Invoices read and entered for the billing team, a person posts

An enterprise group with operations in several European countries, billed by an outsourced team inside Business Central. We built an invoice assistant that reads each PDF on the agent's own computer and fills the sales order, and we are now building the platform for the larger template billing.

Logistics · recurring invoicing in several European countriesEurope, several countriesAI Ops Partner
5 to 10 minof typing per invoice by hand
0automated backend tests passing
0extension tests passing
The starting point

Where the week went

Everything ran through one person. Each group of notes is one problem area, and each one got its own system: 2 in all.

The billing desk, beforefrom the screen-shares and calls
every invoice waited onTyping, one by one5 to 10 minutes each, by the billing team's estimate
1Recurring invoices
Batch PDFs split by hand.
Customer found in the ERP by name.
Dates, invoice number, subtotal, fuel line: all typed.
5 to 10 minutes per invoice.Billing team
2The earlier tool
Read the wrong line as the customer name.
Invented line splits on single-total invoices.
Blocked any customer nobody had set up yet.
3Template billing
Hundreds of customer-specific templates.
Reports from an older reporting system.
Consolidated by hand in spreadsheets.
How we worked

Find. Fix. Automate.

Connected along the way
  • Business Central logo
  1. 1Find: we watched the work

    We followed the billing agents through real invoices, step by step, and logged every place the earlier tool went wrong.

  2. 2Fix: we made the job simpler

    The rules moved out of the code into plain configuration files: customers, templates, accounting lines and date rules. The agent checks every value before anything is written.

  3. 3Automate: we built what runs

    One click fills the sales order step by step, checks each field after writing it and confirms the total. It stops at Ready for review.

Systems01Invoice assistant02Template billing platform
System 01 · Invoice assistant

The PDF goes in, the sales order fills

A browser side panel inside Business Central, plus a small processor on the agent's own computer. It reads each invoice by layout, maps the customer and the template from plain files, and fills the sales order field by field. A person checks it and posts.

The problem

Every invoice typed into the ERP by hand, 5 to 10 minutes each.

What we built

A side panel reads the PDF, the agent checks the values, one click fills the sales order.

Before

How one recurring invoice got entered

  1. Step 1Batch PDF arrives, split by handbilling agent
  2. Step 2Find the customer in the ERP by name
  3. Step 3Create the sales order, pick the template
  4. Step 4where it hurtType dates, invoice number, subtotal, fuel line
  5. Step 5Attach the PDF and post
5 to 10minutes of typing per invoice, the billing team's estimate
After

How the system runs

Each line is a hand-off the system now does. The orange line is the result a person checks.

what comes in
Invoice PDFssingle or batch
Configuration filescustomers, templates, lines, dates
The open sales order logo
The open sales orderin Business Central
what does the work
Local processorreads the layout, splits batches
Mapping rulescustomer, template, accounting lines
Review panelthe agent checks and corrects
Step-by-step fillwrites a field, checks it
what it makes
Filled sales order logo
Filled sales orderheader, lines, total
Audit logevery correction recorded
the result
Ready for reviewthe ERP total matches the invoice
who signs off
A billing agent checks and postsa person reviews every invoice

PDF content stays on the agent's computer. The run ends at Ready for review.

  1. 1A browser side panel inside the ERP, and a small local processor on the agent's own computer.
  2. 2The processor reads each PDF by layout, splits batches and finds the customer.
  3. 3Template and accounting lines mapped from plain configuration files the team can read.
  4. 4Posting and VAT dates worked out from the billing month.
  5. 5A review screen where the agent checks and corrects every value. Every correction is logged.
  6. 6One click fills the sales order step by step, checks each field after writing it and confirms the ERP total matches the invoice.
  7. 7It stops at Ready for review. A person checks and posts.
  8. 8Runs only on the agent's computer, reachable only by the extension, and never sees a password or login token.
  9. 9Stops instead of guessing when two fields look alike.
  10. 10Ships as one self-contained folder: no installer, no admin rights, a self test and checksums.
  11. 11145 backend tests and 49 extension tests, plus an end-to-end check that runs both halves together.
What they see every day

The invoice assistant

Business Central · Sales Orderinvoice assistant · localIllustrative data
Sales Order
SO-104417
Open
Customer No.
Customer Name
Recurring template
Posting Date
VAT Date
External Document No.
Lines
TypeDescriptionQtyLine Amount
 
