Sort months of bank and card exports into categories with AI, flag duplicates and missing receipts, and hand your bookkeeper a cleaner file to cut catch-up fees.
Who it is for
Owners months behind on books, often across several businesses, facing a catch-up or clean-up bill.
Tools
Bank and card CSV exports, month by month
Claude or ChatGPT with file upload
Your chart of accounts or category list
Steps
Export each month as CSV per account. Delete account numbers and keep date, description and amount.
If you run several businesses, keep each one's files separate and say which business they belong to.
Upload one month at a time with the prompt below.
Work the flags: find receipts, answer the questions, split mixed personal and business charges.
Keep records. The IRS says to keep records that show income and expenses, generally at least 3 years, and employment tax records at least 4.
Give your bookkeeper the sorted file and the open questions, and ask for a quote on the remaining work.
The prompt
I uploaded [MONTH] bank and card transactions for [BUSINESS NAME]. Account numbers removed. Use only this file.
My categories: [LIST]
1. Suggest a category for each transaction with a one-line reason.
2. Mark REVIEW where unsure, DUPLICATE where it appears twice, PERSONAL? where it looks personal.
3. List transactions over [$75] that need a receipt.
4. List questions for my bookkeeper.
Do not guess vendor details that are not in the file.
Tips
One month and one business at a time keeps mistakes small.
The questions list is what saves your bookkeeper's time.
Fix the cause too: a separate business card stops the mess repeating.