How Combinely Is Redefining Efficiency for Accountants

Accounting has long been burdened by more than just numbers. A significant portion of an accountant’s day—between 30% and 40%—is consumed by something that isn’t billable and often feels administrative: navigating Outlook. Whether it’s following up with clients, answering recurring questions, or trying to trace the thread of an email conversation from weeks ago, these tasks create invisible bottlenecks in an already complex profession.

This inefficiency becomes especially painful during high-pressure seasons like tax time, where firms are expected to compress a year’s worth of deliverables into a few chaotic months. The result? Missed details, overworked employees, and, ultimately, dissatisfied clients.

Combinely was born out of this specific frustration. By reimagining how accountants manage communication and deliverables, the startup has zeroed in on an underserved but critical pain point in the profession.

Who is behind Combinely, and why are they uniquely suited to tackle this challenge?

Combinely’s founding team brings together expertise from both Big Tech and Big Four accounting firms. CEO and co-founder Tom Invernizzi previously held roles at Deloitte and PWP, giving him firsthand insight into the grind and inefficiencies accountants face daily. CTO and co-founder Arthur Granacher brings a complementary background in engineering from Google and Shazam, where he honed skills in building scalable, intelligent systems.

Together, they form a unique pairing of domain expertise and technical prowess. The result is a product deeply aligned with the real-world workflow of accountants—but enhanced by the cutting-edge possibilities of AI.

How does Combinely actually work?

At its core, Combinely is an AI coworker designed specifically for accountants. But it goes far beyond a glorified chatbot. This AI acts more like an intelligent team member who understands the nuances of your practice, your clients, and your workload.

Here’s what Combinely does:

Understands context: It builds a live, continuously updated profile for each client, tracking their specific needs, quirks, communication style, and history.
Proactively takes action: Instead of waiting for prompts, Combinely jumps into action as soon as an email lands in your inbox. It drafts responses, locates relevant files, and flags items that need your attention.
Generates deliverables: The AI learns from past work to draft accurate and professional documents, from tax summaries to financial reviews.
Reduces Outlook dependency: By handling repetitive communication tasks, it slashes the time accountants spend in their inbox by half.

In short, it doesn’t just support accountants—it thinks and acts like one.

Why is this particularly relevant during tax season and other peak times?

Accountants aren’t strangers to stress, but busy season stress is a different beast. Firms find themselves racing against time, trying to handle a flood of filings, document reviews, and client communication. This workload isn’t just exhausting; it’s also risky. Under pressure, errors increase, deadlines slip, and the overall quality of service can decline.

Combinely provides real relief when it matters most:

During high-intensity periods, it helps accountants stay on top of incoming emails without getting buried.
It drafts routine responses and documents, freeing up cognitive bandwidth for more complex tasks.
It prevents burnout by removing the constant context-switching between communication and technical work.

By acting as a buffer during crunch time, Combinely helps accounting firms protect both their employees and their client relationships.

What kind of impact can Combinely have on an accounting firm?

The founders of Combinely are clear: they’re not building a replacement for accountants—they’re building a force multiplier. The numbers speak for themselves:

Saves 1–2 hours of non-billable work per employee, per day. That’s time that can be reinvested into billable work, strategic planning, or simply employee well-being.
Increases capacity without increasing headcount. Firms can serve more clients without proportional hiring, making growth more sustainable.
Reduces mistakes and missed messages. With AI overseeing the flow of communication, important emails are less likely to slip through the cracks.

The overall result is a firm that’s leaner, faster, and more resilient, especially during peak seasons.

How does Combinely differ from other AI tools in the market?

While the broader professional services sector is buzzing with AI solutions, few are built with the specificity and focus of Combinely. Here’s how it stands apart:

Deep domain knowledge: This is not a generic AI assistant. It’s trained to understand the language, structure, and expectations of accounting workflows.
Proactive intelligence: Most AI tools still require a human prompt. Combinely doesn’t wait—it observes, interprets, and acts.
Live client profiles: Instead of static CRMs or disconnected notes, Combinely builds a living, breathing understanding of each client in real time.
Integration-first mindset: Combinely is designed to fit seamlessly into an accountant’s existing toolset, especially Outlook, which remains the heart of most communication workflows in this industry.

It’s not about giving you another tool to manage—it’s about making your existing workflows smarter and faster.

How is Combinely shaping the future of accounting work?

As AI transforms knowledge work across industries, accounting is at a pivotal crossroads. The profession is facing mounting pressures: from evolving tax regulations and global compliance to talent shortages and client expectations of faster, smarter service.

Combinely offers a vision of augmented accounting, where AI doesn’t replace the human touch, but enhances it.

In this future:

Accountants focus on strategic advising, not email triage.
Firms scale more flexibly, handling larger books of business with smaller teams.
Junior staff are empowered by AI guidance, accelerating learning and reducing errors.
Client communication becomes faster, more consistent, and more professional.

By embedding AI directly into the day-to-day fabric of accounting work, Combinely is turning a traditionally reactive industry into a proactive powerhouse.

What’s next for Combinely?

Having graduated from the Y Combinator Spring 2025 batch, Combinely is already catching the attention of early adopters across the accounting space. With a lean, focused team and backing from leading startup accelerator Y Combinator (with Pete Koomen as the primary partner), the company is poised for strategic growth.

Next steps likely include:

Expanding integrations beyond Outlook (into document systems, task trackers, and tax platforms).
Onboarding mid-sized and enterprise accounting firms.
Continuing to improve the AI’s contextual understanding and domain specificity.

Given the momentum, it’s easy to imagine Combinely becoming the default AI teammate in accounting departments and firms worldwide.