ScaleFactor hypes accountancy AI 'automation'
A US start-up claiming to deliver an AI-based, real-time bookkeeping tool in fact relied on traditional bookkeepers and hired a Filipino contract accounting firm to process customer data. Austin, Texas-based ScaleFactor built AI-based accounting automation and book-keeping software for small businesses that integrated with Quickbooks and Xero in such a way that it would 'revolutionise accounting'. However , the firm often relied on traditional bookkeepers and had hired a traditional contract accounting company in the Philippines, with customers receiving monthly statements rather than the real-time data they were promised, according to Forbes. Established in 2014, ScaleFactor closed in August 2020, primarily blaming the COVID-19 pandemic. However, customers complained its products had failed to work properly and that it had consistently over-promised and under-delivered. System 🤖 ScaleFactor Crunchbase profile Operator: Developer: ScaleFactor Country: USA Sector: Business/professional services Purpose: Automate book-keeping, financial forecasts Technology: Automation Issue: Business model; Effectiveness/value Transparency: Marketing
- Date it happened
- 2020-07-01
- Product, system or model
- ScaleFactor
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