Project Scoping — Email-to-Invoice Automation

I.

Your business

A brief overview so I understand the environment this system will operate within.

Company / trading name

Primary contact for this project

Contact email

Contact phone

What industry are you in? What do you sell?

A sentence or two is enough.

How many people work in your office?

Just me 2–5 6–15 16+

II.

Order volume

Understanding scale helps me choose the right architecture.

Roughly how many customer orders arrive by email each day?

Under 5 per day 5–20 per day 20–50 per day 50–150 per day 150+ per day

Is the volume steady, or does it spike?

Roughly what percentage of orders come from repeat customers vs. new customers?

III.

How orders arrive

The format and structure of incoming emails is the single biggest factor in how reliable the automation can be.

Which email service do you use?

Microsoft 365 / Outlook Google Workspace / Gmail Other / not sure

Is there a dedicated inbox for orders (e.g. orders@yourcompany.com)?

Yes No, mixed with general email Could set one up if needed

What do typical order emails look like? (Select all that apply)

Free-form text written in the body of the email A consistent order form or template customers fill in PDF purchase orders attached Spreadsheet attachments Photos or scans of handwritten orders Other / a mix

Could you provide 5–10 sample emails (with sensitive details redacted) once we begin?

Real examples are essential for training the system to read your specific order styles.

Yes Possibly — would need to check No

Anything unusual about how orders are phrased?

Industry shorthand, customer-specific codes, abbreviations, foreign languages, etc.

IV.

Your MYOB setup

The specific MYOB product and how it's configured affects which API we use and what's possible.

Which MYOB product do you use?

AccountRight (Plus / Premier / Standard) MYOB Business MYOB Essentials Not sure — I'll check

Is your MYOB file in the cloud or on a local computer?

Cloud (online file) Local / desktop file Not sure

Do you use MYOB's inventory / item list for the products you sell?

i.e. each product has a code and description in MYOB that gets pulled onto invoices.

Yes, everything is set up as inventory items Some items are, others are typed in manually No — we use service or miscellaneous invoices Not sure

Approximately how many products / services are in your MYOB item list?

Which invoice type do you most often use?

V.

Customers & edge cases

These details determine how the system handles the inevitable messy real-world scenarios.

Are most customers ordering already set up in MYOB as contacts?

Yes, almost always Mostly — new ones come in occasionally No, we get many new customers

Should the system create new customers in MYOB automatically when it can't find a match?

Yes — create them automatically Only after I approve each new customer No — I'll create them in MYOB myself first

What should happen if the AI is uncertain about an order?

e.g. ambiguous quantities, unfamiliar product names, missing prices

Do you have any pricing rules the system needs to honour?

Customer-specific pricing, volume discounts, contract rates, GST-free customers, etc.

VI.

Approval workflow

You mentioned wanting to confirm each draft before it's sent. Let's clarify exactly how that works.

How would you prefer to review and approve drafts?

Email with an "Approve" / "Edit" / "Reject" link A simple web dashboard showing all pending drafts Either is fine — recommend what's best

Who needs to approve drafts?

Just me Me or one other person — either is fine Different people for different customers / products

How quickly do invoices typically need to go out after an order arrives?

Within minutes — same hour Same business day is fine Next day is fine

After you approve, should the invoice email send automatically to the customer?

Yes — once approved, send it Show me the customer email one more time before sending

What should the customer-facing invoice email say?

A template or example would be helpful. Or describe the tone — formal, friendly, brief.

VII.

Other office tasks

You mentioned office tasks more broadly. If there's room to do more, let's note it now.

Beyond invoicing, what other repetitive office work would you most like to offload?

Don't worry about whether it's feasible — list anything that comes to mind.

What's the single most painful part of your current order-to-invoice process?

VIII.

Timeline & preferences

A few last details to wrap up.

When would you like this in place?

As soon as possible Within a month Within 3 months No firm deadline

Would you prefer to own the system outright, or have it hosted and maintained for an ongoing fee?

Pay once, own it, run it ourselves Hosted and maintained for a monthly fee Open to either — recommend what's best

Anything else worth mentioning?