Accountants and bookkeepers
Client meeting notes accountants keep on their own Mac
Ghosty Notes is for the Mac-based bookkeeper and advisory practice: it records the client call through your Mac audio, transcribes on the device, and saves plain markdown files in a folder you choose.
Ghosty Notes runs on macOS on a Mac with Apple Silicon, and Intel Macs are not supported because the speech model runs on the device.
no notetaker in this list
what the other side sees while you record
Start with the part most vendors skip. This runs on macOS on a Mac with Apple Silicon, and a large part of the accounting profession does not work that way. Drake Tax desktop supports Windows only, and Drake states that even in a virtual Windows environment on the newest Macs running the M1 family of chipsets its software "will not function as expected" because those chips are ARM-based. UltraTax CS, Lacerte and ProSeries list Windows only as well. If your practice runs on any of those on the desktop, your tax work is on a Windows machine and this product is not going to sit next to it.
So this page is for a narrower reader, and it is worth naming precisely. It is for the cloud-first bookkeeper and the advisory-side practice whose day is Xero or QuickBooks Online in a browser, whose client work happens on calls rather than in a desktop tax package, and who is already on a Mac. Drake Tax Online is web-based and does run on a Mac, so a Drake practice that has moved to the online product is in scope too.
For that reader the problem is ordinary and constant. Advisory calls, monthly close reviews, onboarding calls and the annual planning conversation all contain the decisions the engagement rests on, and none of them are in the ledger. Ghosty Notes records the call from your Mac system audio, turns speech into text with a model running on the machine, and writes markdown files into a folder you pick. Nothing joins the meeting, and the client sees a participant list with only people in it.
Where client information travels is a question your rules already ask
Tax practice works with an unusually broad definition of what counts as telling someone something. 26 CFR 301.7216-1(b)(5) defines it this way: "The term disclosure means the act of making tax return information known to any person in any manner whatever". That is the bare definition, and it is deliberately wide. It is not a rule about transcription tools and it does not say a cloud tool is off limits. What it does is set the habit of mind the profession works in, where the first question about any new tool is where the information goes and who ends up holding it. A practitioner who has read that sentence does not assume a new service is neutral just because it is convenient.
The AICPA Code of Professional Conduct pushes in the same direction from the ethics side. Interpretation 1.700.040, which sits under the Confidential Client Information Rule 1.700.001, says threats to compliance with that rule may exist when a member uses a third-party service provider, and expects the member to answer that by entering into a contractual confidentiality agreement with the provider or by obtaining the client's consent. That is a real piece of work per vendor: you read the terms, you decide whether they cover you, and you keep a record of the decision. Every cloud tool that touches client conversations adds one to that list.
On-device processing takes a different route to the same place. Because the recording and the transcription happen on your Mac and the audio never leaves it, there is no third-party service provider receiving that client conversation, so there is nothing to contract with about it. That is a statement about the architecture, not a compliance claim, and we do not make compliance claims. Your own obligations to the client and to your regulator are unchanged. What changes is the length of the list of outside parties who hold your client conversations.
One line matters more than any of the above for a practice actually deciding. If you turn on Pro hosted models, the transcript text is sent to that service, and at that point you have a third-party service provider again and the AICPA analysis applies to it. Audio still never leaves the Mac on any tier. But the honest framing is that local mode and hosted mode are two different answers to the confidentiality question, and only you can decide which one your engagement letter and your client will bear.
- 26 CFR 301.7216-1(b)(5)
- Defines disclosure as "the act of making tax return information known to any person in any manner whatever". Quoted for the definition only. It does not by itself prohibit any tool.
- AICPA Code of Professional Conduct 1.700.040
- Interpretation "Disclosing Information to a Third-Party Service Provider", under the Confidential Client Information Rule 1.700.001. Says threats to compliance with that rule may exist when a member uses a third-party service provider, and points to a contractual confidentiality agreement with the provider or specific client consent.
- Drake Software knowledge base; Thomson Reuters and Intuit system requirements
- Drake Tax desktop is Windows only and states it "will not function as expected" in a virtual Windows environment on M1-family chips. UltraTax CS, Lacerte and ProSeries list Windows only. Drake Tax Online is web-based and runs on a Mac.
How it fits a cloud-first practice
The monthly close review
You walk a client through the month in Xero or QuickBooks Online on a shared screen. Start the recording from the menu bar first. Afterwards the reclassification the client agreed to verbally is in a transcript with the exact wording, not in your memory of a Tuesday call.
The advisory conversation that turns into a decision
Entity structure, a hire, a capital purchase, a distribution. These calls are where an advisory engagement earns its fee and where the file is thinnest. The summary goes into the client folder as a markdown file the moment the call ends.
Onboarding a new client
The first call is a fire hose of bank feeds, prior accountants, missing records and how they actually run their invoicing. Record it once and stop asking them to repeat things, which is the fastest way to look careless to a new client.
Before you pick the phone up again
Ask Claude or ChatGPT, through the MCP server, what this client said about payroll last quarter. It reads your local notes and answers from them. That is on the free tier, across your whole local history.
