AI Agents & Generative AI | Building the Future of Intelligent Automation

Introduction

In our previous post, we enhanced the AI-powered Tax Preparation Assistant with tax calculations, compliance checks, and multi-agent collaboration. Now, we will take it a step further by integrating it with accounting software and automating IRS tax form generation, making tax filing faster and more efficient.

This post will cover:

Connecting the AI assistant to QuickBooks and Xero
Generating and auto-filling IRS tax forms
Deploying the assistant for production use
Ensuring data security and compliance

Step 1: Integrating with Accounting Software

Accountants frequently use software like QuickBooks and Xero to manage tax data. We will connect our AI assistant to these platforms to seamlessly transfer extracted tax data.

Connecting to QuickBooks API

QuickBooks provides a REST API for automating financial tasks. To connect, follow these steps:

1. Register for a QuickBooks API Key

Sign up on QuickBooks Developer Portal
Create an app and obtain your Client ID and Client Secret

2. Install QuickBooks SDK

npm install quickbooks

3. Authenticate and Push Tax Data

Modify pages/api/quickbooks.js to send tax data:

import QuickBooks from "quickbooks";

const qbo = new QuickBooks({
  clientId: process.env.QUICKBOOKS_CLIENT_ID,
  clientSecret: process.env.QUICKBOOKS_CLIENT_SECRET,
  accessToken: process.env.QUICKBOOKS_ACCESS_TOKEN,
  environment: "sandbox",
});

export default async function handler(req, res) {
  if (req.method !== "POST") {
    return res.status(405).json({ error: "Method Not Allowed" });
  }

  const { taxableIncome, taxOwed } = req.body;

  try {
    const invoice = await qbo.createInvoice({
      amount: taxOwed,
      description: "Tax Liability",
    });
    res.status(200).json({ message: "Tax data pushed to QuickBooks", invoice });
  } catch (error) {
    console.error("QuickBooks API error", error);
    res.status(500).json({ error: "Failed to sync with QuickBooks" });
  }
}

This setup will automatically sync tax calculations with QuickBooks, reducing manual data entry.

Step 2: Automating IRS Tax Form Generation

Our AI assistant can now extract and calculate tax data. Next, we’ll generate pre-filled IRS tax forms using the extracted data.

Using PDF Generation to Auto-Fill Forms

We’ll use pdf-lib to create and populate IRS tax forms.

1. Install pdf-lib

npm install pdf-lib

2. Generate a Pre-Filled IRS Form

Create pages/api/generate-tax-form.js:

import { PDFDocument } from "pdf-lib";
import fs from "fs";

export default async function handler(req, res) {
  if (req.method !== "POST") {
    return res.status(405).json({ error: "Method Not Allowed" });
  }

  const { name, taxableIncome, taxOwed } = req.body;
  const pdfBytes = fs.readFileSync("./forms/irs_template.pdf");
  const pdfDoc = await PDFDocument.load(pdfBytes);
  const form = pdfDoc.getForm();

  form.getTextField("Name").setText(name);
  form.getTextField("TaxableIncome").setText(taxableIncome.toString());
  form.getTextField("TaxOwed").setText(taxOwed.toString());

  const filledPdf = await pdfDoc.save();
  res.setHeader("Content-Type", "application/pdf");
  res.send(filledPdf);
}

This API will generate an IRS tax form with pre-filled client data, reducing errors and improving efficiency.

Step 3: Deploying the AI Tax Assistant

With all features implemented, it’s time to deploy the AI tax assistant so accountants can access it online.

Deploying to Vercel

Vercel is a great option for deploying Next.js applications.

1. Install Vercel CLI

npm install -g vercel

2. Deploy the Application

vercel

Follow the CLI prompts to deploy your assistant.

Deploying the Backend with AWS Lambda

For scalability, consider deploying tax processing functions to AWS Lambda.

1. Install Serverless Framework

npm install -g serverless

2. Deploy the Tax Processing API

serverless deploy

This setup allows scalable, secure tax data processing with low operational costs.

Step 4: Ensuring Data Security and Compliance

When handling sensitive financial data, security is paramount. Here are best practices to ensure compliance:

Encrypt all stored and transmitted data (Use AES-256 encryption for storage and TLS 1.2+ for transmission).
Limit API access (Use OAuth for authentication and limit permissions).
Follow IRS data protection guidelines to ensure regulatory compliance.