AI for professional services, verified before it is relied on

ZCM designs and builds artificial intelligence software for accounting, tax, and legal practices in jurisdictions where the rules are extensive and change often. Our software is designed so that every output is drawn from primary sources, checked before it reaches a client, and kept under the control of the professional who signs it. We also build software and websites for businesses of every kind.

Contact us How the platform works
Pre-issue check Illustrative example

The outgoing is deductible under subsection 8-1(1) of the ITAA 1997, and the exclusion in paragraph 8-1(4)(d) does not apply. The sale of the business should be GST-free as the supply of a going concern under section 38-325 of the GST Act.

  1. Verified Subsection 8-1(1), ITAA 1997

    Exists and was in force for the income year. The assisted review raised no issue with its application, which remains for the reviewer to confirm.

  2. Not found Paragraph 8-1(4)(d), ITAA 1997

    Section 8-1 has no subsection (4) in any compilation. The exclusions are in subsection 8-1(2), and the intended reference may be paragraph 8-1(2)(d).

  3. Review Section 38-325, GST Act

    Cited for the going concern conclusion, but the draft does not address the requirement in paragraph 38-325(1)(c) that the parties agree in writing that the supply is of a going concern.

Three references checked. One verified, one for review, and one not found.

The problem we address

Artificial intelligence has changed how professional work is drafted. It has not yet changed how that work is checked, and the obligations attached to it continue to grow.

Drafting has become faster than review

Language models now produce a first draft in minutes, which moves the effort and the risk to the reviewer who must confirm every authority before the advice is signed. A model cannot be relied on to check its own work, because it may confirm an invented citation with the confidence it had when it produced it.

The law changes faster than a model is trained

Legislation is amended, rulings are withdrawn, and thresholds are indexed. Advice must reflect the law as it stood for the relevant period, which requires a dated and versioned record of the primary sources and not a model's recollection of them.

Obligations on firms continue to expand

Courts now set out how generative AI may be used in proceedings. From 1 July 2026, Australian lawyers, accountants, and trust and company service providers also carry anti-money laundering obligations for the services that attract them. Firms of every size carry these duties.

What we do

Our focus is AI for professional services, and our specialty is governance and compliance software. We also build software for any business function, and we design, build, and market websites.

Our focus

AI for professional services

A platform in development that is designed to bring AI into accounting, tax, and legal practice. Every output is designed to be drawn from primary sources, checked before it is relied on, and kept under the control of the professional who signs it.

The AI platform
  • Verification of tax advice against legislation
  • Checks of financial statements against accounting standards and source records
  • Valuation evidence for the 2027 capital gains reset
  • Practice workflows configured to each firm
  • Models run in the client's region where one is available
  • A record of how each output was produced and checked
Our specialty

Governance and compliance software

Software that keeps a company's registers, board records, approvals, and obligations in order, and keeps the evidence that each obligation was met. We build first for the rules of Hong Kong and Australia.

Governance and compliance software

Tax and accounting automation

Reconciliations, lodgment tracking, year-end obligations, and practice workflows automated for finance teams and accounting practices, with every step recorded.

Tax and accounting

Software for any business function

Where off-the-shelf software does not fit the way a business works, we design and build software that does, from workflows and portals to integrations, reporting, and automation.

Custom software

Websites, SEO, and digital marketing

Websites designed and built to a professional standard, with search optimisation and digital marketing run within the advertising and privacy rules that apply to each client.

Websites and marketing

Software for accounting firms

Our founder is a CPA with more than 50 years of experience, and accounting firms are where our software starts. Our first two capabilities are designed for accounting firms and the clients they advise.

Verification of tax advice and financial statements

Designed to check tax advice against the legislation it cites, and to check draft and audited financial statements against the applicable accounting standards and their source information. Each check is designed to return a report the reviewer can act on and keep on the file.

In development
Valuation and evidence

Designed to record the assets a client holds at the end of 30 June 2027, when Australia's capital gains rules change. It is also designed to compare market value with the draft apportionment method where that method applies, and to assemble the evidence the Australian Taxation Office describes for valuation reports.

In development

We also automate the workflows of an accounting practice. We build software that keeps the records a firm needs for its own obligations, including the anti-money laundering obligations that began on 1 July 2026.

Software for accounting firms

Principles that govern every product

These principles are design rules. Each one is reflected in how the software is built, tested, and released.

Primary sources first
Answers are drawn from legislation, rulings, judgments, and accounting standards retrieved from authoritative sources, and each proposition carries the source it rests on.
Rules before models
Whether a provision exists, whether it was in force for the period, and whether quoted text matches the official compilation are settled by deterministic checks. Models are used where a task cannot be reduced to a rule, and their output is presented for a professional to review.
Closed on policy, open on evidence
A control that governs whether an answer may be given fails closed, and the system declines before it guesses. A check that only adds evidence degrades quietly and reports that it did.
Measured before it is claimed
No accuracy, speed, or time-saving figure is published until it has been measured on real work, and every figure is stated with its sample size.
Law held as versioned data
Rates, thresholds, and statutory parameters are held as dated records with a verification status. A change in the law is therefore loaded as data, and every past result can be reproduced.
The professional remains responsible
Our software supports the judgement of the professional who signs the work. It does not provide legal, tax, or accounting advice.

How an engagement runs

Software projects, AI configurations, and website work follow the same five stages, and the client decides at the end of each stage before go-live whether to continue.

  1. Discovery

    We learn how the business works, where its time and risk concentrate, and what it needs.

  2. Scope and price

    We agree a written scope and price before work begins, including where data will be held.

  3. Design and build

    We build in short cycles and show working software at the end of each one.

  4. Test and measure

    We test against criteria agreed in the scope and report the results before release.

  5. Run and support

    We host, support, and update what we build as the business and its rules change.

How we work

Who we work with

Our software is designed for professional firms, and for businesses whose work depends on getting complex rules right.

We work from Hong Kong, and our first market outside Hong Kong is Australia, where the tax and regulatory framework is extensive and amended frequently. Our software is designed to be configured for other jurisdictions as clients need them.

  • Accounting practices
  • Law firms
  • Tax advisory firms
  • In-house tax and legal teams
  • Company secretarial providers
  • Finance and compliance teams
  • Businesses of every size

The founding team

ZCM was founded by a CPA with more than 50 years of experience in accounting, tax, finance, and business. The founder's commercial judgement and broad network across the profession and the business community shape the company's direction.

The founding team also includes accountants, lawyers, and technology entrepreneurs who have built and run technology businesses. Together they bring decades of experience in professional services and in taking software from concept to commercial operation.

About ZCM

Our aim

Our long-term aim is a platform on which a professional firm can be built around AI from its first day.

In such a firm, a capable graduate working within a well-configured platform could produce first drafts to a standard that would ordinarily take years of practice to reach. Experienced practitioners would review that work before it is relied on, and recruitment would favour judgement and critical thinking.

Talk to us about what you need

We meet clients and business partners by video conference or in person in Hong Kong.

Contact us