Orion's close agents
AI for month end close, built with your team. People still sign.
Six agents run the work around the close: keeping the checklist moving, drafting the recurring journals, matching the bank, preparing reconciliations, drafting flux explanations and watching cash and budget. Ferrata builds each one with your team on your template and rules, and sets it up at deployment.
Where judgment is used
Judgment where it helps, rules where they are fixed.
Ferrata builds Orion's close agents with each company and sets them up at deployment, on the same records Orion's tools use. Each agent has one job, starts with every step reviewed, and runs on its own only within the level you give it.
| Fixed in code | Judgment by an agent | |
|---|---|---|
| Bank lines | Matching by reference, amount and date under your rules | The likeliest match where the reference is missing |
| Reconciliations | Tying each account, thresholds, rolling items forward | A first explanation for each difference |
| Flux | Which movements are over threshold | A first draft of why each one moved |
| Journals | Schedules, amounts and accounts from their source | A note when an amount falls outside last period's range |
| Sign-off and money | Never done by an agent | Never done by an agent |
Agent 01 · Run the close
Close coordinator
Keeps the period's checklist moving, so every owner knows what is due and what it waits on.
Opens the period, tells each owner what is due, and marks what is ready for review.
Month-end close, the tool it works in- Takes
- Every task in the open period, for every entity
- Runs
- Each close day, and whenever evidence lands
- On its own
- Opens the period from your template, sends each owner what is due today, marks a task ready for review once its evidence is in
- A person decides
- Every review and sign-off, changes to the template, reassigning a reviewer
- Step 1RuleOpens the period from your templateCode
- Step 2RuleReads which tasks have their evidence inCode
- Step 3JudgmentWrites each owner a short note on what is due and whyModel
- Step 4RuleHands every review to the assigned reviewerCode
Agent 02 · Run the close
Journal preparer
Drafts the period's recurring journals, each with the support a reviewer needs.
Accruals, prepaids, payroll and reclasses, drafted with their support for a person to post.
Payroll in the close, the tool it works in- Takes
- Recurring journals in your template, the payroll run and received-not-billed from Cortex
- Runs
- On the close days your template sets
- On its own
- Drafts each journal from its schedule or source, attaches the support, flags any amount outside last period's range
- A person decides
- Posting every journal, changing a schedule, any one-off entry
- Step 1RuleReads each schedule and its source recordsCode
- Step 2RuleDrafts the journal by entity, department and accountCode
- Step 3JudgmentExplains any amount outside last period's rangeModel
- Step 4RuleHands the draft to a person with posting rightsCode
Agent 03 · Reconcile
Bank matching
Matches every bank line to the receipt, payment or journal behind it, including batches and runs.
Deposits to Atlas receipts, withdrawals to Cortex payments, the rest to the GL.
Bank feeds, the tool it works in- Takes
- Every statement line for every account
- Runs
- As each day's lines arrive
- On its own
- Matches lines by your rules, finds the receipts in a batch or the payments in a run, proposes a match where the reference is missing
- A person decides
- Every adjusting entry, every new matching rule, a match it cannot make within your rules
- Step 1RuleReads each line as the bank sent itCode
- Step 2RuleMatches by reference, amount and date under your rulesCode
- Step 3JudgmentProposes the likeliest match where the reference is missingModel
- Step 4RuleNames every line left over, with its ownerCode
Agent 04 · Reconcile
Reconciliation preparer
Prepares each balance sheet reconciliation and intercompany pair, with a first explanation for every difference.
Every account tied to its subledger, the bank or the other entity, ready for review.
Reconciliations, the tool it works in- Takes
- Every balance sheet account and intercompany pair in the period
- Runs
- Through the close, as records change
- On its own
- Ties each account to its source, rolls open items forward, writes a first explanation for each difference from the records behind it
- A person decides
- Preparer and reviewer sign-off, every adjusting journal, every write-off
- Step 1RuleReads both sides of the account for the periodCode
- Step 2RuleTies them under your rules and thresholdsCode
- Step 3JudgmentWrites a first explanation for each differenceModel
- Step 4RuleHands the reconciliation to its preparer and reviewerCode
Agent 05 · Watch the business
Flux and variance
Writes a first explanation for each movement over threshold, from the transactions that made it.
