E-invoices arrive in the accounting software on their own, bank statements are imported automatically, and recurring expenses are posted according to rules. Artificial intelligence can already suggest which account an invoice belongs to. Accounting is faster than ever before, and that's good news.
Speed, however, doesn't yet mean correct numbers. The VAT return, the annual report and management decisions all rely on the same data the system produces automatically. If the setup is wrong, everything built on top of it is wrong too. That's why in automated accounting the chief accountant's role becomes bigger, not smaller.
Automation repeats mistakes; a person makes them once
If an accountant manually enters an invoice to the wrong account, that's one mistake. If the same mistake is written into an automatic rule, it repeats with every similar invoice, month after month. The entries look correct, the totals add up and nobody notices anything until the VAT return, the income statement or the auditor shows that something is wrong.
So automation doesn't remove the need for checks. What changes is what gets checked: instead of each individual entry, you need to review the rules, integrations and data flows that produce the entries.
Principles come before software
An automatic rule is simply the technical implementation of an accounting policy. If the policies haven't been agreed, you're automating randomness. Before you start setting things up, it should be clear:
- what the company's chart of accounts is, and which cost centres, projects or units need to be tracked separately;
- who approves invoices and under what conditions;
- how prepayments, income and expenses spanning several periods, and asset purchases are treated;
- which checks are done at the end of the month before reports are issued.
These decisions are made by the chief accountant together with the company's management. Only then does it make sense to set up the software.
Example: a correct entry, the wrong picture
A company sells a client an annual maintenance contract and issues the invoice in January. An automatic rule posts the whole amount as January sales revenue. Technically there's nothing wrong with the entry: the invoice exists and the amount is correct.
Economically, however, the picture is distorted. January looks very profitable and the other eleven months loss-making, even though the service is provided evenly throughout the year. If management makes decisions on this basis – for example, hiring someone new on the strength of January's result – it can prove expensive. A chief accountant recognises this kind of situation and sets up revenue accrual so that monthly results are comparable.
Several systems, one truth
A growing company rarely uses just one programme. An e-shop or POS system, inventory software, payroll software, document workflow and accounting all run side by side. Each system can be in order on its own, but discrepancies arise precisely at the integration points: a sale is in the e-shop but not in the accounts, stock levels don't match the balance sheet, returns go unrecorded.
The chief accountant's job is to look at the whole: compare the systems with each other, find out why the numbers don't match, and fix the problems at source, not just in the accounts.
The accountant sets things up, the chief accountant fine-tunes them
An experienced accountant can set up the bank integration, e-invoice reception and rules for recurring expenses well. The chief accountant's work begins where the question is no longer “how is the entry created?” but “do these numbers describe the company correctly?”:
- reporting that answers management's real questions;
- profitability views by product, project or unit;
- cash flow forecasting and comparing plans with reality;
- regular review and fine-tuning of the automatic rules.
At KL Raamatupidamine, accountants, chief accountants, financial controllers and CFOs work in one team. Automation and AI are our everyday tools, but responsibility for the numbers stays with people.
What this means for entrepreneurs
Incorrectly configured automation doesn't announce itself. The consequences come later: an incorrect VAT return and the tax risks that come with it, an annual report that doesn't give a true picture of the company, or management decisions based on distorted numbers.
The volume of automatically processed documents is growing fast, because since 1 July 2025 a business has the right to demand an e-invoice from another business. The more data flows without human hands, the more important it is that the foundations are right.
Summary
Software does exactly what it has been taught. The value of a chief accountant lies in making sure the teaching is right and that someone regularly checks whether the result actually reflects the company. Automated accounting is fast. Good automated accounting is fast and reliable.
If your accounting is already automated but you're not sure whether you can trust the numbers, let's review it together. Read also how accounting clean-up helps, and what monthly financial controlling.
Can you trust your automation?
Our chief accountant will review your rules, integrations and reports and tell you honestly what needs fixing.