AI-Augmented Consulting™StoryC Ltd

The AI Augmentation Line™ · The Agents

Two buddies that know where to stop.

A CFO Buddy and a CPO Buddy: one conversation each, in plain words, on your own data and your own key. Under the hood, twenty-two capabilities for the finance and procurement engine room, and ACIEL at the front desk, specified to the build standard. Each one holds the volume, names the human who signs, and leaves a receipt. For the CFO and the CPO who have to answer for the result.

Draw my line (free, five minutes) See the twenty-two Talk to the CFO Buddy Talk to the CPO Buddy

Why now. SAP has switched on Joule agents across Ariba with the agent runtime free to 31 December 2026 (SAP News, ERP Today, 2026). Every SAP client now has agents available; none has a line drawn for them.

EU AI Act Article 14 (effective human oversight) and Article 12 (record-keeping) make 'who signed, and on what evidence' a compliance question, not a style choice.

The seven rules

Agents that know where to stop.

Twenty-two capabilities for the finance and procurement engine room, ten inside the CFO Buddy and twelve inside the CPO Buddy, each one specified to the build standard with its stopping point drawn in: what the machine holds, what a named human signs, the receipt it leaves behind. Not a platform. Not a pilot. A line your auditor, your board and your second-place bidder can read.

1

The machine holds the volume

What it means. Watching, chasing, matching, tabulating, drafting, classifying. High volume, rule-bound, reversible.

In the agents. Every agent's 'holds' line. Nothing in it commits the firm.

2

A named human signs

What it means. Approve, award, activate, release, sign, report. Anything that moves money, binds the firm or reaches the board.

In the agents. Every agent's 'signs' line names the role. No agent holds the authorisation to post, release or publish.

3

A receipt on every action

What it means. Inputs, policy applied, confidence, the override path. Written where the document lives.

In the agents. Each agent's decision receipt is specified; Article 12 record-keeping becomes a report, not a project.

4

Hard gates never move

What it means. Payment release, supplier bank details, contract signature, award, supplier activation, taxonomy, merges, the board number.

In the agents. Stated in system terms (F110 release, sensitive-field dual control, event publication) and, for every gate, the authorisation withheld from the agent's technical user is named. A client's role design is what enforces it; the Diagnostic checks it before any agent switches on.

5

Clean data first, then patrol

What it means. No clean data, no autonomy. Purge once by experts, then the agent keeps it clean.

In the agents. Steward and SpendLens exist so the other twenty can be trusted; the fourteen data objects gate every stage.

6

The override rate is the control

What it means. How often a person overrides the agent tells you whether the line is drawn right.

In the agents. Every agent reports it; the Line moves on evidence, quarterly, signed by the CFO or CPO.

7

Locked prompts, versioned, signed

What it means. Where a model is used, the prompt is a file, changed like code, signed by a person.

In the agents. The Locked Prompt Standard applies to all twenty-two.

The agents

Two buddies, twenty-two capabilities, ACIEL at the front desk. One Line.

Every agent comes with the person who signs. Pick your role. Every card names its SAP objects as the reference mapping and the same objects on Dynamics 365, NetSuite, Oracle Fusion and Workday: the agents read a system's export, not one system, and the runner takes that export as it is.

The CFO. Signs the numbers, owns the cash, answers to the audit committee, and is being asked by the board what the AI plan is.

The Close Runner

Runs the month-end checklist so nobody has to chase it. Proposes the matches; the Controller signs; the CFO sees the flux on day three.

The machine holdsTracks every close task, chases owners, proposes intercompany and bank matches with a reason code, flags late or unusual balances before day three.
A named human signsThe Financial Controller signs reconciliations, manual journals and the period lock; the CFO signs the close and flux review.
The receiptTask, owner, match proposal and reason, balance flagged and why, who cleared or posted and when. Any override: who, when and why.
The leverDays to close and overtime

Runs on: SAP Advanced Financial Closing, Intercompany Matching and Reconciliation, journal entry items

Also on: Dynamics 365 (Financial period close workspace, Ledger) · NetSuite (Period Close Checklist, Intercompany Framework) · Oracle Fusion (Close Manager, General Ledger) · Workday (Period close, Intercompany)

Try it with your CFO Buddy, on your own key →
Illustrative return

6.4 days to 4: 2.4 days a month of a twelve-person team, about 350 person-days a year, and management reporting a week earlier every month.

illustrative reference case: your numbers in the Diagnostic. Benchmark: Median close 6.4 days (APQC); half of finance teams take more than five business days, only 18% close in three or fewer (Numeric, 2025).
Close

The Invoice Gate

AP triage that parks, proposes and marks. A person posts, releases and confirms bank details. The gate is the control, not the speed.

