Before
Finance staff likely had to extract bank and ERP records, normalize the data, and compare transactions manually across systems. They also had to investigate mismatches, prepare journal entries, send them for approval, post approved adjustments, and maintain a separate reconciliation log.
How it works
- The scheduled flow ingests the latest bank and ERP data and standardizes dates, amounts, names, and required transaction fields.
- It matches records, analyzes unmatched items for timing, amount, or duplication issues, and creates journal entry proposals for unresolved discrepancies.
- Finance approves or rejects each proposal, after which approved entries are posted to the ERP and the complete process is recorded in the reconciliation log.
Workflow details
- Data ingestion and preparation: On each scheduled run, the workflow retrieves the latest bank feed transactions and ERP ledger entries, then standardizes dates, amounts, merchant names, account names, and required fields so both datasets can be compared consistently.
- Reconciliation and mismatch analysis: The automation compares transactions using amounts, date proximity, and normalized merchant or account information. It separates matched records from flagged items and analyzes potential timing differences, amount variances, and duplicate transactions.
- Journal entry creation: For unresolved discrepancies, the workflow proposes journal entries to record missing ERP transactions or adjust differences. Each proposal includes the entry date, affected account, debit or credit amount, and explanation.
- Finance approval and ERP posting: Proposed journal entries are presented to the finance team with contextual information and approval or rejection controls. Approved entries are posted to the ERP and marked with a successful or failed status, while rejected entries remain available for further review.
- Reconciliation reporting: The workflow records bank transactions, ERP entries, matches, flagged items, journal entries, approval comments, timestamps, and ERP update results in a Financial Reconciliation Logs Airtable base shared with the finance team.
What changed
Reconciliation, mismatch analysis, journal entry drafting, approval routing, ERP posting, and status logging now occur in one scheduled workflow. Finance retains the approval decision, while the automation prepares the evidence, records the decision, posts approved entries, and reports any posting errors.
Work removed
Extracting and reformatting bank and ERP records, comparing transactions one by one, investigating timing, amount, and duplicate mismatches, drafting adjustment journal entries, sending entries for approval, copying approval details into a reconciliation log, and checking the final ERP posting status.
Expected outcome
Each scheduled run produces a traceable reconciliation record with discrepancies explained, adjustments reviewed before posting, and a clear outcome for every approved ERP update.
