For many accounting firms, the month-end close is the worst day of the month. Checking ledger accounts, matching open items, validating VAT positions, reconciling bank balances, and if everything lines up — reporting. For every client, again. It is exactly the type of work AI excels at: structured, data-driven, and easy to validate.
This article: a practical checklist for accelerating month-end close with AI, without giving up auditability.
1. Reconcile bank balances
For each administration ask:
"Per bank account, give the balance per Exact Online at last day of month, and the bank statement balance. Identify differences."
The AI pulls financial_bank_* data and compares. Unexplained differences come back as a short list instead of after an hour of Excel work.
2. Check open items
"Which open sales invoices are older than 60 days? Which open purchase invoices have been paid but are not yet matched?"
A crucial check — because old open items that are actually paid corrupt your balance sheet and AR position.
3. Ledger validation
Find typos and unusual entries:
"Which entries in June had an amount above €10,000 on ledger accounts that normally receive small amounts?"
"Which ledger accounts had their first activity in June?"
Both questions surface anomalies you would otherwise discover only at the auditor’s review.
4. Interim VAT position
Do not wait for the quarter to close:
"Give the interim VAT position up to and including this month: VAT payable on sales versus VAT receivable on purchases, per VAT code."
Unexpected outliers (a sale at 0% VAT that should have been 21%) are still correctable. Read our deeper take in VAT return preparation with AI.
5. Payroll and intercompany checks
For multi-entity setups:
"Compare intercompany account 1320 between Holding BV and Operating BV at end of month."
The AI fetches both balances and gives the difference. Used to be an Excel export per side; now one question.
6. Inventory valuation check
"Give the inventory book value per Exact Online and the movements in June: receipts, deliveries, revaluations. Explain the movements."
A quick reconciliation. Unexplained inventory movements often point to missing production entries or incorrect standard costs.
7. Actually closing the period
Once all checks pass:
"Create a summary of the June close: open items above 60 days, bank balance differences, VAT position and ledger outliers. Format as an email to my accountant."
A draft email you can still edit. No copy-paste between screens and Word.
Routine instead of panic
The biggest gain is not in doing everything in one day, but in 10-minute daily checks. Ask your AI every morning:
"Which unusual entries were made yesterday?"
By month end most anomalies are already resolved. The close becomes a confirmation instead of a resurrection of the dead.
What AI does not do
AI does not replace accountant judgment. Material choices (valuation, provisions, tax optimisation) stay with you and your accountant. But the "which data belongs together" work — that earns the AI subscription back in a month.
Ready to start?
Follow the MCP setup guide and explore the prompt library for more close-process prompts. Working a lot with cashflow? See also cashflow forecasting with AI. For year-end-specific prompts: see our AI accounting starter guide.