DeskMate vs ChatGPT

If DeskMate uses OpenAI models, why not just use ChatGPT?

Because in a practice, the model is the smaller part of the risk. Nothing stops a staff member pasting a client’s figures into a chat window, and once they have, there is no record of what went in, where it was processed or who checked the answer. DeskMate connects to the ledger directly, so there is no copy and paste. It holds anything client-facing for approval and writes an audit record of every run.

The model endpoint matters too. DeskMate’s OpenAI endpoint sits in Australia, inside the same Sydney region as the rest of the application. ChatGPT’s own residency page lists Europe, the US and the UAE as the places its models run.

What does TPB(GS) 55/2026 mean for using ChatGPT?

The Tax Practitioners Board’s guidance, TPB(GS) 55/2026, issued on 22 July 2026, says putting client information into an AI tool can be a disclosure to a third party. That needs the client’s permission first, and the Board recommends telling the client where the data will be stored. It also expects a person to check the output at each step, and to document that check.

None of that bans ChatGPT. It means a practice needs to know where the data is processed before a client’s information goes in, get the client’s permission on that basis, and be able to show the review later. With ChatGPT, the processing location is offshore on every plan, and the review record is something the practice has to keep itself. Our security page goes through the guidance line by line against DeskMate.

Can ChatGPT connect to Xero now?

Yes. Xero announced an app for ChatGPT on 17 September 2026 that brings live profit and loss, balance sheet, invoice and bill data into a conversation, and Xero’s open-source MCP server can do more for a practice willing to set it up. That is a real change and makes ChatGPT a better tool for looking at one client’s numbers.

What it does not cover is the rest of the practice. We found no official connection to Xero Practice Manager, MYOB, FYI or the ATO, and scheduled tasks are capped at 10 or 15 per workspace. DeskMate runs the same skill across every client on a schedule, such as the BAS checklist or an overnight reconciliation, and brings a person only the exceptions.

What does ChatGPT really cost?

The seat is the advertised part: about AU$28 a user a month on an annual Business plan. Quick chat messages are unlimited. The work that looks most like DeskMate’s is not. OpenAI’s rate card charges credits for thinking messages (10 each), agent-mode messages (30), deep research (50) and a typical Workspace Agent run (5 to 25), and scheduled tasks count as ChatGPT Work, which is metered by volume. Each seat includes an allowance; OpenAI does not say how much work it covers.

When the allowance runs out, the feature is blocked unless the workspace has bought credits. OpenAI values 2,500 credits at about AU$140, so about 6 cents each. Credits are non-refundable, last 12 months, and can top themselves up automatically, with no monthly limit unless an owner sets one.

A worked example, from those published rates: a daily agent run for each of 150 clients is about 3,150 runs a month. At 5 to 25 credits a run, that is roughly AU$880 to AU$4,400 a month in credits once the included allowance is used, on top of the seats. That is our arithmetic, not an OpenAI quote.

DeskMate is priced per seat, from $149 a month, and runs are part of the plan rather than billed one by one. Only the people who run or approve client work need a seat.