The control board
The control board records which steps ran and when: initial checks, roll-forward, import, reconciliation, refresh, and review, followed by separate exchange-rate and return imports.
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The Factory Floor
Follow one year-end provision through its six steps, from receiving the packages to handing the work to your team, with people making the decisions.
Each machine runs one step of the control sheet. Try the small example at each step.
Use Next, or scroll over the floor, to move from step to step. The bar at the bottom shows each step's status as you try the examples.
Step 1 of 6 · Receive packages
Work arrives messy.
Data arrives from the accounting system, finance teams and paper. Most of it has to be transformed before it fits the workbook. Some of it needs a person first.
Three inputs arrive. Two route to machines. A scanned letter routes to a person, who reviews its flagged field before sending the approved record to the line.
Step 2 of 6 · Extract source figures
Every number is traceable.
Figures from a document go into a table, with a link back to their source. Select a number below to see where it came from. Uncertain readings are flagged for review.
A source page and its extracted table. Every row points back to where it came from, and one is flagged for review.
Step 3 of 6 · Roll forward and calculate
Update the workbook, skip the repetition.
Your team keeps working in Excel. Automation handles the repeated steps, such as imports and calculations. Change an input below to see the linked figures update.
In this example, entity income and exchange rates feed the tax calculations and the group total. Changing an input updates the linked figures.
Step 4 of 6 · Review checks
Try to sneak an error past it.
This example recalculates twelve checks from its own source records before the file goes to review. Try changing a figure below. A failed check holds the file and tells you what changed and where to look.
For example, changing Entity Charlie's income from 1,050 to −1,050 creates two failures: its sign no longer matches the source, and the entity balances no longer add up to the reported 8,000. With JavaScript enabled, you can try this and two other errors.
Step 5 of 6 · Record judgment: valuation allowance
The machine prepares. A person decides.
The system sets out the evidence and the arithmetic for a valuation allowance, then waits. A reviewer weighs the evidence and chooses, and the file keeps a record of the choice.
One entity, year end 2025. Prepared for review.
| Non-capital loss carryforward | $2,000,000 |
|---|---|
| Expires | 2044 |
| Tax rate | 25% |
| Gross deferred tax asset$2,000,000 × 25% | $500,000 |
| Income (loss), 2023 | ($400,000) |
|---|---|
| Income (loss), 2024 | ($500,000) |
| Income (loss), 2025 | $300,000 |
| Three years combineda cumulative three-year loss | ($600,000) |
| Projected taxable income, 2026 to 2028about $400,000 a year | $1,200,000 |
|---|---|
| Supported by a signed multi-year customer contract. | |
| Realizable at 25%$1,200,000 × 25% | $300,000 |
Three choices, and what each does to the deferred tax asset:
| Choice | Valuation allowance | Net deferred tax asset | Added deferred tax expense |
|---|---|---|---|
| No allowance | $0 | $500,000 | $0 |
| Partial allowance | $200,000 | $300,000 | $200,000 |
| Full allowance | $500,000 | $0 | $500,000 |
The work waits for a person to choose, then records that choice. With JavaScript enabled, you can make the choice here.
Step 6 of 6 · Hand over
Your team can run it.
We build with your team, then hand over the automation, operating instructions, and checks. Your team learns to run the work, with support while it takes over.
A handoff includes the automation, step-by-step instructions, checks, training, and an agreed plan for support.
Case studies
Case studies
See the work and its results.
These case studies and articles show how the approach works in practice. The figures below come from the published SR&ED case study.
- 97% less hands-on effort than the manual baseline
- 3× faster end to end
- $23 total AI cost to run the workflow
Case study
Why pure agents are not enough
Read → Case studyAutomating Complex Tax Provision Roll-Forward
Read → Case studyAutomating away 80 clicks
Read → ArticleThe New Way of Working with Excel
Read → ArticleThe Cash Cost of AI Automation
Read → ArticleDISRUPTION ≠ DESTRUCTION
Read → ArticleWhy a Superpower Isn't Enough
Read → ArticleVolume Is the Enemy: Automating for Attention
Read → ArticleArchitects, Agents, and Excel Machines: Preparing the Next Generation of Tax Operations
Read → ArticleEnglish as Code; LLMs as Operating Systems
Read →There is more to explore: articles, automation examples, and a closer look at the workbook.
Continue the tour →Articles
Articles
Articles from the work.
Practical writing on Excel and automation, alongside ideas about AI and tax operations.
Excel wing
Excel and automation practice
Wall 1
Case studyWhy pure agents are not enough Case studyAutomating Complex Tax Provision Roll-Forward Case studyAutomating away 80 clicks ArticleThe New Way of Working with Excel ArticleThe Cash Cost of AI Automation ArticleVolume Is the Enemy: Automating for Attention ArticleArchitects, Agents, and Excel Machines: Preparing the Next Generation of Tax Operations
All case studies → General wing
Strategy and AI
Wall 1
ArticleDISRUPTION ≠ DESTRUCTION ArticleWhy a Superpower Isn't Enough ArticleEnglish as Code; LLMs as Operating Systems ArticleThe most potent application of AI ArticleYour Digital Foundations Matter More Than Ever ArticleNo Time to Learn, No Room to Fix: The Catch-22 of Modern Tax Teams ArticleYou Can Just Do Things ArticleFrom Manual to AI-Augmented: A Practical Exercise in Tax Research ArticleAI Literacy: Communicating with the Machines ArticleA Profession at an Inflection Point ArticleFour Problems Facing our Departments ArticleThe Most Advanced o1 Model Still Needs a Professional Behind It. ArticleIs genAI part of your 2025 planning? ArticleTesting GPT o1 preview (a Tax POV) Article(Re)starting your genAI journey ArticleTopical Research with ChatGPT ArticleChatGPT takes on the "Volume" Problem ArticleThe Rise of Rogue Prompters: When your Employees Outpace Your Organization's AI Maturity
All articles → Automation examples
Automation examples
Four ways to organize the work.
These illustrations show common ways to connect tasks, inputs, and people. Open an example to read more.
- The chain
- The output from one task becomes the input for the next.
- By hand and on rails
- Automate repeated steps while people review the work and decide what to do.
- The hub
- Workbooks and reports draw from the same approved figures.
- The machinist
- Professionals choose the approach, operate the tools, and review the results.
Workbook before and after
See what the workbook did.
Compare seven parts of the workbook before and after a recorded run. These captures are recorded; opening them does not run the workbook.
- 8 entities
- 3 jurisdictions
- 65 checks in the demo
Captured from a real run of the demo workbook.
Talk through your team's workflow.
Tell me where your team spends time collecting inputs, updating workbooks, or checking the results. We can discuss where automation might help.
The roll-forward
The roll-forward saved the completed period, carried the closing balances into the new year, and checked the opening balances against them.
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Jurisdiction package intake
The import brought the current-year Canadian, US, and UK tax packages into one table for the eight entities.
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FX translation
The highlighted 2026 rows show the exchange-rate import replacing the carried USD and GBP rates with rates from the current-year file.
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Return to provision
The return import identifies differences for capital, vacation, and donations after the roll-forward. Those differences feed the deferred tax adjustments.
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The check board
Review ran all sixty-five checks after the current-year inputs and return figures were imported. Sixty-two passed; three were waiting for approval.
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Eight-entity consolidation
Refresh updated the eight entity columns, applied eliminations, and rebuilt the consolidated current-year statement.
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