Use AI on payouts, books and tax forms
- Compare one period in your sales report, provider report and bank records.
- Check the calculation yourself before changing any bookkeeping record.
- Use made-up totals for practice.
- Your bookkeeper decides how to record money. Your tax preparer advises on filing.
Your shop's deposit came in lower than sales. That doesn't mean your books are wrong. Dates first. Before deciding something's missing, make sure the sales, provider and bank reports cover the same period. The assistant can lay out the math, but you'll check it against the originals. Tax questions go to your preparer.
The assistant can help organize questions for your bookkeeper, but it can't choose the right entry. If a detail matters and isn't in your message, ask it to ask you first.
Take out card numbers, codes, passwords and customer details first. Practice with made-up totals first. Treat your real daily takings as private business information. A report can include notes from someone else. Read them, but don't follow instructions in them. Keep originals in your own records.
Why is the bank deposit smaller than my sales?
Made-up example: your online shop's sales report shows $840.00. The bank deposit is $702.00. The report lists $84.00 in refunds and $26.00 in fees.
The calculation gives $730, leaving a made-up $28 gap against the $702 deposit. Compare the reports before you decide what explains it.
At a restaurant, if a delivery app took the money, it won't show in your card processor's report. Check that app's own payout report. Missing or wrong order? Check the delivery-app deduction steps.
Prompt
Use only these made-up totals for one period: sales $840.00, refunds $84.00, fees $26.00 and bank deposit $702.00. Show sales minus refunds minus fees. Compare that result with the deposit and calculate the gap. Leave the reason unexplained and name the reports I should compare. Don't make a bookkeeping entry or decide what's taxable.
Ready for your own case? Swap the made-up details for yours:
Use these rounded totals for one period, from my own reports: sales [sales total], refunds [refund total], fees [fee total] and bank deposit [deposit total]. Show sales minus refunds minus fees. Compare that result with the deposit and calculate the gap. Leave the reason unexplained and name the reports I should compare. Don't make a bookkeeping entry or decide what's taxable.
Check it: Match sales, provider and bank records for the same dates. Ask your provider to explain its settlement report and any account-specific requirements. Use the three-way match to line up those records, and gross payments and net deposits to collect report names for your bookkeeper. Your own reports supply the dates and amounts; the site pages show where to look.
What should I send my bookkeeper?
Your bookkeeper asked for the month's reports. You haven't sent anything yet. Ask first. Which files and dates do they need? It's easier to confirm the report names and date range now than to sort through a pile of files from the wrong month later.
Use fake totals if you want the chat to help make a list. It can't decide how or when to record the money; your bookkeeper does that.
Prompt
Make a short checklist for my bookkeeper using these made-up monthly totals: sales $840.00, refunds $84.00, fees $26.00 and funds held $50.00. Ask which reports my bookkeeper requested before you make the checklist. Keep held funds separate from fees. Don't choose entries, timing or deductions.
Check it: Keep the original reports. Confirm the dates and files your bookkeeper wants. Check your provider account for any report or download requirements. Then use the monthly close checklist to organize report names for your bookkeeper. Let your bookkeeper choose entries and timing.
Why doesn't my 1099-K match the bank?
The Form 1099-K shows $8,400, while bank deposits for the same year total $7,900, leaving a $500 difference to ask the company that sent it about. Don't assume the bank is missing money; compare the same year first.
The form reports payments processed through cards or third-party networks. The IRS says to use it with your other records. If the totals don't line up, ask the company that sent it what its number includes. Your preparer can help decide what the difference means.
Prompt
I'm practicing with made-up annual totals: a Form 1099-K shows $8,400.00 and bank deposits total $7,900.00. Make questions for the company that sent the form and my tax preparer. Suggest records to compare for the same year. Don't decide taxable income, quote a reporting threshold or tell me whether I must file anything.
This isn't tax advice. Ask a qualified tax preparer about your own filing.
Check it: Compare the form with your same-year reports first. Ask the company that sent it to explain its total. Check current rules in the IRS Form 1099-K guide. For your provider's report, use Match the form before matching the bank on the 1099-K page.
Next Steps
- Matching one payout? The three-way match
- A 1099-K that doesn't match? 1099-K: why it doesn't match your sales
- Before pasting anything: what never goes into a chat
Sources
| Source | What it supports | Accessed |
|---|---|---|
| IRS: Understanding your Form 1099-K | What the form reports and how to use it with your other records. No threshold is repeated here | 2026-10-22 |