Keep the oldest finance control: the preparer is never the approver. When an agent prepares a journal, a named accountant approves it; when the agent posts recurring journals within a threshold, someone reviews the batch. Period close needs the financial controller. Treasury transfers need two people. Each approval right lapses when the approver's certificate does.
What does a finance approver rule cover, and who owns it?
Finance teams use agents for reconciliations, accruals, recurring journals, variance commentary and close checklists. The work is rule-bound and high volume, which suits agents, but it feeds the accounts and sometimes moves cash. The approver rule decides who releases each held action and how the old preparer-reviewer split survives when the preparer is an agent.
The financial controller owns the rule. Internal audit reviews it. The agent owner configures it. Our explainer on what an agent approver is describes the approver's duty, and our guide to AI agent skills by role covers the skills behind it.
What are the steps?
- Financial controller: lists the agent's actions by depth. Depth 1: reads the general ledger, sub-ledgers and bank feeds. Depth 2: drafts manual journals, reconciliation commentary and variance notes. Depth 3: posts recurring journals within a threshold, clears matched reconciling items, runs close checks. Depth 4: posts manual journals above threshold, locks a period, or moves cash between accounts.
- Financial controller: assigns manual journal approval to a named accountant who did not request the journal.
- Financial controller: requires a batch review of depth 3 postings by an accountant each day or week, depending on volume.
- Financial controller: keeps period lock with themselves or a named deputy.
- Financial controller: puts treasury transfers under two approvers, one from outside the finance operations team.
- Financial controller: ties each role to a current certificate. Agent owner configures and files.
| Step | The agent does | Depth | Stays with a person |
|---|---|---|---|
| Read ledgers | Reads balances and feeds | 1 | Nothing |
| Draft journal | Drafts with support attached | 2 | Accountant approves |
| Recurring journal | Posts within threshold | 3 | Batch reviewed by accountant |
| Clear matches | Clears matched items | 3 | Unmatched items to accountant |
| Large journal | Prepares and holds | 4 | Accountant; controller above set amount |
| Period lock | Prepares and holds | 4 | Financial controller |
| Treasury transfer | Prepares and holds | 4 | Two approvers |
How does preparer-reviewer separation work when the preparer is an agent?
The agent prepares; a person approves. That part is simple. The trap is who stands behind the agent. If the accountant who wrote the agent's journal rules also approves its journals, the review is not independent: they are checking the output of their own logic.
So the rule names three roles for journals. The rule owner decides what the agent may post at depth 3 and the threshold. The approver reviews held journals and depth 3 batches. The two must be different people. Internal audit can then test the split from the verdict record without needing to interview anyone.
Support matters as much as the entry. A journal held for approval should carry its evidence with provenance shown: a sealed balance from the sub-ledger, a signed statement from a counterparty, or a declared estimate from a budget holder. An approver who sees "declared" on a large accrual knows to ask.
Which controls make the rule work, and what evidence do they leave?
Preparer and rule owner separated from approver. Evidence: the approver authority matrix for the finance team and approver names in the record.
Batch review of depth 3 postings. Evidence: the reviewer's sign-off on each batch, with exceptions noted.
Period lock by the controller. Evidence: the lock verdict with the controller's name.
Two approvers on treasury transfers. Evidence: two named approvers on each transfer.
Rights lapse with certificates. Evidence: certificate status on each approval date.
What should you measure?
- Journals reversed after posting, by source: agent at depth 3, agent-drafted and approved, or manual.
- Batch reviews completed on time.
- Treasury transfers with one approver. The target is none.
- Days to close, which agents should shorten without changing who signs it.
- Approver coverage at month end, using the competency matrix for the finance team.
Where does it usually go wrong?
Batch reviews stop. The agent posts cleanly for months and the daily review slides to weekly, then monthly. Keep it on the close checklist.
Thresholds creep up. Each quarter the depth 3 threshold rises a little. Every change should be a dated decision by the rule owner, approved by the controller.
Reconciliations are cleared, not investigated. The agent clears matched items at depth 3 and holds the rest. Under close pressure, accountants clear the held items with a write-off journal to a suspense account rather than finding out why they did not match. The rule should say who may approve clearing unmatched items, and above what amount the financial controller must see them.
Estimates are approved as facts. Accruals based on declared estimates are approved like sealed balances. Make provenance visible.
Borrowing a rule from IT or risk. Compare the approver rule for the IT team and the approver rule for the risk team: they deal with system changes and risk acceptance, not with the ledger.
Where the Academy fits
Pryme Intelligence Academy's Operator track includes modules on human review, reading the workspace and usage and billing, which suit accountants who approve agent journals. The Builder track suits whoever writes the rules the agent posts under. A finance team can make journal approval depend on a current Certified Pryme Operator certificate, valid for 12 months.
Questions people ask
Can the agent post accruals?
Recurring accruals with a fixed basis can run at depth 3 within a threshold if certified. Judgemental accruals should be drafted at depth 2 and approved by an accountant.
Does the external auditor need to see the approver rule?
They will usually ask for it. The rule and the verdict record together show who approved what and on what evidence.
Who approves changes to the agent's posting rules?
The financial controller, as a change to the agent's bounds. Large changes should trigger re-certification before the agent posts under them.