Controls you can hand to your auditor.
Who can do what, what needs a second person, and what every record remembers. Written for finance heads and statutory auditors.
Everything runs on your controls. Nothing is automatic until you switch it on.
Every financial action in Kinnow has an owner, a limit and a record. By default, no AI agent files a return, makes a payment or posts a journal without a person approving it. Automating a step is your choice, made in your controls. Documents your team creates, such as invoices, bills and payroll runs, post to the ledger as in any ERP. Nobody approves their own journal, closed periods refuse new postings, and every change and every outside AI call is recorded with who, what and when.
Who can do what, and who checks it.
Each row was read from how the product behaves today.
- Enforced Kinnow refuses it by itself. No setting is needed.
- Configurable Your company switches it on or sets the limit. Once set, Kinnow refuses it.
| Control | Who creates | Who approves | Default limit | What Kinnow enforces | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales invoice | Sales team | A person with invoice approval, where a limit applies | The India industry setup asks for approval above ₹5,00,000. Your admin sets the figure. | Above the limit the invoice waits for a second person before it is issued. A customer invoice is hard to undo once the customer has it. | Configurable |
| Credit note | Sales team | A sales manager | None set by default | Only a draft credit note can be approved, and only by a manager who has signed in recently. Keep raising and approving with different people through the roles you give. | Configurable |
| Purchase bill | Accounts payable team | A person with bill approval | Set by your admin | Your admin can switch on rules that stop the person who entered a bill from approving it, and the person who recorded the goods as received from approving the bill for them. | Configurable |
| Supplier payment | Accounts payable team | A second person, above the release limit | The release limit is set by your admin | A payment above the limit is held and the money does not move until a second person releases it. The person who asked for the hold cannot release it. Your admin can also stop the person who approved a bill from paying it. | Configurable |
| Manual journal | Accountant | A second person with journal approval | Every hand-typed journal needs a second person. Any other journal of ₹5,00,000 or more also needs one by default; your administrator can change that limit. | The person who entered a journal cannot approve it. Until it is approved it is not in the books. The journal keeps who approved it and why it waited. | Enforced |
| Bank reconciliation | Accounts team | Checked at month-end close | Not applicable | A month cannot close until bank accounts are reconciled. Keeping the people who release payments apart from the people who reconcile the bank is done through the roles you give; Kinnow reports where one person holds both. | Configurable |
| Period close | Accountant | A person closes the month; your company decides who, in its controls (for example the finance head or the controller). An administrator waives a soft check; Controller-level access reopens a closed month | 7 hard checks must pass. 5 soft checks need a written reason by default; your company can make them blocking. | A failed hard check stops the close. A soft check passes only with a written reason. A closed month refuses new postings and a locked month cannot be reopened. | Enforced |
| GST return | Kinnow prepares it from the books; your tax team reviews | A person with filing approval | The India industry setup asks for approval when the net tax payable is above ₹10,00,000. | No AI agent files a return. A person files it on the GST portal. | Enforced |
| Payroll run | Payroll team | A person with payroll approval | The India industry setup asks for approval when gross payroll is above ₹50,00,000. | The person who prepared a run cannot approve it or mark it paid. Your admin can also stop anyone who changed an employee's bank details in the last 35 days from approving that run. | Enforced |
| New supplier | Purchasing or master-data team | Set by your admin | Set by your admin | Your admin can set roles so that the person who creates a supplier cannot also release payment to it. Every change to a supplier record is in the audit trail. | Configurable |
| Change to supplier bank details | A known supplier, by email | A person confirms the change | Every change a known supplier asks for by email, once your mail is connected | Payments to that supplier are refused until a person lifts the hold. They give a reason, say how the change was confirmed (for example a call to a number already on file) and need a recent sign-in check. | Enforced |
| Customer credit limit | Sales or accounts team | A person with customer approval | Set by your admin | A credit limit can be sent to a named approver through the approvals designer. | Configurable |
| Stock write-off | Warehouse team | A person with write-off approval | The India industry setup asks for approval above ₹1,00,000. | Above the limit the write-off waits for a second person. A large write-off is either a real loss or a stock error, and both need a name against them. | Configurable |
Limits shown are the defaults in the India industry setup. Every limit and route can be changed by your admin, with a preview and a trial run before it applies. The change itself is recorded.
Nobody approves their own request.
- The person who raises a request cannot approve it. Approval steps refuse the person who submitted the request.
- A manual journal always needs a second person. Its author cannot approve it.
- The approvals screen warns when the only person who could approve a request is the person who raised it.
- Nobody can approve their own access request. It needs a second person.
Twelve checks before a month closes.
These are the twelve checks in the India setup.
- Trial balance ties
- No draft or pending journals
- Bank accounts reconciled
- Receivables tie to the customer sub-ledger
- Payables tie to the supplier sub-ledger
- Intercompany balances match
- Inventory valuation roll posted
- GSTR-1 prepared
- GSTR-3B self-assessed
- TDS matches the 26Q preview
- Depreciation run posted
- Profit-and-loss variance acceptable
- A failed hard check stops the close. A soft check passes only with a written reason, signed off by an administrator.
- A check that was waived is shown as waived in the close record, never as passed.
- A closed or locked month refuses new postings.
- Reopening a closed month needs Controller-level access and a written reason. A locked month cannot be reopened. Both are recorded.
What every record remembers.
- Every change made through Kinnow is recorded with who made it, what they did, which record and when.
- For amounts, statuses and terms, the old and new values are kept. For names, tax numbers, addresses and free text, the log records that the field changed, not what it held.
- Old and new values are recorded for the records that supply them. More are being added.
- A journal keeps who approved it, the limit that applied and why it had to wait.
- The audit log cannot be edited or deleted in the application.
