Example agent design
CAS Month-End Close Agent for CPA Firms
A CAS month-end close agent works the firm's close checklist for each client, queues uncategorized transactions, unreconciled items, and unusual variances, and drafts client questions and proposed entries for the accountant to approve. This is a starting design. An AI Blueprint adapts it to your goals and the systems it will connect to.
It supports bookkeeping and close work. It is not a review, a compilation, or an opinion, and an independence review comes before it touches an attest client's systems.
- Owner
- The CAS manager or client accountant, who approves every entry
- Reads
- The client's ledger and bank and card activity in QuickBooks Online · The firm's close checklist · The prior month's close
- Never writes
- Entries, closed periods, or categorization changes without accountant approval. It sends no client question unapproved and takes no management decision for a client.
- Typical cost
- AI Blueprint $4,500–$7,500, credited toward the build. Typical first build $18,000–$35,000, or start local at $4,500–$9,500. Agent Operations after launch $2,500/mo for one production agent. See the first engagement
The workflow
The month-end close today and with the agent
Planning comparison only. Scope, timing, and outcomes vary by data, workflow, approvals, adoption, and implementation conditions.
- Uncategorized transactions
- TodayFound item by item while working the checklist.
- With the agentQueued with the transaction detail for the accountant to categorize.
- Unreconciled items
- TodayWorked account by account at month end.
- With the agentListed by account, with each open item and its date.
- Unusual variances
- TodayFound when the accountant compares months by hand.
- With the agentFlagged against the prior month's close for the accountant to review.
- Client questions
- TodayWritten one email at a time.
- With the agentDrafted together for the accountant to approve before they go out.
- Proposed entries
- TodayDrafted and posted by the accountant.
- With the agentDrafted for the accountant to approve; nothing posts on its own.
How it runs
Five steps from checklist to closed month
An illustrative solution design, not a reported client result. The AI Blueprint maps it to the firm's own close checklist and clients.
- 01
Approve the checklist
The firm's close checklist and variance thresholds become the rules the CAS manager approves.
Accountant review point
- 02
Read the month
Reads the client's ledger and bank and card activity in QuickBooks Online.
- 03
Surface the exceptions
Lists uncategorized transactions, unreconciled items, and variances against the prior month's close.
- 04
Draft questions and entries
Drafts client questions and proposed entries and holds them for the accountant.
Accountant review point
- 05
The accountant closes the month
The accountant approves, posts, and closes. The agent never posts an entry or closes a period.
Accountant review point
Systems
The systems it reads
- Client ledger
- The client's books in QuickBooks Online, including bank and card activity.
- Close checklist
- The firm's checklist and variance thresholds, approved by the CAS manager.
- Prior close
- Last month's close, for comparison.
Technologies ITECS evaluates and integrates through supported import, export, or API methods confirmed in discovery; listing a product does not imply a formal partnership or a native connector.
Controls
Read-heavy and write-controlled by design
- Read-heavy
- Reads the systems listed above through access scoped to this workflow.
- Write-controlled
- Writes nothing listed under Never writes in the spec at the top of this page. Anything it drafts waits at the approval points below.
- Approval points
- The accountant approves every proposed entry and client question. Nothing posts or reaches the client without that approval.
- Audit trail
- Each run keeps its inputs, sources, output, and the reviewer's decision.
In this design
- Before the agent touches an attest client's systems, the firm's independence partner reviews it, and the agent never takes a management decision for any client.
- Its output supports bookkeeping and close work. It is not a review, a compilation, or an opinion, and its analyses are not audit evidence.
- Return and client information is processed and stored in the US only, under no-training terms and written Section 6713 and 7216 confidentiality terms, and the agent is recorded in the firm's written security plan as an overseen service provider.
- Whether a client's consent is needed under Section 7216 stays with the firm's counsel.
- No agent signs, files, or posts anything. Returns, Form 8879, e-files, engagement letters, and entries stay with the named professional.
- ITECS does not provide tax, accounting, or legal advice through its agents, and no design promises an outcome. The agent drafts and flags; the firm's CPAs review the work and make every determination.
Deployment fit
Where this design can run
- Hosted AI Agents
- Runs in a governed Linux environment ITECS operates, on frontier models through enterprise API agreements, connected to QuickBooks Online and the firm's close checklist through controlled integrations, with human review and an audit trail.
- Local AI Agents
- A Local variant runs one accountant's close checklist in their own Claude, Codex, or Copilot workspace, over client files that accountant already reaches. A multi-client, scheduled close runs hosted.
Typical first engagement
Start with an AI Blueprint
The AI Blueprint sets the actual build rung and its fixed-fee not-to-exceed. The rows below show the typical path and the catalog range for each step.
- FirstAI BlueprintAgent Discovery & Technical Specification. Credited toward the build.$4,500–$7,500
- Typical first buildSingle-Workflow Production AgentIt is a single-workflow build because it runs one primary workflow, the close checklist, with a human-in-the-loop review path.$18,000–$35,000
- Or start localLocal Agent SprintOne workflow · 1–2 data sources$4,500–$9,500
- After launchAgent Operations, one production agent$2,500/mo
Prices from the published AI pricing catalog. Every guided or delivered agent build is archived in the ITECS client vault: workspace configuration, skills, prompt libraries, data-source maps, and usage documentation.
Customize this design
Bring your goals and your systems. The AI Blueprint decides the scope and the systems, not this example, and ends with a fixed-fee not-to-exceed for the build.
FAQ
CAS Month-End Close Agent FAQ
Does the agent post entries or close the month?
No. It drafts proposed entries and client questions for the accountant. The accountant approves, posts, and closes the period.
Can we use it for a client the firm also audits?
Only after the firm's independence partner reviews it, before the agent touches that client's systems. The agent never takes a management decision; the client's management and the firm's accountants keep those.
Is its output a review or a compilation?
No. It supports the firm's bookkeeping and close work. It does not perform a review, a compilation, or an audit, and its analyses are not audit evidence.
Can one accountant start on their own desktop?
Yes. A Local Agent Sprint builds one accountant's close agent in their own Claude, Codex, or Copilot workspace. When the firm needs a scheduled, multi-client close, multi-user access, or an audit trail, it moves to a hosted build.
Is this tax or accounting advice?
No. ITECS does not provide tax, accounting, or legal advice through its agents. The agent applies rules the firm approved and drafts or flags for review; the firm's CPAs make every determination, and no design promises an outcome.
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