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Kulram

Bookkeeping you do by talking to it.

For sole traders in Sweden.

Prasannjeet Singh · Växjö · September 2026

Kulram home screen
Kulram asks for confirmation before recording
Thank you for taking the time. Kulram is bookkeeping you do by talking to it. It is built for sole traders in Sweden: people who run a business alone and also have to keep its books. I will keep it short. Who I am, the problem, how Kulram solves it, the research behind it, and what I require.
About me

Prasannjeet Singh

Software engineer at IST

Came to Växjö in 2017 for a master's at Linnaeus University (2017 to 2019), and stayed on to work at IST. Kulram is built single-handedly, evenings and weekends, over about 1.5 years.

AI

One of the top users of AI at IST

Research

Reliable AI agents. PRISM accepted at REALM 2026, a workshop at EMNLP

MSc

Software Technology, Linnaeus University

MBA

Industrial Economics, Blekinge Tekniska Högskola

Founder

Co-founded two companies in India before moving to Sweden

Sole trader

Also runs a sole trader business, and keeps its books personally

First, briefly about me. I came to Växjö in 2017 for my master's at Linnaeus University, finished in 2019, and stayed to work at IST as a software engineer. I am one of the top users of AI at IST. My master's is in software technology, and I also have an MBA in industrial economics from Blekinge Tekniska Högskola. I do research on making AI agents reliable. One paper, PRISM, has been accepted at a workshop at EMNLP in Budapest. I will come back to it. Before moving to Sweden I co-founded two companies in India. I also run my own sole trader business, so I keep my own books. Kulram I have built myself, working evenings and weekends, for about one and a half years. [Only if asked about experience:] What I have not done yet is take a product to market. That is part of why I am here.
The market
738 132

sole traders in Sweden declared business income for 2024.

565 381 sole traders are registered for VAT (2025).

39 000

new sole traders start every year.

10 829 started in the first quarter of 2026 alone.

Each one is responsible for their own books.

Sources: Skatteverket open data, NE appendix 2024 · Skatteverket open data, VAT registrations 2025 · Tillväxtanalys, new companies 2025 and Q1 2026
The market. More than seven hundred thousand sole traders in Sweden declared business income for 2024. About five hundred and sixty-five thousand of them are registered for VAT, so they also file VAT returns. Every year around thirty-nine thousand new sole traders start. In the first quarter of 2026 alone, close to eleven thousand. Each one is responsible for their own books. Backup: 738 132 filed the NE appendix for income year 2024 (Skatteverket open data). 565 381 VAT-registered sole traders in 2025. 39 403 new sole traders in 2025, 52.9 percent of 74 436 new companies (Tillväxtanalys). 10 829 new sole traders in Q1 2026, the highest new-business quarter on record. Income year 2025 is published but still filling in (718 326 so far), so 2024 is the last complete year.
Kronoberg
20 223

sole traders in Kronoberg declared business income for 2024, 7 037 of them in Växjö.

708 new sole traders started here in 2025, and 185 in the first quarter of 2026.

The starting point: close to home, with sole traders I can meet.

Sources: Skatteverket open data, NE appendix 2024 · Tillväxtanalys, new companies 2025
Here in Kronoberg, about twenty thousand sole traders declared business income for 2024, seven thousand of them in Växjö. Around seven hundred new sole traders started here in 2025, and a hundred and eighty-five in the first quarter of 2026. This is where I want to start. Close to home, with sole traders I can actually meet.
What the law asks of a sole trader

What a sole trader has to do

A sole trader's first priority is the business: customers, growth, the product. Alongside it, the law requires all of this, and it is easy to put off.

01

Keep every document

Every receipt and invoice, kept for 7 years.

02

Book every transaction

On the right account in the BAS* chart, with the VAT split out.

03

Match the bank

Every row on the statement matched to a document.

04

File the VAT return

Monthly, quarterly or yearly, depending on turnover.

05

Correct mistakes lawfully

No deleting, no editing a sent invoice. Credit notes and correction entries.

06

Close the year

Year-end accounts and the NE** figures for the income tax return.

