Spark AI Rightworks: What It Does, Costs and Client Data Safety

As of 31 October 2026, Spark AI by Rightworks is an accounting-focused AI assistant that Rightworks says is included with its cloud subscriptions, with prompts and files kept inside its OneSpace environment. It drafts client emails, explains GAAP and IRS rules and analyses exported data. The older Spark Labs product retires on 16 November 2026.

TL;DR:

Spark AI is not sold separately: Rightworks says it comes with a cloud subscription, and its business plans page lists it from the $85 per user per month Cloud Hosting plan.

Spark Labs retires on 16 November 2026, and content does not move across automatically, so users have 16 days from today to copy prompts and files.

Rightworks says prompts, files and conversations are never used to train public AI models; that is a vendor claim, so ask for it in writing.

A 10-user firm pays $850 a month for hosting at $85 a user, against $180 a month for Microsoft 365 Copilot Business at the current $18 offer price.

The AI Ledger lists Spark AI with an editor score of 4.1 out of 5, last verified 12 October 2026.

What is Spark AI by Rightworks and what does it do?
Is Spark AI included with Rightworks hosting, and what does it cost?
Is client data safe in Spark AI?
How does Spark AI compare with ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot?
Does Spark AI work with QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online?
What does it cost a 5, 10 and 25-user firm compared with alternatives?
How should a firm test Spark AI before relying on it?
Why does independent evidence matter when choosing a secure AI assistant?
Realistic expectations: a drafting aid, not a tax preparer
Find your next AI assistant tool through The AI Ledger
Frequently asked questions

What is Spark AI by Rightworks and what does it do?

Spark AI is a chat assistant that sits inside Rightworks OneSpace, the hosted workspace many US firms use to run QuickBooks and tax software. Rightworks says it can draft emails and proposals, respond to tax notices, research topics, explain GAAP, GASB, ASC and IRS rules, and analyse data you upload from other applications.

It replaces Spark by Rightworks Labs. Rightworks has announced that Labs retires on 16 November 2026, after which nobody can sign in to Labs or the Labs Community. Spark Labs has already stopped billing. Rightworks says the new Spark AI uses an updated model and adds web search, and that moving content costs nothing.

The move is manual. Rightworks states that content does not transfer automatically, so anyone with saved prompts, assistants or files in Labs must copy them across before the retirement date. For context on adoption, CPA Practice Advisor reported in August 2024 that Labs had passed 3,300 users and 210,000 interactions, which was Rightworks' own count at the time.

Pro Tip: Export every saved prompt and assistant from Labs this week, not on 15 November. Tax-season prompts such as notice replies and engagement letter drafts are the ones firms miss.

Is Spark AI included with Rightworks hosting, and what does it cost?

Yes, Rightworks says Spark AI is included, and it publishes no standalone price. Its Spark AI FAQ answers the cost question in one line: the assistant comes with your Rightworks cloud subscription. The AI Ledger listing records the same: included, not sold separately.

What you actually pay is the hosting. Rightworks' business plans page lists four tiers: Cloud for QuickBooks Online at $30 per user per month, QuickBooks Hosting at $55, Cloud Hosting at $85 and Cloud Hosting Pro at $110. Spark AI appears in the Cloud Hosting plan's include list at $85, and the page does not show in text whether the two cheaper tiers carry it.

Rightworks' own pages also disagree on one number. Its OneSpace overview lists Cloud Hosting at $74 per user per month, while the plans page lists $85. Cloud Premier, the tier for firms running Thomson Reuters CS Professional Suite, CCH Axcess or CCH ProSystem fx, is quoted on request, and its page does not state a Spark price either.

Confirm the tier in writing before you sign, because a price page and a sales quote can differ.
Ask whether Spark AI is on every seat or only some, since the pages give no per-seat rule.
Ask what happens to Spark access if you cancel hosting. Rightworks does not sell it alone.

Rightworks lists the platform features behind the price: SOC compliance, georedundant Tier III and IV data centres, 99.99% uptime, multi-factor authentication and automated 90-day backups. Those describe the hosting, not Spark AI specifically.

Is client data safe in Spark AI?

Rightworks says so, and the claims are specific enough to test. Its product page says prompts, documents and conversations are never shared with unauthorised third-party providers, that access runs through private, identity-aware gateways, and that uploads stay within trusted Rightworks systems. The Labs retirement page adds that content is never used to train public AI models.

Read the wording closely. "Public AI models" and "unauthorised third-party providers" are narrower than "no third party processes your data". Rightworks' current pages do not name the underlying model or the company running it. Ask which model and which company processes your prompts.