What accounting practices ask first
- Our tax software only runs on Windows. Is this usable at all?
- For a lot of practices, no, and that is the honest answer. Drake Tax desktop, UltraTax CS, Lacerte and ProSeries are Windows only, and Drake specifically says its desktop software will not function as expected in a virtual Windows environment on M1-family chips because they are ARM-based. If tax prep is your working day and it is on the desktop, you are on Windows and this does not run there. It is usable if you have a Mac for client calls and advisory work, or if you are on web-based products including Drake Tax Online.
- Can I tell a client their conversation is not going to a vendor?
- You can describe what happens, which is stronger than a marketing claim. Recording and transcription run on your Mac and the audio never leaves the device on any tier. In local mode nothing is sent anywhere. If you enable Pro hosted models, the transcript text goes to that service and the audio still does not. We hold no certifications and will not claim any.
- Karbon and TaxDome are adding AI notes. Why buy a separate tool?
- If your practice already lives in one of those suites and its note features cover your calls, staying put is a reasonable answer. The difference here is narrow: the recording never reaches a vendor, the notes are files you own on disk rather than records inside a suite, and the MCP server lets an AI tool you already use read your own history. If none of those matter to you, the suite is less work.
- Can our four-person practice share a note library?
- No. There is no shared library, no admin console and no seat management. Each person's notes sit on that person's Mac. You can buy several individual licences, but that produces several separate collections, not one practice archive. If a shared, searchable record across the practice is the requirement, this does not solve it.
- Who said what on a three-way call with the client and their lawyer?
- Speaker identification is a Pro feature, running locally like the rest. On the free tier the transcript has no speaker labels, which on a multi-party planning call is a limitation you should weigh before downloading.
- Does recording change what I have to tell the client?
- It does not reduce anything. Whether you need consent to record depends on where the people on the call are, and in a number of places you need it. No bot joining is a change to what the client sees, not to what you owe them. Say you are recording, and note the answer in the file.
Against what accounting practices actually choose between
| Ghosty Notes | Alternatives | |
|---|---|---|
| Where speech becomes text | On your Mac, on every tier | Otter and Fireflies process on their servers |
| What joins the client call | Nobody. Recording comes from your Mac system audio | A named notetaker attendee in the participant list |
| Third-party service provider holding the conversation | None in local mode. Pro hosted models receive transcript text only, never audio | Yes, the notetaker vendor. Karbon and TaxDome AI features run in the suite |
| Where the notes live | Markdown files in a folder you choose | Inside the vendor account or the practice suite |
| Shared practice-wide library | No. Notes stay on the recorder's own machine | Yes, and that is the main reason to buy a suite |
| Runs alongside Windows-only desktop tax software | No. macOS on a Mac with Apple Silicon only | Yes, they are browser or bot based |
| Cost | Free tier, or Pro at $5.00 a month or $54.00 a year | Per seat, and suite pricing bundles it with practice management |
Questions from accountants and bookkeepers
- What gets sent anywhere if I turn on Pro hosted models?
- The transcript text, and nothing else. Audio never leaves your Mac on any tier. Hosted models power Pro summaries and fast cross-meeting chat, and if you keep everything local nothing is sent at all. Cloud calendar sync with Google or Outlook is also Pro and sends calendar event details, not meeting content.
- What hardware does it need?
- A Mac with Apple Silicon. Intel Macs are not supported, because the speech model runs on the Apple Silicon hardware rather than on a server. Any Apple Silicon Mac works.
- Can I run it on a Mac and keep tax prep on a Windows machine?
- Yes, and for many practices that is how it fits. The recording happens on whichever Mac is on the call. It does not integrate with your tax software and does not try to.
- Does it connect to Xero or QuickBooks Online?
- No. It produces notes, not ledger entries, and there is no accounting integration. What it gives you is the conversation behind an entry in a file you can attach wherever your practice keeps client documents.
- Can I keep client notes in separate folders per client?
- Yes. Notes are markdown files written to a folder you choose, so your existing client folder structure works unchanged. Pro adds Obsidian sync if your practice wiki is there.
- Does it work without an internet connection?
- In local mode, yes. The speech model downloads once and then runs on the device, so a call recorded on a train still transcribes. Pro features that use hosted models or cloud calendar sync need a connection.
- Can I ask an AI tool what a client told me last quarter?
- Yes, through the MCP server on the free tier. Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor reads the notes already on your machine and answers from them. The server itself sends nothing: it reads the files already on your machine. What the assistant asks for is a different matter. If you are using a hosted assistant, whatever note text it requests is sent to that provider, the same as anything else you paste into it.
- What happens to my notes if I stop paying for Pro?
- They stay on your disk, because that is where they always were. Dropping to free removes hosted models, cloud calendar sync, speaker identification and Obsidian sync, and leaves every existing file untouched.
Record your next client advisory call
Free tier: on-device transcription, unlimited meetings, the MCP server and local Apple Calendar detection. Pro is $5.00 a month or $54.00 a year.
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