Accounting & bookkeeping
Keep the books ready, without rebuilding the workings every month.
From source transactions to reconciled balances and reviewed journals.
An illustrative workflow, shaped around your systems, records and approvals.
A typical manual workflow
Your team prepares,
checks and produces.
Find the records
Download transactions and chase missing invoices or receipts.
Match and reconcile
Match bank activity to invoices and explain unexplained balances.
Update the monthly workings
Roll forward insurance, equipment and other recurring schedules.
Check and post the entries
Review the calculations and enter the approved adjustments.
With Octopi systems
Match the transactions. Prepare the monthly entries.
- Matches bank transactions to invoices and bills, and brings unmatched items into a review list.
- Updates agreed schedules, such as spreading an annual insurance bill across the months it covers.
- Prepares the monthly accounting entries, with calculations and supporting records attached.
Investigate the gaps. Approve the treatment.
Your finance person checks items such as a missing supplier bill or an unexpected balance, decides how they should be treated and approves the entries.
Inside the system
The tools, instructions
and checks behind it.
01Import and validate recordsRules + data
Import bank, ledger and supporting invoice records; identify missing records before matching.
Accounting API or export · Scheduled import · Validation rules
- Input
- Ledger, bank and supporting transaction records.
- Output
- A structured transaction table and a list of missing or duplicate records.
- Checks and human role
- Stop processing incomplete batches. Retain source references and import logs.
02Match and route exceptionsRules + AI assistance
Match routine payments to invoices under agreed rules and present unresolved differences with the related records.
Matching rules · Exception queue · Claude or ChatGPT · Reusable instructions: Reconciliation exception review
- Input
- Validated transactions, reconciliation rules and unmatched items.
- Output
- Matched items plus proposed explanations for unresolved differences.
- Checks and human role
- Uncertain matches remain open for a person. AI suggestions do not change the ledger.
Example instructions
Review only the supplied unmatched items. Suggest possible matches with source IDs and reasons. Flag uncertainty and missing evidence. Do not invent transactions, alter balances or mark a reconciliation complete.
03Prepare supported journalsRules + AI assistance
Use approved schedules for entries such as monthly insurance charges or depreciation; attach calculations and draft explanations.
Recurring journal rules · Schedule calculations · Claude or ChatGPT · Reusable instructions: Recurring journal support
- Input
- Approved accounting policies, schedules and calculated journal lines.
- Output
- Draft journals with source support and explanations.
- Checks and human role
- Check debits equal credits, period and account mapping. Calculations follow agreed rules.
Example instructions
Explain each supplied journal using its schedule and source reference. Highlight unusual movements and missing support. Do not change journal amounts or invent an accounting policy. Return a review list for the approver.
04Approve, post and logHuman approval + system
The reviewer resolves missing bills and unusual balances, approves the entries and the system posts and logs them.
Finance approver · Authorised ledger connection · Audit log
- Input
- Draft journals, validation results and unresolved exceptions.
- Output
- Approved postings and a traceable record of who approved what.
- Checks and human role
- Posting requires authorised approval. Retain reversal and exception handling processes.
Illustrative workflows after setup. Your existing automation, systems and processes determine the work removed. People provide context, resolve exceptions and retain agreed approvals.
What could change for your business?
Spend less on finance.
Get more from it.
Tell us what is taking too much time, costing too much or leaving you without the information you need. Let's explore what the right systems could change.