Step 1
Papers in any form.
A phone photo, a scan, a PDF, a spreadsheet, a bank file, several pages at once or a whole folder. Each one is kept exactly as it came, with proof that it has not changed.
Your books, done. Experts and AI working together.
Are you an accounting firm? See how it helps you help your clients
Your books, done. Experts and AI working together.
The film, in words: a year of your books
- Papers. A phone photo of an invoice arrives. It is rebuilt line by line; every line, the discount, the tax and the total are checked, and it is posted to Office supplies, to be paid, tied to its paper. The photo is kept as it came, with its proof. “It knows where every paper goes.”
- Questions. A rent bill could belong to the shop or to the store room. It waits for a person, and one question goes to the phone, with two choices taken from the books. The answer is “Shop”. The rule is learned, so the question is not asked again. “Not sure? It asks the right question. Once.”
- The bank. The bank lines arrive. The plain ones match at once; a card payment with no paper yet goes on the waiting list. One payment has no clear reference: it searches the books, finds three invoices of one customer with a bank fee taken off, and asks for approval. “Bank lines matched. Even the hard ones.”
- Follow-up. A list of what is waiting: a missing fuel receipt, an invoice number that never arrived, a customer who has not paid. It writes to the supplier, reminds after three days, then passes the matter to the manager, as the company set. The receipt arrives and is posted; the customer promises to pay on Friday. “It follows up until it is done.”
- Month end. Day 30. Recurring entries, accruals and prepayments are done, each exactly once; the bank and the registers agree with the books; the depreciation for the month is calculated. The month is approved by you and locked. The month’s returns, sales tax and payroll taxes, are prepared, ready to submit, and the next due dates are on a calendar with reminders. “Month closed. Returns prepared, ready to submit.”
- Your business. Next month. A nudge: more of one item is being ordered than is sold. The owner asks it to go through the last three months; it answers from the books, with the figures. Two more nudges: cash will be short in week 3, and one customer is paying slower than before. Then the owner asks: “What is our tax so far this year?” It answers with an estimate to date: profit before depreciation 9,640.00, depreciation calculated to date 820.00, profit to date 8,820.00, tax estimated to date 2,646.00. It uses this year’s depreciation, calculated to date; it is an estimate, until the year is closed. “It helps you run the business better.”
- Year end. The months of the year go by, February to November, each one closed. December, the year end: the depreciation for the year is calculated; the stock is counted and valued; the year’s figures are checked; the financial statements are prepared; the yearly income tax return is prepared, ready to submit. The year is approved by you and locked. “Year closed. Statements and tax return prepared.”
- Your control. Every approval of the year is on one trail: who approved what, and when. Every entry is tied to its paper. It never moves your money by itself. “You approve what matters.” The film ends on the promise: your books, done; experts and AI working together.
A year
A year of your books.
This is what happens to your books with SemaBooks, month by month and at the year end. It is a service, not a software: experts and AI work together, and the work gets done.
Chapter 1
It knows what to do.
Many systems take a paper in. Few know what to do with it.
Step 2
It reads an invoice like an accountant.
It does not just read a picture. It rebuilds the invoice in its mind and checks every line, every total, the tax and the discounts before anything is posted. A paper that does not add up, came twice, or belongs to someone else is stopped.
Step 3
Give it a paper, it knows where it goes.
A bill, a receipt, a contract or a statement: it knows what the paper is, which event it records, and where it belongs in your books. Papers that only support another one are kept with it, not booked twice.
Step 4
When it is not sure, it asks the right question.
One clear question, to the person who can answer it, with choices taken from your own books. An unclear paper waits for a person’s approval. Your answer becomes a rule, so the same question is not asked twice.
Chapter 2
The bank.
Bank lines matched, even the hard ones.
Others match the plain lines and leave the rest to you. It digs into the books for the rest: part payments, several invoices in one payment, wrong references, fees taken off. It proposes each match for your approval, or posts it by itself above a level of certainty your company sets.
Chapter 3
It owns the follow-up.
Every open question, missing paper and unanswered request, followed until it is done.
It keeps track of everything pending.
Every open question, missing paper and unanswered request is on one list: who was asked, about what, when, and when it is due. Nothing is left hanging.
It writes, reminds and escalates.
It tells you what is missing. When set up, it emails your customers, suppliers and staff on your behalf. If no answer comes, it reminds again, then moves up the escalation path your company sets. It sends emails and can connect to other messaging services.
It notices what never arrived.
A gap in invoice numbers, a bank line with no paper, a regular bill that did not come this month, a missing page in a statement. It sees the hole and asks for what should fill it.
It helps you get paid.
It knows what each customer owes, invoice by invoice, and how old each debt is. It sends statements and polite reminders on a set ladder, records promises to pay, and keeps a disputed invoice apart until it is settled.
Chapter 4
The work is done for you.
Invoices, payroll, registers, the month end and the returns. Prepared from your books, ready for you to approve.
Your invoices, including the recurring ones.
