Getting Started with AI Chat
Accupe gives you two separate ways to work with its built-in AI, powered by Mistral AI. They look similar but serve different purposes, so it helps to know which one you're using.
The two AI surfaces
- AI Assistant panel: a slide-out panel you open from anywhere in the app using the sparkles icon in the top bar. It's built for quick questions about your firm while you keep working on the page behind it.
- AI Chat page: a dedicated full page reachable from Sidebar > AI Chat. It's built for deeper research, lets you upload documents for the AI to read, and offers extra response modes.
If you open the command palette and choose "Ask AI assistant", it takes you to the AI Chat page rather than opening the side panel. The panel itself only opens from the sparkles icon.
Basic vs Advanced
Inside the AI Assistant panel, the header reads "Accupe AI" with a badge showing which model is answering you:
- Basic: shown on the Solo plan. The subtitle reads "Cloud-Synced Model (Upgrade for Advanced)". This runs on a smaller, faster Mistral model.
- Advanced: shown on Growth and Elite plans. The subtitle reads "Powered by Mistral Large", Mistral's larger model, which gives more thorough answers.
You don't choose Basic or Advanced yourself, it's set automatically by your plan.
Who can use it
Both surfaces are for staff accounts only. If you're logged in as a client through the client portal, neither the AI Assistant panel nor the AI Chat page is available to you.
What it can actually do
This isn't a generic chatbot. Both surfaces are connected to live tools that read directly from your firm's data, so answers reflect what's actually in Accupe right now rather than being generated purely from general knowledge. Depending on what you ask, the AI can, for example:
- Check your upcoming deadlines and summarise your current workload
- Look up a client's details or flag which clients need attention
- Search jobs and tasks
- List the historical AML screenings still awaiting a disposition (it cannot run a new screening; that capability was withdrawn)
- Look up a UK company on Companies House, or verify a UAE Tax Registration Number against the FTA register
- Calculate tax figures or convert between currencies
- Pull a summary of firm revenue or overall firm performance
- Draft a follow-up email or a client message
For anything with a real-world effect, such as sending a message to a client, requesting a signature, or applying a workflow template, the AI asks you to confirm before it goes ahead. It won't send or apply these on the first request alone.
When you first open the AI Assistant panel, you'll see a greeting ("Hello! I am your AI Assistant. I can check your schedule, find documents, or draft emails for clients. How can I help today?") along with four suggested prompts: "What are my upcoming deadlines?", "Summarize current workload", "Which clients need attention?", and "Draft a follow-up email". Tap any of these to get started, or type your own question in the "Ask anything about your firm..." box.
While it's working, you'll see an animated "Processing Firm Intelligence" card with steps like "Reviewing your contacts" or "Checking active jobs". This is a visual progress indicator, not a literal transcript of the AI's reasoning.
Region-aware answers
Accupe knows whether your firm is set up for the UK or the UAE and tailors its answers accordingly, for example referencing HMRC, Companies House, and Self Assessment for UK firms, or the FTA, VAT, Corporate Tax, and UBO Register for UAE firms. It also uses the right currency and date conventions for your region.
Tip: For anything that needs uploaded documents, citations, or a choice between Fast, Planning, and Ultra response modes, use the AI Chat page (Sidebar > AI Chat) rather than the panel. See the other articles in this section for details.