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Transactions

Import a closing statement with AI

Import with AI reads a document and suggests the transactions for one account. This guide walks through a real estate closing statement. The same steps apply to a bank statement.

Watch the walkthrough: Entering transactions using AI, 6 minutes. The video predates some changes to the app. Where they differ, follow this page.

The example

The decedent's primary residence has been sold. Its asset account needs these entries.

  • An opening balance for the value on the date of death.
  • Expenses paid at closing, such as the title company fee, real estate taxes, and the real estate commission.
  • A transfer to the mortgage liability account for the payoff.
  • A transfer of the net proceeds to the estate checking account, which closes out the asset.

You could enter these by hand. With the closing statement on file as a PDF, it is quicker to import it and check the result.

Steps

  1. Open the matter, click the Transactions tab, and choose the Primary Residence account in View transactions for.
  2. Click Import with AI.
  3. Upload the closing statement.
  4. Wait while Estate Bookkeeper extracts the text and parses the transactions.
  5. Review every suggested row, as described below.
  6. Click the Import button, which shows the number of transactions it will add.

Nothing is saved until you click Import.

What to check

The AI will not get everything right, and that is normal. Check two things on each row.

  • The amount. Compare it to the statement.
  • The other account. Change it in the Account column when the suggestion is wrong or missing.

Closing statements have a few items the AI often cannot place by itself.

  • Tax prorations. A proration credited to the seller is not an ordinary expense. In the example it was assigned to the Taxes Paid account, as a reduction of that expense.
  • Assessment credits. In the example a credit to the seller was assigned to an other receipts income account.
  • The mortgage payoff. Choose the mortgage liability account, so the payoff is recorded as a repayment and not as an expense.

Remove any row that should not be imported. Your firm may treat prorations and credits differently, so follow your own practice.

AI Instructions decide the result

The quality of the suggestions depends on the AI Instructions for the workspace. With no instructions, the AI has little to go on and gets most account choices wrong. With good instructions for real estate sales, it handles most of a closing statement.

Workspace owners write them under Workspace Settings, then AI Instructions, in the Transactions AI Instructions box. Every firm's instructions will differ, because every firm has its own chart of accounts and its own view of how much detail to report.

If the AI does not do what you expect, change the instructions and import the document again. Repeat until the suggestions come out right.

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