Invoice and paperwork processing: read, matched to the job and posted
Vendor invoices, delivery tickets and compliance documents get read and matched to the PO and the job, then posted to your accounting system. Anything that doesn't match goes to a person with the reason attached.
$3,000, credited in full toward your install if you go ahead within 30 days.
TL;DR
Invoice and paperwork processing means vendor invoices, delivery tickets, timesheets and compliance documents get read and matched to the PO and the job, then posted to your accounting system without anyone keying them in. Anything that doesn't match goes to a person. Strategyc builds it on your accounts, to an accuracy bar you set in writing, for $12,000 to $35,000, one time. The $3,000 audit is credited in full if you go ahead within 30 days.
What is invoice and paperwork processing automation?
Invoice and paperwork processing automation is a system that reads incoming business documents, pulls out the data, checks it against your records and posts it to your accounting or project system. Anything it can't read or match to your accuracy bar goes to a person.
In construction, a vendor invoice gets matched to its purchase order and delivery ticket, then coded to the right job and cost code. Lien waivers get logged against each payment application. Certificates of insurance from lower-tier subs get checked, and the ones close to expiring get flagged before the next payment goes out.
Which paperwork eats your team's week?
- Vendor invoices keyed into accounting one line at a time, then matched to a PO by hand.
- Delivery tickets found in a truck a week after the invoice arrived.
- Certificates of insurance from lower-tier subs that expired last month without anyone noticing.
- Lien waivers chased for every payment application.
- Certified payroll reports on prevailing-wage jobs.
- Retainage tracked in a spreadsheet only one person understands.
Most of it is reading, matching and typing. A system can do that part.
Which paperwork can a system read, and which goes to a person?
Sort your documents by how much the layout changes. An invoice from a vendor you buy from every month comes in the same format each time and is the easiest to automate. A handwritten timesheet photographed in a truck is the hardest.
Typed forms from many different senders, such as certificates of insurance, sit in between. Anything the system can't read to your accuracy bar goes to a person with the reason attached.
How does an AI paperwork system work, step by step?
- 1
Captured
Documents arrive by email, upload or a photo from site, and land in one queue.
- 2
Read
The system pulls out the vendor, amounts, dates, PO numbers and line items.
- 3
Matched
It checks them against the purchase order, the delivery ticket and the job.
- 4
Posted
Clean matches are coded to the job and cost code and posted to your accounting system.
- 5
Flagged
Anything that doesn't match goes to one review queue with the reason, such as a price difference or a missing ticket.
How accurate does it need to be, and who checks it?
You decide. Before we build, the scope document sets an accuracy bar in writing, along with the share of documents the system should post without anyone touching them. The guarantee is measured against those lines.
Your bookkeeper or AP clerk works the review queue. The documents that match never reach their desk.
If job costing isn't set up in your accounting system, there's nothing to match an invoice against yet. Fix that first.
Should you rent, buy or build invoice and paperwork processing?
There are three ways to stop keying documents by hand. The last row shows where each one fits.
| Comparison area | Rent an agency | Buy software | Build and own (Strategyc install) |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you get | An outsourced bookkeeping or AP service keying documents on their systems | Invoice capture or AP software your team sets up and runs | A system that reads, matches and posts your documents by your rules, on your accounts |
| Who sets it up | The service | You or your bookkeeper | Strategyc, from your audit, with your office trained to work the review queue |
| What it costs | A monthly retainer. At $5,000 a month, that's $60,000 a year, every year. | Per seat or per month, for as long as you use it | $12,000 to $35,000 per system, one time, after a $3,000 audit credited in full if you go ahead within 30 days |
| What you own | Nothing, once you stop paying | Your data, inside their product | The system, the accounts, the data and the runbook |
| If you stop paying | It stops the same day | You lose the tool and the setup your team put into it | It keeps running. Managed operations is optional and you can cancel anytime. |
| Best when | You want the whole function off your books and don't need it tied to job costing | Your documents are mostly standard invoices and your accounting system already has a capture tool that fits | Your paperwork is tied to jobs, POs, tickets and compliance documents your current tools don't connect |
Whoever you talk to, ask what still runs the day you stop paying them.
How does Strategyc build invoice and paperwork processing?
We scope it from the audit and connect it to your accounting system. The people who work the review queue are trained before it goes live.
The audit is one working session with Alastair, then a written map of where AI removes cost, hours or lag in your operation. It names the systems, ranks them by payback and puts them in build order, with a buy-vs-build call on each. If the numbers don't clear the bar for an install, you get that in writing too.
What it costs
- AI Opportunity Audit: $3,000. It becomes your first payment on the build if you go ahead within 30 days, while the map is current.
- AI System Install: $12,000 to $35,000 per system, one time.
- Managed AI Operations: optional, $1,500 to $6,000 a month, cancel anytime. The system keeps running if you cancel.
Every install is scoped by proposal from your audit, and the price changes only if the scope does.
The guarantee
For paperwork, a good pass-or-fail line has two parts: the accuracy bar, and the share of documents posted without anyone touching them. You set both before we build.
Your scope document sets a go-live date and a pass-or-fail line for every system in it. Miss the date and we keep building at our own cost until it works as scoped. If we still can't deliver it, we refund the install and you keep everything we built, in your accounts, with the documentation.
We take on two to three installs per quarter. Build weeks are blocked in advance, so installs start on fixed dates.
Every install is scoped and led by Alastair Macartney, Strategyc's founder. He's a former British Army Major who directed the UK's Defence Courier Service. More about Alastair
The full offer, the audit and how the guarantee works are laid out on our AI implementation partner page.
What do owners ask about paperwork automation?
The audit is $3,000, credited in full toward the install if you go ahead within 30 days. An install runs $12,000 to $35,000, one time, depending on how many document types it handles, how it connects to your accounting system and how high the accuracy bar is.
The audit takes one to two weeks. The build is typically a few weeks once it's scoped. The go-live date goes in your scope document, and the guarantee is tied to that date.
Because paperwork covers a dozen document types and they aren't equally worth automating. The audit maps where the hours go and ranks what's worth building by payback. Your scope document is drafted from it.
It's built to post into the system you already use. Whether that happens through a direct connection or an import depends on what your software allows, and that gets checked before anything is scoped.
Some of them. Clear handwriting in a well-lit photo usually reads well. A smudged carbon copy photographed on a dashboard often doesn't, and those go to a person.
It stays in accounts you own. The system runs on your accounts and logins. Nothing is stored on ours.
They're trained before go-live, and that training is written into the guarantee.
How much of the keying can a system take?
Before the call
Count the hours your office spends keying documents in a normal week.
Apply for the AI Opportunity Audit
A working session with the founder, plus a written map of where AI pays off in your specific operation, ranked by payback. $3,000, credited in full toward your install if you go ahead within 30 days. We run a small number of these each month. If your numbers clearly fit, you'll see the calendar straight away. If it's not obvious either way, Alastair reads the application himself and replies within one business day.