Digitalisation, automation and AI – where they actually take work off your hands.
No buzzwords, but concrete workflows: e-invoicing, automatic document processing, approval workflows and AI functions in the ERP. We don't just rebuild your processes – we make them more efficient.
E-invoicing: mandatory since 2025 – and a good reason to tidy up.
Since 1 January 2025, domestic companies in Germany must be able to receive electronic invoices in B2B transactions. The obligation to send applies from 1 January 2027 for companies with a previous-year turnover above €800,000 and from 1 January 2028 for everyone. Permitted are structured formats compliant with EN 16931 such as XRechnung and ZUGFeRD (from version 2.0.1) – a plain PDF no longer counts as an e-invoice.
Odoo and SAP support these formats. In the Odoo solutions we build, e-invoicing capability is standard. What matters is the setup: master data, tax codes, mailboxes, review and approval steps. We configure incoming and outgoing invoicing so the obligation is met and manual work disappears at the same time.
The real gain lies beyond the obligation: nobody has to retype a structured invoice. The system reads lines, amounts and tax rates directly, matches them against purchase order and goods receipt and presents only the deviations for review.
These details are general factual information and do not replace tax or legal advice in your individual case.
Four steps to being ready for e-invoicing.
Take stock of your invoice flow
How do invoices reach you today, and how do they leave? We look at mailboxes, formats, approval routes and master data.
Set up receiving properly
Receiving is already mandatory. We set up a central invoice mailbox, have XRechnung and ZUGFeRD read in automatically and define who reviews and approves what.
Prepare sending
Before the sending obligation applies to you, we get customer master data, tax codes and invoice layouts into shape. Your outgoing invoices are then created directly in the right format.
Test and switch on
We test with real documents and selected business partners. Only when accounting and the departments are satisfied do we switch over.
Recurring work belongs in the system, not on the desk.
Document recognition
Incoming invoices, delivery notes and orders are read via OCR and AI, suppliers and lines are suggested, documents are matched automatically. Your team only checks what the system cannot recognise with confidence.
Workflow automation
Approvals by amount and cost centre, reminders, automatic follow-up documents, escalations – defined in Odoo or SAP workflow, no paper chase. Every transaction shows whose desk it is on.
System integration
Shop, EDI, banks, DATEV, time tracking, machines: data flows automatically instead of being entered several times. Where SAP is already running, we connect the two systems instead of replacing one.
AI assistants in the ERP
Draft texts for quotes and replies, classify documents, detect anomalies in postings, forecast demand – always reviewed by your staff. If you wish, AI is on board from day one rather than as a later add-on project.
What this means in your departments.
Purchasing: reordering without lists
When an item falls below its minimum stock, the system creates a purchase proposal for the assigned supplier. Order confirmations are attached to the transaction, and date deviations are spotted immediately.
Sales: from enquiry to order
An enquiry becomes a quote in a few clicks, and the quote becomes the order – without entering anything twice. Follow-up reminders prompt your team to chase, and the customer can confirm online.
Warehouse: scanner instead of paper
Goods receipts and picking run via scanner instead of paper lists. Stock levels are correct in real time, and delivery notes and shipping labels are created in the same step.
Accounting: matching runs by itself
Bank statements are retrieved automatically and matched against open items. Dunning runs start according to your rules, and the handover to your tax advisor works without a stack of folders.
AI in the ERP: a sober view.
AI is no substitute for clean processes, but a good amplifier. Current Odoo versions and SAP ship AI functions; language models can also be connected via interfaces. This makes sense where people currently read, sort or retype routine text.
We are just as open about where AI adds nothing: with messy master data, with workflows that a simple rule can solve, and with decisions for which someone has to bear responsibility. A fixed approval rule is often cheaper, faster and more reliable than any model.
We check in advance whether the benefit justifies the effort, which data the model may see and where it runs – in the EU or on-premise if you wish. Results remain traceable and are approved by your employees.
- Data protection and hosting location before tool selection
- Small use cases with measurable effect first
- Master data and process first, AI second
- The system suggests, people decide
From process to automation.
Map processes
We walk through recurring workflows with your team and measure where time is lost. At the workplace, not in the meeting room.
Assess potential
Per workflow: effort, benefit, risk, data protection. The result is a prioritised list. You decide where we start.
Implement and measure
We set up the automation, test with real documents and compare KPIs before and after. Your employees are trained directly on their own transactions.
Scale up
What works is extended to other areas. What doesn't deliver is rolled back.
What mid-sized companies ask us most often.
Not in the long run. A plain PDF no longer counts as an e-invoice. What is required is a structured format compliant with EN 16931, such as XRechnung or ZUGFeRD from version 2.0.1. You have had to be able to receive such invoices since 2025; the obligation to send follows from 2027 or 2028, depending on turnover.
No. Often it is enough to set up existing functions properly or to add a single Odoo module – Odoo can run productively with just one. And where SAP is in use, we connect the two systems.
We clarify that before any tool is selected: which data the model may see, where it runs and who has access. If you wish, it runs in the EU or locally on your premises.
No. It takes routine off their hands: reading, sorting, drafting. People still review and decide.
With the workflow that costs your team the most time today – often incoming invoices. In the initial consultation we go through your situation and tell you openly what is worth doing and what is not.
Which workflows cost your team the most time?
In 30 minutes we clarify where you stand, what is worth doing and what a sensible next step looks like. No obligation, no slide show.