Cleanup Mode - Review Points

Project Overview

My Role: Product Designer
Industry: Fintech, Accounting

Cleanup Mode is a module in Xenett 2.0 that helps accountants find, review, and fix errors in their books quickly and accurately.

Accountants deal with large volumes of transactions every day. Even small errors can delay reports, tax filing, and client delivery. Cleanup Mode was redesigned to reduce manual effort, save time, and improve accuracy.

Context

Accountants spend several hours each day manually entering and reviewing data from receipts, invoices, and bank statements. Ensuring that every transaction is correctly categorized and error-free is a slow, repetitive, and mentally exhausting process.

This case study explores how we redesigned Cleanup Mode, a feature module in Xenett 2.0, to make the cleanup and review process faster, easier, and more efficient for accountants.

Problem Statement

Accountants spend hours on:

• Manually entering data

• Reviewing transactions one by one

• Finding and fixing errors

• Meeting strict deadlines for multiple clients

This process is:

• Slow

• Repetitive

• Mentally exhausting

Before the Initial Redesign (MVP): Previous Experience

Before the redesign, Cleanup Mode (earlier known as Speed Mode) had a basic and unstructured layout. While it worked for simple reviews, it became difficult to use as data volume increased, making error identification and correction time-consuming.

Target Users

Primary User: Accountants / Bookkeepers / CPA

Works at:

• Small & Medium Businesses

• Accounting firms

Key Responsibilities:

• Bookkeeping & reconciliation

• Tax preparation

• Financial reporting

• Managing multiple clients

• Client communication

User Pain Points

1. Errors During Data Entry

• Manual entry leads to typos and wrong categorization

• Often handled by interns or junior staff

2. Difficult Error Correction

• Errors are buried in large datasets

• Finding issues takes too much time

3. Deadline Pressure

• Inefficient workflows delay book closing

• Stress increases during peak seasons

Context Before Redesign

• Cleanup Mode was earlier known as Speed Mode

• The first version was built by an external agency

• When the in-house design team joined, the product needed:

  • Better structure

  • Scalability

  • Clear workflows for real accountant use cases

Speed Mode was later repositioned and redesigned as Cleanup Mode.

Design Steps

1. Heuristic Evaluation

   • Reviewed old Speed Mode using usability principles

   • Identified scalability and usability issues

2. User Journey Mapping

   • Mapped how accountants review and fix errors

   • Found friction points and delays

3. Low-Fidelity Prototypes

   • Focused on layout and functionality

   • Avoided visual polish at this stage

4. User Feedback

   • Stakeholder client calls

   • Customer support tickets

   • Insights from Microsoft Clarity & Mixpanel

5. Iterative Refinement

   • Improved designs based on real feedback

   • Continuous collaboration with dev, CS, and marketing teams

Key UX Improvements

1. Better Review Points Organization

Problem:

• All review points were shown in one long list

• Hard to find specific issues

Solution:

• Grouped review points by error type

  • Uncategorized Entries

  • GL Consistency

  • New Entries

• Added option to disable entire categories

Impact:

• Faster navigation

• More control for accountants

• Less manual filtering

Visual & Accessibility Improvements

Problem:

• Many accountants are 40+

• Poor contrast and unclear icons affected usability

Solution:

• Followed WCAG accessibility guidelines

• Improved:

  • Color contrast

  • Font readability

  • Icon clarity

Impact:

• Easier to use for all age groups

• Reduced eye strain

• More inclusive design

Results & Impact

After launching the redesigned Cleanup Mode:

• More accountants started using Xenett

• Book closing became faster

• Transaction review took less time

• Accuracy in work improved

AI-Powered Suggestions for Uncategorized Entries

In the latest version of Cleanup Mode, we introduced AI-powered suggestions for uncategorized and incomplete entries.

Problem

When entries have:

• Missing account

• Missing name

• Incorrect classification

Accountants had to manually decide where each entry should go. This slowed down the review process and increased the chance of mistakes.

Solution (AI Feature)

Cleanup Mode now uses AI to:

• Analyze transaction details

• Understand past accounting patterns

• Suggest the most relevant account or name for each uncategorized entry

For every suggestion, users can:

• Accept the suggested account

• Dismiss the suggestion

• Choose a different GL account if needed

This keeps the accountant fully in control while reducing manual effort.

How It Helps Users

• Reduces decision-making time

• Speeds up categorization of entries

• Minimizes manual errors

• Makes cleanup faster and more confident

AI acts as a smart assistant, not an auto-action, ensuring trust and accuracy in financial data.