Procurement automation
Requisitions, supplier forms and quotes pile up in procurement. Where does AI help?
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AI helps procurement most with the reading and checking: turning emailed requests into complete requisitions, putting supplier quotes side by side on price, lead time and exclusions, checking onboarding forms against ABN Lookup and insurance certificates, and flagging bank details that need a callback. Buyers still choose suppliers, approvers still approve, and nothing reaches the ERP vendor master without a second person.
Who this is for
Procurement managers, category managers, AP leads and finance systems leads in multi-site organisations in Australia and New Zealand. Requisitions arrive by email and Teams, supplier quotes come back as PDFs in different layouts, and new supplier forms are checked by hand before anyone sets up the vendor in Business Central, NetSuite, Pronto Xi, SAP S/4HANA or SAP Business One.
Solve8 delivers this in fixed-fee phases: discovery on one procurement queue at one site with a measured baseline, a shadow pilot on live requests where your team sets the accuracy bar, a build into your ERP on your infrastructure in Australia, then support or handover. Buyers and approvers keep every decision. Workshops run on site and builds run remotely under your access controls.
Where AI helps, and what stays with people
| Stage | What AI does | What a person still does |
|---|---|---|
| Requisition intake | Turns emailed or Teams requests into a draft requisition with item, quantity, cost centre and suggested supplier | Requester confirms and the budget holder approves |
| Quote comparison | Puts quotes side by side on price, units, lead time, validity and exclusions | Buyer or panel evaluates and awards |
| Supplier onboarding forms | Reads forms and attachments, fills the draft vendor record and lists what is missing | Procurement chases gaps and accepts the supplier |
| Document checks | Checks ABN, insurance certificates and bank details against your rules | Confirms bank details by phone callback |
| Approvals | Routes each item to the approver your delegation rules name, with a short summary | Approver approves or rejects |
| Vendor master | Drafts the vendor record and flags possible duplicates | A second person approves the record before it is active |
Requisition intake
Capture
Requests from a procurement mailbox, a Teams form or a SharePoint list are read in one place, with the requester and site recorded.
Match
Items are matched to catalogue lines, contracts and preferred suppliers. Off-contract requests are flagged with the contracted alternative.
Complete
Cost centre, GL code and delivery site are suggested from the requester's history. Missing details go back to the requester.
Route
The draft requisition goes to the approver your delegation rules name, then into the ERP as a purchase order once approved.
Comparing supplier quotes
Like for like
Quotes in different layouts are read into one table, with units, pack sizes and freight normalised so prices compare line by line.
Exclusions and assumptions
Exclusions, validity dates, payment terms and departures from your terms are pulled out, so a cheap quote that leaves out installation or freight is visible.
Missing lines
Items requested but not quoted are listed for each supplier.
Evaluation stays with people
The buyer or panel scores and awards. The comparison is an input they check against the source quotes.
Supplier onboarding document checks
ABN and GST status
Each ABN is checked through ABN Lookup, which shows whether it is active or cancelled, the business type, GST status and the public details held on the Australian Business Register. The entity name must match the form and the bank account name.
Insurance certificates
Certificates of currency are read for insurer, policy type, insured name, limits and expiry, then compared with the minimums in your supplier policy. Expiry dates go into a register with reminders.
Licences and accreditations
Licences, WHS documents and accreditations are checked against the requirements set for that supplier category.
Bank details and fraud controls
Never activated from a form or email
Scamwatch advises stopping to check any change to payee information and confirming it by phone on a number you sourced independently. The AI reads bank details but cannot activate or edit them.
Callback recorded
The review screen shows the contact number from your records or the supplier's official website, and the person who called records the result.
Name and domain checks
The account name is compared with the ABN entity name, and the sender's domain with the supplier's known domains, catching an extra letter or number.
Two people for master data
A second person approves every new or changed bank detail before payment.
Approvals and the ERP vendor master
Approved suppliers are written to the ERP through its API: vendors in Business Central, vendor records per subsidiary in NetSuite, suppliers in Pronto Xi through its integration platform, and business partners in SAP. Records can be created blocked for payment until the second approval is recorded. Before creating anything, the AI searches the vendor master by ABN, name and bank account, which catches the same supplier set up under five names. Grouping existing duplicates is usually an early task in discovery.
Related work
Supplier invoices into the ERPInvoices read, matched to POs and receipts, and posted for approval.
Subcontractor claims and complianceProgress claims checked and insurances, licences and SWMS kept current.
Process automationLess retyping and chasing between systems, with a person approving exceptions.
System integrationReliable connections between your ERP, SharePoint and other systems.
Sources
Australian Business Register, ABN Lookup: https://abr.business.gov.au/
Scamwatch, Business email compromise scams: https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/types-of-scams/business-email-compromise-scams
Questions
Can AI check supplier ABNs and insurance certificates automatically?
Yes. ABN Lookup returns whether an ABN is active, the business type and GST status, which can be checked against the supplier form. Insurance certificates can be read for insurer, cover type, limits and expiry and compared with your minimums. Anything that does not match goes to a person with the reason.
How do we stop bank detail fraud during supplier onboarding?
Never activate bank details from an email or form alone. Confirm them by phone on a number sourced independently, as Scamwatch advises, record who called, and require a second person to approve the vendor master change. AI helps by flagging mismatched account names and lookalike sender domains.
Do we need to fix our supplier master data before AI is worth it?
Not fully. A first pass that groups duplicates by ABN, name and bank account finds the worst problems quickly. Merging those and blocking new duplicates at onboarding gives the AI a reliable master to match against, and the clean-up continues as suppliers are used.
Can AI choose the best supplier quote?
It can rank quotes on the criteria you set and show gaps and exclusions, but the award stays with the buyer or evaluation panel. Panels need to explain their decisions, so the comparison should be an input they check against the source quotes.
Who can automate procurement and supplier onboarding across our sites in Australia?
ERP partners configure the ERP's own vendor and approval features, and procurement software vendors suit organisations ready to adopt a new platform. Where intake, checks and approvals span email, SharePoint and the ERP, an AI and integration consultancy builds that layer. Solve8 does this across Australia and New Zealand, with workshops on site.
Related
- Customers email us PDF purchase orders and staff retype them into the ERP. Can AI do this reliably?How AI reads emailed PDF purchase orders, checks them against customer, item and price data, routes exceptions to a person, and writes orders to your ERP.
- How do we connect AI to our CRM and ERP so it can read customer records and update orders safely?How to connect AI to Salesforce, Dynamics 365, Business Central or NetSuite: integration methods, permissions, audit logs, approvals and real-time routing.
- AI agents for Australian organisations, built inside your systemsAn AI agent is software that reads incoming work, decides within your rules and acts across your systems. A person approves the result.
- Our AI pilot worked in testing but nobody uses it six months later. What went wrong, and should we fund the next phase?Why an AI pilot that worked in testing goes unused months later, how to find the cause, and how to decide whether to fund the next phase, fix it or stop.
Procurement queues backing up across your sites?
A 30-minute review with a senior consultant. You leave with a written one-page summary you can share internally.
Fixed-fee phases, agreed before we start. Stop after any phase.