Choose AI financial software or managed finance for a mainland China business
Choose software or separately agreed managed finance by assessing existing staff, responsibilities, deliverables and company approval.
Start by identifying whether your business needs a better tool or someone to take continuing responsibility for defined work. If you already have accounting or finance staff, an AI financial assistant may help them organize records, investigate differences and deliver useful results. If nobody owns the work, or you want a team to take it on, you also need an explicit human-service arrangement. A software purchase does not by itself fill that responsibility gap.
CaiGeek is an AI financial assistant for small and medium-sized businesses in mainland China. Plus, Pro and Max are software subscriptions. Managed finance is a separately agreed human service that can work alongside the software. A subscription does not automatically include human bookkeeping, tax filing or unlimited finance administration. This guide concerns mainland Chinese entities, including foreign-invested businesses and businesses with cross-border transactions.
Identify the gap through one piece of work
Before choosing a plan, consider a task such as explaining this month's store profit or resolving month-end settlement differences. Who can obtain the records, explain the transactions, assess accounting and tax treatment, review the result and follow up unresolved issues? Separate repetitive preparation from work that has no responsible person.
| Current situation | What to assess first | What needs to be clear |
|---|---|---|
| An accountant spends substantial time preparing records and analysis | An AI assistant used by the existing professional | Whether it completes real tasks with reviewable sources, calculations and corrections |
| A bookkeeping provider is in place, but analysis or follow-up is missing | Existing service coverage, then additional tools or agreed services | Who explains business changes and resolves differences; avoid paying twice for included work |
| There is no finance team to handle recurring work | Managed finance with a defined scope and responsibilities | Service entity, relevant qualifications, handover, deadlines, review and company approval |
| An accountant or provider is being replaced | Continuity and handover before selecting tools | Access to historical books, open issues, records and approaching filing deadlines |
These are decision aids, not rigid categories based on business size. A small operation can face consequential professional judgments, while a large collection of stores may already have a capable team that principally needs better tools.
What software should help an existing team achieve
Evaluate software against a concrete outcome. With the authorized order, settlement and expense records and relevant company facts, can it organize differences, carry out analysis and prepare a result that finance staff can review? Can the owner understand what changed and what conditions matter for a decision? Corrections, additional evidence and follow-up questions are part of that evaluation.
Using AI does not automatically require replacing your ERP, accounting software or source records. Begin with records that can actually be obtained under the relevant permissions and verify the available connections and deliverables. Successful analysis of an uploaded file does not prove that every platform can be connected automatically. A plausible explanation is also different from completed formal accounting work.
An ecommerce business can select a completed settlement period with a refund or fee difference and apply the real-task evaluation method. Observe reviewed results and total effort before expanding the assignment across the business.
Define what the managed-finance team will own
Managed finance needs to establish who will keep which work moving. CaiGeek's finance team and appropriately licensed service entities undertake agreed work, which may include bookkeeping and filing, receipts and payments, tax matters and business finance. The actual agreement determines coverage. Financial review and payment execution after approval may be included; the company retains final approval. The service label alone grants no unrestricted payment authority.
A useful discussion establishes:
- The entities, stores, periods and work included, and how historical problems or new requests are handled.
- Which original records the company supplies and how the team acknowledges receipt, requests missing evidence and reports differences.
- Who performs and reviews work, which decisions remain with the company, and how approaching deadlines are followed up.
- The books, reports and business results to be delivered, the retention of supporting evidence and the handover when the arrangement ends.
For outsourced bookkeeping, Article 12 of the Administrative Measures for Agency Bookkeeping requires a written engagement addressing records responsibilities, transfer, reporting, archives and termination handover. A general promise to handle everything is insufficiently specific. Read the Ministry of Finance's amended text.
Compare software and human-service charges separately
CaiGeek's managed-finance quotation separates software subscription charges from human-service fees, usually collected together quarterly. If a valid software subscription already covers part of the period, confirm how it will be continued or applied so the same software period is not charged twice. Explicit service entitlements in previously purchased plans continue under their original terms. Refer to the current software pricing, managed-finance page and the agreed proposal.
Compare proposals on the same entities, stores, work scope, delivery frequency and historical issues. A lower monthly number may cover less preparation, exception follow-up or business analysis. Without evidence about workload, existing effort and the proposed scope, a fixed savings percentage would be unsupported.
Moving to a higher software tier does not automatically expand human-service coverage. Additional work and fees should be explained and agreed before that work starts; tasks already included remain governed by the original agreement.
Keep business facts and important decisions with the company
The company must still provide genuine business records, clarify facts known only to its staff and decide important matters. Article 4 of the current Accounting Law assigns responsibility for accounting work and the authenticity and completeness of records to the person in charge of the entity; adopting software or appointing a service provider does not remove that responsibility. Read the law published by the Ministry of Finance.
Accounting and tax treatment starts from the mainland entity's applicable rules and actual transactions. Overseas stores or foreign shareholders do not automatically make foreign accounting rules applicable. Obligations of a separate overseas entity need their own scope and professional assessment. Neither software nor managed finance should be sold as a guarantee of tax outcomes or the elimination of professional judgment.
Begin with a specific request
An existing finance team might ask: “Help us evaluate whether AI can explain this month's settlement differences and profit changes while retaining what our accountant needs to review.” A business without a team might ask: “We need continuing bookkeeping, filing and business analysis. Please explain the work covered, record handover, company decisions, and separate software and service charges.”
If the right arrangement is unclear, describe your existing staff, business entity and most pressing task when you contact CaiGeek. Start with facts that affect the proposal; there is no need to include all customer records or platform passwords in an initial enquiry.
Written with AI assistance. Examples illustrate analysis methods; apply them using business records and relevant conditions.
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