*BAS: the standard Swedish chart of accounts (BAS-kontoplanen). **NE: the appendix for business income (NE-bilaga), filed with a sole trader's income tax return.
In case accounting is not your daily work, this is what a sole trader has to do. A sole trader's first priority is the business itself: customers, growth, the product. But alongside it, the law requires all of this. Keep every receipt and invoice for seven years. Book every transaction on the right account, with the VAT split out. Match the bank statement to the books. File a VAT return every period. Correct mistakes the way the law prescribes. And close the year, with the figures for the income tax return. It is easy to put off. So they either learn it, or they pay someone for every step. Backup: VAT period is yearly below 1 MSEK turnover, quarterly from 1 to 40 MSEK, monthly above.
Where the problems come from

Interviews

Interviewed three sole traders and one accountant. Reviewed what sole traders write in forums and reviews, what the trade press reports, and the official statistics.

3sole traders interviewed
1accountant interviewed
Publicforums, reviews, trade press and statistics
Illustrative photo
Before the problems, where they come from. I interviewed three sole traders and one accountant. Alongside that, what sole traders write in forums and reviews, what the trade press reports, and the official statistics. Everything on the next slides comes from these sources.
The problem

Where it breaks down

9 problems, from interviews and from public sources.

In detail next
From the interviews and the research I found nine concrete problems. They are all on this slide. I will go through the four marked in blue. If you want to see any of the others, I can open it. [To open another card: click it.]
02

Matching the bank statement

Every row has to be matched by hand to a receipt, an invoice or a till report*.

05-02 SWISH 1234561 250,00
05-04 KORTKÖP ICA-55,00
05-05 BG 5050-12348 450,00
05-06 KORTKÖP CIRCLE K-812,40
05-09 KORTKÖP BAUHAUS-1 495,00
05-12 SKATTEVERKET-6 027,50
05-14 ÖVERFÖRING-3 200,00
05-18 KORTKÖP TELIA-399,00
05-22 BG GROSSIST-3 355,00
05-23 ZETTLE UTBET2 611,40
...50 more rows
*Till report (kassarapport): the daily summary of sales from a cash register or card terminal. Illustrative statement; red rows match no document. Interviews with three sole traders and one accountant, 2026.
The biggest one: matching the bank statement. Every row has to be matched to a receipt, an invoice or a till report. And the amounts rarely match exactly: card fees, one payment covering two invoices, a partial payment. In the interviews, this is the task sole traders put off the longest. One sole trader informed during the interview that they had been months late with the VAT return. Not because of money. Because the matching was too painful to even start.
03

Every query has a price

A simple query to an accountant costs around 500 SEK.

≈ 500 SEK

for one answer: about half an hour at the median rate.

Not the accountant's intention. It is how hourly billing works.

Median 950 SEK per hour: Srf konsulterna 2022. 30 minute minimum: LK Konsult. Credit note: Mervärdesskattelagen 17 kap. 22 §.
Second: every query has a price. A simple query to the accountant costs around five hundred kronor. The median rate is about nine hundred and fifty an hour, and many firms bill in half-hour blocks. A typical example: an invoice was sent with the wrong amount. You cannot just edit it. The law requires a credit note that refers back to the original. Most sole traders do not know that, so they contact the accountant. The effect is that sole traders save their queries until year-end, when the decisions are already made. That is not the accountant's intention. It is how hourly billing works.
05

The software makes you an expert

Every tool says it is simple. But it hands you the manual.

Ta bort eller ändra felaktig verifikation i Fortnox BokföringFortnox help video
Stäm av konto i Fortnox BokföringFortnox help video
Lär dig grunderna och arbeta smidigt i Fortnox BokföringPaid course, 495 SEK
Counts and titles, September 2026: support.fortnox.se, fortnox.se/utbildningar, bokio.se.
Third: the software turns sole traders into experts. Every tool says it is simple. Fortnox has seven hundred and eighty-seven help articles, a hundred and seventy-seven help videos and around fifty paid courses. Bokio, the simple one, has almost six hundred help articles. And three out of four new Fortnox users come in through an accounting bureau. These tools are built for accountants, and then sold to the sole trader.
07

Deadlines and late fees

VAT returns, employer returns, income tax, year-end. Miss one and a fee follows.

Number of late fees

306 574

late fees charged on periodic tax returns in 2025.

Sources: Skatteverket annual report 2025 · skatteverket.se, deklarera moms
Fourth: deadlines. VAT returns, employer returns, the income tax return, the year-end. In 2025 Skatteverket charged more than three hundred thousand late fees on periodic tax returns. A late VAT return costs six hundred and twenty-five kronor, and twelve hundred and fifty if Skatteverket has to send a request. [Pause] The other five are on the overview: receipts, small VAT left unclaimed, legal corrections, rising prices and lock-in, and the stress of it all. Backup: 306 574 covers all periodic tax returns, not only VAT.
Conclusion

Sole traders want their books right. What stops them is time, cost and expertise.

