Excel and finance-workflow automation

Less manual spreadsheet work. Clear checks. A process your team can run.

For controllers and finance managers at growing companies whose close still runs on spreadsheets one person understands.

MatchPass automates recurring Excel-based finance work, with built-in checks, clear explanations for exceptions, and documentation your team can use. We scope one workflow at a time, agree how success will be tested, and hand over the files and guidance to run it.

Discuss your workflow Explore the Excel demo

No files or preparation needed for the initial conversation. Not sure it is worth it? Run the 2-minute Workflow Payback Check.

Checks · September closeSynthetic demo
Required columns present3 exportsPass
Duplicate rows counted once1 foundFlagged
Opening AR agrees to GL13,365.50Pass
Period invoices agree to GL17,095.25Pass
Receipts agree to GL12,160.00Pass
Difference explained by unapplied cash2,725.00Pass
Items requiring finance review4 itemsReview
Fictional distributor. Not a client result.Run it yourself →

Familiar workflow problems

The same spreadsheet work, every month

These are the workflows we look for. They repeat, they follow rules most of the time, and they cost more attention than they should.

01Combining the same exports every monthReceivables, receipts, the ledger or a bank file pasted into one workbook again, by hand, in a slightly different order each time.
02Repeating the same cleanup and matchingTrimming columns, fixing dates, then matching payments to invoices line by line with lookups and filters.
03Checking that totals agreeTicking subtotals back to the general ledger or a control report, and hoping nothing was pasted twice.
04Duplicates, missing items and unexplained differencesA difference shows up late in the close and someone spends an afternoon finding a duplicated row or a missing receipt.
05A workbook only one person understandsFormulas, hidden tabs and steps that live in someone’s head, which makes holidays and handovers risky.
If two or more of these sound familiar, the workflow is probably worth a conversation.

Examples

See it on a monthly AR reconciliation

A fictional distributor exports receivables, cash receipts and the general ledger every month. The demonstration refreshes them into a checked reconciliation. Every figure below is calculated from that synthetic data by the same logic the demo runs.

Before · monthly exports

  • 3 exports pasted together by hand
  • 14 invoice rows, one of them duplicated by the export
  • 7 receipts to match, some without a reference
  • A GL control balance of 18,300.75 to agree

After · one refresh

  • 5 receipts allocated by written rules
  • 2 receipts held for review, not forced
  • 4 items requiring finance review, plus 1 duplicate-source warning
  • Difference of 2,725.00 explained, 0.00 unexplained
Explore the Excel demo Synthetic data · not a client result

“Allocated” means matched within the synthetic reconciliation. The demonstration does not post receipts or journal entries to any accounting system.

Looking for the e-commerce reconciliation demo? The Northshore Supply Co. reference build, a multi-source payout and clearing-account reconciliation, now has its own page.

Open the reference build

What an engagement includes

Built, checked, documented and handed over

Each engagement covers one agreed workflow from start to finish. What you get is something your team can run, inspect and change, not a black box.

  1. Workflow mapping and scopeWe map the sources, steps, rules and judgment calls, and agree in writing what is in scope and how it will be accepted.
  2. Automation suited to your environmentBuilt in the tools your team already uses. Often formulas and Power Query, and a script or macro only where it genuinely helps.
  3. Validation and reconciliation checksRequired columns, duplicates, completeness and control totals checked every run. Missing or unreadable data stops the run. Differences are shown for investigation and the run is marked as needing review.
  4. Exceptions with reasonsAnything that does not satisfy a written rule is listed with the reason, the source rows and a suggested next step.
  5. Documented logic and change notesEvery rule and check written down, and a change log that records what changed, why and who approved it.
  6. User guide and handoverA short guide for the people who run it monthly, and a walkthrough so the workflow does not depend on us.
  7. Your review and acceptanceYou test it against the agreed criteria. The engagement is complete when it meets them, not when we say so.

