Your clients' records may be an asset on no balance sheet.
AI developers pay established companies to license years of operating records. A CPA or fractional CFO is often the first adviser to see which clients hold them. Introduce the owner: Origin values the records for free and works with the AI companies and data buyers that license them. A fractional CFO can usually accept a fee with disclosure. A CPA may not accept a commission, from anyone, for referring a client the firm audits or reviews, and must disclose a permitted fee (AICPA 1.520.001), or can decline the fee. The partner share is 50% of what Origin earns on the deal, up to $100,000 per company, paid after the deal completes.
See the arithmeticRules for licensed professionalsAll partner terms
No fee to bankruptcy trustees, debtors in possession, assignees, receivers, examiners or professionals employed by an estate.
What the AICPA rule allows
The Commissions and Referral Fees Rule (1.520.001) bars a commission when your firm performs an audit or review of the client's financial statements, a compilation a third party is expected to use without a disclosed lack of independence, or an examination of prospective financial information. For other clients, a permitted commission or referral fee must be disclosed to the client. State boards can be stricter.
Read can CPAs and attorneys accept referral fees for the rule in full, with the attorney rules beside it.
- Non-attest client: you may accept the fee, with disclosure.
- Attest client: decline the fee; the client still gets the same work.
- Firm policy: if your firm requires any fee to be paid to the firm, tell us when you register and we will confirm whether we can.
What licence income looks like for the client
A licence is usually a one-time fee, sometimes with later payments. How it is taxed and recognised depends on the client's situation and the licence terms, which is your call, not ours. Origin gives no tax advice.
Hand the client the one-page handout: what buyers license, what the company keeps, and what a first conversation needs.
Half of what Origin earns on the deal, up to $100K per company.
You receive 50% of what Origin earns on the deal for a company you introduced, up to $100,000 per company, paid after the deal completes. What Origin earns on the deal is the amount the buyer pays Origin for that company. Your client pays nothing.
A 60-person manufacturer licenses its quality and CAD records
Example figure: Origin earns $100,000 on the deal.
If Origin earns $100,000 on the deal: $100,000 × 50% = you receive $50,000
An 80-person contractor licenses its closed project records
Example figure: Origin earns $40,000 on the deal.
If Origin earns $40,000 on the deal: $40,000 × 50% = you receive $20,000
A large company that closed outside bankruptcy or an assignment sells its records
Example figure: Origin earns $225,000 on the deal.
If Origin earns $225,000 on the deal: $225,000 × 50% = you receive $100,000
Half of $225,000 is $112,500, so the $100,000 cap applies.
Examples, not offers. The figures are illustrative: what Origin earns depends on the buyer, the records and the deal, and a buyer may decline a company it already knows. Your share is half of what Origin actually earns on the deal for that company, confirmed in writing before the company signs.
Three steps. You only do the first.
Register the introduction
Share your personal link, or tell us the company and who to contact. A direct introduction is saved with today's date and you get a reference number on screen.
We do the work
We value the records with the owner, check who owns them and prepare them. Origin works with the AI companies and data buyers that license these records. You prepare nothing and never handle files.
You are paid after the deal completes
When the company signs, we confirm your share in writing. When the buyer has accepted the records and made the payment due under the deal, you receive 50% of what Origin earns on the deal, up to $100,000 per company.
Your client is protected.
- A free records estimate and a one-page summary in the company's name.
- One introduction. Origin prepares the records with the owner and works with the buyers that license records like these.
- The company keeps ownership of its records and approves every buyer and every file. Nothing leaves its systems before a signed licence.
- The company pays nothing. Buyers pay Origin, and your share comes out of what Origin earns on the deal, never out of the company's payment.
- The offer is not reduced because a partner introduced the company.
- No cross-selling: we contact the company only about this, and we do not add it to marketing lists.
Your introduction is dated.
- An introduction is credited to you for 12 months from the date it is registered, and for any deal the company signs in that time.
- Your link: when a company opens your link, its browser keeps your code for 12 months, and an inquiry it sends from that browser carries your code. The introduction is registered on the date that inquiry arrives.
- Your code: the company can also type your eight-character code in the "Did someone introduce you?" field on the company form, from any device.
- A direct introduction: the form registers your introduction with today's date and shows you a reference number.
- The first registered introduction counts. If we, or a buyer, already know the company, we tell you, and no fee is due when Origin earns nothing on the deal.
- Check where each introduction stands on the partner status page, with your partner code and the email you used to get it.
- We never contact your client to cut you out, and we never ask a buyer to.