Time

Matching the bank statement is the task put off the longest.

Cost

Every query to an accountant has a price, so queries wait until year-end.

Expertise

The software assumes an accountant's knowledge.

Deadlines

Postponed work turns into late fees and stress.

The public sources confirm the interview findings.

[Pause] So, to conclude the problem. Sole traders want their books right. What stops them is time, cost and expertise. Time: matching the bank statement is the task they put off the longest. Cost: every query to an accountant has a price, so queries wait. Expertise: the software assumes an accountant's knowledge. And the postponed work turns into deadlines, late fees and stress. The public sources confirm what the interviews found.
Public sources

Voices from forums and reviews

2008 to 2026. Click any quote to open the original.

"Sitter och har fruktansvärt ont i magen just nu. Har just insett att jag inte längre kommer klara av att ha en revisor.""I am sitting here with a terrible stomach ache. I have just realised I can no longer afford an accountant." Företagande.se, 2008 ↗ "Fortnox och dom här är bara att glömma, är alldeles för dyra med tanke på det lilla jag håller på i programmet.""Fortnox and those are out of the question, far too expensive for the little I do." Flashback, 2023 ↗ "Inte lätt att använda med hopp mellan olika mappar för att utföra minsta lilla sak""Not easy to use, jumping between folders to do the smallest thing." Trustpilot, Fortnox, Aug 2026 ↗ "Jag håller på att bli tokig på alla siffror, det måste ju finnas ett enklare sätt""I am going crazy over all the numbers, there must be a simpler way." Flashback, 2025 ↗ "Dum som man är så hade jag helt glömt bort momsdeklarationen.""Stupid as I am, I had completely forgotten the VAT return." Flashback, 2022 ↗ "När varje fråga har en okänd prislapp sparar företagare ihop sina frågor till bokslutet, och då är besluten redan fattade.""When every question has an unknown price, owners save their questions for year-end." Kameral, accounting firm ↗
In the press
Business owners' anger at Fortnox: "Det luktar övermod"EFN, 10 April 2026 ↗ Storm of criticism against Fortnox's new serviceRevisionsvärlden, 9 April 2026 ↗ Free version dropped, now Bokio is suedRevisionsvärlden, 14 May 2025 ↗
Quotes as published, one spelling corrected.
And it is not only my interviewees. This is what people write in public, in forums and reviews, over many years. Every quote links to the original post. [If he is curious, click one: it opens in a new tab.] On the left, recent press: the reaction to Fortnox's mandatory fee this spring, and Bokio being sued after dropping its free plan.
The solution

How Kulram solves them

The same 9 problems, in the same places. You tell Kulram what happened; it prepares the work, explains it, and asks for your approval.

In detail next
Now, how Kulram solves them. The same nine problems, in the same places. The core idea: you tell Kulram what happened, in plain words or with a photo. It prepares the booking, explains it, and asks for your approval. I will show four, with real screenshots from the app.
01 · Receipts

Photograph it. Approve it.

Kulram reads the receipt, proposes the booking with the VAT split, and asks. You say yes.

  • Since 1 July 2024 a complete digital copy may replace the paper.
  • The photo is kept for 7 years and can be exported at any time.
Receipt read by Kulram in chat
Real screenshot, alpha build. Bokföringslagen 7 kap. 6 §.
A receipt. You photograph it. Kulram reads it, proposes the booking with the VAT split, and asks. You approve, and that is it. Since July 2024 the law allows a complete digital copy to replace the paper, so the photo is the record. It is kept for seven years and can be exported at any time.
03 · Queries

Ask, and it explains

The chat explains the rule and does the work. Queries cost nothing, and the sole trader learns.

Kulram web chat in Swedish
Real screenshot, alpha build, web. *ROT and RUT: Swedish tax deductions for home repair and renovation work (ROT) and household services (RUT).
A query. You ask in the chat, in Swedish or English. Kulram explains the rule, and does the work. On the right is a real conversation. A purchase described in one Swedish sentence, booked, then changed into an invoice, where Kulram asks whether ROT or RUT applies and explains the difference. The queries that cost five hundred kronor are now free, and the sole trader learns something each time.
06 · Corrections

Corrections done correctly

Say what is wrong. Kulram prepares the credit note or the correction entries, with the reference back to the original. You approve.

