The accounting automation checklist: from capture to close

Start with capture

Automation fails when documents arrive as photographs in a chat thread. Standardise the intake: bank statements, invoices and receipts into one place, in PDF, CSV or Excel.

Then categorisation

Accounting automation should propose a category, show its confidence, and let a human approve in bulk. Anything approved without review should still be reversible and logged.

Reconciliation and exceptions

The value is in exceptions: duplicates, missing counterparties, amounts outside materiality, transactions in an unexpected currency. Automate the routine 90% and put the remaining 10% in front of a reviewer.

Close and report

When the ledger is clean, the P&L, cash flow statement and board pack should generate on demand rather than being assembled by hand.

The checklist

1. One intake channel for every financial document.
2. Automatic extraction with a confidence score.
3. Bulk review and approval with an audit trail.
4. Exception rules tied to a materiality threshold.
5. Multi-currency handling with dated FX rates.
6. On-demand reporting from the approved ledger.