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Puzzle, a San Francisco-based fintech startup, has launched an AI-powered accounting platform designed to automate up to 90% of routine tasks, allowing accountants to focus on more strategic work. In an exclusive interview with VentureBeat, Puzzle CEO Sasha Orloff outlined how the company’s new general ledger software integrates complex accounting policies directly into the platform, aiming to eliminate the need for manual spreadsheet processes.
“What we’re launching now is effectively taking the general ledger, the backbone of accounting, and bringing complicated accounting logic from spreadsheets into the core accounting software,” Orloff said.
The platform supports both cash and accrual accounting, offering a solution for businesses of all sizes. Orloff emphasized that the system is designed to provide real-time, accurate accounting tailored to the increasing demands of today’s fast-paced business environment, especially as the accounting industry faces a shortage of talent and growing workloads.
Automating complex accounting tasks with Puzzle’s AI general ledger
Puzzle’s platform addresses the challenges of manual accounting by automating processes like revenue recognition, asset depreciation, and prepaid expenses. Traditionally, these tasks require spreadsheets, which must then be reconciled with accounting software such as QuickBooks.
“In QuickBooks, you typically have to calculate things like revenue recognition, fixed assets, and prepaid expenses manually in spreadsheets,” Orloff explained. “You’ll have QuickBooks open on one half of the screen and a spreadsheet on the other. With Puzzle, all of that logic and calculation is handled inside the software.”
Puzzle allows users to set up accounting rules—referred to as “software-driven accounting policies”—for different types of transactions, such as SaaS subscriptions or prepaid contracts. “You save it, and then it just gets applied when an invoice or a bill comes in,” Orloff said. This automation reduces the risk of errors and eliminates much of the manual, time-consuming work accountants typically face.
Ensuring accuracy …