01 the business
Freight forwarding company
90 staff, finance team of three
The close lives in a spreadsheet checklist and the finance manager's memory. Accruals are sometimes missed, odd balances are spotted after the numbers have gone to the owner, and variance notes are rushed on the last day.
02 before
The problem
In a small finance team, the close lives in a spreadsheet checklist and one person's memory. Accruals get missed, odd balances are spotted after the numbers have gone to the owner, and variance notes are written in a rush on the last day.
- The close takes ten working days.
- Accruals are missed and corrected next month.
- Variance notes are written in a hurry.
03 the build
What the AI does
- Step 1: Builds the close checklist for the month from your template and assigns each task an owner and a due date.
- Step 2: Pulls trial balances from Xero, QuickBooks or NetSuite and compares each account with prior months to flag unusual movements.
- Step 3: Drafts recurring accruals and prepayment entries from last month's schedule and open purchase orders.
- Step 4: Writes first-draft variance notes for the management pack, explaining the larger movements in plain words.
- Step 5: Shows a live view of what is done, what is blocked and what is waiting on someone outside finance.
paused: waiting for a person to approve
How it was put together
- Built the month's checklist with owners and due dates.
- Compared trial balances with prior months and flagged unusual movements.
- Drafted recurring accruals and prepayments from last month's schedule and open orders.
- Wrote first-draft variance notes and showed a live view of progress and blockers.
04 human in the loop
Where a person stays in charge
Your accountant or finance manager reviews and posts every journal. Variance notes are edited and signed off by the finance lead before the pack goes to the owner or board.
- The finance manager reviews and posts every journal.
- Variance notes are edited and signed off by the finance lead.
- Draft entries show the source they were calculated from.
05 rollout
From kickoff to live in 2 weeks plus one parallel close
- Weeks 1–2Turn the checklist into a template and connect the ledger.
- Month 1Run alongside the existing close and compare.
- Month 2Use as the main close process.
06 after
What changes
The close follows the same steps every month, whoever is in the office. Odd balances come up early in the week, not after the numbers are out.
Assume three people spending 10 days on the close, and the close shortening to 7 days.
3 people × 3 days saved = 9 person-days a month, or about 108 person-days a year.
What to measure
- Working days to close.
- Adjustments made after the pack is sent.
- Missed accruals.
- Time spent writing variance notes.
07 evidence
What the research says
In a study of 453 professionals doing writing tasks from their own jobs, access to ChatGPT cut the time taken by 40% and raised quality, as rated by evaluators, by 18%.
In a field experiment with 758 BCG consultants, those using GPT-4 on tasks within its abilities finished 12.2% more tasks, 25.1% faster and at over 40% higher quality, but did worse on a task outside its abilities.
08 lessons
Mistakes to avoid
- Posting drafts without review.
- Flagging every movement. Set thresholds that matter.
- Generic variance notes. They should name the real cause.
09 questions
Common questions
- Does it replace a close management tool?
- For small teams it often does. Larger teams can use it alongside their existing tool.
- Which ledgers does it support?
- Xero, QuickBooks and NetSuite most often.