The Exceptions queue
Machine-originated events that could not safely post: what the block reasons mean, how to clear them, and why a growing queue is a configuration signal.
How-toFor Bookkeepers, Firm staff
What an exception is
An exception is a machine-originated accounting event that could not safely post. Rather than guessing, automation stops and records what it was trying to do and why it could not — the source, the intent, the entity, and the block reason.
Human transaction approvals live in Approvals. Exceptions are specifically about machine work that hit something it could not resolve.
Machine posting
Exceptions
| Created | Source | Intent | Entity | State |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 7, 09:12 | BANK FEED | Categorize ACH — UNKNOWN WIRE 8812 | Northwind Trading | blocked · needs review |
| Aug 7, 06:04 | DOCUMENT INTAKE | Create bill — Rothman Supply | Northwind Trading | blocked · vendor not found |
| Aug 6, 23:50 | RECURRING | Post July prepaid amortization | Harbor Property | blocked · period locked |
| Aug 6, 18:31 | API | Create journal entry | Northwind Logistics | blocked · account missing |
Each row states what automation was attempting and what stopped it.
Illustration of the screen layout
Block reasons and their fixes
| Reason | What happened | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Account missing | The target account does not exist or is archived. | Create or unarchive the account, then retry. |
| Vendor not found | Extraction read a vendor that has no record. | Create the vendor — or merge, if it is a variant spelling of an existing one — then retry. |
| Period locked | The entry's date falls in a closed period. | Re-date into the open period, or reopen the period if the entry genuinely belongs there. |
| Needs review | Automation was not confident enough to act. | Decide the coding yourself. Consider a rule if it will recur. |
| Ambiguous match | A payment could plausibly settle more than one document. | Choose the correct match. Remittance detail usually resolves it. |
| Would unbalance | The proposed entry does not balance. | Usually a source-data problem. Inspect the intent, correct upstream, and retry. |
| Duplicate suspected | It matches something already recorded. | Confirm whether it is genuinely a duplicate. Dismiss if so; override if the vendor reused a number. |
Keeping the queue near zero
Exceptions are cheap to clear when fresh and expensive when stale, because the context that would have explained them has gone. Work them daily.
Common questions
You can dismiss one that genuinely should not post — a duplicate, or a document that was not a bill. Dismissal is recorded. What you should not do is leave exceptions open indefinitely, because each one is a transaction missing from your books.
It means they are incomplete for that item, which is exactly why the queue must be empty before you close a period.
See alsoRunning a monthly close
Because a plausible guess that posts silently is worse than a stop that asks. Automation acts where it can be deterministic and stops where it cannot — that boundary is the reason the automation can be trusted at all.
See alsoHow the AI in Books works
Was this useful?