WorkflowFinancial Close & Account Reconciliation

Account Reconciliation Automation

Account reconciliation software that ties every balance to its support and explains every difference before anyone signs

Every balance tied to its support, and every difference explained before anyone signs.

See one case, screen by screen ↓
demo1,846reconciliationsdue in the sample September close across 62 entities, 1,800 of them already tied out by the agents
demo612accountscertified by the controller’s own low-risk rule, with a 5% weekly sample sent to a person
target0differencessigned without a cited cause, with two agents agreeing to the cent
targetDay 4close certified, against day 6 in the group’s August close
In short

What is Account Reconciliation Automation?

Software that proves each balance-sheet account in the general ledger against independent support, such as a bank statement, subledger, payroll register or schedule, explains any difference and records who prepared and who reviewed it. Account Reconciliation Automation adds seven agents that collect the support, tie it out, cite the cause of every difference and re-perform each other’s work to the cent, so a named reviewer signs a checked number.

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Updated

The problem

Why reconciliations are where the close slows down, and where weaknesses start

Every month the close team has to prove each balance-sheet account against something outside the ledger: a bank statement, the AR aging, the payroll register, the fixed-asset register, an amortisation schedule, a counterparty’s confirmation. Today that proof is a spreadsheet per account, a folder of PDFs and an email chase to treasury, payroll, quality and legal for the support that arrives late or not at all.

The risk sits in the differences. A four-thousand-dollar gap on accrued payroll gets written up as timing with no citation and rolls forward for months. A reviewer signs hundreds of reconciliations they cannot re-perform, a preparer ends up reviewing their own account, and the external auditor asks for the binder again because a tick mark cannot be traced to its source. Inappropriate account reconciliation is one of the recurring causes of material weaknesses in internal control.

typical6.4daysmedian monthly close
typical4.8daysor less for the top quartile
Where a month-end close’s reconciliation days goestimated
By hand6 days
With the solution4 days
  • Exporting balances and chasing support from its owners1.5 → 0.8 d
  • Footing the support, tying it to the GL and ticking1 → 0.3 d
  • Finding and writing up the cause of each difference1.5 → 0.8 d
  • Review and sign-off by a person who did not prepare1.5 → 1.5 d
  • Adjusting entries, certification and the auditor’s requests0.5 → 0.8 d

Estimated split for the fictional group’s close, by hand (its August close, certified on day 6) and with the solution (the day 4 target). Days are close days and overlap across accounts.

How it works

How an account is reconciled

Seven agents collect the support, tie it out, find and cite every difference and check each other to the cent; a named reviewer signs.

What comes in
Sources in6 systems · ledger, subledgers, bank, payroll, documents
Agents at work
Support collectorread-only
Then
Preparer agentties and ticks
Difference investigatorcause to the page
Then
Entry drafternever posts
Reviewer agentagrees to the cent
Then
Risk and certification agentcontroller’s rule
Close status reporterclocks and evidence
A person decides
Named reviewersigns with a reason code
What comes out
Signed reconciliation
Entry parked in the ERP
Evidence pack
One case, step by step

One account, from difference to signature

Kestrel & Vane Manufacturing Inc., entity 1100 in Dayton, Ohio. September close, day 3 of 6: Monday 5 October 2026, 10:40. Accrued payroll is $4,450.00 off. Here is what happens next, screen by screen, in the working solution.

  1. 0110:40, close day 3

    The agents have done the night’s work; four things need her

    Ana Ruiz · Close Manager, Americas

    Ana’s home is the balance sheet of entity 1100 laid out as a workpaper: GL balance, support, difference, tick marks, preparer and reviewer initials, status. Of 26 accounts due, 15 are certified, 4 of them by the controller’s rule. Above the table the agents have left four items under “Needs you today”: sign 2150 Accrued payroll, settle 1400 where the agents disagree, a $7,180.00 remainder on 2050 GRNI they could not explain, and the warranty claims report still missing for 2300.

    “Sign 2150 Accrued payroll · $4,450.00 explained · entry drafted · both agents agree.”

  2. 02She asks

    “Why is 2150 Accrued payroll off by $4,450?”

