Case study / Financial services / Tax workflow
The Augusta Rule: tax workflow software for documentation, guardrails and CPA review
The Augusta Rule is tax workflow software built around one specialist process: documenting a business rental of a home under IRC Section 280A(g) so a CPA can review it. Logic Square built the platform with founder Nethaniel Ealy, drawing on tax attorney John Hyre’s 30 years of experience: a guided workflow that enforces prerequisites, suggests a market based rental rate from comparable listings, and prepares agreements, invoices and a packet for CPA review.
- Client
- The Augusta Rule
- Founders
- Nethaniel Ealy; John Hyre, tax attorney with 30 years of experience
- Industry
- Financial services, tax documentation
- Status
- Live at theaugustarule.com; development now with the client’s internal team
- Stack
- Node.js, Next.js, GraphQL, Amazon S3, MongoDB, Stripe, DocuSign
01 / The Challenge
A legitimate strategy that fails on paperwork
The underlying tax provision has specific eligibility and documentation requirements. Where it applies, the hard part is execution: a supportable rental valuation, an agreement in place before the event, invoices, and the record trail a CPA expects to see. Done by hand it is an error prone specialist process, and the order of the steps matters.
The founders brought the expertise. The question was whether that expertise could become a product a business owner could follow without a specialist in the room, while keeping the decisions that need a professional with the professional.
02 / The Decision
Enforce the prerequisites. Keep judgment with people.
Documentation software usually explains the rules and hopes the user follows them. The Augusta Rule enforces the ones that matter: the rental agreement must be signed before the rental event, and the workflow will not let the user skip past it. It also recommends a supportable rental value rather than letting the user type in an arbitrary number.
What stays human: whether a valuation is reasonable in an unusual case, anything that is tax advice, and the filing position. The software disciplines the process. It does not guarantee eligibility, IRS acceptance or audit outcomes, and the page says so.
03 / What We Built
Rules enforced, rate suggested, packet prepared
The workflow
- 01
Plan the event.
Purpose, date, attendees and the business use recorded up front.
- 02
Get a rate suggestion.
The platform looks at nearby comparable rental listings of similar size and derives a recommended benchmark for the user’s review.
- 03
Sign the agreement first.
The rental agreement is signed, through DocuSign, before the event can proceed.
- 04
Create the invoice and capture proof.
Invoice generated from the event record; notes and supporting records attached.
- 05
Export the packet.
Documentation organized for CPA review.
Market based rate suggestion
The product pulls comparable short term rental listings for the area and uses their listed rates to suggest a benchmark. Comparable properties differ in quality, so the suggestion is a starting point for the user’s own documentation, not a certified fair market value.
Enforced sequence
This is rules based workflow automation applied to a specialist process: the prerequisite is encoded, the judgment is not.
Built as a product, handed to the client’s team
A subscription platform: Stripe for billing, DocuSign for agreements, Amazon S3 for documents, Node.js and Next.js with GraphQL and MongoDB underneath. Logic Square built the initial product, iterated on it with feedback from the client’s prelaunch user review group, and supported the transition as the client’s internal team took over development around launch.
04 / The Results
An error prone manual process, made repeatable
- Manual to guided. A specialist manual process became a guided product a business owner can follow.
- Prerequisites enforced. The rental agreement is signed before the event; the workflow does not proceed without it.
- Market rate supported. A suggested benchmark from comparable listings replaces an arbitrary number.
- Documents generated. Agreements and invoices come out of the event record, with proof attached.
- CPA ready packet. Documentation organized for professional review.
- Live and in the client’s hands. A subscription platform at theaugustarule.com, now developed by the client’s own team.
“They are super honest guys and care about what they’re doing. When I got a quote from them versus the other guys, apples to apples, they were about a third of the cost.”
Have expert knowledge trapped in a manual process?
Book a Strategy Call05 / Who this pattern fits
Any expert led service with a repeatable core: tax strategists and CPA firms productizing a service, legal document workflows, insurance and compliance processes, advisory firms whose value is a process their clients cannot follow alone.
The engineering is in the boundary: which steps the software enforces and which it hands back. If the expertise is the business, see software product and MVP development; for the regulated side, financial services software. For a workflow where the order drives money both ways, see CloseWise, where orders drive money in two directions.
FAQ
Common questions
What is tax workflow software?
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Software that walks a user through a tax related process in the required order, captures the records, and produces the documents a professional reviews. The Augusta Rule does this for one specific provision.
Which steps does the product enforce?
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The rental agreement must be signed before the rental event. The platform also recommends a supportable rental value rather than accepting an arbitrary one.
Does the software guarantee the deduction?
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No. It supports a more disciplined process. Eligibility, IRS acceptance and filing positions remain matters for a qualified tax adviser.
Does tax workflow software replace a CPA?
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No. The software can structure the process, enforce prerequisites and organize documentation. Tax interpretation, unusual facts and filing positions stay with a qualified professional. That is also what separates this from CPA workflow software built for a firm’s engagement pipeline: The Augusta Rule serves the business owner first and hands the CPA a reviewable packet.
What should an MVP include for a document heavy service?
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The minimum complete workflow with its real prerequisites enforced: intake, records, required documents in order, exception handling and a useful output. Tax document automation on its own is not the product; the enforced sequence around it is.