How an engagement runs, step by step →

Who is responsible for what

Clear boundaries, agreed before work starts

Your team

  • Accounting policy and professional judgment
  • Approval of the rules and the treatment of exceptions
  • Access permissions, granted and revoked by you
  • Review of the output and final acceptance

MatchPass

  • Workflow analysis and mapping
  • Implementation in the agreed environment
  • The agreed tests and checks
  • Documentation and handover
  • Correction of defects in the agreed implementation, within scope

MatchPass is not an accounting firm and does not provide audit, assurance or accounting advice. The workflow supports your process. It does not certify it.

Guides

Practical guides on Excel finance automation

Written for the people who run the close. Each one says when the existing setup is already good enough.

Power QueryAutomate a monthly reconciliation in ExcelCombine the exports, clean them once, match with merges and keep the unmatched items visible.Read the guide → ControlsSeven checks every close spreadsheet should runRequired columns, duplicates, completeness and agreement to the ledger, built into the workbook.Read the guide → AI in ExcelCheck AI-generated formulas before you rely on themA review routine for formulas, queries and macros written by Copilot or other assistants.Read the guide →

Run the Workflow Payback CheckAll guides

Who you would work with

An industrial engineer’s approach to finance work

Karan Agrawal, founder of MatchPass Labs
Karan Agrawal
Founder · Industrial engineer · Lean Six Sigma Black Belt

Industrial engineering is the study of how repeatable work should be structured, measured and improved. MatchPass applies it to finance workflows: understand the process before automating it, separate the rules from the judgment, and build something that can be tested and maintained by the people who use it.

The method was first developed in an industry-sponsored engineering capstone Karan co-led: a seven-pass matching engine that reached 99.01% auto-match on $1.475B in daily trades and cut reconciliation cycle time by 87.5%.

Read the background

Pricing

Fixed scope, written acceptance criteria

Workflow pilot$1,500 to $2,500 USDA bounded validation engagement on an agreed representative period. It answers whether the approach works for this workflow before anything is prepared for operational use.
Workflow implementation$3,000 to $6,000 USDAn agreed recurring process prepared for operational use, from its inputs to a reviewed output. Broader in delivery scope than a pilot, not simply more checked.
Larger programCustom scope and quoteSeveral workflows, entities or teams, delivered in stages with separate acceptance points, subject to capacity.

All prices in USD plus applicable taxes. The final price for any engagement is confirmed in a written statement of work after scoping. No mandatory retainer.

What each option includes and the proposed terms →

Questions

Before you get in touch

Yes. Most of these workflows stay in Excel, built with features your team can open and inspect, such as formulas, tables and Power Query. If another tool would genuinely serve you better we will say so, but changing tools is not the point.
No. Your accounting system stays the system of record. The workflow prepares, checks and explains the work around it, such as combining exports and reconciling balances. It does not post entries.
With you. Accounting policy, the treatment of each exception and the final sign-off remain your team’s decisions. Rules handle what is genuinely repeatable, and anything ambiguous is routed to a person rather than guessed.
After a conversation about one workflow, we propose a written scope with acceptance criteria and a fixed price for that scope. Current price ranges are on the pricing page. Changes outside the agreed scope are quoted separately before any work starts.
Only what the agreed work needs. By default your files and deliverables stay in an environment you approve, with access you can revoke, and local copies are made only by agreement. At handover you receive the delivered files, the documented logic, a user guide and a walkthrough. See security and data handling.
Nothing prepared. A description of the workflow, how often it runs and roughly how long it takes is enough. Please do not send files or data at this stage.

Discuss your workflow

Tell us about one recurring workflow

A few sentences is enough. We will reply with whether it looks worth automating and what a sensible first step would be. If it is not worth it, we will say so.

Please do not attach or paste files, exports, credentials, or customer or client data. A description of the workflow is all we need at this stage.

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Ran the Workflow Payback Check? Paste your result here.

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