For tax preparers the stakes are legal. IRS Publication 4557 states that the FTC Safeguards Rule requires tax return preparers to create and enact security plans, and that failure to do so may result in an FTC investigation. CPA Practice Advisor summarised the same duty on 2 October 2026 and lists six baseline protections the IRS names: antivirus, firewalls, multi-factor authentication, backups, drive encryption and a VPN for remote access.

Your written information security plan should therefore name any AI assistant that touches client data, say who approved it and record what is allowed in a prompt.

Pro Tip: Ask Rightworks four questions and file the answers with your security plan: which company hosts the model, how long prompts are retained, who can read them, and whether training exclusion is in the contract or only on the website.

How does Spark AI compare with ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot?

Spark AI is narrower and cheaper to adopt if you already host with Rightworks, while Copilot is broader and ChatGPT's data terms depend on the plan you buy. All three can draft an email. Only Spark AI is described by its vendor as built for accounting rules and kept inside a firm's hosted workspace.

Microsoft 365 Copilot. Microsoft's pricing page lists Copilot Business as an add-on at $18 per user per month billed annually, an offer running 1 July to 31 December 2026 for the first year only. The normal annual price shown is $21, and monthly billing is $25.20. Microsoft's privacy documentation says prompts, responses and data accessed through Microsoft Graph are not used to train foundation models. Copilot works inside Word, Excel, Outlook and Teams, which is where many practices already draft.

ChatGPT. We did not read OpenAI's own terms today, so we make no claim about its plans. Rightworks says free consumer AI tools may retain or train on what you paste in, which is the reason to check the specific plan and contract before any client trial balance goes in.

The practical difference is where the work happens. Spark AI suits firms whose staff live in OneSpace, while Copilot suits firms already standardised on Microsoft 365. Neither needs the other, and some firms will run both.

Does Spark AI work with QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online?

It works with QuickBooks data, but Rightworks describes the route as uploaded exports. The product page says you can securely upload exported data from all your applications, and its FAQ says Spark AI connects with everyday tools like QuickBooks and Xero. The two statements are not identical, so ask which one applies to your file.

The hosting around it is clearer. Rightworks says its plans give secure access to QuickBooks Pro Plus, Premier Plus and Enterprise on the desktop, and to QuickBooks Online, Bill.com, Gusto and ADP in the cloud. The Cloud for QuickBooks Online plan also advertises granular QuickBooks Online backups powered by Rewind.

Rightworks does not say that Spark AI posts entries into a ledger. On the evidence published, treat it as a read and draft tool: it summarises, compares and explains, and a person books the entry. That is a safe default for any AI assistant touching a general ledger.

If your firm needs AI that works directly on the books, compare QuickBooks with Intuit Intelligence on The AI Ledger. Intuit is also retiring QuickBooks Online Accountant, which we cover in our QBOA replacement guide.

What does it cost a 5, 10 and 25-user firm compared with alternatives?

Spark AI adds nothing on top of hosting, so the real comparison is hosting plus Spark against an AI add-on you buy alone. At 10 users, Rightworks Cloud Hosting at $85 costs $850 a month, or $10,200 a year. Copilot Business at the $18 offer price costs $180 a month, or $2,160 in year one.

Option	5 users	10 users	25 users	Basis
Rightworks Cloud Hosting, Spark AI included	$425 a month, $5,100 a year	$850 a month, $10,200 a year	$2,125 a month, $25,500 a year	$85 per user per month, plans page, 31 Oct 2026
Same plan at the OneSpace page price	$370 a month	$740 a month	$1,850 a month	$74 per user per month
Microsoft 365 Copilot Business, offer price	$90 a month, $1,080 a year	$180 a month, $2,160 a year	$450 a month, $5,400 a year	$18 per user per month, first year
Microsoft 365 Copilot Business, standard annual	$105 a month, $1,260 a year	$210 a month, $2,520 a year	$525 a month, $6,300 a year	$21 per user per month
Thomson Reuters CoCounsel Tax Essentials	$6,500 a year	$13,000 a year	Quoted	$1,300 per user per year, firms up to 10 users

Worked example: a 10-person firm already on Rightworks QuickBooks hosting at $85 gets Spark AI for $0 more. If it did not host with Rightworks, moving only for Spark AI would add $10,200 a year, which is $8,040 more than Copilot at $2,160. Hosting has to be justified by hosting.

The CoCounsel figure comes from the directory listing for a tool with an editor score of 4.4 out of 5, aimed at tax research and planning rather than general drafting. Another route is CCH Axcess with Expert AI, with an editor score of 4.2 out of 5 and custom pricing.