One process, two halves. The Invoice Gate is the CFO's half (payables control and the payment proposal); MatchDesk is the CPO's half (purchase-to-pay matching). One build, one return, and the £540,000 is counted once in every bundle.

The machine holdsIngests every supplier invoice, proposes coding, checks the match, marks duplicates and anomalies on the payment proposal, parks true exceptions for a person.
A named human signsAP approver posts out-of-tolerance and non-PO invoices; a named person releases the run under dual authorisation.
The receiptInvoice, coding proposal, match, anomaly marks, who posted. Any override: who, when and why.
The leverCost per invoice and duplicate payments

Runs on: SAP Business Network invoices, S/4HANA supplier invoice, F110 read only

Also on: Dynamics 365 (Accounts payable, Vendor invoice automation) · NetSuite (Vendor Bills, three-way match) · Oracle Fusion (Payables invoices and holds) · Workday (Supplier Accounts, Supplier invoices)

Try it with your CFO Buddy, on your own key →
Illustrative return

Shared with MatchDesk on the same invoices: £540,000 a year at 120,000 invoices, plus recovered duplicates typically 0.1% of AP spend, £150,000 on £150m.

illustrative reference case: your numbers in the Diagnostic. Benchmark: Manual processing costs 5 to 10 times more than automated (Ardent Partners, IOFM, APQC, 2025).
PO invoicenon-POpayment run

The Variance Narrator

The flux commentary drafts itself the moment actuals land. The CFO owns the story that goes to the board.

The machine holdsCompares actuals to budget, forecast and prior year by cost centre, drills the drivers, drafts first-pass narratives in the approved vocabulary.
A named human signsThe CFO signs the narrative to the executive and board.
The receiptFigures compared, drivers, source of the budget and forecast, draft version. Any override: who, when and why.
The leverReporting cycle and analyst time

Runs on: SAP Analytics Cloud planning data, journal entry items

Also on: Dynamics 365 (Budgeting, Financial reporting) · NetSuite (Budgets vs Actuals, Financial Reports) · Oracle Fusion (Planning, General Ledger) · Workday (Adaptive Planning, Financial Reporting)

Try it with your CFO Buddy, on your own key →
Illustrative return

Two analysts at three days a month on commentary: 70 days a year returned to analysis, and the pack out two days earlier.

illustrative reference case: your numbers in the Diagnostic. Benchmark: Top-quartile teams complete consolidated monthly statements in five days or less (CFO.com, APQC).
Reporting

The Cash Sentinel

A thirteen-week cash forecast that rebuilds itself every morning. The CFO signs every funding move; the agent never moves money.

The machine holdsPulls bank feeds, AP and AR ledgers and payroll calendars daily, rebuilds the forecast, runs downside scenarios, alerts on headroom breaches.
A named human signsThe CFO signs drawdowns, sweeps, hedges and any change to the payment run.
The receiptSources pulled, scenario assumptions, headroom, alert reason. Any override: who, when and why.
The leverCash visibility and cost of buffer

Runs on: SAP Cash Management One Exposure, bank statements, open items, treasury positions

Also on: Dynamics 365 (Cash and bank management, Cash flow forecasting) · NetSuite (Bank Reconciliation, Cash 360) · Oracle Fusion (Cash Management) · Workday (Cash Management, Banking)

Try it with your CFO Buddy, on your own key →
Illustrative return

£5m of idle buffer released or £5m of unneeded facility undrawn at 6%: £300,000 a year.

illustrative reference case: your numbers in the Diagnostic. Benchmark: CFOs rank cash and liquidity visibility among the top three finance priorities (Deloitte CFO Signals, 2026).
Cash and treasury

The Pack Builder

The board pack assembled from source systems, not screenshots. Every figure carries its query; last month's definitions hold.

