AI for bookkeeping
Put the bank statements, payroll registers and QuickBooks exports in each client’s folder and ask in plain words. It hands back reconciliations, schedules and the CPA’s tax binder, with the file behind every number.
Sept-bank-recs.xlsxExample| Line | Source | Amount | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Balance per bank, Sep 30 | Statement p. 4 | 84,215.62 | This agrees to the ending balance on the September statement. |
| Deposits in transit | Deposit log | 6,480.00 | The Lakeshore Homes deposit of Sep 30 cleared the bank on Oct 1. |
| Outstanding checks | Check register | −11,902.40 | There are eight checks, and check 4417 for $1,140.00 has been open since June. |
| Adjusted bank balance | 78,793.22 | This is the bank balance after the timing items above. | |
| Balance per books | GL 1010 | 79,018.22 | This agrees to the Sep 30 trial balance. |
| Difference | −225.00 | The books are $225.00 higher than the adjusted bank balance. |
NoteThe $225.00 is Sep 30 merchant fees on page 3 of the statement, so book them to 6150 Bank Charges to clear the difference.
Ask it for
“Reconcile the checking account and both credit cards for Ridgeline Drywall to the September statements and list every unmatched item over $50.”
Sept-bank-recs.xlsx“Match the 84 Hollis Electric invoices to their purchase orders and receiving reports and flag duplicates, price variances and missing documents.”
Invoice-match-exceptions.xlsx“Draft the final demand to Hartline Builders on invoice 2218, 47 days past due, with the 1.5% monthly late fee from the signed work order.”
Final-demand-2218.docx“Before I release the December 12 payroll, check gross-to-net against the register: two new hires, a retro $0.85 raise and a new garnishment order.”
Payroll-checks-1212.xlsx“Tie the sales tax payable account to the Q3 returns for Texas and accrue use tax on the vendor invoices where no tax was charged.”
Q3-salestax-recon.xlsx“Build the 2026 1099-NEC population from vendors paid $2,000 or more for services, exclude anything paid by card, and list every vendor missing a W-9.”
1099-population-2026.xlsx
Inside the Bookkeeping mode
Small business bookkeeping
Each month it codes the bank and card transactions to the right accounts, splits loan payments into principal and interest, and books owner draws as transfers.
Payables processing and controls
Runs the three-way match of invoice, PO and receiving report, catches duplicate payments, and flags vendor bank-detail changes for you to verify by phone.
Collections worklist and dunning
The AR aging becomes a worklist, and the reminder ladder runs from polite nudge to final demand, within the late-fee terms the contract and state allow.
Payroll calculations and pay run review
Checks gross-to-net, regular-rate overtime, retro pay, final pay and garnishments against the register before you sign off on the run.
Payroll tax and year-end
Payroll in the books ties to the register, the deposits and the 941s each quarter, and the W-2 totals roll up at year end.
Worker classification and FLSA exemption
A contractor-versus-employee memo for a new role walks the federal and state tests, with back pay exposure sized if the classification fails.
Sales and use tax
Finds where the client crossed nexus, checks each product’s taxability, flags invoices missing exemption certificates, and accrues use tax on the rest.
1099 preparation
You get the vendor population with card payments sorted out of the reportable total, plus a list of the vendors missing W-9 or TIN data.
Close variance and forecasting
Writes the variance commentary for every P&L line past your threshold, against budget or last year, with the support attached.
Cash forecasting
The 13-week forecast rebuilds every week from the AR aging and the payroll and tax calendars, and marks the weeks that fall below your cash floor.
Financial statement preparation
Produces the owner’s balance sheet and P&L on a cash or accrual basis, tied to the reconciled trial balance, and notes what did not tie.
- Office skills
- Excel, Word, PowerPoint, PDF
- Tools
- Read, edit and write files, Search files, Run code, Search and read the web, View images
- Connectors
- SharePoint, Google Drive, Gmail, and additional custom connectors
- House style
- Your fonts, layouts and rules, on every file
How it works
- 1
Assemble the client folder
Start with what the client sent and what you export: bank and card statements, loan statements, payroll registers and tax summaries, processor payout reports, and the QuickBooks or Xero trial balance, general ledger detail and AR aging.
- 2
What comes back
It sorts the transactions into accounts, drafts the entries that clear Ask My Accountant, and builds each reconciliation with unmatched items listed. Dunning letters return as Word documents, schedules as Excel workbooks with live formulas.
- 3
Tie it out and decide
Every figure traces back to the file it came from, and anything it could not reconcile is flagged instead of forced. You check the items, post the entries yourself, send the letters yourself, and decide what the owner and the CPA see.
Who it’s for
Bookkeepers, accounting clerks and client accounting staff who keep the books for small businesses, often for several clients at once.
Questions
How do I know the numbers are right?
You verify them, because each file it returns shows the source for the figures on it. It states what it could not find or reconcile instead of papering over it, and every file it touched is yours to review before anything is posted, filed or sent. No AI tool in this work carries an accuracy guarantee, so nothing reaches the ledger, the CPA or the owner until you have checked it.
Can I hand it client bank statements and tax data?
You can put them in the client’s folder, but whether to send anything further is up to you, your engagement letters and your clients. The content it works on is processed on Paper Instruments’ servers, and our compliance page carries the details. If your rules require consent before client data reaches another party, get that consent first.
Does it prepare the client’s income tax return?
No, income tax returns and audited statements stay with the CPA. The mode gets the books ready for that work instead, with reconciled accounts, the trial balance and its support, the fixed asset and sales tax schedules, the 1099 population and a list of the open questions the CPA is going to ask anyway.
Where does client data go?
Ultramarine Work changes files only in the project’s folder. When a request needs it, it can read files elsewhere on your computer, never passwords, keys or app data, and you can turn that off in settings. The model runs on Paper Instruments’ servers, so the content it works on is sent there to be processed. Paper Instruments is SOC 2 Type II, and our security and compliance details are on our compliance page.