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Finance agent

Three-way reconciliation

The sub-ledger, the general ledger and the bank tied every morning, account by account, so month-end starts with the work already done.

  • $12,500 fixed
  • Live in 3 to 6 weeks
  • Yours to keep
The review screen for Three-way reconciliation: four items, three done, and one ($540 short) waiting for the controller, who is asked: Merchant account is $540 short, matching the processor’s fee statement. Book the fees?
How it works

One merchant account, tied to the cent by morning.

Here’s a typical run, step by step: what automation handles, what the agent does, and the calls that stay with your team.

The workflow for Three-way reconciliation, in 5 steps. It starts with “Yesterday’s activity lands” and ends with “An account marked tied”. Each step lists what automation, the agent and your team do there.
Three-way reconciliationA typical run
Starts withYesterday’s activity landsThe bank feed, the card processor and the ledger all post the day’s movements overnight.
Automation: Pulls the day’s sub-ledger, general ledger and bank lines for each account, and tells the team if a feed is late.
~10h/mo

Step 1 of 5Pull all three records

  • Automation

    Pulls the day’s sub-ledger, general ledger and bank lines for each account, and tells the team if a feed is late.

    Each feed posts overnight. Fetching yesterday is a date range, with nothing to decide yet.

Reads
  • Bank feeds
  • General ledger
Writes
  • Close tracker

~10 hours a month back

The agent: Matches all 312 card payments to the processor’s deposits, even when one deposit covers forty sales net of two refunds.
~45h/mo

Step 2 of 5Pair the transactions

  • The agent

    Matches all 312 card payments to the processor’s deposits, even when one deposit covers forty sales net of two refunds.

    The bank shows one $6,120 deposit and the ledger shows forty sales. Pairing them takes reading, not an equals sign.

Reads
  • Bank feeds
  • Sub-ledger
Writes
  • Close tracker

~45 hours a month back

Where teams differDaily ties are often cash only, with the rest left for month-end. Busier teams tie every account every day.

Automation: Compares the three closing balances. Where all three agree, the account is marked tied with its matches saved.
~12h/mo

Step 3 of 5Tie the balances

  • Automation

    Compares the three closing balances. Where all three agree, the account is marked tied with its matches saved.

    Once the lines are paired, whether three totals agree is arithmetic.

Reads
  • General ledger
Writes
  • Close tracker

~12 hours a month back

The agent: Traces the $540 short on the merchant account to the processor’s fee statement and drafts the fee entry for review.
~20h/mo

Step 4 of 5Explain the gap

  • The agent

    Traces the $540 short on the merchant account to the processor’s fee statement and drafts the fee entry for review.

    A gap can be fees, timing or a refund booked twice. The fee statement usually says which.

Reads
  • Fee statements
  • Bank feeds
Writes
  • Close tracker

~20 hours a month back

Where teams differPlenty of teams let a few dollars through untouched. Others want every cent explained, whatever the size.

IfYour team: Approves the drafted entry for the $540, or sends it back to be looked into before the account can be tied.
Automation: Posts the entry the controller approved, ties the merchant account again and adds it to the close file.
~6h/mo

Step 5 of 5Book it or dig in

  • Your teamIf a gap is left over

    Approves the drafted entry for the $540, or sends it back to be looked into before the account can be tied.

    An entry changes the books. Even a likely fee should be someone’s call, with the statement in front of them.

  • Automation

    Posts the entry the controller approved, ties the merchant account again and adds it to the close file.

    The controller approved this exact entry. Posting it as written leaves nothing to decide.

Reads
  • Close tracker
Writes
  • General ledger

~6 hours a month back

Ends withAn account marked tiedEvery match saved as evidence for close, or one suggested entry waiting for the controller.
Total~93h/mo

What changes

Month-end starts with the accounts already tied. The controller only looks at the gaps, each with its likely cause and an entry drafted for them to approve.

  • 3steps automated
  • 2steps for the agent
  • 1call kept with your team

Pick any step to see what happens there and why it sits in that lane.

What it could be worth

~93 hours a month back

$69,200 a year in time

For a finance team tying about 25 accounts every business day, at $62 an hour. We work out yours from your own volumes before you sign.

