Daniele Longo
08/14/2024
How we defeated the Invoice Monster: an Automated Flow for Dynamics 365
Dynamics 365
Automation
Invoices
The problem of manual invoices
Ah, invoices. Those wonderful, delightful, never boring invoices! Every quarter, managing invoices felt like an endless marathon. Retrieving emails, attachments, and creating records in the Dynamics 365 CRM was a laborious process that required hours and a lot of attention to detail. Every mistake could be costly, both in terms of time and resources. Let's be honest, it made us want to take a long vacation to the Bahamas.
The Epiphany: Automating the Process
The idea to automate invoice management came in a moment of desperation. We asked ourselves: 'What if we could automate all of this?' That's how our automated flow was born, designed to read and process invoices directly from the email inbox.
The flow in action
Here’s how our little technological marvel works:
1. Invoice Detection: We use Outlook rules to automatically move emails containing keywords like 'invoice', 'fattura', or 'factura' into specific folders. This ensures that only relevant emails end up in the designated folders.
2. Flow Activation: When a new email is moved into these folders, our flow is automatically triggered. It’s a bit like a wizard who starts working as soon as they find the right spell in their book.
3. Attachment Check: Once the invoice is identified, the flow checks that the attachment is not an incorrect image, like a calendar or a cute cat photo. All irrelevant files are mercilessly discarded. And here's the best part: the names of unwanted files are saved so that they are automatically discarded the next time. This makes the process faster and more efficient each time it repeats.
4. File Type: The flow checks whether the invoice is a PDF or an image. Depending on the type, it follows a specific path to extract the data.
5. Record Creation: If the invoice data indicates a new customer, the flow automatically creates a new customer record in the CRM. If the customer already exists, it simply updates the information.
6. Invoice Archiving: Finally, the invoice is archived with all necessary data, including a digital copy in the CRM's file field.
2. Flow Activation: When a new email is moved into these folders, our flow is automatically triggered. It’s a bit like a wizard who starts working as soon as they find the right spell in their book.
3. Attachment Check: Once the invoice is identified, the flow checks that the attachment is not an incorrect image, like a calendar or a cute cat photo. All irrelevant files are mercilessly discarded. And here's the best part: the names of unwanted files are saved so that they are automatically discarded the next time. This makes the process faster and more efficient each time it repeats.
4. File Type: The flow checks whether the invoice is a PDF or an image. Depending on the type, it follows a specific path to extract the data.
5. Record Creation: If the invoice data indicates a new customer, the flow automatically creates a new customer record in the CRM. If the customer already exists, it simply updates the information.
6. Invoice Archiving: Finally, the invoice is archived with all necessary data, including a digital copy in the CRM's file field.
One step further
We didn’t stop there. We continued to improve the flow to make it even smarter, capable of distinguishing whether an invoice is intended for our company or a third party. This improvement was especially designed for accountants, who constantly receive invoices on behalf of their clients.
Now, the flow can recognize if an invoice is addressed directly to the accountant or one of their clients. This allows for the creation of separate records for the accountant's invoices and those of their clients. This way, even accountants can manage their clients' invoices with ease, without the risk of confusion or loss. Our solution offers them better control and greater peace of mind in managing invoices.
Improvements designed for accountants, making it easier to manage invoices for their clients.
The benefits of the solution
The result is a significant time saving, a reduction in human errors, and above all, the certainty that no invoice will be lost. At the end of each quarter, all invoices are already archived and ready in the CRM, without manual effort.
Conclusion
Thanks to our automated flow, we can finally say goodbye to the hours and weekends lost to invoices. Not only have we made the process more efficient, but we’ve also gained some peace of mind. And who knows, maybe next time we really can take that vacation to the Bahamas. Thanks to our automated flow, we can finally say goodbye to the hours and weekends lost to invoices. Not only have we made the process more efficient, but we’ve also gained some peace of mind. And who knows, maybe next time we really can take that vacation to the Bahamas.
Post Scriptum
If you too are tired of battling the invoice monster, don’t hesitate to contact us. We promise you’ll never have to search for an invoice in your emails again!