- An optional tamper-evidence check on the log makes an edit made outside Kinnow detectable. It is tamper-evident, not tamper-proof, and it is off by default. Today it is switched on with an engineer's help.
| Created | A. Sharma · 3 Oct, 11:02 · manual, no source document |
| Amount changed | ₹4,20,000 to ₹4,50,000 · A. Sharma · 3 Oct, 11:20 |
| Party tax number changed | A. Sharma · 3 Oct, 11:21 · value not kept in the log |
| Approved | R. Iyer · 3 Oct, 14:32 · limit applied ₹5,00,000 · waited because it was manual |
What AI can never do, and what is recorded.
- By default, no AI agent files a return, makes a payment or posts a journal without a person approving it. Automating a step is your choice, made in your controls. Documents your team creates, such as invoices, bills and payroll runs, post to the ledger as in any ERP.
- Every outside AI call is listed in a register: when it happened, which agent made it, which record it was for, how it was routed and the outcome. Open an entry to see what was sent and what was held back.
- Every suggestion shows its reasons and its confidence, and the person's decision is kept with it.
- An administrator can filter the register by period, route or agent and export it as CSV or PDF.
- The AI sees only what the person asking is allowed to see.
Mapped to the areas an auditor tests.
Under the Companies Act, 2013, directors report on internal financial controls and the statutory auditor reports on them, where the Act requires it. This table shows which Kinnow control supports which area an auditor tests: authorisation, segregation of duties, completeness of recording, period cut-off, access to data and changes to master data.
| Area an auditor tests | Kinnow controls that support it | See in the grid |
|---|---|---|
| Authorisation Transactions are approved by the right person, within a limit. |
| Sales invoiceManual journalSupplier paymentPayroll runGST returnStock write-off |
| Segregation of duties The person who raises a transaction is not the person who approves it. |
| Manual journalPayroll runSupplier paymentPurchase bill |
| Completeness of recording Every transaction is recorded once, in the right period, and the books agree with the sub-ledgers. |
| Period closeBank reconciliationManual journal |
| Period cut-off Entries land in the period they belong to, and a closed period stays closed. |
| Period close |
| Access to data People see and change only what their job needs. |
| Not a row in the grid |
| Changes to master data Changes to suppliers, customers and bank details are authorised and traceable. |
| Change to supplier bank detailsCustomer credit limitNew supplier |
This is a mapping to help your auditor, not a certification or an audit opinion.
You decide how far an agent may go.
Limits on agents
Set what each agent may read, draft and suggest. Anything outside the limit is shown to you, never acted on.
One inbox for approvals
One person prepares, another approves. Everything waiting for you is in one place.
Who signs off, in order
Change who approves a step and in what order, without a project.
Hide what a role should not see
Show a person only the columns their job needs, such as salary or margin.
Regular access reviews
Review who can do what, and remove access that is no longer needed.
AI you can explain
Every agent hands its work back with reasons, for a person to sign off.
Hand over the record, not a pile of exports.
At month-end Kinnow runs its close checks and keeps a record of the close. It shows which checks the decision rested on, any check waived and the written reason, and who closed, locked or reopened the period.
Dial your controls, then hand over the evidence
Choose how strict each control is, then give your auditor the evidence in one place.
Where is this stuck?
See which step a record is waiting on and who holds it.
Controls that learn from near misses
Each month-end Kinnow counts what slipped past your controls and advises which rule to tighten next.
View-only documents and access logs
Let people read a document without taking a copy, and see who downloaded, exported or shared it.
See the ready processes for your industry → · Security and data →
Audit and control, in plain answers.
Can an agent act without a person approving it?
No. By default, nothing is filed, paid or posted without a person. Agents draft, and the person who owns that area approves, changes or rejects.
What does Kinnow record?
Who did what and when, what each agent drafted and why, what a person decided, which documents were downloaded or shared, what was sent to an AI call and what was held back, and every action by Kinnow staff supporting your account.
How do I limit what an agent can do?
You set limits on what each agent may read, draft and suggest. Anything outside a limit is shown to you and never acted on.
What can I give my auditor?
At month-end Kinnow runs its close checks and keeps a close pack: which checks the decision was based on, any check that was waived with its written reason, and who closed, locked or reopened the period.
Take it to your auditor.
Controls matrix
The grid, the close checks and the mapping above, in one workbook. It is generated from the same data as this page.
AI activity log: sample export
A sample file with the real column headings of the register. The values are made up. The real export also opens with a summary block for the period.
Controls, in plain answers.
Can someone approve their own journal?
No. The person who entered a journal cannot approve it. Every manual journal needs a second person, and until it is approved it is not in the books.
What happens if we need to post into a closed month?
A closed or locked month refuses new postings. Someone with Controller-level access can reopen a closed month with a written reason, and the reopening is recorded. A locked month cannot be reopened.
Can our auditor get read-only access?
Yes. Kinnow has a read-only Viewer role for each area, including finance. Your admin can give your auditor a login with only that role. A viewer can look but cannot change anything.
Can an AI agent change a master record such as a customer, a supplier or bank details?
Agents draft and advise; people decide. The agent that checks a supplier's tax number, PAN, bank account and MSME status only checks and reports. It approves no supplier and changes no master record. When a known supplier asks by email to change bank details, payments to that supplier are held until a person confirms the change.
What does Kinnow record?
Who did what and when, what each agent drafted and why, what a person decided, which documents were downloaded or shared, what was sent to an AI call and what was held back, and every action by Kinnow staff supporting your account.
What can I give my auditor?
At month-end Kinnow runs its close checks and keeps a close pack: which checks the decision was based on, any check that was waived with its written reason, and who closed, locked or reopened the period.
Walk your auditor through it.
We will take your auditor or finance head through these controls on your own data.