- Complexity: Standard
- Deployment: Platform-native
The problem
Month-end close is sequential and full of exceptions. In the documented firms, close took 7 to 12 business days, and 60 to 70 percent of that time went to edge cases: timing differences, amount mismatches and categorization judgment calls. Clients run their business on stale numbers until it is done.
- Every bank transaction is matched and every expense categorized by hand
- Recurring exceptions are resolved from scratch each month
- Recategorization cycles add days to the close
- Growing the client roster means hiring more staff
The solution
A close workflow reconciles accounts, categorizes expenses and prepares adjusting entries, escalating the judgment calls to an accountant.
- Matches bank transactions to the ledger on timing, amount and description
- Resolves recurring exceptions using patterns learned for each client
- Categorizes expenses from vendor, amount and historical patterns, with a confidence score on each
- Prepares recurring adjusting entries such as accruals, depreciation and prepaid amortization
- Assembles financial statements for accountant review
Where people stay in control
- An accountant reviews the resulting statements before client delivery
- Judgment calls and low-confidence categorizations escalate to the accountant
- The workflow surfaces recommendations and structured work; accountants make the decisions
- Each client's patterns are set up and reviewed per client
Systems and data
The workflow connects to QuickBooks or Xero, bank feeds and the general ledger, and uses each client's chart of accounts, billing cycles and industry context to interpret transactions.
- QuickBooks
- Xero
Results
- Close compressed from 7 to 12 business days to 3 to 5 days in the documented firms
- 75 to 85 percent of reconciliation exceptions resolved without a person
- 92 to 96 percent first-pass categorization accuracy
Why platform-native
The workflow runs a defined sequence against a client's accounting platform, with accountant review at the end. It runs well platform-native, directly on the model platform with Altivus providing monitoring and governance.
Frequently asked questions
Can AI do a month-end close?
It can do most of the preparation: reconciliation, categorization and adjusting entries. An accountant reviews the statements and makes the judgment calls before client delivery.
How does it handle unusual transactions?
Recurring exceptions are resolved from patterns learned for each client. Anything new or low-confidence escalates to the accountant.
Which accounting systems does it work with?
The documented firms used QuickBooks and Xero, connected to bank feeds and the general ledger.