TPB's new AI guidance changed the rules for accounting firms. Are you compliant, or just hoping you are?
Join Rebecca Mihalic, Head of Accounting (APAC) at Ignition and Director at businessDEPOT, and Sarah Lawrance, Founder & CEO of Hot Toast and CFO, known for her no-nonsense approach to pricing and financial clarity for service-based businesses, as they break down what the TPB's new AI guidance actually means for your firm, and how to turn compliance into a competitive edge.
What's covered?
Decoding the TPB's new AI guidance — what's actually changed, what hasn't, and why "just guidance" still means real obligations
Building an AI policy from scratch — the framework firms need before rolling out any AI tool, not after
Choosing safe AI tools — vetting data storage, model providers, and avoiding the "if I paid for it, it's safe" trap
Client disclosure and engagement letters — how to update terms of engagement without a full re-engagement process
Where AI actually pays off — real examples from practice: meeting-to-proposal workflows, pricing checks, and admin time saved
Human-in-the-loop, done right — treating AI like a junior team member: reviewed, checked, never left unsupervised
Speakers
Rebecca Mihalic
Head of Accounting (APAC) at Ignition and Director | businessDEPOT
Rebecca Mihalic is a Fellow of the Chartered Accountants Australian and New Zealand and an Australian Registered Tax Agent. She has been working in public practice since 2003. Rebecca was a co-founder of Aptus Accounting & Advisory which was named the 2018 Innovator of the Year at the Australian Accounting Awards and is now a director of businessDEPOT, the 2022 Multiservice Firm of the Year. Rebecca has earned a reputation for her leadership, passion and commitment to the accounting industry and recently won 'Thought Leader of the Year' in the prestigious 2021 Australian Accounting Awards
Sarah Lawrance
Founder and Managing Director @ Hot Toast
Sarah’s love of business began at just eight years old when she would get up early to watch Business Sunday with her father. What followed was a Bachelor of Finance and a stint in the UK perfecting the art of finance on small and medium sized companies throughout Europe.
Upon returning to Australia in 2014, Sarah found her niche working with film, media, advertising and marketing companies.
Sarah founded Hot Toast in 2015 with the goal of helping small to medium businesses scale. Being able to understand the story the numbers tell and provide insights and value to these businesses in a way that supports aggressive growth strategies is why she does what she does.
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