Tool	Editor score	Price at 10 users	Where client data is hosted	Vendor says it trains on client data	Reads or writes the ledger
Spark AI (Rightworks)	4.1	$850 a month hosting, Spark included	Rightworks OneSpace	Vendor says never used to train public models	Not stated; uploads of exports described
Microsoft 365 Copilot Business	Not listed	$180 a month at the offer price	Your Microsoft 365 tenant	Microsoft says no training on prompts or Graph data	Works in Microsoft apps, not a ledger
Thomson Reuters CoCounsel	4.4	$13,000 a year, $1,083 a month	Not stated in the listing	Not stated in the listing	Research and drafting, not a ledger

How should a firm test Spark AI before relying on it?

Run a two-week pilot with dummy client data first, then decide using the rules below. Spark AI falls short in four places on its published pages: no price by tier, no named model, no accuracy figures and no stated retention period for conversations.

Get the plan, the per-seat price and the Spark inclusion in writing from Rightworks.
Write down which client data classes are banned from prompts, such as SSNs and bank logins.
Give three staff the same five tasks: a notice reply, a client email, a GAAP question, an IRS rule question and a trial balance summary.
Have a reviewer mark every answer as correct, partly wrong or wrong, and keep the sheet.
Compare the same five tasks in Copilot and one other tool.
Update your written information security plan and brief staff before rollout.

Decision rule: choose Spark AI if you already host on Rightworks, most of your staff work in OneSpace and your pilot shows correct answers on at least four of five tasks. Choose Microsoft Copilot if your firm lives in Word, Excel and Outlook and is not on Rightworks. Choose a tax-specific tool such as CoCounsel if the use is research and planning rather than drafting. Choose none yet if the vendor cannot answer the four data questions in writing.

Pro Tip: Never score an AI answer on how confident it sounds. Check every IRS citation against irs.gov before it reaches a client.

Why does independent evidence matter when choosing a secure AI assistant?

Vendor pages describe what a product is meant to do, and independent scores plus dates show what was checked. Rightworks' own pages show the gap: two Cloud Hosting prices, and a connection claim that differs between the product page and the FAQ.

The AI Ledger's scores are editorial, not paid for, and each listing carries a last-verified date so you can see how old the check is. We have not tested Spark AI hands-on. The listing was verified against the vendor's site on 12 October 2026, and this article re-read the live pages on 31 October. Browse every score on the directory and compare options side by side on compare.

Realistic expectations: a drafting aid, not a tax preparer

Treat any AI assistant as a fast first draft that a qualified person must check.

Spark AI can save time on notices, emails and summaries, but it does not remove your duty to review the work or to document how client data is protected. The firm, not the vendor, answers to the IRS and the FTC.

Find your next AI assistant tool through The AI Ledger

Compare the alternatives in the client communications category, where Karbon and Canopy also sit, and in the tax prep category. Then use the finder to narrow tools by firm size, market and budget. Both show editor scores and last-verified dates, so you can see how fresh each check is.

Frequently asked questions

Is Spark AI by Rightworks free?

Spark AI has no standalone price. Rightworks says it is included with a Rightworks cloud subscription, so you pay for hosting, which its plans page lists from $30 to $110 per user per month. Its business plans page lists Spark AI in the $85 Cloud Hosting plan, and a written quote should confirm lower tiers.

Is Spark AI safe for client data?

Rightworks says prompts, documents and conversations are never shared with unauthorised third-party providers and are never used to train public AI models. These are vendor claims. Because IRS Publication 4557 requires tax preparers to keep a written security plan, ask Rightworks to confirm retention and model hosting in writing.

Is Spark AI better than ChatGPT or Copilot for accountants?

It depends on where your firm works. Spark AI is built for accounting tasks inside Rightworks OneSpace and costs nothing extra there. Microsoft 365 Copilot Business costs $18 per user per month on the current offer and works inside Word, Excel and Outlook. Run the same five tasks in each before choosing.

Does Spark AI work with QuickBooks Desktop?

Rightworks hosts QuickBooks Pro Plus, Premier Plus and Enterprise desktop editions, and says Spark AI connects with tools like QuickBooks. Its product page describes uploading exported data. Treat Spark AI as a read and draft assistant, and ask Rightworks whether it reads your live company file or only exports.

What happens to Spark Labs?

Spark Labs retires on 16 November 2026, and nobody can sign in afterwards. Billing has already stopped. Rightworks says content does not move automatically, so users must copy prompts, assistants and files to the new Spark AI before that date, which Rightworks says is free of charge.