    Ana Ruiz · Close Manager, Americas

    She asks the assistant in plain words, and the answer comes back with its sources. The Q3 operations bonus was accrued at an estimate of $186,000.00 on 2 September (JE 09-1187). The 30 September payroll register shows $181,550.00 approved for 214 employees, on page 3, line 41. The true-up was never booked. The assistant opens the account so she can sign.

    The preparer agent’s plan, in 8 steps: it read all 162 September journals to 2150 and classified the cause as an error, confidence 0.97.

  3. 03One click on a tick

    Every tick mark opens the source it was placed on

    Ana Ruiz · Close Manager, Americas

    Ana clicks a tick and the source opens beside the workpaper: the accrued payroll schedule built from the payroll system, extracted 1 October at 06:12, with the Q3 operations bonus on register line 41 highlighted at $181,550.00. The copy is read-only and carries a fingerprint, so what she sees is what the agent read.

    “Read-only copy · fingerprint 8190-965”

  4. 0410:38

    A second agent re-performs it and agrees to the cent

    Reviewer agent

    The reviewer agent works without the preparer’s notes. It reads its own extract of the trial balance and the raw payroll file for run PR-2026-09-30-B, 2,904 employees, recomputes the difference and gets the same balances, the same $4,450.00, the same cause and the same entry. Because 2150 is high risk, the controller’s low-risk rule cannot certify it, so it goes to a named person.

    “Agrees to the cent. GL 1,284,310.42 · support 1,279,860.42 · difference 4,450.00 · same cause and entry.”

  5. 05Signed

    She signs with a reason code; the entry is parked, not posted

    Ana Ruiz · Close Manager, Americas

    Ana signs as reviewer with reason code R2, “Agreed to support; adjusting entry approved”, and confirms she reviewed the support and the cause and is not the account’s preparer. Her signature also approves JE-P-1100-0918, Dr 2150 Accrued payroll / Cr 6120 Bonus expense, $4,450.00, inside her $25,000 limit. The entry is parked in the ERP for Leo Brennan to post, the account is locked for September, and the auditor’s request PBC-062 is ready.

    “Signed · entry parked in the ERP as 10-0031 · PBC-062 is ready for the auditor.”

  6. 06Settle it

    When the agents disagree, a person picks the rule

    Ana Ruiz · Close Manager, Americas

    On 1400 Intercompany receivable from KV Services UK the preparer agent explains $7,384.70 as FX revaluation at the 29 September daily rate. The reviewer agent applies FX policy §4.2, the 30 September closing rate, and gets $7,290.12. They differ by $94.58, so nothing goes to a signer. Ana chooses the policy rate; both agents re-run and agree: $7,290.12 of revaluation plus a $94.58 bank charge on the UK side, 28 September, not recharged.

    “Nothing goes to a person to sign until both reach the same figure.”

  7. 07It will not guess

    “Unexplained” is an answer, with what it searched

    Difference investigator

    On 2050 Goods received not invoiced the investigator explains $49,286.50 of a $56,466.50 difference: 11 receipts cancelled in receiving between June and August whose accrual was never reversed. The other $7,180.00 it cannot explain after searching 1,214 journals, 4,812 receipts and 3,960 invoices. It hands the remainder to Leo Brennan with its search log and its best lead: two Westbrook Fasteners invoices of $3,590.00.

    The investigator never calls a difference timing without a dated clearing event.

  8. 08Over $25,000

    The larger correction goes to the controller

    Helen Marsh · Controller, Manufacturing Americas

    The entry drafter has drafted JE-P-1100-0921 to reverse the accrual on the 11 cancelled receipts: Dr 2050 Goods received not invoiced / Cr 5010 Raw material purchases, $49,286.50, with the receiving cancellations cited. The reviewer agent agrees. At more than $25,000 it waits for Helen Marsh to approve or reject with a reason code; agents never post.

    “Agents never post. Approved entries go to the ERP as parked journals, posted by the preparer.”

  9. 09PBC-062

    The auditor re-performs it, read-only

    Grace Okonkwo · Senior Manager, Harrow Lyle LLP

    In the auditor’s view, open to entity 1100 and the group workpapers until 31 January 2027, Grace opens PBC-062 and presses “Re-perform the tie-out”. The tie-out rebuilds from the same extracts and reaches the same figure as the workpaper. She asks how the $186,000.00 estimate was set; a cited answer is drafted for Ana to review and send.

