Occupation manual 004 / Accounting operations
A conservative workflow for source control, reconciliation preparation, variance questions, missing-evidence queues, entry proposals, and close review—without automating accounting judgment, posting, tax filings, signatures, payroll, or payments.
Short answer: use AI like a close-preparation clerk. It may organize approved records, calculate differences from supplied numbers, flag missing evidence, draft neutral variance questions, and prepare an entry-proposal queue. It must not determine accounting or tax treatment, post entries, lock periods, file or sign returns, release payroll, change bank details, initiate payments, or make audit and attest judgments.
The IRS says businesses may choose a suitable recordkeeping system that clearly shows income and expenses. Good records support financial statements, tax preparation, and substantiation. A bounded tool can help organize already-approved records and surface missing items.
For PCAOB-covered audits, auditors must exercise professional judgment and obtain sufficient appropriate evidence. More low-quality evidence does not cure poor quality. A generated schedule or explanation is not a substitute for source reliability, procedures, review, or a professional conclusion.
Record entity, period, basis/framework, system of record, approved sources, permitted tools and data, preparer, reviewer/posting authority, and tax/audit/payment escalation owners.
Track exact source system, period/date, owner, completeness confirmation, and human verification. AI must not silently treat an export as complete or authoritative.
Place ledger and independent/source amounts beside their source IDs. AI may calculate the supplied difference. A qualified human determines reliability, accounting meaning, materiality, and resolution.
Turn unexplained differences into neutral questions with assigned owners and required evidence. Do not generate a convenient explanation or management representation.
Document any proposed entry with source evidence, period, accounts, supplied amounts, and reviewer decision. The preparation tool cannot silently approve or post it.
Route tax positions and filings, audit/attest judgments, payroll, bank-detail changes, refunds, transfers, payments, fraud indicators, control failures, and legal matters to authorized owners.
Record independent review, open items, entry approvals and posting evidence, data handling, specialist routes, and the qualified human who certifies the close.
| Job | Approved input | AI output | Human gate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Source-control clerk | Approved source names, periods, owners, and status fields | Source ledger and missing-period flags | Owner confirms completeness and authority |
| Reconciliation clerk | Human-supplied ledger/source amounts with IDs | Difference calculation and open-item table | Qualified reviewer determines meaning and resolution |
| Variance-question clerk | Approved comparison table | Neutral questions and evidence requests | Responsible owner answers; reviewer validates evidence |
| Entry-proposal clerk | Reviewer-approved facts and source evidence | Draft proposal card only | Authorized human approves/rejects; separate authority posts |
| Close-checklist clerk | Current firm/entity checklist and verified statuses | Open-item and signoff queue | Controller/qualified owner certifies completion |
AI can subtract an independent/source amount from a ledger amount when both are supplied and source-linked. It cannot establish that either input is complete, authentic, correctly timed, or appropriate. Keep the output as an open item until a qualified reviewer inspects evidence and records a disposition.
Drafting a proposal and posting to the ledger are different permissions. A proposal needs visible source evidence, preparer identity, period, rationale from approved notes, reviewer decision, and posting evidence. Preserve segregation of duties; never give a general AI assistant silent write authority to the accounting system.
The IRS describes competency, diligence, and ethical standards for covered Circular 230 practice. IRS e-file resources also distinguish authorized providers and taxpayer signature authorizations. The IRS and FTC require covered tax practices to protect client information. A generic AI workflow should prepare questions and checklists—not file, sign, transmit, impersonate authorization, or receive unapproved taxpayer data.
Act as an accounting close-preparation clerk, not an accountant of record, tax professional, auditor, controller, approver, or payment operator. From the approved source-linked tables, create: (1) a missing-evidence list, (2) supplied-number difference calculations, (3) neutral variance questions, (4) a proposed-entry review queue without posting, and (5) a close checklist. Do not invent facts, documents, amounts, classifications, business purpose, accounting treatment, tax treatment, audit conclusions, or management representations. Do not file, sign, post, lock a period, send a message, change bank details, or initiate a payment. Mark every uncertainty for qualified human review.
Download the desk, test only with synthetic or expressly approved data, and have qualified accounting, tax, attest, security, and finance owners review the workflow against the real engagement and systems.