How can I integrate my tax software with banking tools for better financial management?

Bank feeds automatically import your daily transaction data into the tax software, removing manual entry and reducing errors. With Chatref custom actions, you can configure a secure connection that triggers the import each time your bank statement is available. The AI agent then walks you or your team through mapping the feed to the correct accounts, ensuring that every deposit, payment, and fee lands where it belongs. Because the agent is grounded in your own chart of accounts and transaction history, it never guesses - only your actual financial structure dictates the mapping.

Matching bank transactions to invoices, expenses, or journal entries is time-consuming work that's prone to oversight when done by hand. A Chatref AI agent trained on your matching rules and historical data can take over this step entirely. It uses custom actions to compare new bank lines against open receivables and payables, automatically reconcile those that meet your confidence threshold, and surface only the ambiguous ones for human review. This approach cuts reconciliation time by a factor that scales with your volume, while the agent's real‑time feedback keeps your books continuously reconciled, not just at month‑end.

Once bank data is cleanly integrated and transactions are matched, financial reports become a matter of asking. You can trigger profit & loss, balance sheet, or cash flow statements through a simple chat command, with the AI agent orchestrating the generation via a custom action to your tax software. The agent then reads the output and highlights trends, explains variances, or answers specific questions about line items - all within the same conversation. This turns reporting from a scheduled chore into an on‑demand insight engine that helps your team make faster decisions without ever leaving the chat.

• Document your matching rules. The AI agent performs best when you define clear criteria (exact amounts, dates, vendor names) in a format the agent can reference. Store these in a PDF or text file and upload it to Chatref so the grounding remains current.
• Test custom actions in a sandbox first. Use a demo account or a closed month to validate that the feed import and reconciliation actions behave as expected before going live.
• Review flagged transactions promptly. Even with high‑confidence matching, occasional mismatches occur. The shared inbox lets a team member step in with full context and resolve exceptions without switching tools.
• Keep your bank connection credentials secure. Chatref custom actions run over encrypted channels and never store raw secrets - you provide them once and the action uses them only for the authorised operation.

How do I set up bank feeds in tax software?

Set up bank feeds by creating a Chatref custom action that calls your bank's secure data API or the direct bank‑feed import utility of your tax platform. Enter your account credentials in the encrypted action configuration, then map the feed to the appropriate ledger accounts. The AI agent can confirm each step and validate the first import to ensure the connection is live and accurate.

Can I match transactions automatically in tax software?

Yes. Upload your matching rules (for example, "tie payment amount and invoice number exactly") to Chatref. The AI agent reads those rules and, via custom actions, fetches bank transactions and open invoices from your tax software, then performs the matching. It marks all automatic matches and lists exceptions for your review, saving hours of manual work.

What financial reports can I generate using tax software?

Standard reports include profit & loss statements, balance sheets, cash flow summaries, and tax‑liability projections. Through Chatref, you trigger any of these with a custom action. After generation, the AI agent can interpret the report in plain language, point out notable figures, and answer follow‑up questions - so you get the numbers and the narrative in one place.