 
Total excl. VAT (SEK)0,00
IA
Invoice Assistant
Business Central invoice automation
Local processor readyBusiness Central
DashboardReviewProgressHistory
Workspace
Drop invoice PDFs here
PDF content never leaves this computer.
Document queue · review before autofill
batch-0921 · document 1 of 3Ready
batch-0921 · document 2 of 3Ready
batch-0921 · document 3 of 3Ready
0backend tests passing
0extension tests passing
System 02 · Template billing platform

Hundreds of templates, one mapping list

The larger billing process is next. Three routes were laid out and one was chosen to start: a middle layer between the reporting system and the ERP, for the simpler weekly invoices first. This part is being built.

The problem

Hundreds of customer templates, built by hand from reports and spreadsheets.

What we built

One mapping list and a platform between the reporting system and the ERP. Being built.

Before

How a template invoice gets made today

  1. Step 1Pull reports from the older reporting system
  2. Step 2where it hurtConsolidate them by hand in spreadsheets
  3. Step 3Match the customer's own template
  4. Step 4Enter the invoice in the ERP
After

How the system runs

Each line is a hand-off the system now does. The orange line is the result a person checks.

what comes in
Reporting system datathe raw numbers
Customer templateshundreds of them
what does the work
One mapping listcustomer, code, accounting line
Middle layercalculates outside the old tool
what it makes
Invoices into the ERP logo
Invoices into the ERPBusiness Central
the result
Weekly invoices built from one listthe simpler ones first
who signs off
A person on the complex onesand a check before anything is final

Route 1 of 3, chosen first. Being built, nothing here is live yet.

  1. 1Three routes laid out: a middle layer between the reporting system and the ERP, a full replacement of the reporting system, or a build inside the ERP itself.
  2. 2Chosen first: the middle layer, starting with the simpler weekly invoices.
  3. 3Being built: one mapping list that ties each customer and service to one code and one standard accounting line.
  4. 4The complex invoices keep a person in the loop.
What they see every day

The billing platform, being built

Billing platform · mapping listbeing builtIllustrative data
Template billing · phase 2
Hundreds of templates, one list
Being built · weekly invoices first
Route 1
A middle layerbetween the reporting system and the ERP
Route 2
A full replacementof the old reporting system
Route 3
A build inside the ERPon what the ERP already offers
Today: one template per customer
TPL 0114 · weekly
TPL 0127 · monthly
TPL 0139 · weekly
TPL 0152 · weekly
TPL 0168 · monthly
TPL 0171 · weekly
TPL 0186 · weekly
TPL 0203 · monthly
TPL 0219 · weekly
TPL 0224 · weekly
TPL 0238 · monthly
TPL 0247 · weekly
...and hundreds more, each built by hand from reports and spreadsheets.
Next: one mapping list the platform reads
Name in reporting systemCustomer in ERPCodeServiceAcct. lineHandled by
DEMO NORTH ABDemo Customer North ABC-10427Weekly freight3010
Demo North (fuel)Demo Customer North ABC-10427Fuel surcharge3045
DEMO-SOUTH LOG.Demo Customer South GmbHC-20981Weekly freight3010
Demo South storageDemo Customer South GmbHC-20981Storage3120
DEMO EAST OYDemo Customer East OyC-31556Handling3150
Demo West, contractDemo Customer West BVC-40312Price matrix3010
The platform takes the raw numbers, works out each invoice outside the old tool and sends it to the ERP. Complex invoices keep a person in the loop. Nothing here is live yet.
What changed

Before and after

5 to 10 minutes of typing per invoice, by the billing team's estimate.
The panel reads the PDF and fills the sales order. The agent checks values instead of typing them.
An earlier tool misread customer names and invented invoice lines.
Every value shows a check before anything is written, and the ERP total has to match the invoice.
An earlier tool blocked any customer nobody had set up yet.
Customers, templates, accounting lines and date rules sit in plain configuration files the team can read.
Hundreds of templates handled by hand.
A platform for them is being built, starting with the simpler weekly invoices.

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What they own now

Theirs, for good

  • The side panel and the local processor, as one self-contained folder on their own machines.
  • Every configuration file: customers, templates, accounting lines and date rules.
  • The audit log of every value an agent corrected.

Next: the template billing platform, starting with the simpler weekly invoices.

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