Story 01
The margin nobody trusted.
A pricing question should not trigger another round of spreadsheet archaeology.
The familiar moment
The accounting system contained the transactions. The cost rules lived in spreadsheets. When someone needed the margin for an order, the team had to bring those pieces together again.
The calculation took time, but the larger problem was confidence. If two people could rebuild the answer differently, the conversation became a debate about the spreadsheet instead of a decision about the business.
What was really wrong
The business had the information it needed, but no shared, repeatable way to turn that information into a margin people could inspect and use.
Why this came first
Pricing decisions could not wait, the accounting data already existed, and the finance team could check every answer against the books.
The tempting shortcut
Why the obvious AI answer was not enough.
It would have been easy to ask an AI model to read the records and estimate the answer. That would have made the calculation less dependable. Margin follows agreed accounting rules; it should be calculated, not guessed.
What we built first
A useful workflow, small enough to prove.
We connected the accounting data to a reviewed cost model and rebuilt margin for each order. Anyone questioning a number can open the transactions and arithmetic behind it.
Source
01Start with the books
The accounting system remains the source for transactions. The workflow does not replace it with an AI-generated version of the facts.
Tool
02Calculate with reviewed rules
Code applies the cost rules consistently and keeps the arithmetic visible. The same order produces the same answer every time.
Agent
03Use AI around the calculation
An agent can surface unusual changes, gather context, and explain what deserves attention without inventing the underlying number.
How we knew it was working
Each order total could be traced to its transactions, and the complete cost model could be checked against the general ledger.
Where people stay in control
The accounting system remains the source. The finance team reviews anything that does not add up instead of the software hiding it.
What improved
The team can make pricing, product, and cost decisions from one set of numbers. They spend less time debating the spreadsheet and more time acting on what it shows.
Where the first workflow led
- A cost model that applies shared expenses to real orders
- Alerts when the numbers do not add up or the model needs review
- A daily list of the changes that deserve attention
- Tools for market research, company knowledge, and planning
Look at your own business