    “Re-perform rebuilds the tie-out from the same extracts. Nothing changes in the books.”

  10. 10Forecast

    The group certifies on day 4

    Close status reporter

    Across 62 entities, 1,388 of 1,846 reconciliations are certified (75.2%), 612 by rule. 271 are prepared and waiting for review, 141 carry a difference (110 explained, 9 where the agents disagree, 22 unexplained) and 46 wait for support on a clock. The reporter follows up on every late and at-risk account and forecasts certification on day 4, Tuesday 6 October, against day 6 in August.

Who it’s for

Built for everyone who signs the balance sheet.

The same September close, seen by the four people who carry it — what the month looked like, and what it looks like now.

AR
Ana RuizClose Manager, Americas · reviews high-risk accounts in entity 1100
Close Manager
Before
Runs the calendar for nine entities, chases late support and reviews 120 reconciliations a month. “I sign what I can see. Show me the page that explains the difference.”
Now
Opens accounts already tied, explained and re-performed by a second agent, clicks any tick to see its source, and signs with a reason code.
HM
Helen MarshController, Kestrel & Vane Manufacturing Americas
Controller
Before
Owns the certification policy and the audit relationship. “Low-risk accounts should certify themselves, but I want to know the day one stops being low risk.”
Now
Writes the low-risk rule, sees every account that drifts out of it, re-checks a 5% weekly sample and approves entries over $25,000.
LB
Leo BrennanSenior Accountant, payroll and accruals · prepares 40 reconciliations a month
Senior Accountant
Before
“Half my week is getting the support. The other half is explaining four-thousand-dollar differences.”
Now
Accepts the agents’ preparation, posts the parked entries, and takes over only the remainders the agents could not explain, with their search log.
GO
Grace OkonkwoSenior Manager, Harrow Lyle LLP · read-only access
External auditor
Before
Requests more than 60 PBC items a quarter and re-performs a sample. “I don’t want the binder. I want to re-perform it.”
Now
Re-performs any tie-out from the workpaper herself, read-only, and gets cited answers to her questions, sent by a person.
Built on the engine

7 agents. Each with one job, and hard limits.

Seven agents collect the support, tie it out, find and cite every difference and check each other to the cent; a named reviewer signs.

Support collector

Pulls the GL balance and every support source for each account, and requests missing support from its owner on a clock.

  • Read-only: never edits or creates support
  • A copy of the GL is never accepted as support
Preparer agent

Foots the support, agrees it to the GL, places tick marks and computes the difference.

  • Never signs
  • Ticks only what it re-read itself
Difference investigator

Searches every journal in the period and the source documents, writes a cited cause, classifies it timing, error or policy, and sets an expected clearance date.

  • Never calls a difference timing without a dated clearing event
  • Says “unexplained” and shows what it searched when it cannot find a cause
Entry drafter

Drafts the adjusting entry from the cited cause, with lines, memo and citation.

  • Never posts
  • Entries over $25,000 go to the controller
Reviewer agent

Re-performs the tie-out independently from raw extracts, without the preparer’s notes, and must reach the same figure to the cent.

  • Cannot sign
  • On a disagreement it stops the account and shows both workings to a person
Risk and certification agent

Rates every account by the controller’s rules, certifies low-risk accounts by rule when every condition passes, watches for drift and draws the weekly sample.

  • Never certifies a high- or medium-risk account
  • A rule change is a new version the controller signs
Close status reporter

Tracks every reconciliation against the close calendar, reminds owners before due, escalates late work, and builds the status report, evidence packs and draft answers for the auditor.

  • Drafts answers to the auditor; a person sends them
Named reviewer

Signs high- and medium-risk accounts; the controller owns the rules. The agents propose; a named person decides.

Ask in plain words

Ask about any account, in plain words

Ask about any account, difference or entry, or say what to follow up. Every figure is cited, and the assistant never signs or posts.

Why is 2150 Accrued payroll off by $4,450?

The Q3 operations bonus was accrued at an estimate of $186,000.00 on 2 Sep (JE 09-1187). The 30 Sep payroll register shows $181,550.00 approved for 214 employees (register p.3, line 41). The true-up was never booked, so the accrual is overstated by exactly $4,450.00. The reviewer agent re-performed it from its own extract and agrees to the cent; entry JE-P-1100-0918 is drafted.

