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SterlingPRIVATE.ai / Industries / Accounting & CPA

Where this fits: client books, payroll and tax notes are Level 3 and 4 information. Levels 1 and 2 can stay in the tools your team already uses. See the four levels →

← Industry overview

Accounting and CFO private AI

Before your team uses AI, choose where client financials are processed.

The same P&L, balance sheet, payroll context, and board-package notes can be sent to a public AI cloud, or processed on your private hosted AI server protected by encrypted VPN.

For CPA firms, bookkeepers, CFO teams, and accounting departments
Option A

Public AI Cloud

Using a browser-based public AI service can send prompts, spreadsheets, reports, and client financial context to third-party AI infrastructure in the public cloud.

Public Internet → AI vendor cloud
ChatGPT logoChatGPTOpenAI
Claude logoClaudeAnthropic
Gemini logoGeminiGoogle
Grok logoGrokxAI
Privacy considerations
  • Consumer AI settings and retention vary by product and plan.
  • Some providers use chats for service improvement unless controls are changed.
  • If an account is compromised, saved prompts and chat history may expose confidential client work.
Convenience vs. privacy: where is your risk tolerance?
Your sensitive financial data
$ Client books / P&L / balance sheet
◆ Payroll, tax, and board notes

Same data. Different processing destinations.

Choose the processing destination.
Option B

SterlingPRIVATE.ai

Your firm uses a dedicated hosted AI server — managed by Sterling, connected by VPN, and not shared with other organizations.

Encrypted VPN → dedicated private server
Your private hosted AI server
A dedicated environment for your organization — like an extension of your own network.
✓Dedicated to your organization
✓VPN connected
✓Managed by Sterling
Not a shared public AI website. Client financials are processed on your private server.

This is the whole decision. Sensitive work gets a private destination; everything else stays exactly where it is today. See how the private side works, or what it costs.

Next step

Ask for a demo

Thirty minutes, on your schedule. We will run a real analysis in front of you — on a sample of your own data if you are comfortable, or on ours if you would rather — and show you exactly where that data goes at each step.

503.968.8908 PrivateAI@sterling.net