Stop chatting and start building: How to turn AI into an autonomous agent that executes your firm's most complex workflows.
This course provides a concise overview of how Claude Cowork transforms artificial intelligence from a passive conversational tool into an active, execution-driven digital co-worker for accountants. Participants will explore how AI agents can access files, plan multi-step workflows, and produce real outputs such as reports, spreadsheets, and dashboards.
The course emphasizes a critical shift in the accounting profession—from manual production to intelligent direction—where practitioners design workflows, embed institutional knowledge, and oversee AI-generated outcomes. Through real-world use cases such as receipt processing, financial analysis, and recurring reporting, learners will gain practical insight into leveraging AI as infrastructure, not just intelligence.
Topics Covered
Claude vs. ChatGPT: Professional vs. generalist AI
Claude Cowork architecture and capabilities
Folder-based workflows and AI execution
Skills and instruction files (claude.md)
Automating recurring accounting processes
Data extraction and report generation
Risk, governance, and safe AI usage
Target Audience
Accountants, CPAs, and finance professionals seeking to move from manual execution to AI-driven workflow design and strategic oversight.
MA, CMC, CITP/FITP
GARRETT WASNY, MA, CMC, CITP/FITP, is an artificial intelligence (AI) skills advisor to accountants, tax attorneys, enrolled agents, and tax preparers worldwide. His courses focus on the new intersection of accounting and technology, and provide guidance to practitioners on how to prosper in this dynamic age. His sessions demystify emerging cloud, mobile, and social applications, and explain in plain language how financial professionals can use these online tools to build trust, solve problems, and create new value. He’s also an award-winning Internet speaker, author, app developer, professional development specialist, and former management consultant for Price Waterhouse. He's published 50+ ebooks on computing and ethical issues related to accounting, written hundreds of articles and columns on Internet strategy, and delivered thousands of seminars and webinars to CPAs and accounting organizations around the globe.
This portal is provided as a training and development resource for City of Markham employees. Every course is delivered by a qualified subject matter expert or learning organization, is quantifiable in hours, and is verifiable — you receive a documented certificate of completion for every course you finish, stored on LearnFormula indefinitely.
If you hold a professional designation (for example in engineering, accounting, human resources, or law), courses may be counted as professionally relevant, verifiable learning activities toward your continuing professional development. Individual practitioners are responsible for confirming that an activity meets the requirements of their professional body. For questions about the City of Markham's training and development policies, please speak with your people leader or Human Resources.