Which accounts are still unexplained across the group?

22 reconciliations carry an unexplained remainder, $412,906.38 in all. In the Americas there are two: 3100-2050 GRNI, $40,216.00, with Lucía Paredes, and 1100-2050 GRNI, $7,180.00, with Leo Brennan. None was guessed: each shows what the investigator searched.

Cover Leo Brennan’s accounts while he is out on 8 and 9 October

Leo has 5 open accounts in entity 1100 due before he returns. Nadia Kovač is the backup on all of them and reviews none of them, so segregation of duties holds. Assignments is open with the change ready to apply.

Prepare the auditor’s answer on accrued payroll (PBC-062)

PBC-062 is ready once 2150 is signed: the workpaper, the schedule, the register page, the journal, the drafted entry and both agent runs. Nothing is sent to Harrow Lyle LLP by an agent; a person sends it.

Every screen

The working solution, as it ships.

13 screens from the working solution, on its sample data. Pick one to see it large.

The balance sheet workpaperEvery account with its GL balance, support, difference, tick marks, initials and status, what needs a person today, and each difference explained in its tray.
One account, tied out and explainedThe tie-out component by component, the cited cause with its confidence, the drafted entry and the preparer agent’s plan step by step.
A tick opens its sourceThe accrued payroll schedule the tick was placed on, with the register line highlighted, read-only and fingerprinted.
The second agent re-performs itThe reviewer agent’s own extract, its recomputation without the preparer’s notes, and agreement to the cent.
Signed and lockedThe account certified and locked for September, the entry parked in the ERP for the preparer to post.
When the agents disagreeBoth workings side by side, the amount they differ by, and the choice of rule that re-runs both.
What the investigator could not explainThe part of the difference that is explained, the remainder it will not guess at, and the hand-off to the preparer with its search log.
Proposed entriesEntries drafted from a cited cause, with lines, the reviewer agent’s check and the approval level; over $25,000 goes to the controller.
Risk and certification rulesHow every account is rated, the controller’s low-risk rule and its conditions, drift alerts and the weekly sample to a person.
Close statusCertified by close day against plan and the August close, the forecast, late and at-risk accounts, and progress by entity.
The auditor’s read-only viewPBC requests answered from the workpaper, a live re-performance of the tie-out, and questions with cited answers sent by a person.
Agent workThe seven agents: what each did in this close, its tools, what it may not do, and who it hands to.
Thresholds and clocksMateriality, approval limits, escalation ages, the support request clock and due days; control limits are locked.
Governance

Built for the audit: cited, re-performed, signed.

Every tick opens its sourceEvery tick mark, cause and entry carries its source: the document, page and line, and the time of the extract. Support copies are read-only and fingerprinted.
Two agents must agree to the centA reviewer agent re-performs every tie-out from raw extracts without the preparer’s notes. When the figures differ, the account stops and both workings go to a person, who picks the rule.
A named person signs, with a reason codeEvery high- and medium-risk account is signed by a named reviewer with a reason code. A preparer can never review the same account, and no difference may be left unexplained at sign-off.
Agents never post, sign or edit supportEntries are drafted from a cited cause, approved by a person and parked in the ERP for the preparer to post. Entries over $25,000 need the controller.
The controller’s rule watches itselfOnly low-risk accounts are certified by rule, and only when every condition passes. Accounts whose behaviour drifts leave the rule, a 5% weekly sample goes to a person, and every rule change is a new version the controller signs.
Every step on the audit trailEvery tick, agent run, signature, rule change and export is recorded with who, what, when and the source relied on. The trail is immutable, the evidence pack is fingerprinted, and auditor access is read-only and expires.
Configuration

Your close policy, not ours

The thresholds and clocks every reconciliation is checked against are settings. Each change applies from the next run and is logged; control limits are locked.