The machine holdsCompiles the monthly board and investor pack from the ledger, Group Reporting and the planning tool, version-controlled.
A named human signsThe CFO signs key messages, outlook and any figure that leaves the building; the Group Controller signs consolidated figures.
The receiptFigure, source query, definition version. Any override: who, when and why.
The leverPack assembly time and restatement risk

Runs on: SAP Group Reporting, SAP Analytics Cloud, journal entry items

Also on: Dynamics 365 (Financial reporting, Consolidations) · NetSuite (Financial Report Builder, Consolidation) · Oracle Fusion (Financial Consolidation and Close, Narrative Reporting) · Workday (Financial Reporting, Composite reports)

Try it with your CFO Buddy, on your own key →
Illustrative return

Four people at four days a month: 190 days a year, and no restated figure in the pack.

illustrative reference case: your numbers in the Diagnostic. Benchmark: Pack assembly is the most common cause of late board papers cited by finance teams (Ledge 2025 close benchmarks).
Reporting

The Covenant Watch

Continuous covenant monitoring against actuals and every forecast. The CFO signs the certificate; nothing reaches a lender from the agent.

The machine holdsRecalculates leverage, interest cover and liquidity covenants continuously, projects headroom four quarters out, drafts the lender package.
A named human signsThe CFO signs each compliance certificate and owns any waiver conversation.
The receiptDefinition applied per facility, inputs, headroom, forecast scenario. Any override: who, when and why.
The leverBreach avoidance and lender confidence

Runs on: Treasury positions, journal entry items, Group Reporting

Also on: Dynamics 365 (Ledger, Financial reporting) · NetSuite (Financial Reports) · Oracle Fusion (General Ledger, Cash Management) · Workday (Financial Reporting, Debt management)

Try it with your CFO Buddy, on your own key →
Illustrative return

One waiver fee and repricing avoided on a £50m facility: £250,000 or more.

illustrative reference case: your numbers in the Diagnostic. Benchmark: A covenant breach triggers waiver fees and repricing; early sight is the only cheap remedy.
Treasury

The Expense Sentry

Screens 100% of expenses and card spend, not a sample. In-policy items are marked clear for the approver; anomalies arrive with evidence.

The machine holdsAudits every expense claim and card transaction against policy in real time, marks in-policy items clear for the Concur approver, surfaces anomalies with evidence.
A named human signsA named budget holder signs escalated exceptions; the CFO signs any change to the policy.
The receiptClaim, rule applied, evidence, the approver's decision and when. Any override: who, when and why.
The leverAudit coverage and leakage

Runs on: SAP Concur reports, entries and cards

Also on: Dynamics 365 (Expense management) · NetSuite (Expense Reports) · Oracle Fusion (Expenses) · Workday (Expenses)

Try it with your CFO Buddy, on your own key →
Illustrative return

30,000 reports a year at £180 average, 2% out of policy caught instead of 0.4%: £86,000 recovered, plus the auditor's finding that does not happen.

illustrative reference case: your numbers in the Diagnostic. Benchmark: Manual audits review 10 to 20% of expense reports; automated review covers 100% (Emburse, AppZen).
Expenses and cards

The Commitment Ledger

Every contract obligation, renewal and price escalator in one register, warned ninety days ahead. The CFO signs renew, renegotiate or terminate.

One contract read, two halves. The Commitment Ledger is the CFO's half (accruals, escalators, the forecast); RenewalRadar is the CPO's half (the renewal decision and the notice). One read of the register serves both; a client pays for the read once.

The machine holdsExtracts obligations, auto-renewals, escalators and termination windows from executed contracts, maintains the commitments register, parks accrual proposals.
A named human signsThe CFO signs material commitments and every renewal decision; the Controller posts accruals.
The receiptContract, clause, date, obligation, accrual proposal. Any override: who, when and why.
The leverUnbudgeted step-ups and missed accruals

Runs on: Ariba contract terms, S/4HANA purchase contracts and open commitments

Also on: Dynamics 365 (Purchase agreements, Budget control) · NetSuite (Purchase Contracts, Purchase Orders) · Oracle Fusion (Purchasing agreements, Budgetary Control) · Workday (Supplier Contracts, Commitments)

Try it with your CFO Buddy, on your own key →
Illustrative return

Shares the contract read with RenewalRadar; adds accrual completeness worth a clean audit and £150,000 of unbudgeted escalators caught.

illustrative reference case: your numbers in the Diagnostic. Benchmark: 15 to 25% of contracts carry auto-renewal clauses; 3 to 8% renew unseen each year (usedatabrain, 2026).
Commitments

The Cash Applier

Matches receipts to invoices and drafts the dunning run. The AR clerk posts, the Credit Controller releases; nobody's credit limit changes on a model.

