AI space,” said Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures, who also co-founded Sun Microsystems.

Platform Accounting Group has added two more accounting firms, based in Indiana and Illinois, bringing the total firms that have joined the Utah-based company this year to 12.

Platform Accounting Group, founded in 2015, invests in and acquires small accounting firms, and announced it received an $85 million minority funding round to support its expansion in February. 

Midwest Advisors, formerly known as Philip+Rae & Associates, is headquartered in Naperville, Illinois, and has provided fractional CFO roles, controllership and back-office accounting operations for more than 30 years. Additionally, the firm offers tax preparation, accounting and auditing, financial planning, estate planning, payroll services, small business consulting, bookkeeping, back-office accounting, small business consulting and more.

In operation for 30 years, Indianapolis-based Crossroads Advisors, formerly Peachin Schwartz + Weingardt, serves high-net-worth individuals, closely-held businesses and not-for-profit organizations. The firm supports clients throughout their life cycle, from the startup phase to mature businesses seeking an exit or succession strategy.

“Because of my experience and time there, I deeply value the tight-knit community and small-town feel of the Midwest,” said Reyes Florez, CEO of Platform Accounting Group, in a statement. “We are thrilled these firms, who like us, prioritize relationships and roots, are joining our group and will be able to invest even further in their clients and communities.”

Platform Accounting Group has nearly 1,000 employees across 12 states and expects to add a few more accounting firms in January, the company said. 

The Securities and Exchange Commission today voted to approve the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s 2025 budget and the related accounting support fee. 

The budget totals $399.7 million, which funds 945 positions. The accounting support fee totals $374.9 million, comprising $346.1 million for public company issuers and $28.8 million for registered broker dealers.

The 2025 budget is a 3.8% increase from this year’s budget of $384.7 million in 2024, and the ASF is a 4.5% increase from this year’s $358.8 million.

“Well-functioning financial markets are built on trust,” SEC Chair Gary Gensler said in a statement. “Critical to such trust are disclosures – including financial statement disclosures made by issuers and broker-dealers to the investing public. I have seen since the passage of Sarbanes-Oxley 22 years ago the importance of that law in promoting trust in public company figures. This trust, though, can easily be taken for granted. The PCAOB — an important reform of the George W. Bush Administration — writes the standards for auditors and audits the auditors. That’s the core of what it does, and it’s every bit as important now and into the future.”

“While the 2025 budget assumes a necessary increase in the ASF overall, we anticipate the smallest billable issuers will see no increase, while the median difference per bill for issuers will likely be only $100, “PCAOB chair Erica Williams said in a statement.

Williams added, “This budget enables us to both provide our staff with competitive compensation that acknowledges their extraordinary work on behalf of investors and retain them, as well as attract new, expert talent to help us meet our investor-protection mission.”

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 provides the SEC with oversight responsibility over the PCAOB, including reviewing and approving the PCAOB’s annual budget and accounting support fee.