SettingDefaultChoose from
Materiality, entity 1100$50,000Set per entity · applies from the next run · logged
Unexplained difference allowed at sign-off$0.00Locked by the control policy
Reviewer agent must agree with the preparer agentTo the centLocked by the control policy
Entries approved by the reviewer up to$25,000Above it, the controller approves
Open item escalatedAfter 60 days to a supervisor, 90 days to the controllerEditable · logged
Support request clock2 business daysEditable · escalation when it runs out
Preparer due · reviewer due · certificationClose day 3 · 4 · 5Editable · follows the close calendar
Low-risk certification rule LR-15 conditions, 5% weekly sample to the controllerSimulate a change, then save it as a new version for the controller to sign
Connections

Works with the systems your close already runs on

ERP general ledgertrial balance and journals read; approved entries uploaded as parked journals
SubledgersAR aging, AP open items, inventory valuation
Payroll systemregisters, accrual schedules, tax liabilities
Bank statement feedcamt.053 and BAI2 statements for every bank account
Fixed-asset and lease registerscost, depreciation, disposals, right-of-use and amortisation schedules
Finance document driveschedules, intercompany confirmations and memos, with the close calendar, email and chat for requests
What it changes

The difference, in numbers.

Every figure is labelled: a target the solution is built to, an estimate, a typical published result, or a proven one.

target
100%
of balance-sheet accounts tied to cited support, every month
1,846 accounts
every tick opens its source
target
0
differences signed without a cited cause, two agents agreeing
With a difference141 this close
Signed uncited0
target
Day 4
close certified, against day 6 in August
August closeday 6
Targetday 4

“demo” = seen in the working solution, on its sample close data · “target” = the design goal, measured in the live solution · “estimated” = our estimate; day 6 is the fictional group’s August close · “typical” = published figures (APQC Open Standards Benchmarking, via CFO.com — monthly close median about 6.4 days, top quartile 4.8 days or less; Ge & McVay (2005) on reconciliation failures among the causes of material weaknesses) · Audit documentation context: PCAOB AS 1215 and AS 2201. Kestrel & Vane Group, Harrow Lyle LLP and the people named on this page are fictional — characters and sample data in the working solution.

Questions

What controllers and close teams ask us.

What is account reconciliation software?

Software that proves each balance-sheet account in the general ledger against independent support, such as a bank statement, subledger, payroll register or schedule, explains any difference and records who prepared and who reviewed it. Account Reconciliation Automation adds seven agents that collect the support, tie it out, cite the cause of every difference and re-perform each other’s work to the cent, so a named reviewer signs a checked number.

How does it explain a difference?

The difference investigator searches every journal in the period and the source documents, writes the cause with the document, page and line, classifies it timing, error or policy and sets an expected clearance date. When it cannot find a cause it says “unexplained”, shows what it searched and hands the remainder to the preparer.

What happens when the two agents disagree?

The account stops. Both workings are shown side by side with the amount they differ by, and a person chooses the rule; both agents then re-run. In the working solution the agents disagreed by $94.58 on an exchange rate until the close manager chose the month-end closing rate in the FX policy.

Can low-risk accounts be certified automatically?

Yes, by a rule the controller writes, and only when every condition passes: the account is rated low risk, the support agrees to the cent, the reviewer agent agrees, no manual journal was posted this month and a person certified it within the last 3 months. Accounts whose balance jumps, take a manual journal or pass the limit are pulled out of the rule, and a weekly sample still goes to a person.

Does the AI post journal entries or sign reconciliations?

No. Agents never post, sign or edit support. The entry drafter drafts adjusting entries from a cited cause; a person approves them, with the controller approving anything over $25,000, and approved entries go to the ERP as parked journals for the preparer to post.

Can our external auditor rely on the reconciliations?

The auditor gets a read-only view that expires, where every tick opens its source and any tie-out can be re-performed from the same extracts. Questions get a cited draft answer that a person reviews and sends, and the evidence pack for an account or the period is exported fingerprinted.

Do people stay in control of sign-off?

Yes. Every high- and medium-risk account is signed by a named reviewer with a reason code, a preparer can never review the same account, no difference can be left unexplained at sign-off, and every action by people and agents is on an immutable audit trail.

How long does it take to go live?

The Agentic Solution Engine builds and deploys it from your requirements and documents — your reconciliation policy, chart of accounts, templates and a sample of past reconciliations with their support — and it goes live once every quality gate has passed. Setup connects your systems, maps each account to a template, assigns owners and sets the risk rules and close calendar.

See it on
your balance sheet.

We’ll run Account Reconciliation Automation on a sample of your own past reconciliations and their support.