CEO Perspective: Fieldguide Secures $30M Series B to Transform Advisory and Audit Firms with Industry-First AI

We are thrilled to share a significant milestone in our journey towards revolutionizing the advisory and audit industry—Fieldguide has closed a $30 million Series B led by Bessemer Venture Partners, the venture firm behind transformative vertical SaaS and AI companies, such as EvenUp, Procore, ServiceTitan, and Shopify. The round also features notable investors like 8VC, as well as AI and SaaS thought leaders.

This significant investment further underscores the importance of our mission to increase trust in commerce and capital markets. I want to thank our ambitious team, visionary customers, and savvy investors, without whom we would not be here today. Bessemer Venture Partners aligns seamlessly with our vision, culture, and philosophies, making them the ideal partner for our next phase of growth.

The Series B positions us strategically to continue building a world-class organization, expand our product offerings across diverse audit and consulting services, and bolster our go-to-market initiatives. The timing couldn't be more perfect as the advisory and audit sector is experiencing a growing talent shortage and needs AI-powered technology solutions to bridge the talent gap.

The Problem and Fieldguide Solution

Paired with the CPA profession’s profound talent shortage is a surge in demand for advisory and audit services, setting the stage for a perfect storm. Faced with this challenging climate of limited human capacity, audit and advisory firms are turning to technology solutions to bridge the growing capacity crunch.

A substantial exodus of 300,000 accountants over the last two years, coupled with fewer new graduates entering the profession, has sent shockwaves through the industry. The 2023 AICPA Trends Report highlights these mounting difficulties, revealing a 7.8% decline in students majoring in accounting, ultimately shrinking the talent pool available to the profession.

Adding fuel to the fire is the impending retirement wave. The AICPA states in their 2023 Trends Report that 75% of their members will be eligible to retire over the next 15 years. The fallout from this shortage will be fierce competition for a smaller pool of skilled professionals. Some firms have turned to offshore resources. While cost-effective, offshoring presents its own challenges, entailing the management of remote teams, time zone differences, and potential miscommunication.

Fieldguide’s AI Platform: Empowering Practitioners To Achieve More

Fieldguide’s AI platform provides a strategic solution to this dilemma as the only AI solution designed specifically for advisory and audit services. By automating workflows, streamlining operations, and freeing CPAs for more high-value work, Fieldguide AI enables firms to achieve more with their teams, while increasing satisfaction for both their practitioners and clients. Moreover, AI serves as a powerful ally in addressing resource challenges, facilitating improved management of offshore resources, enhancing recruitment efforts, and empowering team members through upskilling initiatives.

Fieldguide's AI platform serves to revolutionize the way audit and advisory firms navigate the practitioner capacity shortage, empowering them to thrive during times of unprecedented change.

The Fieldguide Story

As a former Big 4 practitioner, I experienced first-hand the inefficiencies and challenges within the audit and advisory industry – the talent shortage, complex workflows, and a critical need for innovation. After joining forces with my co-founder, Chris Syzmansky, together we assembled a passionate team of former auditors, consultants and Silicon Valley technologists - and Fieldguide was born.

Fieldguide stands out among other technology solutions for CPA firms in that it is a cloud-native, fully-integrated, end-to-end AI platform designed to manage the entire engagement lifecycle for advisory and audit services. As Sameer Dholakia, Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners and our Board Member, eloquently stated,

"Fieldguide is addressing pain points for an industry that has been plagued by a lack of modern cloud-based software, talent shortages, and manual processes. Its AI platform automates and addresses inefficiencies of the audit process, enabling CPA firms to be more productive and focus on higher-value strategic work. Fieldguide is a shining example of how a vertical SaaS AI platform can reshape workflows and drive productivity gains, and we look forward to partnering closely with Fieldguide’s exceptional leadership team as they help this critical industry thrive in the next era.”

The Road Ahead

With this new funding, we are poised to accelerate our mission of transforming the advisory and audit industry. Fieldguide is more than a platform; it's a movement to bridge the widening talent gap and empower practitioners at every level to deliver more strategic client services.

Since our Series A announcement in March 2022, we have experienced tremendous growth and become the AI platform of choice for many advisory and audit firms. Notably, nearly 40 of the Top 100 CPA firms, including CBIZ, Wipfli, Mazars, and Aprio, report that Fieldguide delivers the technology leverage necessary to grow their business.

The Series B funds will be strategically invested to launch more AI capabilities, expand market reach, and grow our top-tier team. Our commitment to increasing trust in commerce and capital markets continues, and we invite forward-looking practice leaders to explore how Fieldguide can drive growth and profitability for their firms, while also ensuring team member happiness.

Thank you again to our customers, partners, team, and investors for believing in our mission to bring positive change to the advisory and audit profession and for joining us on the path to creating a more trusting, equitable, and sustainable future.

To those who share our mission, we welcome you to request a demo or explore exciting career opportunities with us at https://fieldguide.io/careers.