firmflow. — Future Implementation Roadmap¶

Version: 2.0 | Last Updated: February 2026 | Platform Status: v1.2.0 Production-Ready

This roadmap begins from the current state of the platform (v1.2.0) which is fully deployed with authentication, document management, AI analysis, compliance tracking, e-signatures, licensing, and the new tax prep pipeline. All Phase 0–5 work from the original launch roadmap is complete. This document defines the next evolution: from a functional product to a market-dominant platform.

📍 Current Platform State (v1.2.0 Baseline)¶

✅ What Is Already Built¶

Domain	Features
Identity	NextAuth v5, bcrypt, LDAP/AD, MFA TOTP, device binding, RBAC (5 roles)
Documents	Upload, vault, versioning, AI analysis, bulk ZIP download/extract, AES-256-GCM encryption
Clients	Full CRUD, risk scoring, portal access, CAC/TIN fields
Client Onboarding	4-step wizard: KYC/CAC/SCUML → Engagement Letter → Docs → Risk Assessment
e-Signatures	Full Docusign-like flow: recipients, fields, signing page, events, PDF-referenced
Compliance	FIRS/LIRS task calendar, auto-solver AI, checklist items, filing period tracking
Tax Prep Pipeline	7-stage Kanban for all 9 Nigerian tax types, FIRS deadline tracking, NGN billing
SmartRequestAI™	14 AI flows on Gemini 2.5 Flash, document analysis, data extractor, vault chat
Client Portal	Branded per-firm portal, document uploads, signature requests, share links
Licensing	HMAC-SHA256 signed keys, edition gates (Trial/Basic/Professional/Enterprise), seat limits
Payments	Paystack integration (NGN/Kobo), webhook verification, billing service
Email	Resend transactional emails (invitations, resets, document requests, signatures)
Audit Trail	Cryptographically chained SHA-256 audit log with tamper detection
User Settings	JSON preferences (theme, language, notifications, compact mode)
Software Integrations	Schema layer (QuickBooks, Xero, Sage, Tally, Drake, etc.)
Engagement Templates	ICAN-compliant letter templates with variable substitution
Industry Landing Pages	Accounting, Financial Services, Legal, Healthcare verticals (TODO)
Deployment	Docker standalone, Next.js 15, Neon PostgreSQL

🗺️ Future Roadmap: Phases 6–10¶

🟣 PHASE 6 — Workflow Automation & Deep Integrations¶

Target: Q2 2026 | Priority: HIGH

This phase closes the gap between task tracking and real workflow automation, and brings live data from connected accounting software.

6.1 — Software Integration Live Sync¶

Schema exists. Now build the runtime. - [ ] QuickBooks Online Pull — OAuth 2.0 connector; pull journal entries, trial balance, client master data - [ ] Xero Connector — pull invoices, bank transactions, tax codes into document requests - [ ] Sage Business Cloud — popular with mid-market Nigerian firms (manufacturing, agro) - [ ] Tally ERP Connector — REST export bridge for Tally 9.x (common in Nigerian SME manufacturing) - [ ] Scheduled Sync Jobs — cron-based polling, update Integration.lastSyncedAt and flag syncError - [ ] Sync Status Dashboard — /dashboard/settings/integrations UI with last sync, health badge, reconnect

6.2 — Automated Compliance Calendar¶

[ ] Auto-population of Tax Prep Jobs — based on client profile, auto-create recurring TaxPrepJob records for all applicable Nigerian taxes on Jan 1 of each year
[ ] FIRS Deadline Library — hardcoded Nigerian statutory deadlines (CIT 6-month rule, VAT 21st, PAYE 10th, etc.) as a queryable constant
[ ] Deadline Notifications — email + in-app alerts at T-30, T-14, T-7, T-1 days
[ ] SMS Notifications — Termii.com integration for Nigerian SMS delivery (more reliable than email for some clients)

6.3 — Engagement Letter Live Builder¶

[ ] Rich Text Editor — integRrate TipTap or ProseMirror for in-browser ICAN letter editing
[ ] Variable Auto-Fill — auto-inject {{clientName}}, {{rcNumber}}, {{tinNumber}}, {{serviceScope}} from client record
[ ] Letter Preview & Print — generate PDFs using Puppeteer or @react-pdf/renderer
[ ] Direct eSign From Builder — create signature request directly from letter builder, skipping separate flow

6.4 — Multi-Branch Office Support¶

[ ] Branch model — extend Firm with Branch sub-entity (Lagos HQ, Abuja Branch, etc.)
[ ] Per-branch user assignment — staff assigned to specific branches
[ ] Cross-branch document visibility — Partner-level: all branches; Staff: own branch only
[ ] Branch sync reporting — expand SyncNode to show branch-level health

🔵 PHASE 7 — Client Portal 2.0¶

Target: Q3 2026 | Priority: HIGH

Upgrade the client-facing portal from a document drop zone to a full self-service client experience.

