AI and automation in finance
Most of the hours in a small finance team go into moving data from one place to another: typing bills, matching bank lines, chasing invoices, building the same report every month. That work can now be automated with tools that already connect to your accounting system, and AI tools can draft the narrative, flag the anomalies and answer the questions that used to need a spreadsheet. We decide which of it is worth doing in your company, set it up with controls, and keep a person responsible for every number. Ali and his team have run MyAutomation.ca since 2020.
What you leave with
A finance function where the repetitive work runs on its own, the close is faster, and the people spend their time on the decisions.
Who it is for
- Owners whose bookkeeper spends most of the month on data entry
- Companies with a late close, a slow collections process and reports built by hand
- Businesses curious about AI in finance and wary of handing the numbers to a tool
What we deliver
- An automation map of the finance function: every manual step, its cost in hours and the tool that could replace it
- Bill and receipt capture, bank feed rules and matching configured in your accounting stack
- Automated invoicing, payment reminders and a collections sequence
- A reporting pack that refreshes from the systems with minimal manual work
- AI-assisted anomaly flags, narrative drafts and forecast updates, with a human review step on each
- A controls document stating what runs automatically, what needs approval and who checks it
How it runs
01Map
We time every recurring finance task for one month and rank them by hours and by error rate.
02Select
We choose the automations with the clearest return and the lowest risk, usually capture, matching and reminders first.
03Build
We configure, connect and test each one with real transactions, with approval steps where money moves.
04Review
We run one close on the new setup, measure the hours saved and fix what did not work.
Engagement and fees
A Workshop of two to four weeks at $30K to $80K for the map and the first wave of automations. A 90-Day Sprint at $80K to $250K where reporting, forecasting and collections are rebuilt together. Ali takes the fractional CTO seat himself where the technology scope is larger. Every engagement is scoped after a call and confirmed in writing. See consultations and fees.
What to automate first
The order is set by hours and risk. Bill and receipt capture, where a photo or a forwarded email becomes a coded bill waiting for approval, removes the single largest block of typing. Bank feed rules and matching clear most of the reconciliation before a person looks at it. Automated invoice delivery and payment reminders run the first stages of collections without anyone remembering to.
Each of these is available inside or beside the accounting products most BC companies already use. None of them moves money without approval. Together they typically take the bookkeeper from a month of data entry to a few days of review, and that is before any AI is involved.
Where AI helps and where it does not
AI tools are useful in finance for drafting, flagging and answering. Drafting the narrative for the monthly pack from the numbers. Flagging a vendor whose bills have doubled, a customer whose payment pattern has changed, a margin that moved outside its range. Answering a question such as what we spent on vehicles last quarter without building a report.
AI tools are not useful for deciding, and they are not a replacement for the close. A number produced by a tool is a draft until a person has checked it. We set each AI step up with a review by a named person, we keep the source data in your systems, and we do not send your financial data to tools that do not meet your confidentiality requirements.
Controls and the person in the loop
Automation without controls is a faster way to make mistakes. Every automation we set up has a document that states what it does, what it is allowed to do without approval, what triggers a human review and who that human is. Payments always need approval. Vendor changes always need a phone call. Anomaly flags always get read.
The goal is a finance function where the people do the work only people can do: judgement, conversation with customers and suppliers, and the decisions the numbers point to. Ali has built automation businesses since 2020 and takes the fractional CTO seat where the technology scope calls for it, so the finance and the systems are designed together.
- A list of every recurring finance task and who does it
- Admin access to your accounting, bills, payroll and payments tools
- Your confidentiality requirements and any client or lender restrictions on data
Questions about this service
Is our financial data safe in AI tools?
Only if the tool and its terms meet your requirements, and only if you decide what goes in. We review the data handling of every tool we recommend, keep the source of truth inside your accounting system and never send financial data to a tool without your sign-off. Your lawyer reviews any terms where client data is involved.
Will automation replace our bookkeeper?
It changes the job. Data entry and matching go away. Review, exceptions, vendor and customer conversations and the close remain, and they get done better with the time freed up. Most companies keep the same person and get a much faster close.
Which tools do you use?
The capture, matching and reminder features inside or alongside QuickBooks Online and Xero cover most of the first wave. Beyond that we choose by what connects to your stack and what your team can maintain. We do not resell software and we recommend only what we would run ourselves.
How long before we see the time savings?
Capture and bank rules show results in the first month. Collections sequences show in the receivables within a quarter. Reporting automation shows at the first close after it is built. The automation map in the first two weeks puts an hours figure on each item for your company.
Start with a finance review.
Ninety minutes with Ali on your cash, margin and pricing. You leave with the four numbers to watch and the two or three moves that change them, whether or not we work together.