Let’s build your agent
What we customize with you

One proven agent, plugged into how you work.

Every team does this job a little differently, so we set these five with the people who do it today. We’ve done this in dozens of businesses, so we know where teams usually differ and ask about those first.

The agent

Same for every client
  • Follows the same proven steps
  • A person on every exception
  • Every decision logged
  • Tested on your past work first
  • Never posts an entry on its own
  1. Your systems

    Where the work comes in, and where the result goes.

    For this agentYour sub-ledgers, general ledger and bank feeds.

  2. Your rules

    The limits and exceptions it works to.

    For this agentWhich accounts to tie daily, and the variance you let through.

  3. Your team

    Who signs off, and who covers when they’re away.

    For this agentThe controller for variances, the CFO for anything over your limit.

  4. Your channels

    Where your team hears from it.

    For this agentSlack for variances, email for the morning summary.

  5. Your output

    What it hands back, in the format you already use.

    For this agentA tied account with its matches, or a suggested entry to approve.

The close checklist and investor reporting are other agents in the catalog. Journal entries are suggested, never posted without a person.

What you get

The agent, and everything that keeps it working.

  • The agentRunning on your systems, under your rules.
  • The review screenWhere the exceptions land for your accounting team and the controller.
  • Your rulebookYour limits, exceptions and who signs off, in one place, often for the first time.
  • A test reportYour past reconciliations, run through it and checked against the number.
  • The runbookHow it works, what to check, and what to do if it stops.
  • 30 days of tuningAfter it goes live, through a full month of your real reconciliations.
The number we agree

Variances still open on the first day of close. We measure it before we start, and again at day 30.

How we get there

Live in 3 to 6 weeks. About seven hours of your time.

We do the building. Your side: access, three months of closed reconciliations, and a short weekly check-in.

  1. Before kickoff

    We send the access checklist.

    You, 2 hours. Access, an owner, and three months of closed reconciliations.

  2. Weeks 1 to 2

    We connect your systems and set it up.

    You, 1 hour. Walk us through your rules.

  3. Weeks 2 to 4

    We test it on your past reconciliations.

    You, 1 hour. Review what it flagged.

  4. Weeks 3 to 6

    It runs beside your team, then goes live.

    You, 1¼ hours. Work from the review screen.

Then 30 days of tuning, with a short check-in each week, about two hours of yours. At day 30 we show you the number and hand everything over.

After it’s live

It keeps running whether or not we stay.

  • It runs in your accounts

    Your cloud, your systems, and an AI account in your name, billed by the provider at their rates.

  • Changes in the first 30 days are included

    A new rule, a changed limit, someone new signing off. That’s what tuning is for.

  • After that, your call

    Your team edits the rulebook, the care plan covers it, or a bigger change is quoted first.

Three-way reconciliation was part of a lender build that captures a full audit trail across the life of every loan.

Questions

About this agent.

Does it replace our month-end close?
No. It does the tying every day, so close starts with the reconciliations already done and only the variances left.
What if a bank feed is late?
It waits, tells your team, and ties the account as soon as the feed arrives.
Our process isn’t quite like this. Will it still work?
That’s the usual case. The job looks the same in most businesses, but the details never do. We map how your team does it today, then set the rules, systems and approvals to match. That’s what most of the 3 to 6 weeks are for.
How do we agree the number?
Together, before any work starts. For this agent it’s the variances still open on the first day of close. We measure it before we start, and again at day 30.
What does it cost to run once it’s live?
Hosting and AI, paid straight to the providers, not through us. It usually runs 5x to 25x cheaper than doing the same work by hand, and we work out your figure from your real volumes before you sign.

Want month-end to start with the work already done?

Tell us how your team handles reconciliations today. We’ll show you this agent on examples like yours, and whether it fits the fixed price.

New to Switchboard Agents? How it works, what’s included, and what it costs.
  • 3 to 6 weeksto live, then 30 days of tuning
  • $12,500fixed, per agent
  • Yours to keepno license fees
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Switchboard Agents$12,500 fixed · live in 3 to 6 weeks How it works Let’s build your agent