HSP GRUPPE Revolutionizes Tax Consulting with ChatGPT Enterprise

The Rise of AI in Tax Consulting at HSP GRUPPE

HSP GRUPPE, a network of tax consulting, auditing, and legal firms, has adopted ChatGPT Enterprise to transform its operations. This initiative aims to accelerate information processing, improve service quality, and free up time for consulting and client interaction. The results are impressive: 98.6% of employees report an increase in productivity, and 84% actively use the tool each week. In just six months, over 500,000 conversations have been recorded, reflecting massive adoption of the tool.

The usage figures relate to the shared workspace ChatGPT Enterprise, utilized by HSP GRUPPE and Kanzleipakt, covering 81 organizational groups. This network consists of legally independent firms specializing in tax consulting, auditing, and law.

A New Era for Professional Work

For over twenty years, HSP GRUPPE has invested in the digitization and standardization of professional processes. Even before the advent of generative AI, the network had already established standardized processes and rigorous quality management. With the arrival of ChatGPT, HSP saw an opportunity to reinvent professional work. Rather than focusing solely on improving specific tasks like email writing, the company sought to integrate AI into its overall operational model.

This vision led to the integration of ChatGPT Enterprise in various areas such as tax consulting, legal research, client communication, financial analysis, and knowledge sharing within the network.

"Technology evolves faster than organizations can transform. Our challenge was not to introduce AI, but to help the organization absorb it." — Carsten Schulz, CEO, HSP GRUPPE

An Integrated Approach to AI Deployment

HSP approached AI as an organizational transformation, not just as a software tool. The introduction of ChatGPT Enterprise was accompanied by a strong focus on adoption, governance, and continuous learning. Monthly AI forums were established to allow employees to share practical use cases and learn from each other.

The security features of ChatGPT Enterprise provide an essential technical foundation, while the use of client information is governed by strict internal data protection and governance requirements. The ultimate responsibility for business decisions remains with tax, legal, or accounting experts.

The goal was to build a scalable organizational capability rather than simply encouraging experimentation.

"People ask me what my favorite AI feature is. I never answer that question. Individual features don't matter. Once you understand how everything fits together, AI opens the door to a completely new world." — Carsten Schulz

Concrete and Innovative Applications

HSP professionals quickly found new ways to apply AI to their daily work. The organization began standardizing successful use cases into Custom Agents. For example, AI Client Communication is a shared Agent that helps structure and clarify client communications while maintaining a consistent, client-oriented tone. The final responsibility for professional review remains with the relevant specialist.

Another example is the Booking Assistant SKR03 & SKR04, which assists in preparing and classifying specific booking inquiries. The final professional decision is always made by the employee. These shared Agents reduce repetitive work and make best practices accessible to all employees, not just AI experts.

Professionals then build on these foundations to enhance their own work. Frank Heibel, a managing partner, uses ChatGPT as a technical partner to tackle complex tax questions and refine communications with clients.

"ChatGPT has become a true training partner. It completely changes the level at which you can work." — Frank Heibel

Looking Ahead with ChatGPT Work

HSP is preparing for the next phase of its AI journey with ChatGPT Work. Shortly after gaining access to the platform, the organization began testing it with a small group of developers and administrators before expanding it to the entire workspace. The goal is to understand how agentic AI can safely automate complex workflows while balancing governance, quality, and costs.

For HSP, the economic benefit does not lie in reducing headcount. The firms in the network are already operating at full capacity and managing significant backlogs. The time saved with ChatGPT can therefore be redirected towards additional client work, shorter processing times, greater consulting capacity, and enhanced customer service.

For Schulz, the opportunity is not just about helping people complete existing tasks more quickly. It’s about redesigning the workflow itself.

He cites year-end accounting as an example. Today, accountants often discover missing information only when they start preparing annual accounts months after closing the books. HSP is exploring how ChatGPT Work could continuously review accounting, identify missing information throughout the year, and proactively request documents from clients, so that much of the preparation has already taken place before an accountant even opens the file.

This shift — from assistant AI to AI orchestrating work across entire processes — represents the next step in HSP's transformation.

"We have identified 88 automation opportunities. But I think that's already thinking too small. The real question is not how we automate today's processes. It's how we redesign them. That's what opens the door to a completely new world." — Carsten Schulz

Results and Perspectives

The results of AI deployment at HSP are already visible. 84% of employees actively use the tool each week, with 755 weekly active users and 913 unique users over six months. More than 500,000 messages have been exchanged with ChatGPT during this period.

98.6% of surveyed employees reported increased productivity, and 84.6% noted an improvement in work quality. 95.9% of respondents reported weekly time savings, with 63.5% saving at least two hours per week, and 25.7% saving at least five hours.

HSP is already seeing a positive impact on its annual capacity planning, with professionals expecting significantly more work than in previous years due to the additional capacity created by AI. 79.7% reported better customer service, and 78.1% reported increased job satisfaction.

An internal scenario estimates approximately 40,000 hours of additional annual capacity. About 28,000 hours could support productive specialized work that is generally billable, while around 12,000 hours could support administration, customer service, and support. Based on conservative hourly rates, HSP estimates a theoretical annual revenue potential of around 3.8 million euros. This is a capacity scenario — not realized or guaranteed revenue.

Leadership Lessons and Practical Advice

HSP has drawn several lessons from its experience with AI:

• Treat AI as an organizational capability, not as an individual tool. Expand successful experiences into reproducible workflows that everyone can benefit from.
• Invest first in operational foundations. Strong processes, governance, and quality systems accelerate AI adoption.
• Create a culture of continuous learning. Regular AI forums have helped successful ideas spread quickly throughout the organization.
• Redesign workflows — not just tasks. The greatest value comes from reinventing end-to-end processes rather than automating isolated activities.
• Build AI around professional judgment. The greatest value lies in AI enhancing expertise rather than replacing it.

For those considering integrating AI into their organization, HSP recommends starting with business problems, creating regular forums to share successful use cases, pairing AI specialists with domain experts, testing new capabilities with small groups before scaling up, and measuring adoption and business impact to understand where AI creates real value.

Towards a Promising Future

HSP GRUPPE believes that its greatest gains from AI are yet to come. In collaboration with Kanzleipakt, the network plans to establish a joint team focused on DATEV, firm processes, and development to assess successful decentralized experiences and translate them into documented, scalable reference workflows. As ChatGPT Work and agentic capabilities mature, HSP anticipates moving beyond assisting individual professionals to automating entire workflows that proactively support employees and clients.

For Schulz, the long-term opportunity extends beyond HSP itself. He believes that AI can strengthen — and not diminish — the role of trusted professionals by allowing them to spend more time exercising their judgment, solving complex problems, and building relationships with clients.

"Everyone talks about AI replacing tax advisors. I think that's the wrong conversation. The real opportunity lies in helping qualified professionals become dramatically more effective." — Carsten Schulz, CEO, HSP GRUPPE