Run your first accounting workflow

The easiest way to begin is to ask an AI app to do a piece of accounting work your team already understands. You do not need a perfect prompt: start with the outcome, then improve the procedure with the app.

Option 1: Start with a prompt

Try a read-only review first. Replace the bracketed details with your own information:

Review accounts receivable for [company] for [period]. Confirm the company and period first. Show invoices that are past due, group them by customer, and suggest follow-up actions. Do not change any records.

Other useful starting prompts include:

• “Review the last month of transactions for [company]. Find unusual amounts, duplicate-looking entries, or items that need a human review. Do not change records.”

If the app starts in the wrong company, stop and switch the company in the AI app. If it starts in the wrong workspace, disconnect and reconnect it using the workspace you want.

Option 2: Guide the app step by step

For a more involved procedure, ask the app to work in checkpoints:

1. Confirm the workspace, company, period, and output.
2. Gather the reports or records needed for the question.
3. Explain the findings and supporting records.
4. Ask for a proposed next step without changing anything.
5. Review the proposal and approve only the changes you want.

This hand-held pass exposes missing assumptions. Tell the app what counts as an exception, which accounts or dates matter, and where it must stop.

Option 3: Save the procedure as a skill

Once you have guided the app through a workflow and like the result, ask it to turn the procedure into a reusable skill. Skills are the best option for repeatable work because they keep the steps, checks, and output format together. Create a reusable accounting skill walks through it.

Choose a good first workflow

For multi-step work, choose a strong model first.

Start with a procedure that is frequent, understood, and easy to review:

• accounts receivable or accounts payable review;
• month-end variance investigation;
• unusual-transaction review;
• reporting-package preparation; or
• a repeatable comparison.

Avoid an ambiguous request to “fix the books.” Name the company, period, decision, and evidence you want to see.

Before approving a change

Ask the app to show:

• the company and period it used;
• the records it plans to change;
• the fields, amounts, dates, and accounts it will use;
• what it could not verify;
• what happens if you approve.

If anything is unclear, keep the workflow read-only. QuickBooks Online: capabilities and limits explains why some requests need a different report or a step in the accounting platform itself.

Next steps

• Create a reusable accounting skill
• How AI accounting workflows work
• Keep your team in control