Know who does what, what data moves, and what stays under your control
Hearth publishes the governance, client-protection, data, and AI-use boundaries firms need to inspect before bringing Hearth into client work, firm systems, or professional workflows.
Four parties. One visible line of responsibility
Hearth's current published governance model separates the partner relationship, professional delivery, advisory/product work, and technology layer so firms can see where each party starts and stops.
Keeps the client.
The partner firm remains the primary advisor and relationship owner throughout the engagement.
Provides the professional delivery layer where the applicable engagement documents assign that role.
Professional tax and accounting work, when included in the engagement, is delivered through the professional entity identified in the applicable engagement documents. Hearth's current governance model identifies McGee's Consulting LLC for that role.
Builds the advisory capability and firm systems.
Hearth develops the productized advisory work, service structure, and practice-growth systems used in the relationship.
Builds the software and automation layer.
NineOneSix Systems powers the technology behind Hearth's operating agents and workflow automation.
Your client stays your client
Hearth's current partner structure puts client-of-record and no-poach protections in writing before client work begins. Any client-facing Hearth role is also identified in the applicable scope.
What belongs in the written terms
- Client-of-record protection.
- No-poach / non-circumvention expectations.
- Who communicates with the client and in what capacity.
- A responsibility matrix showing who owns each part of the engagement.
Hearth publishes where workflow data lives, where tax material does not, and where human review sits
The current security model separates workflow, tax-document, identity/access, AI-tool, and audit/log functions. Firms can review those boundaries before granting access or moving client information.
Relationship data stays separate from tax documents.
The workflow layer can hold contact, scheduling, campaign, consent-status, and secure handoff information. Hearth's published model keeps tax returns, source documents, working papers, general-ledger detail, and strategy economics out of that plane.
Professional material stays in the controlled tax environment.
Returns, source documents, and working papers remain inside the professional firm's controlled environment. Data movement that implicates tax-return information is tied to the appropriate §7216 consent flow.
Access is role-based and attributable.
Hearth's current published controls describe MFA, role-based provisioning, vendor review, logged access changes, and incident-response governance.
AI use is named, bounded, and reviewed.
Hearth publishes the categories of AI-enabled tools in use, what information they can access, and where the appropriate qualified professional reviews outputs that carry professional weight before reliance.
Review the risk questions that actually match the work
A report, a managed service, an implementation, and an advanced tax strategy do not create the same diligence burden.
HearthRC Defense
Review methodology, sample output, required facts, and professional-responsibility boundaries.
Managed Bookkeeping
Review systems/access, data flow, human review, client communication, and service responsibility.
Practice Management
Review workflow-system access, permissions, data boundaries, implementation scope, and the written Hearth warranty terms that apply to the engagement.
Legacy
Review candidate qualification, professional/tax framework, participation requirements, ownership structure, and evidence.
Once the relationship is clear, inspect the actual work
Trust explains who does what and how information is handled. Proof shows the methodology, work product, evidence, outcomes, and claim boundaries behind the capability being evaluated.
Continue to Evidence & Proof
Review samples, methodology, outcomes, supporting materials, and the boundaries around what those materials establish.
Choose the need your firm is trying to solve
Hearth will route you to the appropriate starting path—transaction, onboarding, implementation, qualification, or a broader practice discussion.