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Business Operations & Automation

Document processing: every document has a status and a home

Quotes, signed agreements, supplier invoices, permits and close-out photos arrive or get created all day, and most end up wherever they were last sent. Document processing moves each one through the same steps, from received or created to filed against the customer, job or supplier it belongs to, so anyone can find it, and see where it's stuck, in seconds. We build it around your document types and the systems they belong in.
Talk through your documentsSee where each one goes ↓
Find a documentsigned agreement, Acme Propertiesreceived or createdcheckedapprovedsignedfiledSA-88agreementNS-88102invoiceP-2291permitQ-266quoteawaiting customer↳ SA-88 · signed Tue 14:20 by Acme's manager · filed to Acme Properties

Documents live wherever they were last sent

A service business handles hundreds of documents a month, and each has its own route: a quote goes out by email, a permit arrives from the city, a supplier invoice lands in the accounts inbox, a signed agreement comes back as an attachment. Each ends up in an inbox, a desktop folder or a shared drive with its own naming habits, and nobody can see which are still waiting on someone.

Document processing gives every document the same lifecycle. It's received or created, checked for what it needs, approved where your rules say so, signed where it must be, and filed against the customer, job, property or supplier it belongs to. The status is visible while it moves, and the document can be found by what it's about once it's filed.

Today, and with document processing

Today

  1. 01Documents arrive and leave by email, text and the shared drive.
  2. 02Each person files them their own way, if at all.
  3. 03Nobody can see which are waiting for approval or a signature.
  4. 04Finding the signed copy means asking around.

The document exists somewhere, but not where the next person looks.

With document processing

  1. 01Every document is received or created in one place.
  2. 02Each is checked for what it needs before it moves on.
  3. 03Approvals and signatures are steps, with owners.
  4. 04Filed against the customer, job, property or supplier.
  5. 05Found by what it's about, with its whole history.

“Where's the signed copy?” has an answer, and it's on screen.

Every document has a home

QuotesCreated from the price bookThe job, and the customer's portal
Service agreementsCreated from a template, signed by the customerThe customer, with the renewal date
Supplier invoicesArrive in the accounts inboxThe purchase order, then accounting
PermitsArrive from the city or countyThe job, with the expiry date
Close-out photos and checklistsThe technician's appThe job and the property
Warranty certificatesFrom the manufacturerThe property and the installed equipment

One agreement, end to end

A maintenance agreement for Acme Properties, from the template to the customer's record.

Events

Document · SA-88

Status
created
Type
maintenance agreement
Customer
Acme Properties
Version
v1
Approved by
—
Signed
—
Filed to
—
Renewal
—

Event 1 of 6: document.created

What changes from one business to the next

Document typesWhich documents you handle, and what each needs before it moves on
ApprovalsWhich documents need one, and from whom
SignaturesWho signs what, and how
FilingWhich record each document belongs to, and how it's named
RetentionHow long each kind is kept, by your rules

A common starting point is your existing storage, such as Google Drive, SharePoint or Dropbox, for the files themselves, with the status and links held in PostgreSQL, e-signature through a service such as DocuSign or Dropbox Sign, and n8n or Trigger.dev moving documents between steps. These are starting candidates, not requirements.

Is document processing the right fit?

Good fit

  • You handle many kinds of documents that need checks, approvals or signatures.
  • People regularly ask where a document is, or whether it's been signed.
  • Documents need to be found by customer, job or property later.

Avoid when

  • A handful of documents a month, handled by one person.
  • The documents don't need anything done to them beyond storing.

How we'd approach it

Most of the early work is listing your document types, who approves and signs them, and where each is filed.

  1. 01

    Understand

    As much as the problem needs

    We map how the work runs today: who does what, which systems hold the records, and where it breaks.

  2. 02

    Design

    Decided before it's built

    Ownership, rules, integrations and exceptions, agreed with you and written down with acceptance criteria.

  3. 03

    Build

    Connected to what you use

    We build the scoped system, connect it to the tools you already run, and test it on the cases that matter.

Related systems

The capabilities underneath

Questions about document processing

Do our files have to move to a new system?

Usually not. The files stay in the storage you already use; the system adds the status, the steps and the links to the right customer, job or supplier.

What about documents that arrive as photos or scans?

They follow the same steps. Where reading them would save time, document intelligence can pull out the details first, with a person checking anything it isn't sure about.

Can customers see their documents?

Yes, if you want them to. Quotes, agreements and certificates can appear in their portal, filed against their property.

What happens to the documents we already have?

The ones you still need can be filed in a first pass, starting with active agreements and open jobs. The rest stay where they are until someone looks for them.

Give every document a status and a home

Tell us which documents go missing or get stuck today. We'll show you the steps each would move through.

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