Tie-Out: Footing AI-Extracted Totals Back to the Source

A list of rows drafted by an AI tool from a client document reads finished. Each row has an amount, a label and a page. A missing row leaves no gap on the list, and a doubled row looks like every other row. Reading individual rows without reconciling the list to the source can leave missing or duplicated entries undetected.

The document already carries its own check: the totals and counts it prints. To tie out AI-extracted totals, a person holds the drafted rows against those printed figures before the entry list moves on. The tool drafts the rows. A person ties them out, decides what any difference means, and hands the list on to the Reviewer as tied only when it ties.

What the document already totals

The Firm picks which printed controls each document type is checked against.

Control totals. A statement total, a summary page, or a "total for the period" line. This is the figure the rows have to reach.

Page subtotals. A printed subtotal for the items on one page. These let a Preparer find a difference page by page.

Item counts. A printed count of transactions, or a line numbered "item 9 of 9". These check how many rows there should be, apart from what they add to.

Only a figure printed on the source counts as a control. A total the tool wrote at the bottom of its own draft is another figure to check, not the check. A source locator on every figure answers whether each row sits on its page; the tie-out answers whether the rows together match the page.

Foot the rows outside the tool

The Firm's rule can be that footing happens outside the tool, on the drafted rows themselves. Copy the rows into the Firm's working sheet, keep each row's page reference beside it, and foot the amount column by page and in total. Footing outside the tool keeps the check apart from the draft.

Foot each page against its printed subtotal first, then the whole list against the control total. A matching page subtotal does not establish that every row on that page is correct. Under the Firm's chosen approach, a page subtotal that does not tie gives the Preparer a place to start checking the rows against the source.

The Firm can require that each amount keeps its sign as printed. If the document shows a credit in brackets or with a minus, the drafted row shows it the same way, and the footing treats it as printed. A sign changed in the draft is a difference like any other.

Count before you add

The Firm can choose to count drafted rows against the items printed on each page before footing the amounts. Under the Firm's rule, a count that doesn't match stops the tie-out there. The Preparer finds the missing or extra row against the page first, then foots.

Counting first catches a case footing alone can miss. A matching count with a total that does not tie can reflect a wrong amount, or a missing row and a duplicated row with different amounts. A total that ties with a count that doesn't match points to one printed item drafted as two rows, or to a missing row offset by another row that is wrong by the same amount. So the Firm can require both checks, and a document passes only when the count and the total both tie.

When a total doesn't tie

The Firm can choose this approach: start with the difference between the printed total and the footed rows. Then use the page subtotals to find the page it sits on.

The size of the difference gives a lead, never an answer. A difference equal to one printed item points to a missing row. A difference equal to the negative of a drafted row's amount gives a lead to check for a duplicated row. A difference that divides evenly by 9 points to two digits swapped in one amount. Each lead is checked against the page.

The Preparer corrects the row against the page, keeps its page reference, and writes a short note on what changed and why. Under the Firm's rule, the whole document then gets footed again.

Under the Firm's rule, nobody plugs a difference. Adding a balancing row to make the total tie hides the error the tie-out exists to find. If a difference can't be found, the Preparer leaves it open and sends it to the Reviewer with a note, and the entry list doesn't move on as tied. The Firm decides whether a rounding difference can stand, and who approves it.

Record the tie-out

The Firm can keep a tie-out line for each document. The tie-out line records the printed total and its page, the footed total, the item count against the row count, any difference, and who tied it out. An open difference shows on its line, so nobody reads the list as tied when it isn't.

The tie-out line stays with the entry list in the Firm's file. The Reviewer's own readback of the entries can start from the recorded tie-out status, including any open difference.

A Doe example

The figures below are made up for illustration.

Jane Doe, a Preparer at Doe & Co. CPA, has an AI-drafted row list from a three-page account statement for the client Doe Holdings. The statement prints page subtotals of 1,250.00, 980.00 and 615.00, a control total of 2,845.00, and a count of 9 items: 4 on page one, 3 on page two and 2 on page three.

Jane counts first. The draft has 8 rows: 4, 2 and 2. Page two is one row short, so she stops and reads page two before footing.

Page two prints three items: 420.00, 380.00 and 180.00, which foot to its 980.00 subtotal. The draft has the first two, which foot to 800.00. The 180.00 item has no row. That matches the overall difference: 2,845.00 minus the draft's 2,665.00 is 180.00. It also divides by 9, but the count already showed a missing row.

Jane adds the 180.00 row with its page reference and a note that it was added in the tie-out. She foots again: 1,250.00 plus 980.00 plus 615.00 is 2,845.00, across 9 rows. Count and total both tie, and the tie-out line shows the printed total, the footed total, 9 items against 9 rows, the added row and Jane as the person who tied it out.

Pat Doe, the Reviewer, reads the entries back starting from that line and signs off.

Where TracePrep fits

TracePrep's one shipped workflow today is the Reasonable Compensation Study for an S-corporation shareholder-employee. It's a different job from this tie-out, and it keeps the same kinds of records:

We've built a TracePrep plugin that runs these steps in your Firm's workflow.

Want the TracePrep plugin in your Firm? We'll tell you when access opens.

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This is general information, not tax or legal advice. Your licensed professional and your Firm's Reviewer are responsible for every return and every conclusion. Keep client data inside the systems your Firm has approved. As general guidance only, not advice: if you use an AI tool with client data, firms generally look for a business or commercial plan whose terms cover how that data is handled; read the vendor's current terms before you do.