The machine holdsReads bank receipts and remittances, proposes cash application for near-matches with deduction reasons for the AR clerk to post, drafts the dunning proposal, raises credit review when behaviour shifts. Creates no payment advice.
A named human signsThe AR clerk posts; the Credit Controller releases dunning and signs limits and write-offs; the CFO signs the bad debt provision.
The receiptReceipt, proposed match and confidence, deduction reason, dunning template used. Any override: who, when and why.
The leverDays sales outstanding

Runs on: Bank statement items, payment advice, billing documents, SAP Credit Management

Also on: Dynamics 365 (Accounts receivable, Customer payments and settlement) · NetSuite (Customer Payments, Bank matching) · Oracle Fusion (Receivables, Lockbox and receipt application) · Workday (Customer Accounts, Cash application)

Try it with your CFO Buddy, on your own key →
Illustrative return

£500m revenue, DSO 52 to 45: £9.6m of working capital released, worth £575,000 a year at 6%.

illustrative reference case: your numbers in the Diagnostic. Benchmark: Automated cash application delivers DSO improvements of 20 to 30% (Kolleno, Kognitos, 2026).
Receivables

The Journal Gate

Every manual journal read before a person posts it. The agent holds the requester role at most; the processor approves.

The machine holdsReads every parked journal against policy, thresholds, attachments, restricted accounts, timing and self-approval risk; leaves a review note; reports the manual journal population.
A named human signsThe processor approves or rejects every journal; the Controller signs thresholds and overrides.
The receiptJournal, rules checked, note, the processor's decision and when. Any override: who, when and why.
The leverAudit findings and management override risk

Runs on: Verify General Journal Entries workflow, journal entry items

Also on: Dynamics 365 (General journal workflow) · NetSuite (Journal Entries with approval) · Oracle Fusion (General Ledger journal approval) · Workday (Accounting journals, Journal approval)

Try it with your CFO Buddy, on your own key →
Illustrative return

One audit finding avoided and the year-end journal testing halved: £40,000 of audit fees and the committee conversation that does not happen.

illustrative reference case: your numbers in the Diagnostic. Benchmark: Manual journals are the first thing every external auditor samples; a documented pre-post review is the control they ask for.
Close and controls

Bundles

Four agents, one story.

Each bundle is four agents that share a document, a gate or a number. The annual value is built from the four cards, shown as the sum: pounds counted once where two agents share a figure, days shown as days; your own numbers come from the Diagnostic.

CFO and CPO together

The Payment Gate

From supplier creation to payment release, every step proposed by an agent and signed by a person. The one place the Line never moves.

The Invoice GateMatchDeskGateCheckSteward

£690,000illustrative annual value: £540,000 invoice cost (The Invoice Gate and MatchDesk, one figure) + £150,000 duplicates recovered; plus 3,600 onboarding hours (GateCheck) and the quarter the Steward brings every other agent forward

CPO, with the CFO as the buyer

The Believable Number

A savings number reconciled to the ledger, every commitment in one register, no contract renewing unseen.

SavingsLedgerThe Commitment LedgerRenewalRadarSpendLens

£2,840,000illustrative annual value: £1,500,000 (SavingsLedger) + £150,000 (The Commitment Ledger) + £190,000 (RenewalRadar) + £1,000,000 (SpendLens)

CFO

The Three-Day Close

The checklist chases itself, journals are read before posting, the narrative drafts on day one, the pack builds from source.

The Close RunnerThe Journal GateThe Variance NarratorThe Pack Builder

£40,000 + 610 daysillustrative annual value: £40,000 of audit fees (The Journal Gate) + 350 + 70 + 190 person-days a year returned (The Close Runner, The Variance Narrator, The Pack Builder)

CPO

The Compliant Path

Every requisition in the right channel, every catalogue price on contract, every award defensible.

TriageCatalogueKeeperEventRunnerTenderSentinel

£2,740,000illustrative annual value: £750,000 (Triage) + £1,500,000 (CatalogueKeeper) + £250,000 (EventRunner) + £240,000 (TenderSentinel)

The front desk

ACIEL. She draws your Line, and says what only you can do.

ACIEL (Assistant, Communicator, Innovator, Executor, Legal Reviewer) is the talking assistant of the Rainbow agents, for one senior person at a time. She asks what the method needs, draws a first-pass line from these catalogues and a knowledge pack of ERP process maps and regulation, stages drafts through a fixed-rule review, hands you to the right agent, and keeps the Line card: above the line, what the machine did; below it, what a named human must still do, with a date. She runs on your own AI key in your browser, and nothing is sent from her page.

