The SaaSpocalypse Is Coming for CAS: Why Per-Seat (and Per-Hour) Pricing Is Breaking

Описание: The episode recounts how an open-source Anthropic (Claude) plugin—just a 200-line markdown text file—triggered a single-day market selloff dubbed the “SaaSpocalypse,” with $285B wiped out and major drops for Thomson Reuters, LexisNexis, and LegalZoom. It argues the event didn’t destroy the value of underlying data platforms, but exposed the collapse of per-seat licensing once AI agents can do work without “users,” eliminating seats and revenue. The script draws a parallel to CAS firms reliant on volume-based, per-hour compliance work (bookkeeping, tax prep, reconciliations, categorization, routine reporting), warning clients will expect costs to fall soon. It emphasizes two CAS advantages that remain durable: a firm’s data edge from long client context and pattern recognition, and human accountability (“ringable neck”) tied to professional and legal responsibility. The message critiques superficial AI use (proofreading emails, summarizing documents) as a bolt-on that won’t protect the business model, and calls for an AI-first rebuild—AI-led first-pass file review, AI-generated client briefings for advisory sessions, and reallocating time from routine error-catching to higher-value advisory. The recommended pivot is to stop pricing the commodity layer and instead price the data edge and accountability via value-based, outcome-tied pricing. Action steps include identifying the three most error-prone file types, documenting the patterns as specs for an AI review checklist to build in 30 days, and contacting software vendors to understand their AI roadmap and pricing changes.

00:00 The $285B “SaaSpocalypse” Shockwave (Why CAS Firms Should Care)
00:31 What Happened: A 200-Line AI Plugin That Spooked Wall Street
01:04 The Real Casualty: Per-Seat Pricing Collapses When AI Does the Work
02:07 Now Apply It to Accounting: Compliance Work Gets Compressed Fast
03:16 What Doesn’t Break: Your Data Edge + Human Accountability
04:41 Stop the “Bolt-On AI” Trap—Rebuild the Workflow Instead
06:07 The Pricing Pivot: From Commodity Compliance to Outcome-Based Advisory
07:02 This Week’s Action Plan: Build AI Checklists + Pressure-Test Vendor Pricing
08:10 Final Warning & Next Steps: The Clock Is Running (Bootcamp + Link)

Visit https://theAIaccountant.ai to learn how to protect your firm from the effects of this coming wave by transforming your firm today.