7.1 — Client Dashboard¶

[ ] Client home page — show pending document requests, unsigned letters, upcoming filings
[ ] Filing history — list of all completed tax filings with dates and references
[ ] Status cards — clear "Action Required" vs. "All Clear" status per filing type

7.2 — Client Messaging¶

[ ] Secure in-app messaging — threaded messages between firm and client (no email needed)
[ ] Message model — Message table with firmId, clientId, sentById, body, attachments
[ ] Unread badge — real-time unread count in portal header (polling or WebSocket)

7.3 — Client Mobile App (React Native)¶

[ ] Evaluate Expo-based React Native app sharing components with portal
[ ] Push notifications via FCM (infrastructure already in place)
[ ] Document upload from phone camera (passport, utility bill, bank statement)
[ ] In-app signing for engagement letters

7.4 — Client Onboarding Self-Service¶

[ ] Client self-onboard link — email invite with magic link, client fills in company details
[ ] CAC lookup API — integrate CAC Public Search API to auto-verify rcNumber
[ ] FIRS TIN Lookup — integrate FIRS TIN verification endpoint (when available)

🟢 PHASE 8 — AI Intelligence Layer Expansion¶

Target: Q3–Q4 2026 | Priority: MEDIUM-HIGH

Deepen the AI from document analysis to decision intelligence.

8.1 — Predictive Compliance Risk¶

[ ] Cross-client pattern analysis — identify which clients have historically missed filing deadlines (firm-level aggregation, no cross-firm data)
[ ] Risk score trend — track RiskProfile scores over time, alert when trending upward
[ ] At-risk client list — dashboard widget: "3 clients likely to miss Q3 VAT deadline"

8.2 — Tax Computation Engine¶

[ ] CIT Calculator — automated Companies Income Tax computation from P&L data
[ ] PAYE Calculator — monthly payroll tax with graduated bands (current FIRS rates)
[ ] VAT Reconciliation — match input vs output VAT from connected accounting data
[ ] Education Tax (EDT) — 2% of assessable profit auto-computed
[ ] WHT Register — track withholding tax deducted from/to vendors and clients

8.3 — AI-Powered Firm Analytics¶

[ ] Revenue Velocity — track billing NGN per client per month across firm
[ ] Staff Utilization — track which staff members handle most jobs (via TaxPrepJob.assignedToId)
[ ] Deadline Compliance Rate — % of jobs filed before FIRS deadline per quarter
[ ] AI Insights Report — monthly AI-generated firm performance report (PDF export)

8.4 — Document Intelligence Upgrades¶

[ ] Batch OCR — extract text from scanned PDFs (non-digital CAC certificates, tax receipts)
[ ] Duplicate Detection — flag when the same document is uploaded twice by content hash
[ ] Document Expiry Tracking — flag TIN certificates, CAC annual returns, insurance docs that are about to expire
[ ] Private LLM Option — allow Enterprise firms to route AI through a self-hosted Ollama model (zero cloud dependency)

🟡 PHASE 9 — Industry Vertical Products¶

Target: Q4 2026 | Priority: MEDIUM

9.1 — Legal Practice Module¶

[ ] Matter management — Matter model: case name, court, jurisdiction, status
[ ] Document privilege flag — isPrivileged boolean on Document; only visible to designated roles
[ ] Court deadline calendar — separate from tax calendar; Nigerian court dates
[ ] Legal industry landing page (/industries/legal)

9.2 — Financial Services Module¶

[ ] KYC Document Management — dedicated document category for Know Your Customer files
[ ] CBN Reporting Templates — pre-built document request templates aligned to CBN KYC requirements
[ ] AMCON compliance tracking — regulatory filing tracker for financial institutions
[ ] Financial Services landing page (/industries/financial-services)

9.3 — Healthcare Practice Module¶

[ ] PHI document classification — isProtectedHealthInfo flag on Document model
[ ] PHI Audit Log — stricter, separate access log for any PHI document access
[ ] NDPA patient data retention policies — configurable per-category retention schedules
[ ] Healthcare landing page (/industries/healthcare)

9.4 — Industry Landing Pages (all 4 verticals)¶

[ ] /industries/accounting-tax — strengthen with FIRS/ICAN messaging
[ ] /industries/financial-services — CBN/AMCON/KYC messaging
[ ] /industries/legal — privilege, matter management, court deadlines
[ ] /industries/healthcare — NDPA, PHI, patient data sovereignty

