Approve purchase requests by text and create purchase orders automatically
Purchase requests go to the right approver by amount and department, the approver replies YES by text, and the PO is created and logged.
- Reach it by
- Text
- Phone
- Slack or Teams
- Who can use it
- Any employee can request; only the approvers you name can approve
- Works in
- Xero, or QuickBooks Online Plus or Advanced (the plans with purchase orders) · Text messaging · Gmail or Outlook · Slack or Teams
The problem
Purchase requests show up as hallway questions, texts and sticky notes. The approver is out, the request sits, and the person who needed it buys it on a personal card and turns in a receipt two weeks later.
Nobody knows what's been approved until the bill arrives. The bookkeeper can't match it to anything, and nobody remembers saying yes.
What your agent does
- Someone requests a purchase"40 boxes of gloves from our usual supplier, about $600"
- Your agent builds the requestVendor, amount, department, budget line
- Routed by amount and departmentUnder $1,000 to the manager, over to the owner
- Approver replies YES by textOr NO, or a question back to the requester
- PO createdIn Xero, or QuickBooks Online Plus or Advanced
- Requester told, request logged
What you get
- Requests answered in minutes, not days
- Every purchase has a PO before the bill arrives
- A log of who asked, who approved and when
Who approves what
You set the limits: who approves what, by amount and department. Nobody can approve their own request. The PO is created only after a YES from the right approver, and it goes to the vendor only if you've set it to. The agent never pays anything.
Common questions
- What if the approver is on vacation?
- You name a backup for each approver. If there's no answer in the time you set, the agent sends it to the backup and tells the requester.
- Does it send the PO to the vendor?
- Only if you want it to. Many owners have it email the PO for regular suppliers and hold the rest for someone to send.
- Can someone just text YES from any phone?
- No. It only accepts approvals from the approver's own number or account, and for amounts over a limit you set it asks for a second confirmation.
Read more
How do you build a back office AI agent for a small business?
Give an AI model a short list of jobs, connect it to the systems those jobs touch (email, calendar, accounting, CRM, files), write down what it may do alone and what needs your approval, enforce those rules in the software that connects it, and log everything it does. Start with one workflow, like chasing unpaid invoices, and add more once it's reliable.
Read the post
More for any business
Ask your company anything
Ask by phone, text or chat and get an answer from your email, files, CRM and accounting. Each person sees only what they're allowed to see.
Stop vendor bank-change fraud
An email asks to change where you pay a vendor. The agent holds it, calls the vendor at the number on file, and only then marks it verified for your bookkeeper.
New-hire onboarding, start to finish
Say "we hired Maria" and the agent handles the offer letter, I-9 and tax forms, payroll details, accounts, equipment and the first-day schedule.
Contract renewals, caught in time
The agent reads every vendor contract for auto-renewal dates and notice periods, and warns you while there's still time to cancel or renegotiate.
A front desk that answers every call
The agent answers calls you can't take, asks your intake questions, books appointments, puts urgent callers through and texts back anyone who hangs up.
Documents by email, read, filed and routed
Email any invoice, contract, form or receipt to your agent. It pulls out the details, enters them where they belong, files it, and tells the right person.
What job would you hand to an agent?
Book a free 15-minute call. Tell us the job that eats your week and we'll tell you how an agent would handle it and what it would cost.