System 06
Financial bots
A set of small systems taking over the repetitive part of financial administration: reading purchase invoices and proposing how they are posted, reconciling payments, sending reminders, and flagging when something does not add up.
Work nobody enjoys that still has to happen
Financial administration is full of steps that are entirely predictable yet still demand attention: open an invoice, see who it is from, pick the right ledger account, check the amount against the purchase order, and push it through.
It is exactly the kind of work people make mistakes in because it is dull, and where those mistakes are expensive. At the same time it is work you never want fully unattended: someone has to keep looking.
How the system fits together
Separate bots per task, so you can switch one off without touching the rest.
- 01
Reading purchase invoices
Supplier, amounts, VAT and invoice lines extracted from PDF or email, matched to the right supplier and where possible to a purchase order.
- 02
Posting proposal
Based on earlier postings a ledger account and cost centre are proposed. Proposed: someone approves, certainly at the start.
- 03
Reconciliation and reminders
Incoming payments matched to open items. Anything outstanding too long gets a reminder in your own tone and on your own terms.
- 04
Flagging anomalies
An invoice deviating from the order, a supplier suddenly using a different account number, an amount out of character. Those are the cases you want a person for.
How it gets built
- 01
One bot first
Start with the task costing the most time, almost always reading and posting purchase invoices.
- 02
Shadow without posting
Several weeks generating proposals without pushing them through, so you can see how often it is right before letting go.
- 03
Expand per task
Only build the next bot once the previous runs unattended. Automating everything at once in the finance corner is asking for trouble.
What the system does
It takes over the predictable part and makes the unpredictable part visible, with a bookkeeper reviewing instead of entering.
- Purchase invoices that read themselves and propose a posting
- Payments reconciled automatically
- Reminders going out on time and in the right tone
- Flagging of anomalies and suspicious changes
What it costs
What an engagement costs depends on its scope and on how many systems are involved. I work with a fixed price per phase rather than open-ended billing: you know what a phase costs before it starts, and you decide after each one whether to continue.
I only quote a figure once I know what we are talking about. That takes a half-hour conversation, at no charge.
Whether this fits
This works well when
- you process more than a few hundred purchase invoices a month
- your accounting package has an API
- someone will keep reviewing proposals
- the posting pattern is reasonably stable
This fits less well when
- your administration sits entirely with an external firm
- invoice volume is low and the hours therefore limited
- you expect nobody will need to look at it any more
Questions about financial bots
Who is responsible if something is posted wrong?
You are, exactly as now. That is why every bot is built with an approval step you can narrow as confidence grows but never have to remove entirely. A system posting with no review at all is something I would not build and your accountant would not accept.
Does this replace our bookkeeper?
No, it shifts what they do. Entering and reconciling largely disappears, reviewing and investigating remains. In practice that usually means the same person gets to spend more time on analysis, not that someone can leave.
Does this work with our accounting package?
With the common packages yes, they all have an API. With older or self-built systems it depends, and that is the first thing I check before there is a quote.
Let's discuss how I can help your business grow
A short call is enough to tell whether there is a good fit. No sales pitch, just an honest read on what is possible.