Use case · Trades
Invoice processing in the trades
In the trades the incoming invoice usually arrives without a purchase order: it was picked up at the counter, delivered to the site, and matching it to the job happens in the fitter's head. Yet that matching is what decides the post-costing.
The process that pays for itself fastest
What is different here
What it actually turns on in the trades.
Matching is to the building project
Not to an order number but to a job, a site or a commission. The clue to it is - if anywhere - a handwritten note on the delivery slip.
Delivery note and invoice arrive separately
The delivery note is on site, the invoice in the office, two weeks apart. Without bringing them together, the material costing of a job is an estimate.
No clean matching, no post-costing
Whether a job made money is only known if material and hours are booked against it. Without that, the year ends with an overall result and no explanation.
Systems we connect here
- Streit V.1
- pds
- Label
- DATEV
- Wholesaler portals
If yours is not listed, that is not an exclusion. Where no interface exists, we build one - that is the most demanding part and it is our trade.
The rule that only applies here
In the trades, invoice processing is the way into post-costing. Without matching to the building project, nobody knows which job actually paid.
The process
Where a person is needed - and where they no longer are.
- ClaudeLab from here
Step 01Person
Document
Intake
Step 02ClaudeLab
Matching
Gathering
Step 03ClaudeLab
Check
Checking
Step 04ClaudeLab
Posting
Output
The difference
The same process, once as it is today and once with us.
Step 01 · today
Step 01 · with us
Step 02 · today
Step 02 · with us
Step 03 · today
Step 03 · with us
Step 04 · today
Step 04 · with us
What we build
- Component 01
- Documents are collected from mailbox and portal and read out.
- Component 02
- Matching to supplier, purchase order and cost centre via your master data.
- Component 03
- Comparison against order and goods receipt; discrepancies are reported with a reason.
- Component 04
- Handover to DATEV or your accounting system in the format it expects.
Degree of autonomy
The unambiguous part runs through. Anything with a discrepancy, a missing order or an unusual amount goes to a person - together with the reason why.
Where it does not fit
With very small document volumes the effort does not pay. Below roughly 300 documents a month the saving is smaller than the upkeep.
Frequently asked
Is this worth it in the trades?
In the trades, invoice processing is the way into post-costing. Without matching to the building project, nobody knows which job actually paid. Whether it pays for you depends on your volume - the audit establishes that.
We use a different system from the ones listed. Does it still work?
Yes. The ones listed are those we most often meet in the trades - a list, not a precondition. Where no interface exists, we build one.
What do we have to provide?
A mailbox or folder where the documents arrive - email, scan, portal. Read access to orders and delivery notes; without them there is nothing to check against. The posting logic in writing, once: which cost centre applies when. Nothing more is needed to start.
How will we know it works?
Across 200 real documents, supplier, purchase order and cost centre are matched correctly in at least 95 %. Every discrepancy between invoice and order ends up in the clarification loop, not in the ledger. No posting without a reference to the document it came from.
How long does implementation take?
3 to 5 weeks, depending on the number of document formats.
Does the AI decide on its own?
The unambiguous part runs through. Anything with a discrepancy, a missing order or an unusual amount goes to a person - together with the reason why.
When is this not worth it?
With very small document volumes the effort does not pay. Below roughly 300 documents a month the saving is smaller than the upkeep.
The same process, in general
This page shows the fit in the trades. The process itself is sector-independent - what matters is whether it repeats.
Invoice processing in generalTell us where your time goes.
In the audit we record the process, work out what is worth automating, and you get a plan with fixed prices - credited against the build if you go ahead.