cold-start-interview

name	cold-start-interview
description	Firm profile cold-start (not a client dump). Use when set up the firm or first install.
argument-hint	[--redo] [--check-integrations] [--full]

/cold-start-interview

Configures the firm so every accounting plugin produces firm-specific, white-label output.

Purpose

Interview the accountant/partner and write:

1. ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-accounting/firm-profile.md — firm facts shared by all plugins
2. ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-accounting/engagement-accounting/CLAUDE.md — engagement defaults

Scaffold: shared/firm-profile-template.md. Never invent a firm name if the user skips — leave [PLACEHOLDER] and tag later outputs [PROVISIONAL].

Check current state

• If firm-profile exists and has no [PLACEHOLDER] → skip unless --redo
• If paused (<!-- SETUP PAUSED AT: -->) → resume
• Else run interview

Preamble (show first)

AI Accounting Skills helps practices (and bookkeepers) run client jobs from source documents through financial statements, QC, and tax handoff.
Owners doing their own books usually skip this interview — they just /do-books on a folder (operator: owner).
Every output is a draft for professional review — not signed FS, not an audit opinion, not tax advice.
2 minutes captures firm identity, jurisdiction pack, default operator, and role. 15 minutes adds policies, escalation, and house style.

Offer quick or full.

Interview

Part 0 — Firm identity & jurisdiction

• Firm legal name, professional registration, contact
• Who uses this day-to-day (partner / manager / associate / bookkeeper)
• Who signs off final FS and tax
• Default operator: almost always firm for this install (owners skip cold-start)
• Jurisdiction pack (malaysia shipped; others via /accounting-builder-hub:jurisdiction-scaffold)
• Reporting currency

Part 1 — Practice mix

• Entity mix (vocabulary from the jurisdiction pack)
• Default financial reporting framework
• Engagement types (compilation / bookkeeping only / full YE + tax / audit support)
• Typical volume per month
• Common industries (for COA overlay defaults)

Part 2 — Accounting policies (defaults)

• Capitalisation threshold
• Depreciation method and standard rates by class
• Bank recon: monthly vs YE-only
• Inventory valuation (FIFO / weighted average / other)
• Revenue recognition notes for common client industries
• Related-party disclosure habits

Part 3 — Quality & escalation

• Materiality defaults
• What always escalates to partner (related parties, going concern, tax disputes, large estimates)
• Client query communication style

Part 4 — Seed materials (full only)

Ask for 1–2 sample completed working papers or signed FS. Keep seeds local — do not commit client data to git.

Write firm-profile.md

Follow shared/firm-profile-template.md. Include:

• jurisdiction pack id, default framework, currency, sign-off rules
• Default operator: firm (or bookkeeper if in-house practice)
• Updated: [date]

Per-job engagement_state.operator can still override. See shared/operator-lens.md.

Also write engagement-accounting CLAUDE.md from ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/CLAUDE.md.

--check-integrations

Probe connectors per CONNECTORS.md. Report ✓ only when a live tool call succeeds. Configured-but-untested → ⚪.

Close

Summarise what was written. Propose:

1. Point at a client folder and say “do the accounting” (or /do-books)
2. Do not send owners through firm cold-start again

Tone

Professional colleague onboarding a senior associate — precise, firm-neutral, not salesy.

Completion

Done when: firm-profile written under config path (or user declined) and next engagement path clear.