Automated Bookkeeping Workflow Example
This example follows an IT consultancy processing roughly 150 invoices a month — SaaS renewals, cloud hosting, contractor invoices, and office expenses. With a traditional outsourced firm the monthly retainer is €350 and invoices are batched weekly. With Nika each invoice is read, coded, and filed the same day it arrives at {price} per processed invoice, with unusual amounts routed to an approval queue before they reach the books.
Before: manual process
A 12-person IT consultancy receives about 150 invoices a month: recurring SaaS subscriptions (AWS, GitHub, Slack), cloud hosting bills, contractor invoices, and miscellaneous office expenses. Invoices are forwarded to an outsourced bookkeeping firm that batches them weekly and delivers completed records the following Monday. A €350 monthly retainer covers the volume, but late-arriving invoices miss the batch, due dates occasionally slip, and nobody notices a doubled SaaS charge until the next monthly review — by which point the supplier has already billed it again.
After: with Nika
The same invoices arrive in the consultancy inbox. Nika processes each one the same day: AWS €2,840.00 coded to Cloud Infrastructure, GitHub Enterprise €432.00 to Software Licences, a contractor invoice €3,750.00 to Professional Services. When a Slack renewal comes in at €1,440 instead of the usual €720, Nika holds it in the approval queue with a note: "amount doubled vs. previous renewal — confirm before filing." The operations lead approves or queries it the same day. At month-end every record is already coded and filed — no batch delay, no backlog.
Workflow
- 1
Monitor
In: Shared inbox — invoices@consultancy.example, 5–8 invoices per dayOut: Each invoice detected on arrival, attachments extractedSaved: Eliminates weekly batch delay — same-day processing - 2
Extract & code
In: Invoice PDFs — vendor, date, amount, line itemsOut: AWS €2,840.00 → Cloud Infrastructure; GitHub €432.00 → Software Licences; contractor €3,750.00 → Professional ServicesSaved: ~3 minutes per invoice vs. manual entry and categorisation - 3
Flag anomalies
In: Extracted amount vs. supplier history and expected rangesOut: Slack renewal €1,440 (usual €720) held for approval with reason noteSaved: Catches billing errors the same day, not at month-end review - 4
File & archive
In: Approved coded records + original PDFsOut: 150 records written to accounting system, PDFs archived by supplierSaved: Month-end close prep eliminated — records ready throughout the month
Cost comparison
| Method | Cost | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Outsourced firm (weekly batch, €350/mo retainer) | €2.33 / invoice (150 invoices) | 3–7 day batch delay |
| In-house bookkeeper (salary amortised) | €2,500–4,500 / month fixed | Same-day if dedicated, otherwise queued |
| Nika (per processed invoice) | {price} / invoice | Same-day, no batching |
Key takeaways
- Same-day filing removes the weekly batch delay — every invoice is in the books the day it arrives.
- Anomaly detection (like the doubled Slack charge) catches billing errors immediately, not at month-end.
- Per-invoice pricing scales with actual volume: a quiet month costs less, a busy month costs proportionally more — no fixed retainer.
- At 150 invoices a month, Nika costs a fraction of a €350 retainer or an in-house salary.
Questions
How does Nika know which category to assign?
Nika learns from your supplier history and coding patterns. A vendor you have previously coded to Cloud Infrastructure is coded there again. New or unfamiliar vendors go to the approval queue with a suggested category for you to confirm — so miscodings never reach the books automatically.
What happens at month-end close?
Because every invoice is filed the day it arrives, there is no batch to process at month-end. Your accountant receives a fully coded, reconciled set of records ready for review — the close work that used to take days becomes a verification pass instead.