⚫ PHASE 10 — Enterprise Scale & Pan-African Expansion¶

Target: 2027 | Priority: STRATEGIC

10.1 — Document Retention Policy Engine¶

[ ] RetentionPolicy model — configurable per category: "Tax records: 7 years", "KYC: 5 years", "PHI: 10 years"
[ ] Retention UI — /dashboard/settings → "Retention" tab for admins
[ ] Scheduled Purge Jobs — flag and queue expired documents, send admin notification before deletion
[ ] NDPA Compliance Report — exportable data retention status report

10.2 — White-Label & Reseller Program¶

[ ] Custom domain per firm — serve portal at clients.abcaccounting.com
[ ] Full white-label branding — firm logo, colors, domain; no firmflow. branding visible
[ ] Reseller license tier — allows a large firm to sub-license firmflow. seats to smaller affiliate firms
[ ] Reseller admin portal — manage child firms, generate sub-licenses

10.3 — Pan-African Localization¶

[ ] Ghana GRA compliance — add Ghana Revenue Authority filing categories
[ ] Kenya KRA compliance — add Kenya Revenue Authority categories (VAT, PAYE, corporate tax)
[ ] South Africa SARS — localization for South African Revenue Service
[ ] Multi-currency billing — NGN, GHS, KES, ZAR
[ ] Locale-aware date formatting — regional date formats throughout UI

10.4 — Advanced Security Features¶

[ ] IP allowlist — firms can restrict login to specific office IP ranges
[ ] Session analytics — map concurrent sessions, detect anomalies
[ ] Zero-Knowledge Encryption opt-in — client-side encryption so even firmflow. cannot decrypt stored files
[ ] SOC 2 Type II certification — formal audit readiness for enterprise procurement
[ ] ISO 27001 alignment guide — documentation mapping firmflow. controls to ISO 27001 Annex A

10.5 — Platform API (Public)¶

[ ] Public API v1 — REST API for third-party integrations (with API key auth already built)
[ ] Webhook subscriptions — allow external systems to subscribe to firmflow. events (document.uploaded, signature.completed)
[ ] API documentation site — Swagger/OpenAPI spec + interactive docs
[ ] Developer SDK — TypeScript/JavaScript SDK for API consumers

📊 Consolidated Timeline¶

Phase	Theme	Target	Priority	Status
0	Foundation Hardening	✅ Done	—	🟢 Complete
1	Identity & Data Layer	✅ Done	—	🟢 Complete
2	Document & AI Features	✅ Done	—	🟢 Complete
3	Licensing & Commerce	✅ Done	—	🟢 Complete
4	On-Prem Packaging	✅ Done	—	🟢 Complete
5	Pre-Launch Validation	✅ Done	—	🟢 Complete
6	Workflow Automation & Integrations	Q2 2026	🔴 HIGH	🔲 Planned
7	Client Portal 2.0	Q3 2026	🔴 HIGH	🔲 Planned
8	AI Intelligence Layer	Q3–Q4 2026	🟠 MEDIUM-HIGH	🔲 Planned
9	Industry Vertical Products	Q4 2026	🟡 MEDIUM	🔲 Planned
10	Enterprise Scale & Africa Expansion	2027	🔵 STRATEGIC	🔲 Planned

🏆 Immediate Next Actions (Q2 2026 Sprint 1)¶

Execute these in the first two-week sprint of Phase 6:

Integration Live Sync — build QuickBooks OAuth flow and first sync endpoint
FIRS Deadline Constants — create src/lib/firs-calendar.ts with all statutory deadlines hardcoded
Auto-populate Tax Prep Jobs — cron-compatible API route that creates jobs from client profiles
Engagement Letter Builder — integrate TipTap editor for rich-text letter editing
Industry Landing Pages — create all 4 vertical pages (low effort, high marketing impact)
SMS Notifications — integrate Termii.com for Nigerian compliance deadline SMS alerts

💡 Strategic Priorities¶

Why Phase 6 First?¶

Integration sync and workflow automation directly reduce the manual labour of the accountants using firmflow. Every hour saved per client is a measurable ROI. This is what converts trial firms to long-term licensees, and what generates upsell pressure from Basic → Professional → Enterprise editions.

Why Client Portal 2.0 Matters¶

The client portal is the only part of firmflow. that the firm's clients ever see. It is the shop window. A rich, mobile-ready client experience differentiates firmflow. from paper-based workflows and WhatsApp document collection (still dominant in Nigerian practices).

The AI Moat¶

SmartRequestAI™ trained on Nigerian tax scenarios is impossible for a generic SaaS to replicate quickly. Each new AI flow (tax computation, predictive compliance, batch OCR) deepens this moat. Invest heavily in Phases 8 flows before competitors catch up.

Pan-African > West-African¶

Nigeria is the beachhead. Ghana (GRA), Kenya (KRA), and eventually South Africa (SARS) represent the natural adjacent markets with similar colonial-era tax frameworks, English-language operations, and high smartphone penetration. Phase 10 unlocks this.