Ghost automates order reconciliation across hundreds of sellers using AI
Ghost used TableFlow to clean and standardize inconsistent packing lists, match them against purchase orders, and speed up reconciliation from hours to minutes.
Overview
Ghost operates a B2B marketplace designed to help brands and retailers efficiently manage and sell surplus inventory. With hundreds of sellers using different packing list formats, reconciling what was ordered compared to what was shipped became a time-consuming manual process.
The operations team was spending hours reformatting spreadsheets, running Excel formulas, and chasing discrepancies — all of which slowed down invoicing and impacted Ghost's ability to ship on time.
TableFlow helped turn a fragmented, manual workflow into a fast, automated process using AI. Now, reconciliations are completed in minutes and pushed directly into Ghost's platform.
"We went from spending hours per order to just dropping files into TableFlow and getting back clean, reconciled data in minutes."
The Problem
Ghost's reconciliation process involved comparing purchase orders with packing lists — but with no standard format, this quickly became unmanageable. Each seller used different columns, identifiers, and naming conventions. Even products with the same SKU could be formatted in dozens of ways depending on the seller.
Purchase Orders
Packing Lists
Inconsistent Formats
Hundreds of sellers each used different formats, column names, and conventions for their packing lists.
Manual Reconciliation
The team relied on Excel, pivot tables, and offshore support to handle the workload — a process that was time-intensive and inconsistent.
Scaling Challenges
As Ghost's seller network grew, the manual reconciliation process became increasingly difficult to scale.
Delay Ripple Effects
The time spent on reconciliation delayed invoicing and shipping, creating a cascading effect on the entire operation.
"We used Excel pivot tables alongside significant offshore support, but this was time-intensive, inconsistent, and difficult to scale."
The First AI Experiment
Before discovering TableFlow, Ghost's operations team attempted to solve their data reconciliation challenges using generic AI tools.
ChatGPT Proved Ineffective
The team experimented with ChatGPT to reformat and match their data, hoping it could automate the reconciliation process.
Missing Workflow Automation
They needed a complete solution with reliable automation and integration capabilities that could fit into their existing workflows — something generic AI tools couldn't provide.
"I tried running our files through ChatGPT, but it failed miserably at reformatting and matching the data. It couldn't handle nuances and variances between documents, and gave inconsistent results — which wasn't acceptable when dealing with financial data."
After the failed experiment with ChatGPT, Ghost's CTO suggested they try TableFlow's specialized AI approach designed specifically for data reconciliation and transformation.
The Final Solution
After exhausting other options, Ghost found that TableFlow provided the specialized AI capabilities, workflow automation, and integration flexibility they needed. They used TableFlow to:
Standardize Packing Lists
TableFlow's AI automatically standardized diverse packing lists from hundreds of sellers into a consistent format.
Match Line Items
The system automatically matched line items across documents, detected discrepancies, and calculated totals.
Generate Structured Reports
Clean, structured data outputs were generated for invoicing and internal reporting needs.
API Integration
Ghost is now working to fully integrate TableFlow via API for a completely automated workflow.
TableFlow Reconciliation in Action
"The team now drops files into TableFlow and receives a clear reconciliation report within minutes."
The Impact
Ghost realized immediate benefits across their operations:
Dramatic Time Savings
- Reconciliation time cut from ~4 hours per order to under 5 minutes
- Hundreds of hours saved on manual labor
High Automation Rate
- Over 90% of orders reconciled on the first attempt
- Fully automated workflow to ingest file, extract data, and complete reconciliation
Strategic Improvement
- Freed up the operations team to focus on higher-impact work
- Provided ability to automatically scale oprations without additional headcount
"TableFlow became a model for AI adoption at Ghost — even our board heard about it."
Summary
Ghost replaced hours of manual reconciliation work with an automated, scalable process — helping them invoice faster, ship sooner, and reduce operational strain. TableFlow became a key part of their operations toolkit, powering accurate, real-time reconciliation across a fast-growing seller network.
"TableFlow didn't just solve the problem — they became a core part of how we operate. It's rare to find a partner that's this responsive and easy to work with."
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