CFO, CPO, CMO, Internal Audit, or the Director

Talk to ACIEL

Say who you are and what you run on. She collects the inputs, refuses to draw while one is missing, and reads the line back in a minute. Then the Line Agent and the Validated Line finish it.

AssistantLegal ReviewerInnovatorCommunicatorExecutor

Open ACIELThe licence £20.00 + VAT a month or £200.00 + VAT a year, one named person; the set-up hour with Madeleine £380.00 + VAT; your own AI key; browser speech; the ledger stays on your device

Your numbers

The reference case, with your figures in it.

Illustrative reference case used for every ROI line. Replace with the client's own numbers in the Diagnostic; every benchmark is cited. Nothing typed here leaves your browser.

Prefilled with the reference case (£500m revenue, £150m indirect spend, 120,000 invoices, 400 contracts, 6.4 days to close, DSO 52). Change any figure and the lines update.

  • Invoice cost savinginvoices at £4.50 each (MatchDesk, The Invoice Gate)£0
  • Maverick spend recovery20% off-contract, 5% price gap, half routed to contract (Triage)£0
  • Renewals caught5% renewing unseen at £120,000, 8% renegotiation gain (RenewalRadar)£0
  • Working capital releasedDSO to 45 days, at 6% (The Cash Applier)£0
  • Close days saveddays over 4, twelve people, twelve months (The Close Runner); shown, not counted in the total0 person-days

Illustrative annual value, before the build cost; your own numbers in the Diagnostic

£0

The sum of the four £ lines. Every benchmark behind them is cited on the agent cards above. No data leaves the browser from this panel.

The ladder

Start free. Pay only when a named human is in the room.

Five steps, in order. Each one is useful on its own; none commits you to the next.

  1. 1

    Free scan

    Eleven questions, five minutes, a scored readiness profile and the Article 14 flag.

    Free

    CPO scan → CFO scan →

  2. 2

    The Line Agent

    Draw your first-pass line: which of the twenty-two agents match your week, with the person who signs.

    Free

    Open the Line Agent →

  3. 3

    The Validated Line

    Your documents read, the build order set, three 90-minute signed sessions (Explore, Review, Decide), your line signed off.

    £1,450.00 inc. VAT per role

    Start with the Line Agent →

  4. 4

    The Diagnostic

    Half a day with the leadership team, thirty scored questions, the Line drawn, a three-phase roadmap, a board readout.

    By quote; the review is free for the first 45 minutes

    CPO Diagnostic → CFO Diagnostic →

  5. 5

    The build

    One agent, one channel, one quarter, under the Locked Prompt Standard, with the override rate read at ninety days.

    Licence per engagement (term sheet on request)

    Book a 45-minute conversation →

The guarantee

If the first agent's override rate at ninety days says the line is drawn wrong, we redraw it at our cost.

The questions we get

Asked before, answered straight.

What the CFO asks

We already have SAP and it has Joule

Joule drafts and routes. Nobody has told you where it must stop in your function. That is the Line, and it is the part your auditor will ask about.

Our data is not clean enough

Correct, and that is why the first two agents are data agents. Nothing else switches on until the fourteen objects are scored.

AI in finance is a risk

Unbounded AI is. Every agent here has no authorisation to post, release or approve. The risk is the pilot you already ran without that.

We have no budget this year

Start with the free scan and the £1,450 Validated Line for one role. The first agent pays for its own build inside a quarter on the numbers in this pack.

Take the free CFO scan →

What the CPO asks

We are rolling out Ariba, agents can wait

Ariba is switching on Joule agents now, free until December. The rollout is exactly when the Line gets drawn, or it gets drawn by default.

Our category managers will resist

They will resist policing. These agents remove the Monday data clean and the RFx admin; the award, the strategy and the relationship stay theirs.

We tried spend analytics; nobody used it

Analytics reports. These agents act inside the requisition, the contract and the invoice, and leave a receipt. Different thing.

We cannot afford a programme

One agent, one channel, one quarter. Triage on the guided-buying channel alone pays for the Validated Line in the first month.

Take the free CPO scan →

Draw your line in five minutes.

The machine holds the volume. A named human signs. The Line Agent is free; the first 45 minutes of a conversation are too.

Draw your line in five minutes → Book a 45-minute conversation →