A first draft of why each account moved, for its owner to accept or rewrite.
Flux and variance, the tool it works in- Takes
- Every movement over your threshold, against prior period, prior year and budget
- Runs
- Once the period's postings are in, and again as they change
- On its own
- Opens the transactions behind each movement, groups them by cause, drafts an explanation with the figures that support it
- A person decides
- The owner accepts or rewrites every explanation; a reviewer accepts it before sign-off
- Step 1RuleLists every movement over thresholdCode
- Step 2RuleOpens the transactions behind each one, by sourceCode
- Step 3JudgmentDrafts why it moved, with the supporting figuresModel
- Step 4RuleHands the draft to the account's ownerCode
Agent 06 · Watch the business
Cash and budget watch
Keeps the 13-week forecast current and tells each budget owner when a line heads over.
Refreshes the forecast as records change and tells owners about budget lines heading over.
Cash flow forecast, the tool it works in- Takes
- The forecast, every budget line and its owner
- Runs
- Each morning, and as records change
- On its own
- Refreshes the 13 weeks, writes what changed since last week's view, tells a budget owner when actual and committed spend head over
- A person decides
- Every scenario and assumption, every budget change, every decision about cash
- Step 1RuleRebuilds the 13 weeks from the recordsCode
- Step 2RuleCompares it with last week's viewCode
- Step 3JudgmentWrites what changed and why, in plain wordsModel
- Step 4RuleTells each budget owner about lines heading overCode
The rule every close agent works under
Reviewed first. Never the signature.
Ferrata builds Orion's close agents with each company and sets them up at deployment. Every agent starts with each step reviewed by a person and runs on its own only within the level you give it. No agent posts a journal, writes off a difference, signs off a reconciliation, locks a period or moves money: those are always a person's.
- 01Every agent starts with each step reviewed. An Owner or Admin sets the level it may run at on its own.
- 02No agent signs off a task, a reconciliation or a period, and none locks or reopens one.
- 03No agent posts a journal. It drafts, with the support, for a person with posting rights.
- 04Orion never moves money. It reads bank lines and payment records; your own bank and payment runs move the money.
- 05Every run is recorded step by step, append-only: what it read, what it drafted and who decided.
FAQ
Orion's close agents, run end to end.
What do the close agents do on their own?
Ferrata builds Orion's close agents with each company and sets them up at deployment. Every agent starts with each step reviewed by a person and runs on its own only within the level you give it. No agent posts a journal, writes off a difference, signs off a reconciliation, locks a period or moves money: those are always a person's.
Can an agent sign off or lock a period?
No. Every sign-off, every lock and every reopen is a person's, recorded with their name. Agents prepare, match, draft and tell people what is due.
Do the agents post journals?
No. The journal preparer drafts each journal with its support, and a person with posting rights posts it to your ERP.
Do the agents move money?
Orion never moves money. It reads bank lines and payment records; your own bank and payment runs move the money.
How are the agents set up?
Ferrata builds them with your team at deployment, on your close template, thresholds and rules, and checks each one on last month's close before it runs on the current period.
How does an agent earn more autonomy?
Every agent starts with each step reviewed by a person. An Owner or Admin can let one run on its own within a level, such as matching bank lines under a set amount. Anything outside that level waits for a person.
The tools they work in
- Month-end closeThe close checklist and every task by period, with its owner, its status and the evidence behind it.View
- ReconciliationsBank, balance sheet and intercompany reconciliations in one workspace, each with its preparer, reviewer and evidence.View
- Period close and sign-offA period closes when the checks pass and the people your company names sign it, and then it is locked.View
- Flux and varianceEvery account's movement against last period, last year and budget, with the transactions behind it and a reason for each one over threshold.View
See Orion's close agents on your own close.
Bring last month's close: the checklist, the reconciliations and the trial balance. We run it through Orion beside your team and show you where it would have tied, and give you an honest answer if the close is slow for a reason upstream that you should fix first.
Your close calendar, chart of accounts, thresholds, reviewers and sign-off order are yours, and they stay yours. Orion is configured to the way your team closes. You are not handing over a playbook or fitting into a template.