AI for small business owners
From the QuickBooks exports, bank statements and contracts in the project folder, Ultramarine Work catches up the books and forecasts cash week by week. It drafts schedules, contract markups and the year-end package your CPA asks for.
1099-vendor-tracker.xlsxExample1099-NEC vendors, tax year 2026
- Pine Hollow Hauling$6,800ACHFlagged
No signed W-9 is on file, so request one this week to file by January 31.
- Ruiz Electric$14,250CheckReady
A signed W-9 is on file and the TIN matched, so this one is ready to e-file.
- Corbett Tile & Stone$9,300ACH, plus $2,100 by cardReady
Only the $9,300 paid by ACH is reported, because the card processor reports card payments on a 1099-K.
- Whitley Painting$3,600CheckWaiting
The W-9 was requested Nov 3, and the owner says it is in the mail.
How it works
- 1
Drop in what you already keep
The QuickBooks exports, bank and card statements, vendor W-9s and the subcontract the GC sent go into one folder as they are, and nothing needs renaming or reorganizing before you start.
- 2
Ask for the file you need
It reads the folder and hands back finished work in Excel, Word or PDF, with a source on every number and a note on anything it could not tie out.
- 3
You review, then you decide
You know the $40,000 deposit was the truck loan and which stylist works Saturdays. Correct what is wrong, then make the entries in QuickBooks, e-file the 1099s, sign the contract and publish the schedule yourself.
Inside the Small Business Owner mode
Small business bookkeeping
Catches up the books from QuickBooks and Xero exports, reconciles the bank and card accounts, and reclassifies owner draws and loan principal out of income.
Close variance and forecasting
Explains what moved on your P&L against budget or last year, and updates the budget and forecast when your sales or margins run off plan.
Cash forecasting
Builds a 13-week cash forecast from your AR aging, payroll dates and tax payments, and shows the first week you fall below your floor.
Sales and use tax
Checks your sales against each state’s economic nexus thresholds, works out product taxability, and draws up use tax accruals and exemption certificate lists.
1099 preparation
Tracks vendor payments against the 1099-NEC threshold through the year, runs down the missing W-9s and readies the name and TIN list for TIN Matching.
Product and customer profitability
Shows which jobs, customers or SKUs earn money once labor, rework and discounts are counted, so quoting runs on numbers instead of gut feel.
Proposals and RFP responses
Pulls the RFP’s instructions and required forms into a compliance matrix, and drafts the response against its evaluation criteria.
Contract drafting and redlining
Marks up the client’s or GC’s draft, compares their terms against your standard terms, and lists what to push back on before you sign.
Worker classification and FLSA exemption
Runs every booth renter, freelance designer and crew lead through the IRS common-law test and the state tests, and estimates back pay exposure.
Small business HR setup
Lists everything to set up before your first hire: EIN, state withholding and unemployment accounts, workers’ comp, I-9, new-hire reporting and posters.
Hiring and selection
Writes the job posting with the pay range your state requires, keeps interview questions lawful and runs the same structured screen for every candidate.
Payroll calculations and pay run review
Re-checks gross to net before each run, folds commissions and bonuses into the regular rate for overtime, and applies state timing rules to final pay.
Staff scheduling
Lays out the schedule and flags notice periods, rest between shifts, meal breaks, minors’ hours and overtime before you post it.
HR policy and handbook
Puts the handbook together with the policies and addenda your states require, and checks your discipline language against Section 7 rights.
Performance discipline and termination
Drafts the write-ups and PIPs, and assembles the termination packet with final pay timing, release terms and a risk review.
- 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
Ask it for
“Catch up the books for July through December, reclassify my personal charges to owner draws, and move the $40,000 truck loan deposit to loan principal.”
Books-catchup-Jul-to-Dec.xlsx“Build the 13-week cash forecast from the AR aging, with the $41,300 reconciled bank balance as opening cash and every payday and tax payment on the right week.”
13-week-cash-forecast.xlsx“Check where my online store hit economic nexus this year, using each state’s own threshold, and list where Etsy collected tax but my website didn’t.”
Nexus-tracker.xlsx“Before the January 31 e-file deadline, list the vendors over the 1099-NEC threshold, flag who is missing a signed W-9, and leave out the ones we paid by card.”
1099-vendor-tracker.xlsx“Mark up this general contractor’s subcontract and flag what shifts risk onto my two-crew shop, starting with retainage, pay-if-paid and the indemnity clause.”
Subcontract-redline.pdf“Draft the handbook for my nine-person shop with the addenda our California and Washington staff need, and check the discipline policy against NLRA Section 7.”
Employee-handbook.docx
Who it’s for
Owners and owner-operators of small businesses, from solo owners and freelancers to owners with staff, who keep the books, price and sell, hire and pay people and handle the paperwork themselves.
Questions
Will it replace my bookkeeper or my CPA?
No, it does the sorting, drafting and checking, and the judgment and sign-off stay with you and your CPA. Your CPA signs the return, and you are the one the bank and the IRS deal with, so review every file it touched before it leaves your desk.
Can I hand it a year of messy books?
You can, but the review is yours. It notes what it could not reconcile rather than forcing the bank balance to tie, and a report that balances can still hide a bad call, like loan proceeds coded to income or personal charges sitting in expenses.
Is it safe to give it bank statements and payroll records?
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.
What about my income tax return?
No, it does not prepare income tax returns. It reconciles the books and assembles the year-end package the CPA needs, and the CPA files the return from those numbers.