LarsonGrossAdvisors
TheCustomer
US-basedRegionalaccountingfirmLarsonGrossAdvisorsis scalingupwiththepowerofgenerativeAI.LearnhowBlueJ’s acceleratedresearchanddraftingarehelpingthemsave timeanddeliverbetterclientservice.
MeetLarsonGrossAdvisors
Withover200teammembersandfiveofficesacrossWashington State,LarsonGrossAdvisorsisanaccountingfirmontherise Currentlyranked#163ontheIPA200,thelastfewyearshave usheredinsignificantgrowthforLarsonGrossAdvisors Duringthat time,BlueJhasbeenrighttherewiththefirm helpingthemtogrow andgrowingwiththeirtaxpractice
Whilealothaschangedsincethefirm’sfoundingin1949,their team’scommitmenttofosteringgenuinerelationshipswithclients remainsasstrongasever.Today,BlueJ’sgenerativeAIsolutionfor taxresearchisempoweringLarsonGrosstodeepenthose relationships.
ByredirectingtimesavedusingBlueJintomoremeaningful strategicadvisorywork,thefirmiscreatingvaluebothfor themselvesandtheirclients totrulytakeLarsonGrossAdvisorsto thenextlevel.ToexplorehowLarsonGrossisscalingtheirtax practiceandtransitioningintohigher-valueclientwork,wespoke withTanyaSilves,PartnerandTaxPracticeLeaderatLarsonGross Advisors
LegacyToolTroubles
BeforemovingtoBlueJ,LarsonGrossAdvisorsfacedaproblem familiartomanyaccountingfirms Theirlegacytaxresearchtool simplywasn’tworkingforthem.
Tostart,itwasdifficulttouse.Inordertoproperlyleveragethe software,theywereholdingbiannualtrainingsessionsontheskills necessarytonavigateit.Astimewenton,therolethesesessions playedinreducinginternalproductivitywasbecomingmoreand moreevident.
LarsonGrossAdvisors
Butbeyondanoverallsub-paruser experience,theirlegacyresearchtoolalso hadamorefundamentalissue:youngerstaff weren’tusingit.Instead,theseteam memberswouldoftenopttoaskpeerstheir taxquestions,getotherswhoweremore comfortablewiththetooltoperformtax researchforthem,orevenattimesusea searchenginetoresearchbasicissues.
Critically,theseusabilityandadoptionissues meantLarsonGrossAdvisorsweren’tgetting themostoutofwhattheywerespendingon thetool’s(costly)subscription
MakingtheMovetoBlueJ
Whenthefirmbeganlookingforalternatives, theyknewthattheywantedsomethingthat theirteamwouldactuallyuse,thatwouldn’t requireendlesstrainingsessions,andthat wouldletthemgetbacktodoingwhatthey dobest deliveringexceptionalserviceto clients.That’swhereBlueJcamein.
Rightfromfirstuse,theirteamrecognizeda significantimprovement.NotonlycouldBlue Jdeliverclear,concise,andverifiable answersinseconds,buttheconversational interfacewasalsoeasyforpeopletolearn Duringaninitialtrialperiod,TanyaSilvessaw firsthandjusthowquicklytheteamwasable toleverageBlueJ’sacceleratedresearch anddraftingcapabilities
Whendescribingthedifferenceinadoption betweenBlueJandtheirlegacytool,Silves remarked,“WithBlueJ,we’reconfidentthat weareutilizingtheproductswearepaying fornow,anditisimprovingouremployee andclientexperience.”
ScalingWithBlueJ
Oncethey’ddecidedtomaketheleapto BlueJ,LarsonGrossbegantheonboarding process.Whiletheirpreviousadoption problemsmighthavemadethemwary,the successoftheirtrialperiodcontinuedduring onboarding.Ultimately,theprocessproved tobeeveneasierthanthey’dhoped.
“Lowdrama.”Thatwasthefirsttermthat cametomindwhenTanyaSilvesreflected ontheonboardingprocess “Itwasassimple asashortmeetingtoquicklytrain,andthen wegotpeoplebacktowork,wherethey immediatelystartedusingthetool The follow-upprompttrainingyourteam providedwasparticularlyuseful,since generativeAIissuchanewwaytoperform research.Now,peopleuseitconsistentlyand alotofourteamleaveitupontheirscreen allthroughouttheday.Wearenotonly leveragingittoresearchbutalsotocraft responsestoclientquestions,perform calculations,andpresenttablesand examplesthatallowustoworkwithclients andensuretheyunderstand.”