The clients buyers ask for most.
| Client | Records buyers ask for | Size signal | Published buyer range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturer or hardware firm | CAD with revisions, change orders, NCR and CAPA, inspection results | 20+ staff, 10+ years | Published buyer ranges: $100K–$1.5M (manufacturing), $45K–$1.3M (hardware) |
| Construction contractor | RFIs, submittals, change orders, closeout sets | 50+ staff | Published buyer range: $115K–$1M |
| Law firm | Closed matter files | 5–300 attorneys and staff | Published buyer range: $50K–$1.2M |
| Accounting or tax firm | Returns and workpapers | 5–200 staff | Published buyer range: $25K–$865K |
| Lender or investment firm | Loan and credit files with outcomes | 5–200 staff | Published buyer range: $50K–$800K (investment firm) |
Ranges are what AI data buyers publish they pay companies of each type, read 13 November 2026; the figures and their sources are in AI training data buyers by data type. They are not offers. Not a fit: one-person firms, companies under two years old, and records the company’s clients own.
Check your own rules first.
| Profession | What the rules say |
|---|---|
| CPAs | The AICPA Code's Commissions and Referral Fees Rule (1.520.001) says a member in public practice "shall not for a commission recommend or refer to a client any product or service" while the member or firm performs for that client an audit or review of a financial statement, certain compilations, or an examination of prospective financial information, whoever pays the commission, and for the periods those services cover. A permitted commission or referral fee must be disclosed to the client. State boards of accountancy can be stricter. Primary source |
| Attorneys | A fee for recommending a client to a third party can be a personal-interest conflict (ABA Model Rule 1.7(a)(2)); where it is, the client's informed consent, confirmed in writing, is required. States adopt their own versions, and some restrict such fees further. Check your state bar's rules. Primary source |
| Registered representatives | FINRA Rule 3270 requires prior written notice to your member firm before you are compensated for a business activity outside that relationship; the firm may limit or prohibit it. Primary source |
| Registered investment advisers | As a fiduciary under the Advisers Act you must make full and fair disclosure of this conflict so the client can give informed consent (SEC Release IA-5248, 2019). Your firm may also require it in Form ADV Part 2A (for example Item 14, Client Referrals and Other Compensation) and may restrict it. Follow your compliance policies. Primary source |
| Fractional CFOs, consultants, MSPs, software implementers, business brokers | Usually free to accept a fee with disclosure to the client, unless you hold one of the registrations above. Check your client agreement. |
| Bankruptcy trustees, debtors in possession, assignees, receivers, examiners and professionals employed by an estate | No fee, ever, for any estate they serve. Knowingly and fraudulently giving, offering or receiving a reward for acting or forbearing to act in a bankruptcy case is a federal crime (18 U.S.C. 152(6)); a debtor in possession has a trustee's duties (11 U.S.C. 1107(a)); professionals an estate employs need court approval (11 U.S.C. 327(a)) and are paid only as the court awards (11 U.S.C. 330). Assignees and receivers are state-law fiduciaries with the same duty to the creditors. The benefit goes to the estate. Primary source |
You are responsible for your own compliance and for telling your client about the fee. Information, not legal advice; check your own rules. If you cannot or prefer not to accept a fee, introduce the company anyway and tell us you decline the fee: the company gets the same work and the same terms.
Questions from people in your role.
Can a CPA accept a referral fee for introducing a client?
Not for a client the firm audits or reviews (or for whom it performs certain compilations or prospective-information examinations), whoever pays the fee. For other clients the AICPA rule allows it with disclosure to the client. Check your state board.
Can I introduce an attest client and decline the fee?
Yes. Tell us you decline the fee when you register. The client gets the same work and the same terms.
How much would I receive for a non-attest client?
50% of what Origin earns on the deal, up to $100,000 per company, paid after the deal completes. Example: Origin earns $40,000 on a deal for a contractor; you receive $20,000.
Does the client pay anything?
No. Buyers pay Origin. The partner share comes out of what Origin earns on the deal, never out of the client's payment.
Your share is 50% of what Origin earns on the deal (the amount the buyer pays Origin for that company), up to $100,000 per company, paid within 30 days after the deal completes: when the buyer has accepted the records and made the payment due under the deal (for instalments, within 30 days after each instalment). It is confirmed in writing before the company signs, and an introduction is credited to you for 12 months from the date it is registered. No fee is offered or paid to bankruptcy trustees, debtors in possession and their officers, assignees for the benefit of creditors, receivers, examiners, and any professional employed by an estate (including estate counsel, investment bankers, financial advisers and brokers), for any estate they serve. You are responsible for your own compliance and client disclosure. Read the full partner terms and the compensation disclosure, or check your introductions.