Accounting AI Assistant - Finance

Overview

The Accounting AI Assistant is an embedded AI panel available in the Accounting module. It reads your live accounting data — journal entries, account balances, transactions, and period summaries — and injects that context directly into a Claude-powered conversation. You can ask questions in plain English and receive structured answers, anomaly flags, and summary reports without leaving the accounting screen.

Live Data, Not Static Reports

Unlike a fixed report template, the AI Assistant answers based on the data that is currently in your accounting module. Ask a follow-up question and it stays in context. Each new chat session pulls a fresh snapshot of your financial data.

Conversational Queries

Ask questions in plain language. The assistant understands accounting terminology and maps your question to the relevant accounts and periods in your data.

Instant Report Generation

Generate period summaries, cash flow snapshots, and variance analyses with a single prompt. Save the result as a report in My Reports with one click.

Anomaly Detection

Ask the assistant to flag unusual transactions, accounts with unexpected balances, or periods where spending spiked above historical norms.

Conversation History

Previous chat sessions are stored for the current browser session. Reopen a past conversation from the History panel to continue where you left off.

Opening the Assistant

The AI Assistant panel slides in from the right edge of the Accounting screen. There are two ways to open it:

Click the AI Assistant button in the accounting screen toolbar (Sparkles icon).
Click the vertical AI Assistant tab anchored to the right edge of the viewport — visible whenever the panel is closed.

The panel opens as a fixed overlay on the right side of the screen. Your accounting data remains fully visible and interactive behind it. Close the panel at any time using the × button in the panel header.

Fullscreen Mode

Click the Maximize icon in the panel header to expand the assistant to full screen. In fullscreen mode the conversation is centered at a comfortable reading width. This is useful when reviewing long analysis outputs or when you want to focus solely on the AI response.

What You Can Ask

The assistant understands questions about your accounting data across several categories. Below are common query types with example prompts:

Balance & Account Summaries

What is the current balance of my main operating account?

Show me a summary of all asset accounts and their balances.

Which accounts have a debit balance this month?

Period Analysis

Summarize revenue and expenses for the last quarter.

Compare this month's spending to last month.

What was the net income for Q1 vs Q2?

Cash Flow

Give me a cash flow summary for this month.

What are my largest outgoing transactions in the past 30 days?

How has my cash position changed over the last 6 months?

Anomaly Detection

Are there any unusual or large transactions I should review?

Flag any accounts where spending increased more than 20% compared to last month.

Are there any entries that appear to be duplicates?

Journal Entries

List recent journal entries related to payroll.

Show me all entries posted to the marketing expense account this quarter.

Which entries are still pending approval?

Data Scope Limitation

The assistant can only answer questions about data that exists in your accounting module. It cannot retrieve data from external systems, prior fiscal years that were not imported, or accounts with no entries. If it cannot find relevant data, it will tell you explicitly rather than guessing.

Saving Reports

After the assistant generates a summary or analysis, a Save as Report button appears in the bottom dock of the panel. Click it to save the AI response as a named report in My Reports.

Ask your question

→

AI generates response

→

Click Save as Report

→

Report saved to My Reports

The report title is automatically generated from your prompt, combined with the current month and year (e.g., "Cash flow summary for October 2025 - October 2025"). You can rename or edit the report at any time from My Reports.

Editing Saved Reports

Saved accounting AI reports appear in My Workspace → My Reports. Click the pencil icon on any report row to open it in edit mode — you can refine the title, add commentary, or correct any phrasing before sharing with your team.

AI Engine Settings

The Accounting AI Assistant uses the Writer Engine setting from Settings → General → Writer Engine. This determines which AI backend processes your questions:

Engine	How it works	When to use
API (default)	Sends request to Anthropic API using `claude-sonnet-4-6`	Best quality; requires `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY` on the server
Local CLI	Spawns `claude --print` via Claude Code CLI	Offline use or when API key is not configured; requires Claude Code installed
Local LLM	Uses BERT for intent classification only; text generation not supported	Classification tasks only — the assistant will return an error for generation requests

Change the engine in Settings → General → Writer Engine. The Accounting AI Assistant automatically uses whichever engine is selected without any additional configuration.

Panel Controls Reference

Control	Location	Function
Maximize	Panel header — top right	Expands panel to full screen; content is centered at readable width
Close	Panel header — top right	Closes the panel; the vertical tab on the right edge re-appears
History	Panel header — second row	Toggles the history panel showing past conversations from this session
New Chat	Panel header — second row	Saves the current conversation to history and opens a fresh session
Suggestion chips	Empty chat state — centre area	Pre-written prompts; click to send immediately
Save as Report	Bottom dock — above input	Saves last AI response as a named report in My Reports
Input textarea + Send	Bottom dock — always visible	Type your question and press Enter or click Send

Frequently Asked Questions

Can the assistant create journal entries or modify my accounting data?

No. The Accounting AI Assistant is read-only. It can query and analyze your data but cannot create, update, or delete any accounting records. All data modifications must be made through the standard accounting interface.

How much of my accounting data does the assistant see?

The assistant receives a structured snapshot of your current accounting data — account names and balances, recent journal entries (up to a configurable limit), and period totals. The snapshot is scoped to your tenant and is never shared with other tenants or users.

Does the assistant remember previous sessions after I close the browser?

Conversation history is stored in-memory for the current browser session only. If you close the tab or browser, history is cleared. Use Save as Report before ending your session if you need to keep the output permanently.

The assistant says it cannot find data I know exists. What should I check?

Confirm that the data has been saved (not just entered in a form but not submitted). Some data may require a page refresh before it appears in the assistant's snapshot. Start a New Chat to force a fresh data pull and try your question again.

Can I share an AI-generated report with a colleague?

Yes. Save the response as a report first (Save as Report button), then open it from My Reports. From the report viewer you can download it as a document or copy the content. Reports are saved to your tenant's data store and accessible by other users with appropriate permissions.

How do I adjust the width of the assistant panel?

Go to Settings → AI Assistant → Panel Width and choose Small, Medium, or Large. The setting applies immediately and persists across sessions.