Tie out every figure and statement in the draft annual report
For: Financial reporting manager or audit senior in the last weeks before signing
The pain today
Every number, cross-reference and narrative statement must agree with the trial balance, note schedules and prior year. It is done by hand with a highlighter, under deadline, on a draft that keeps changing.
The ask
“I attached the draft annual report, the consolidated trial balance, the note schedules and last year's report. Check every figure and factual statement in the draft against its source, check that totals and cross-references agree, and list everything that does not tie or has no source.”
Plain words, as you would say it to a colleague. Edit it to fit your case before you send it.
What you attach or connect
- Draft annual report and financial statements
- Consolidated trial balance and note schedules
- Prior year signed report
- Board minutes and registers behind narrative statements
The unit of work
One worker task per one figure or factual statement in the draft.
Why a swarm fits
A report contains thousands of checkable items, each needing one schedule or one prior-year page. Items are independent, and each new draft only requires re-checking what changed.
Not for
Short statutory accounts for one small entity: a reviewer and a calculator finish before the run is set up.
The decision tree
6 typed decisions, each with an action for every answer
At fixed moments in a run, the engine puts one narrow question to a decision model. The decision model never writes text: it answers yes or no with a probability, picks from listed options, or gives a score, about a small slice of the material. The engine then does exactly what this tree says, which is what makes the run auditable. The thresholds are the template's design values, not measured results.
Planner, while planning
Scope checkYes or no, with a probability
Before work starts on a unit
Is this sentence or cell a checkable figure or statement of fact, as opposed to opinion, outlook or boilerplate?
Sees only: One sentence or table cell with its heading
Why: Narrative that cannot be tied is not sent to a worker.
- Yes: 0.60 or higherthenAccept
- Unsure: 0.30 up to 0.60thenAccept
- No: below 0.30thenSkip this unit
Before workers, before a task runs
Small worker or strong modelYes or no, with a probability
Before a task runs
Does the figure appear as it stands on one schedule line, without a sum, a percentage or a sign change to reach it?
Sees only: The figure and the candidate schedule lines
Why: Derived figures need a stronger reader to set up what code then computes.
- Yes: 0.60 or higherthenAccept
- Unsure: 0.40 up to 0.60thenEscalate to a strong model
- No: below 0.40thenEscalate to a strong model
After workers, the judge checks
Evidence checkYes or no, with a probability
After a worker answers
Is the source line for the same entity, period, currency unit and sign as the figure in the draft?
Sees only: The draft item with its caption and the source line with its headers
Why: Most tie-out errors are the right number from the wrong column.
- Yes: 0.90 or higherthenAccept
- Unsure: 0.50 up to 0.90thenEscalate to a strong model
- No: below 0.50thenReject and retry
Reconciler, while merging
Conflict checkA choice among options
While reconciling
This figure appears in several places in the draft: do the occurrences agree?
Sees only: Every occurrence of one figure with its page and caption
Why: Internal inconsistency is what readers of the report find first.
- All agreethenAccept
- Differ by rounding onlythenAccept
- Differ in amountthenMark unresolved
Run control, between rounds
Another round?Yes or no, with a probability
Between rounds
Did this item's text or figure change between the previous draft and this one?
Sees only: The item in both drafts
Why: Each new draft costs only what changed.
- Yes: 0.50 or higherthenContinue
- Unsure: 0.20 up to 0.50thenContinue
- No: below 0.20thenStop
Accountable person, before anything is settled
Person decidesYes or no, with a probability
Before anything is reported as settled
Does this difference or unsupported statement sit in the primary statements, a note or the narrative that will be signed?
Sees only: The difference and its page in the draft
Why: The reporting manager decides how each difference is resolved.
Accountable: The reporting manager decides how each difference is resolved; the board and auditor sign the report, not the swarm.
- Yes: 0.40 or higherthenAsk a person
- Unsure: 0.15 up to 0.40thenAsk a person
- No: below 0.15thenAccept
The fleet: who does what
Model tiers by role, not brands: you choose the models. Strong reasoning models plan and reconcile, small fast models do the wide work, and the judge is a decision model from a different family, so it does not share the workers' blind spots.
Planner
A strong reasoning model inventories every figure, total, cross-reference and factual statement and names its expected source.
Decisions here:1. Scope check
Workers
Small fast workers from an open-weight family tie one item to its source and quote both sides.
Designed for 30 to 1,500 agents, one worker task per one figure or factual statement in the draft. Each worker receives only its own unit.
Decisions here:2. Small worker or strong model
Judge, from a different model family
A decision model from a different family confirms the source line is the right one: same entity, period, unit and sign.
Decisions here:3. Evidence check
Reconciler
A strong reasoning model compiles the tie-out file and traces differences that share a root cause, such as one late journal.
Decisions here:4. Conflict check5. Another round?
Accountable person
The reporting manager decides how each difference is resolved; the board and auditor sign the report, not the swarm.
Decisions here:6. Person decides
Checked before anything is accepted
- Sums, subtotals, percentages and rounding are recomputed in code
- Each figure appearing in several places must agree everywhere
- Comparatives are tied to the signed prior-year report
- Narrative claims need a named source document or are listed as unsupported
What comes back
- Tie-out file: item, source, result
- Differences and unsupported statements by page
- Internal inconsistencies between primary statements, notes and narrative
- Items changed since the previous draft
What to measure
- Errors found after this check by auditors or the board
- Differences confirmed as real by the reporting team
- Hours per tie-out round
Names of measures only. No result is claimed for this template.
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