In this exclusive interview with CanadianSME Small Business Magazine, Atin Gupta, the founder and CEO of Countable, shares his journey of transforming the accounting industry with his innovative cloud-based platform. Designed specifically for CPAs by CPAs, Countable leverages AI-powered automation to streamline complex accounting processes and empower firms to scale without compromising on quality or efficiency. Drawing on over two decades of experience, Atin discusses how Countable is revolutionizing year-end engagements, alleviating staffing challenges, and helping small and medium-sized firms adapt to the digital era. With a mission to make enterprise-grade technology accessible to all, Atin’s insights are invaluable for businesses looking to stay competitive in a rapidly changing market.
Atin Gupta is a seasoned professional in the field of accounting and technology. He is the Founder and CEO of Countable – a leading cloud-based working paper automation solution designed specifically for CPAs by CPAs. Atin has over 2 decades of accounting experience providing assurance and related services around complex business structure transactions for companies in the technology, cleantech, and investment sectors.
Before establishing Countable, Atin served as a Partner and Regional Assurance Leader at a prominent Canadian accounting firm, where he grew his practice from a small clientele to the third-largest niche within the firm. Atin contributed as a Learning and Development Champion opening offices and steering the firm’s culture across the country. His exceptional contributions led to him being recognized as the Technology Enabler of The Year.
Countable is transforming the accounting industry with its cloud-based, AI-powered solutions. Can you share the inspiration behind Countable and explain how it addresses key challenges faced by modern accounting firms?
Countable was born out of my own experience as a CPA, it is inspired by a clear opportunity to modernize how accounting firms operate and help them thrive in an increasingly digital world. As a CPA with nearly two decades experience, I saw how firms were eager to evolve but often held back by traditional legacy / desktop tools that no longer served their needs in a cloud – first and AI era.
We knew firms struggled with these ongoing challenges, causing stress for staff and limiting profitability and scalability. Our vision is to reduce engagement time up to 80% through AI and automation, while maintaining the highest standards of quality and regulatory compliance.
With Countable, firms can automate routine year-end processes, simplifying client collaboration, streamlining integrations, and dramatically reducing manual effort. This enables accountants to focus their valuable time on advisory roles. It’s about empowering firms to confidently embrace innovation rather than fearing disruption.
Your platform emphasizes cloud-first technology and AI-powered automation. How do these features enhance efficiency, security, and scalability for accounting professionals, particularly during high-demand periods like year-end?
Year-end is a crucial time for accounting professionals, where efficiency matters most and the right tools can make all the difference in staying on track and delivering great results. Countable’s cloud-first, AI-powered platform is purpose-built to help firms stay ahead during these peak periods without adding stress or overhead.
Automation features like auto-mapping trial balances, auto-generating financial statements, lead sheets, custom templates, and checklists turn hours of manual work into minutes. Document requests and version control are streamlined through real-time collaboration — no delays, no server issues.
Built with enterprise-grade encryption, Countable is hosted in Canada and stays current with CRA requirements, ensuring secure, compliant data management. Seamless integrations with audit, tax, and CRM systems enable firms to scale operations while maintaining accuracy and security.
Ultimately, Countable frees up capacity for high-value advisory work while delivering the visibility, efficiency, and confidence firms need to thrive, especially when the stakes are highest.
Countable offers a unique fixed-price resource marketplace. Could you elaborate on how this feature helps firms manage workloads, ensure consistent service quality, and overcome resource gaps?
Staffing continues to be one of the biggest challenges for accounting firms, especially during peak seasons. Firms are often forced to choose between costly overtime or rushed hiring decisions that strain quality and margins.
Countable Flex solves this with a fixed-price resource marketplace. It gives firms instant access to vetted, trained accounting professionals – ready to plug into year-end and assurance work at a predictable cost per engagement. No hiring, no onboarding, no guesswork.
Unlike conventional staffing models, firms stay fully in control. They assign tasks, monitor progress, and apply their own review standards, all within the Countable platform. The result is consistent quality, on-demand scale, and full visibility across every engagement.
Firms can now scale up without taking on unnecessary overhead or risk. That means protecting client relationships, maintaining high service standards, and growing profitably — even when workloads spike.
It’s not staffing. It’s strategic support, delivered exactly when and where firms need it most.
Many CPAs and accounting firms trust Countable for their operations. Can you share a specific success story where your platform significantly improved a client’s productivity or ROI?
As a compliance-focused company, we’re committed to safeguarding client confidentiality. Although detailed case studies are underway and will be published upon client approval, I can share one compelling scenario involving a mid-market accounting firm in Toronto with approximately 75 users. This client approached us seeking a modern solution to streamline their entire year-end engagement process.
When this firm partnered with Countable, we closely supported them through a smooth, end-to-end transition. This included seamless data migration, accurate conversion of prior-year engagement work into Countable’s current-year format, comprehensive onboarding, personalized training, and proactive support to resolve customer-success issues. The initial phase involved extensive handholding throughout their first quarter with us. Our goal from the outset was clear: automate their year-end engagement processes, streamline operational efficiency, and significantly enhance profitability.
Today, we’re working actively to integrate their entire technology stack over the next 12 months. This integration includes specific feature requests directly from their team. Such collaboration is only possible when the client’s team is hands-on in providing regular mandates for upcoming product updates. This enables some of their suggested key integrations to be incorporated into the practice. Additionally, we’ve introduced Flex engagements to help them efficiently manage resource workloads and significantly reduce costs. This also entails implementing strategic enhancements tailored specifically to their evolving practice needs. The relationship is ongoing, highly collaborative, and strategically focused on continued productivity gains, automation, and cost savings.
As an innovative player in the accounting technology space, what advice would you give to small and medium-sized accounting firms looking to modernize their practices and stay competitive in today’s fast-evolving market?
For small and mid-sized accounting firms, the path forward is clear: modernize with purpose, and do it proactively. Success today requires more than technical expertise. It calls for agility, adaptability, and the right tools to support both.
Legacy systems may feel familiar, but they often limit a firm’s ability to scale and evolve. The most progressive firms are adopting cloud-based platforms, automation, and AI not just to work faster, but to work smarter. They are refocusing their teams on strategic work by removing repetitive, manual tasks.
Modernization is not just about adopting new technology. It is about empowering your people, improving client experience, and building a resilient, future-ready practice. Start with one area that slows you down and choose a solution designed to solve it securely, at scale, and with real support. Prioritize platforms that directly address your firm’s pain points, whether it’s compliance, security, integration, or support. Countable makes that transition seamless, with guided onboarding and full data migration support.
Firms that embrace innovation today are shaping the future of the profession. With the right mindset and tools, progress is well within reach.
