Each feature in this prototype traces directly to something said in discovery. No invented problems, no assumed workflows. Direct quotes from three sessions (April 27–30 2026) are mapped to the prototype capabilities built in response.
| Pain Point | Direct Quotes | What We Built |
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1
Payment failures went undetected — suppliers called before the team knew
When Fusion's bank file was loaded but reconciliation lagged, failed payments were invisible. The only signal was a vendor calling to ask where their money was — days after the payment had already failed.
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We weren't reconciling as probably quickly as we should have. And so you could think you made a payment to a supplier because the payment looks like it left Fusion. A week could go by and if you haven't done the bank reconciliation to learn, oh, well actually the payment didn't go out. Now the supplier's unhappy. They're like, where's our money? We've got to go back.
Bobby Fanelli · Apr 28 2026
I run an exception file for the disbursement account through JP Morgan... I'll get an exceptions report. And a lot of times it's usually a day or two later. So it's not as on time, I guess.
Allison Lopez · Apr 27 2026
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In prototype built
Failed Payment badge surfaces these immediately in the main queue. This is the core Phase 1 premise — exceptions surface the moment the bank file is loaded. The team doesn't discover a problem by working through a queue; it surfaces immediately. No more relying on a vendor call or a day-late exceptions report to know a payment failed.
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2
Escalation tracking lives in email, not in the tool
When something gets sent to AP, the only record is in a sent folder. Following up means hunting through old email threads to reconstruct what was asked and when.
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I go back and I'm like, oh yeah, what happened with this item? And then I go in my emails and find wherever like I last talked about it and see if I can pick up the thread.
Allison Lopez · Apr 28 2026
If I have a bank item that I'm questioning, I will take a screenshot of the bank statement or the screen in Fusion... and send that over to the AP help desk, usually copying Emmy and another person.
Allison Lopez · Apr 28 2026
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In prototype built
"Sent to AP" flag on each transaction. Set from inside the reconciliation modal after she's decided to escalate. Records the date she sent it (required — calendar picker). The transaction stays marked until she closes it out — no more reconstructing from email.
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3
No single view of what's waiting on AP
There's no way to filter to only the items pending AP response. Escalations go into what she called "the void."
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It's usually just send it into the void of AP and wait and see if they ever come back with an answer.
Allison Lopez · Apr 28 2026
I do everything that I can. And then when I have a day where I don't have much going on and I start looking into the statement again, I go back and I'm like, oh yeah, what happened with this item? And then I go in my emails and find wherever like I last talked about it and see if I can pick up the thread of, hey, is there an update on this yet? And then wait again.
Allison Lopez · Apr 28 2026
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In prototype built
"Sent to AP" filter in the transaction list. One click to see every open escalation with her notes attached. No scrolling, no email hunting.
CSV export of filtered view — date, type, amount, description, notes, sent date — for AP manager meetings.
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4
Items sent to AP sit unanswered for months — no way to surface them
With no persistent tracking, escalated items can disappear into the AP inbox indefinitely. There are 12 wires with non-standard reference IDs that have been open since July 2025 — sent to AP, never resolved.
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From July till now, I've got like 12 wires that have different bank reference IDs — the end-to-end ID — than what the normal wires have, so I don't know what they are and I can't find them in the system transactions, so I send that to AP... they're still out here because I probably haven't heard anything back from AP about what they are.
Allison Lopez · Apr 28 2026
I follow up with AP so much and I feel like I never get an answer. So I don't feel like I have a lot of examples of what they've come back with because it's usually just send it into the void of AP and wait.
Allison Lopez · Apr 28 2026
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In prototype built
"Sent to AP" and "Watching" states persist until explicitly closed. The date picker records when she sent — aging becomes visible at a glance. The filter makes every open item reviewable in one view. Nothing can fall through if it's been assigned a state.
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5
Context disappears between seeing an item and acting on it
When a transaction needs investigation, there's nowhere to capture what she knows in the moment. By the time she comes back — or is ready to email AP — the context is gone.
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If it's something that's requiring more investigation, like on my side, whether that's looking into things here or reaching out to AP, having that notes column would be real helpful... put some notes in and then you haven't yet emailed AP and so you want to be able to like come back maybe and then craft your email.
Allison Lopez · Apr 30 2026
A comment of like flagging something, even if it's just me knowing like, I've sent this item for investigation or I've looked into this and I can't figure it out or whatever. That would be really helpful.
Allison Lopez · Apr 28 2026
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In prototype built
Per-transaction notes field inside the reconciliation modal. Free-text, saves to the transaction. Available whether she's about to email AP, mid-investigation, or leaving herself a breadcrumb.
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6
No way to deliberately hold an item she's watching
Sometimes she recognizes an item and knows it will likely resolve itself — a timing issue, an expected journal arriving soon. She needs to flag it without escalating and come back when ready.
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Sometimes it's just a timing thing and I know, oh, I know what this is. Something's probably coming. I'm going to hold this.
Allison Lopez · Apr 30 2026
I do everything that I can. And then when I have a day where I don't have much going on and I start looking into the statement again, I go back and I'm like, oh yeah, what happened with this item?
Allison Lopez · Apr 28 2026
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In prototype built
"Watching" state — a deliberate hold flag, separate from "Sent to AP." She's not waiting on anyone; she's watching. Paired with the notes field. Can transition to "Sent to AP" or close directly to reconciled — no dead end.
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7
Fusion collapses data — key fields require opening each transaction
Fusion's row view doesn't show enough to identify a transaction's type or routing. She maintains a parallel Excel file specifically to see fields Fusion hides by default.
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It's also just faster for me to have two screens open basically and be able to see everything on here and I can just expand my files and see all the columns that I need without having to open each transaction to be like, I can see this is a credit card, but which credit card? And then to open it, wait for it to load, find the name, close it.
Allison Lopez · Apr 28 2026
Being able to see that Remarks 9 column confirms that it's a direct debit and tells me which credit card that belongs to. So then I know what next steps are needed.
Allison Lopez · Apr 28 2026
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In prototype built
Reconciliation modal surfaces key fields directly — Remarks 9, transaction type, counterparty, and matching identifier visible without navigating Fusion. Human-readable type labels replace raw codes. No parallel Excel needed to identify what a transaction is.
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8
A custom Excel workaround fills the gaps Fusion leaves — and gets maintained every day
Because Fusion's transaction codes are opaque and the import can't be verified, the team built and maintains a private Excel file with formulas that translate codes into human-readable types, categorize transactions, and run a sanity check that the bank file loaded completely. It's a daily parallel system that exists to fill Fusion's gaps.
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I still pull up the bank statement and I pop it into my Excel. I have a formula that identifies the type of transaction that it is. So between EFT check, a return, the cash sweeps, wires, all that kind of stuff, it automatically does that with a formula. That just helps me visualize it because that's how I did it for so long.
Allison Lopez · Apr 28 2026
The way that they're named in Fusion, it's a much more rigid system. I can't decide what that transaction name is. Having three different electric funds transfers, transaction code names, doesn't necessarily tell me that that's an EFT versus a wire.
Allison Lopez · Apr 28 2026
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In prototype built
Human-readable transaction type labels replace Fusion's raw codes — "Wire," "EFT," "Direct Debit," "Check," "Sweep." The reconciliation modal surfaces type, remarks, and key fields without any translation step. Her Excel file was a workaround for information that should be visible in the tool.
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