It makes your sales invoices and credit notes, numbered without gaps. Tell it a customer is invoiced every month, and each invoice is raised on its day, sent, and followed until paid.
Payroll, from changes to payslips.
It collects the month’s joiners, leavers, overtime and deductions for approval, works out pay from gross to net, makes payslips and the payment list, and keeps leave balances.
Every register kept complete.
Stock by item and by store, fixed assets and their depreciation, calculated, loans and their schedules, imports and their full landed cost, money in several currencies. Each register always agrees with the books.
Month end and year end, closed in order.
Accruals, prepayments and every recurring entry, exactly once. Depreciation is calculated for each month and for the year. The month is locked when you approve it. At year end it prepares a complete set of financial statements, and the file is ready when the auditor or the bank asks.
Tax returns prepared, ready to submit.
It keeps one calendar of every return and payment, with reminders well ahead. Each return is prepared from the books in the format the tax office requires: ready to upload where filing is online, ready to print and hand in where it is not. Sales tax or VAT, payroll taxes, pension contributions, withholding, prepayments and the yearly income tax return.
Chapter 5
Year end.
Every month is closed the same way. At year end it prepares a complete set of financial statements, and the file is ready when the auditor or the bank asks.
- Depreciation for the year: calculated.
- Stock counted and valued.
- The year’s figures checked.
- Financial statements prepared.
- The yearly income tax return prepared, ready to submit.
- Year locked. Approved by you.
Chapter 6
It helps you run the business better.
It has the intelligence of a good accountant and your books open at the same time. So it can help you see and improve far more than the bookkeeping, with a nudge when something needs your eye, or whenever you ask.
“You are ordering more of one item than you sell. A smaller next order?”
Keep stock at the right levels.
From how fast each item moves in each store, it helps you keep reordering at optimised levels, with a nudge before you over- or under-order. It also points out stock that has stopped selling, so you can decide to discount, return or write it down.
“Cash will be short in week 3.”
See your cash ahead, and cash sitting idle.
It keeps a forecast for the coming weeks and months, tells you early when cash will run short, and keeps money for taxes apart so it is not spent. When cash is not needed for a while, it shows you, so it does not sit idle.
“This customer is paying slower than before.”
Know which customers pay late.
It shows who is paying slower than before, who is over their credit limit, and what late payment is costing you. You hear about it before the next delivery goes out on credit.
“This bill looks paid twice. Check before paying?”
Pay suppliers on the best terms.
It proposes a weekly list of what to pay, by due date and by the cash you have. It helps you weigh an early-payment discount, and flags a bill that looks paid twice, a payment that looks unusual, or a supplier’s bank details that changed.
“One cost is out of line with last month.”
See where profit really comes from.
Margins by product, by customer and by branch. Each month read against your budget and against last month, with any cost that is out of line named and explained.
“Bank charges this month are above what was agreed.”
What you pay banks, lenders and insurers.
It checks bank charges and interest against what was agreed, lays loan, lease and cash options side by side before a big purchase, and compares your insurance cover with what you actually own.
Ask it anything about your business.
In plain words: “Go through the last three months and tell me if we are ordering too much of anything.” It answers from your books, with the figures that show it. The key numbers are always there at a glance, and a short regular report comes to you without asking.
Go through the last three months and tell me if we are ordering too much of anything.
Yes, one item. Item 12: ordered 600, sold 410 in three months. The others are in line with sales.
| Item | Ordered | Sold |
|---|---|---|
| Item 12 | 600 | 410 |
| Item 7 | 240 | 236 |
| Item 3 | 180 | 175 |
Chapter 7
You stay in control.
Every approval on one trail. Every entry tied to its paper. Your money moves only when you say so.
You approve what matters.
You decide who may approve what, and up to which amount. Payments, new suppliers, write-offs and returns wait for the right person. It never moves your money by itself.
Every figure has its proof.
Every entry is tied to its paper, both ways. Every act, approval and change is on a trail that cannot be quietly altered. A mistake is corrected by a clear reversing entry, never by an edit.
Your data stays yours.
Each company’s data and learned rules are kept apart from every other. Backups are automatic and checked. Everything can be taken out at any time: the books, the papers and the record of every decision.
How it starts
When you join, it first checks your existing books.
When you join, it examines your existing books: double entries, missing numbers, balances that do not agree, tax that does not match. You get a list of findings, largest first, each with its evidence and a proposed fix that you approve.
Findings, largest firstEach with its evidence and a proposed fix
01Tax on sales does not match the returns filedEvidence: 14 invoices, 3 returnsFix proposed: correcting entries
02The same supplier bill booked twiceEvidence: 2 entries, 1 paperFix proposed: reverse one entry
03Bank balance does not agree with the booksEvidence: 9 unmatched bank linesFix proposed: match and post
04Missing numbers in the sales invoicesEvidence: 4 numbers never usedFix proposed: ask, then note
Are you an accounting firm?
It helps you help your clients. Your team becomes the reviewers and approvers; the AI does the first pass, the chasing and the month end.
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