Draw the finance rota on the close calendar. The agent's holds bunch in the days either side of month-end: journals above threshold, reconciling items it cannot clear, accruals that rest on estimates. Name a reviewer and an approver for each close day, never the same person for the same entry, and keep the financial controller on the rota for sign-off.
What does the finance rota cover, and who owns it?
A finance agent prepares routine journals, matches bank and ledger lines, proposes accruals from open purchase orders, and drafts reconciliations. Within its bounds it posts recurring entries and clears exact matches. It holds journals above a value threshold, manual adjustments to revenue, reconciling items older than policy allows, and anything where the supporting evidence is weak. Each of those needs a reviewer who understands the ledger and an approver with authority.
The financial controller owns the rota. The finance director agrees the thresholds and who may approve what. The guide to AI agent skills by role covers what finance reviewers need to know, and what a reviewer rota is explains the term.
What are the steps?
- Agent, depth 1: reports holds by type and close day. A few closes of history show where the peak falls; often the last two working days and the first three of the new month.
- Person (financial controller): sets response targets by close day. Holds that block the close, such as unreconciled bank items or journals affecting reported figures, decided the same day; others within the close timetable.
- Person (financial controller): assigns a reviewer and an approver per area per day. Revenue, costs, cash, intercompany, balance sheet reconciliations.
- Agent, depth 3: posts recurring journals and clears exact matches. Within bounds the controller has set.
- Agent, depth 2: drafts non-recurring journals and accruals. With the supporting evidence and the source of each figure.
- Person (reviewer): checks each held entry. Evidence, calculation, account coding, period. Returns or recommends.
- Person (approver): approves for posting. A different person from the reviewer; the workspace enforces it.
- Person (financial controller): signs off the close. With a list of entries made by the agent and approved by people, ready for audit.
| Step | The agent does | Depth | Stays with a person |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recurring journals | Posts within bounds | 3 | Monthly sampling |
| Bank reconciliation | Clears exact matches | 3 | Reconciling items |
| Accruals | Proposes from open orders | 2 | Judgement on estimates |
| Non-recurring journals | Drafts with evidence | 2 | Review and approval by different people |
| Revenue adjustments | Drafts and holds | 2 | Approval by a named senior |
| Close sign-off | Compiles the list of entries | 1 | Financial controller sign-off |
How should preparer and approver be separated?
In a manual close, separation of duties is between the person who prepares a journal and the person who approves it. With an agent, the agent prepares, and a tempting shortcut is to let one person both review and approve, since "the agent prepared it". Resist it. The reviewer checks the agent's work; the approver checks the reviewer's conclusion. Two people, two names on the record.
The rota makes this possible by always naming two people for each area on each close day. If only one person knows intercompany, train a second before the next close, or the separation will fail on the day that person is ill. The approver authority matrix for the finance team sets which approvers may approve which entries and up to what value.
Which controls matter, and what evidence do they leave?
- Reviewer and approver differ. Evidence: two names on every held journal's verdict.
- Evidence is attached. An accrual resting on a supplier's emailed estimate is external; one resting on a signed contract and a delivery record is stronger. Evidence: the supporting documents and their provenance on the entry.
- Thresholds are enforced. Evidence: the verdict names the limit that held the entry.
- The close has a named sign-off. Evidence: the controller's sign-off and the list of agent-prepared entries.
- Late entries are visible. Evidence: entries posted after the close timetable, with reasons.
What should be measured?
- Close-blocking holds decided the same day.
- Entries returned by reviewers, by reason; a repeated reason is a correction to the agent's brief.
- Entries reversed in the following period.
- Days to close, read alongside returned entries, so speed does not hide quality.
- Areas where only one trained reviewer exists.
The AI agent competency matrix for the finance team shows who can be trained into those thin areas.
Where does it usually go wrong?
The rota is flat across the month. Mid-month is quiet; close days are not. A flat rota wastes people early and runs out late.
Separation fails under pressure. On the last night of the close, the reviewer approves their own recommendation "just this once". The workspace should refuse it, and the rota should make sure it never needs to.
Year-end is treated as a bigger month-end. Year-end brings auditors' requests and adjustments the agent has never seen. Plan a separate rota.
Risk and fraud teams staff their queues with the same method but different peaks; compare the rotas for the risk team and the fraud team.
Where the Academy fits
Finance reviewers and approvers work a live workspace, which is what the Academy's Operator track trains for. Its modules on human review and keeping knowledge current fit the close: reading the record, checking evidence, and correcting the agent's brief when a reason recurs. Tests are set in the learner's industry and role, and Certified Pryme Operator is valid for 12 months.
Questions people ask
Can the agent post accruals without review?
Recurring accruals with fixed amounts can sit within its bounds. Estimates need judgement, so most controllers keep them held for a reviewer.
Who covers if the financial controller is away at sign-off?
A named deputy with the same authority, on the rota for every close. Signing off a close should never wait for one person's return.
How should auditors see the agent's work?
Through the record. The list of agent-prepared entries, with the reviewer and approver for each, gives auditors a clean starting sample.