Invoices and timesheets for businesses without an IT team
A business with no IT department runs its accounts with two agents. How it works at a trades group with 70 employees.
The target values we set for this process during the assessment and track in the monthly report:
Where it gets stuck, what we build and what usually gets in the way
Tools and platforms: Microsoft Foundry, Microsoft 365, DATEV Unternehmen online, Power Platform, Entra ID.
Where it gets stuck
Three businesses under one roof: plumbing, electrical and roofing. One bookkeeper does everything. Around 450 supplier invoices arrive each month, along with timesheets from 50 fitters, on paper and as photos. And on the tenth of every month the tax adviser wants the paperwork. There is no IT department, just Microsoft 365, DATEV Unternehmen online and a trade business software package. The managing director heard about agents at a trade fair and now wants to know whether they work for a business with €7 million in revenue.
How we build it
They do. We start with the assessment and measure the invoice process. Then we build two agents. The first collects invoices from the mailbox, checks them against purchase orders and delivery notes in the trade software, codes them to the tax adviser's chart of accounts and files them in DATEV. The second reads the timesheets, matches them to jobs and prepares the payroll. We run both as Managed Agent Ops for a monthly fee, because there is nobody in-house to run them. Every morning the bookkeeper gets a list of the decisions waiting for the bookkeeper, usually six to eight cases.
What usually gets in the way
The timesheets are harder than the invoices. Every fitter writes differently, and a few sheets leave even people guessing. For those there is a template, and from then on the agent reads almost every sheet without needing to ask.
I thought this sort of thing was for big corporations. What will it cost me a month? And what if it doesn't work?"
Less than half a full-time post. We give you that as a firm figure before we start, and we stick to it. If it isn't going to work, the assessment will show it before any money changes hands. And we will be the ones to tell you.
Shall we talk about your first process?
In a Short Assessment we sit down with your business team and IT and look at one process together. You leave with a clear target design and an effort estimate we stand behind. Free of charge.