Buttheirteamdidn’tstopatthatinitialround ofonboarding FromJanuary2024toMarch 2025,thenumberofLarsonGrossuserson theBlueJplatformhasgrownsignificantly Initiallystartingwith25licenses,thatnumber jumpedto50afterjust3months.Today,75 ofLarsonGross’steammembersareusing BlueJ.Alongtheway,adoptionhas remainedstrong,as63%ofLarsonGross usersgeneratetheirfirstanswerswithina dayofsigningup,typicallyonly2minutes afterlogginginforthefirsttime.
LarsonGrossAdvisors
BecomingaStrategicPartner
With71%ofusersactiveweeklyandeach askinganaverageof3.5questionsaday, LarsonGross’susagehasgrownright alongsidetherestofthefirm.Asidefrom beingeasytouse,BlueJbroughtanother clearbenefittoLarsonGross’team:itsaved time.Infact,Silvesconservativelyestimates thateachteammemberusingBlueJsaves2 hoursperweekonaverage.
LarsonGross’clientshavealsofeltthe impactofwhattheirteamhasbeenableto dowithBlueJ’sacceleratedresearchand automateddraftingcapabilities Silves recallshowateammemberwhowasn’tan expertinstatetaxwasabletoresearchand draftanin-depthmemo including examples onWashingtonStatecapital gainstaxinjust15minutes,whenthistask wouldnormallyhavetakenhours.Rather thanrequiringinternalexpertstoperformthe research,prepareexamples,anddraftthe memo,BlueJcouldtakecareoftheheavy liftingandtheexpertteamcouldsimply providetheirreview.
Silveswentontoexplainhowmuchofa differenceautomateddraftinginparticular makestothewayLarsonGrossdelivers value,“Clientsloveit!Theyappreciatebeing abletotaketheirtimereviewinginformation thatiswritten,thattheycanreferbackto andaskquestionsonlater,alongwith examplesthathelpincreasecomprehension. Thefasterresponsetimesallowthemto makebetterdecisionssooner,givingthem peaceofmindandhelpingthemtotake advantageoftime-sensitiveopportunities.”
Bydeliveringgreatervalueinlesstime, LarsonGrossAdvisorshaveundergonea distinctshiftinthewayclientsviewthem. Movingbeyondcomplianceandnumbercrunching,they’rebecomingatruestrategic partnerintheirclients'decision-making processes.Workingasdeeplyintegrated advisors,LarsonGrossareredirectingtheir effortstowardconductingcomplexresearch tasks,helpingclientsthinkthroughkey decisions,weightheiroptionsindifferent scenariosandtaxtreatments,and understandthebroaderimpactoftheir choices
Or,asSilvesputit,“We’retheretodolifewith them.”
Thisshiftinperspectiveisalsochangingthe wayLarsonGrossconductsitsownbusiness, asthefirmiscurrentlyintheprocessof adoptingavalue-basedbillingmodel,to reflecttheincreasedefficiencyandvalue they’veachievedwiththehelpofBlueJ.This modelalsosetsthestageforfurthergrowth, asLarsonGrossAdvisorspositionsitselfto remaincompetitiveandcontinuesto strengthenthefirm’sclientrelationships
GrowingForward
Havingjumpedfrom#196to#163ontheIPA Top200sinceadoptingBlueJin2024,Larson GrossAdvisorshasnoplansofslowingdown ButofallthegrowthindicatorsatLarson Gross,it’sthechangeattheindividuallevel thathasimpactedTanyaSilvesthemost.
LarsonGrossAdvisors
“ThebiggestgrowthI’veseenisinourpeople andtheirabilitytolearnandadaptto change,”shereflects.“Theyhaveagency overhowtheyshowupandtheknowledge theycanprovidetoclients–it’smore widespreadnowandhasbuiltconfidencein ourpeopletoserveclientsfromaplaceof ‘Letmefindout!’vs.‘I’mnotsure,letme researchforhoursuntilI’mcomfortable…’.”
WithBlueJ’sAI-poweredtaxresearch solutionandateamempoweredtoprovide exceptionalservicetoclients,there’sno doubtthatLarsonGrossissettoscaleeven further.
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