Finance reviewers approve the journals, reconciliations and accruals an agent prepares, so their onboarding should run across a real period close. This checklist covers segregation-of-duties rules before day one, shadowing on held journals, reviewer training and exam, a practicum spanning month-end, an incident drill and sign-off with value thresholds.
What does a finance reviewer approve?
A finance agent prepares the routine work of the close. It reconciles bank and balance sheet accounts at depth 3 within bounds, drafts accruals and prepayments at depth 2, proposes journals, and chases missing information from budget holders. Posting a journal above a threshold, clearing an old reconciling item, and any write-off are held for a person.
Three things make this review different from operational teams. Timing: most held actions arrive in the few days of the close, so a reviewer who is slow or unsure delays reporting. Segregation of duties: a reviewer must never approve a journal they prepared or asked the agent to prepare, which needs to be enforced, not just remembered. And materiality: a reviewer needs a feel for which variances matter, because the agent will hold many that do not. A new reviewer either approves everything or questions everything until they learn that sense.
How should the checklist be used?
The financial controller owns it. Start it no later than three weeks before a month-end, so the practicum includes a full close. Tick and date each item. Approval rights go live only after item 14. The basic idea of onboarding is the same as elsewhere; what changes is the calendar. The teaching approach for the middle items is in how to train the finance team to review AI agent decisions, and the order of training across the business is set out in the guide to training teams for AI agents.
The checklist
| # | Item | Owner | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Read-only access to the general ledger view and the held queue | Controller | Access record |
| 2 | Segregation rule configured: reviewer cannot approve items they raised | IT and controller | Configuration record |
| 3 | Agent capabilities read: reconciliations (3), accrual drafts (2), journal proposals (2), postings above threshold (held), write-offs (held) | Reviewer | Signed |
| 4 | Red lines signed: no approval of own items; no clearing of a reconciling item without supporting evidence; no write-off without the controller | Reviewer and controller | Signed |
| 5 | Shadowing across two days of a close | Buddy | Note |
| 6 | Seen a held journal rejected for missing support | Buddy | Note |
| 7 | Shared foundation complete | Reviewer | Test score |
| 8 | Reviewer modules and written exam complete | Reviewer | Exam result |
| 9 | Practicum: two weeks including a full close | Buddy | Practicum record |
| 10 | Coverage: an accrual reversal, an aged reconciling item, a journal near the threshold and an intercompany mismatch | Controller | Case list |
| 11 | Incident drill: agent certificate lapses during close | Controller | Drill log |
| 12 | Assessor sign-off; no missed red line | Assessor | Signed record |
| 13 | Value thresholds recorded | Controller | Rights register |
| 14 | Renewal date set | Controller | Register entry |
A filled-in example
An illustrative services group's finance team brings in Sample Reviewer R, a qualified accountant. The agent reconciles 40 bank and control accounts daily and proposes journals; postings over 10,000 and any item older than 60 days are held.
IT configures item 2 on day one. In shadowing during the close, Sample Reviewer R watches her buddy reject a proposed accrual for consultancy fees because the supporting email was from the consultant, an external source, with no purchase order behind it. The buddy asks the budget holder to confirm.
Her practicum runs through the next close: 95 held items. She clears an aged reconciling item only after finding the matching receipt, and queries an intercompany mismatch the agent had proposed to clear with a balancing journal. In the drill, run as in how to run an AI agent incident drill for the finance team, the agent's certificate lapses on day two of the close; she knows reconciliations fall back to depth 1 and moves her team's work accordingly. She is signed off with a threshold of 50,000.
Where the Academy fits
Pryme Intelligence Academy covers items 7, 8 and 12. Operator modules include usage and billing, reading the workspace and what to do when something goes wrong, which line up with a close. The certificate is issued through VerifyDoc.ai, so an external auditor can confirm it at source rather than relying on a copy.
Questions people ask
Should finance reviewers be certified before the auditors arrive?
Yes. Auditors will ask who approved agent-prepared journals and whether they were competent at the time. A certificate with an issue date answers that.
What about IT staff who configure the segregation rules?
They have their own path; see the reviewer onboarding checklist for the IT team. Their review covers access, not journals.
Does the risk team review finance's agent?
Often, as part of control testing. The reviewer onboarding checklist for the risk team covers how risk reviewers are prepared for that.