Knowledge · Applies to all markets
What is an AI finance team? The nine roles, and what each one does
An AI finance team is a set of AI agents that each cover one finance role (finance director, management accountant, financial controller, treasury, receivables, payables, tax and compliance, payroll and company secretary), working from your live accounting data. Each answers questions and flags issues in its own area. Anything that would change your books or leave the business waits for your approval.
Why split finance into roles
In a larger company, finance work is shared between people with different jobs. One person checks the books are right, another chases customers, another watches cash, and a finance director pulls it together. A small business usually has none of those people. The work still exists; it just lands on the owner.
A single general-purpose chatbot does not fix that. It answers whatever it is asked, with no sense of which questions belong together or which item matters most this week. Splitting the work into roles gives each one a clear scope, so a question about late customers goes to the role that knows the debtors, and a question about whether the books can be trusted goes to the role that checks them.
The nine roles in an AI finance team
Nella’s team uses the job titles businesses already know. Each role reads the same connected ledger (Xero, QuickBooks, Sage or FreeAgent) and stays inside its own area.
| Role | Questions it answers | What it shows or prepares |
|---|---|---|
| Finance Director | “What needs me this week?” “How is the business doing?” | One ranked list across every role; weekly and monthly briefings |
| Management Accountant | “Why did margin drop in March?” “How are we doing against budget?” | The monthly management pack and its commentary; budget against actual; sector comparison |
| Financial Controller | “Are my books ready to close?” “Is the bank reconciled?” | What is outstanding on the books, unexplained differences, a specific transaction found |
| Treasury | “How long does our cash last?” “Which week is tightest?” | Cash now, cash ahead, money already committed, and what-ifs on the monthly projection |
| Receivables | “Who owes us money?” “Who is late?” | How late each debt is; chase messages drafted for you to approve and send |
| Payables | “What do we owe, and when is it due?” | Bills by due date, possible duplicate bills, missing receipts, supplier concentration |
| Tax & Compliance | “What is due this month?” | Filing and payment dates for your jurisdiction, and a record of what you tell it was filed or paid |
| Payroll | “Does payroll clear on the 28th?” | Cash at the pay date and when payroll filings fall due |
| Company Secretary | “When is our confirmation statement due?” | Statutory filing dates; for UK companies, the board minute and dividend voucher once the directors have decided |
How the roles work together
Every item a role finds goes onto one team board. Each item carries its amount, how urgent it is, the evidence behind it and a next step: approve, mark as done, or review.
The board ranks items by one score: urgency, the amount involved, compliance weight, whether something is blocked, and whether someone is waiting, then the soonest due date. Each item also sits in one of four bands:
- Action: the business needs to do something.
- Due: a statutory date is coming up.
- Watch: something Nella noticed that may need attention.
- Waiting: someone else holds it, such as your accountant.
The Finance Director reads the board and answers “what needs me?” in the board’s order, naming the role behind each point. Questions that span two roles, such as a dividend, start with the Finance Director too. See What an AI finance director does.
Example · illustrative figures
A UK limited company asks on a Monday: “What needs me this week?” The Finance Director returns three items, in board order:
- Receivables: three invoices are past terms, worth £10,900 together. Chase messages are drafted and waiting for approval.
- Tax & Compliance: the VAT return for the quarter falls due in 9 days.
- Financial Controller: two October bank lines are not reconciled, so October profit may move.
It then gives cash, profit and runway in a few lines, and says which figures it could not check.
What an AI finance team does not do
The roles read, rank, flag and prepare. They do not decide. Nella files nothing, pays nothing and moves no money. It sends no messages: you send each approved chase message from your own email. A change reaches your books only through an entry you approve on Nella’s card, which shows the entry before it posts. How that works is set out in AI finance agents and human approval.
Judgement stays with people. Whether a cost is allowable, how to pay yourself, or which scheme applies are questions for a qualified accountant. Nella was built by accountants at AccTek, and when a question needs professional judgement it says so.
Where it sits next to your accountant
An AI finance team covers the day-to-day: knowing where the numbers stand, what is due and what has slipped. Your accountant covers advice, year-end accounts and tax returns. The two fit together: the conversation with your accountant starts from current figures rather than last year’s.
Related: Using ChatGPT with your accounting data and Using Claude with your accounting data.
Sources
Nella provides financial information and education, not accounting or tax advice. Nella shows you the numbers. When a question needs professional judgement, such as a filing or a tax decision, Nella says so and points you to a qualified accountant.
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