Ledger with a correction chain
Ledger on mobile with corrected entries
Real screenshots, alpha build: entry A-0006 corrected by A-0007 and A-0008.
A mistake. You say what is wrong. Kulram prepares the correct sequence: the credit note that refers to the original, or the correction entries in the ledger. You approve. In the screenshot, one entry is corrected by two others, and the ledger shows exactly what happened and when.
07 · Deadlines

Deadlines in view, returns prepared

The next deadlines are on the home screen. The VAT return is prepared from the books; you review it and file.

Home screen with upcoming deadlines
VAT, year-end, exports and bank
Real screenshots, alpha build. *NE: the appendix for business income (NE-bilaga), filed with a sole trader's income tax return. **SIE (Standard Import Export): the Swedish standard file format for accounting data.
Deadlines. The next deadlines are on the home screen. The VAT return is prepared from the books; the sole trader reviews it and files. The year-end has its own place, and the SIE file for the accountant is one export. [Pause] The other five are on the overview, if you want to see them.
Status

Built and running, in alpha

Web and Android. Also covered: invoicing with ROT and RUT*, payroll, the VAT return, a simplified year-end with the NE** figures, and SIE*** export for the accountant.

Before launch: import from the previous system in one step, and a login for the accountant.

*ROT and RUT: Swedish tax deductions for home repair and renovation work and for household services. **NE: the appendix for business income (NE-bilaga), filed with a sole trader's income tax return. ***SIE (Standard Import Export): the Swedish standard file format for accounting data.

Chats
Invoices
Web app, employees
Real screenshots, September 2026.
This is not a plan. It is built and running, as an alpha, on web and Android. Beyond what I showed: invoicing with ROT and RUT, payroll, the VAT return, a simplified year-end with the NE figures, and SIE export for the accountant. Before launch I will add an import from the previous system in one step, and a login for the accountant. [Offer a live demo at the end.]
Control

More control for the sole trader

The sole trader understands their own books and decides with the full picture. When an accountant is involved, they receive clean material: every entry with its document, a SIE* file, and the year-end figures prepared.

46 percent of accounting consultants say they spend too little time on advice, because the time runs out.Tidningen Balans survey of 104 consultants, 2024 ↗ "När du som kund lämnar in dina kvitton i en skokartong istället för den där appen som vi kom överens om, [...] då kommer du med största sannolikhet att debiteras för detta.""If you hand in your receipts in a shoebox instead of the app we agreed on, you will most likely be charged for it." Accounting firm column, Lokaltidningen Växjö, 2022 ↗
*SIE (Standard Import Export): the Swedish standard file format for accounting data.
What Kulram gives the sole trader is control. They understand their own books, and they decide with the full picture. When an accountant is involved, the accountant receives clean material: every entry with its document, a SIE file, and the year-end figures prepared. The profession itself says consultants lack time for advice. Clean material frees that time.
The technical problem

Why AI alone cannot keep the books

  • Language models are very good at reading and understanding: receipts, messages, questions.
  • But they are probabilistic. The same request can give a different result, and a wrong answer can sound certain.
  • Errors compound over long flows.
  • A prompt is a request, not a guarantee. "Always ask before booking" holds most of the time.
  • Bookkeeping needs it every time: debit equals credit, the right VAT, nothing written without approval.
AI
Bookkeeping assistant
online
System prompt: Always ask the user before booking anything.
receipt.jpg
Printer ink, 499 SEK
Office supplies, 499 SEK, VAT 99.80 SEK. Shall I book it?
The rule holdsIt asks before booking.
How much have I spent on office supplies this month?
1 240 SEK so far, including this receipt.
Quiet slipThe receipt was never approved, yet the total already counts it as booked.
Actually it says 449 SEK, I misread it.
Fixed! Booked 449 SEK to office supplies. ✅
Rule brokenBooked without asking. The ledger now holds the same receipt twice.
Printer ink499 SEK
Printer ink449 SEK
In the PRISM experiments, even with the full workflow in view, the three cheapest models attempted 876 actions the rules forbid (PRISM, 2026).
Now the technical part, because this is where most AI products break. Language models are very good at reading and understanding. But they are probabilistic. The same request can give a different result, and a wrong answer can sound completely certain. [Point at the chat] Here is a typical case. The assistant has one rule in its prompt: always ask before booking. With the first receipt, it asks. Then the sole trader asks a side query, and the assistant already counts the receipt as booked. Then a correction, and it books without asking. The same receipt is now in the ledger twice. Nothing strange happened. Just a prompt, a side query and a correction. A prompt is a request, not a guarantee. In my experiments, even with the whole workflow in front of them, the three cheapest models attempted eight hundred and seventy-six actions that the rules forbid. In bookkeeping, most of the time is not good enough.
The approach

Bounded autonomy: the middle ground

More rulesMore autonomy
Scripted flow

Reliable, but rigid. Every path is coded by hand, and it stops being AI.

PRISM

The model moves freely inside the workflow. Deterministic code decides which consequences are allowed.

Autonomous agent

Flexible, but unpredictable. Nothing guarantees the outcome.

1

Every Kulram flow is declared: receipt, invoice, correction, VAT return. Steps, branches, rules.

2

Each turn the engine shows the model where it is, what has happened and what is still possible.

3

The model chooses the next move. The runtime admits or rejects the consequences.

4

Arithmetic and rules are code. Nothing reaches the ledger without them and the sole trader's approval.

In production: an open model on Kulram's own servers in Sweden. No bookkeeping data goes to OpenAI or Anthropic.
There are two extremes. You can script every step. That is reliable, but rigid, and it is no longer really AI. Or you can let an agent run freely. That is flexible, but nothing guarantees the result. PRISM is the middle ground. Every flow in Kulram is declared: the steps, the branches, the rules. Each turn, the engine tells the model where it is, what has happened and what is still possible. The model chooses its next move freely. But deterministic code decides whether the consequences of that move are allowed. Arithmetic and rules are code, not the model. Nothing reaches the ledger without passing the rules, and the sole trader's approval. And for privacy: in production the model will be an open model on Kulram's own servers in Sweden, so no bookkeeping data goes to OpenAI or Anthropic.
The research

PRISM, the research behind the engine

Accepted at REALM 2026, the Second Workshop for Research on Agent Language Models, at EMNLP 2026 in Budapest, 29 October 2026. To appear in the workshop proceedings.

88 scenariossix workflow domains, four models from three families
+0.13 to +0.28end-to-end task success from enforcement
32 to 63% fewer tokensat the same task success as resending the full workflow every turn
876 attempted · 0 admittedactions the rules forbid

Runtime, workflows, scenarios and transcripts released with the paper.

First page of the PRISM paper
This is the research behind the engine: more than two years of work on making AI agents predictable. The paper is accepted at REALM, the Workshop for Research on Agent Language Models, at EMNLP in Budapest, on the twenty-ninth of October. It will be published in the workshop proceedings. Across eighty-eight scenarios, six domains and four models, enforcement raised end-to-end task success by thirteen to twenty-eight percentage points. It reached the same success as sending the full workflow every turn, with a third to almost two thirds fewer tokens. And of the eight hundred and seventy-six forbidden actions the models attempted, none got through. This engine is exactly what runs Kulram. [Offer to send the PDF after the meeting.]
In practice

One conversation, many flows

Flowchart: one message, three flows, each ending at a lock before anything is written
This is what that looks like in practice. One conversation, but several flows. The sole trader writes a message, Kulram works out what it is, and from there the path differs: a receipt, an invoice, a salary run. At every step the model is given a different set of tools and a different instruction. It never holds the tool that writes to the ledger until the very end. And every flow ends the same way. A lock. Nothing is written without a yes from the sole trader, and the checks at that point are code, not the model.
Next step

What I commit to, and what I require

I commit to

  • 20 hours a week from day one. Full time as revenue and funding allow.
  • An aktiebolag based in Kronoberg within six months.

Looking for support with

  • Compliance: a review of the bookkeeping rules and GDPR.
  • Running the AI model on dedicated servers in Sweden.
  • The first customers: marketing, and ten sole traders in Kronoberg to run one VAT period on Kulram.
  • A co-founder or first hire on the commercial side.
Finally, what I commit to, and what I require. I commit twenty hours a week from day one, and full time as revenue and funding allow. I will form an aktiebolag based in Kronoberg within six months. Where I am looking for support. Compliance: a proper review of the bookkeeping rules and GDPR. Running the AI model on dedicated servers in Sweden. The first customers: marketing, and ten sole traders here who run one VAT period on Kulram. And a co-founder, or a first hire, on the commercial side.

Thank you.

Kulram

kulram.se

Prasannjeet Singh

That is Kulram. Thank you. I am happy to take questions, or to show you the app live.