From an incoming PDF to an approved action.
Document automation is most useful when extraction, validation and human responsibility are designed together.
Start with one document family
A supplier invoice, a signed agreement and a delivery note have different meanings and controls. Choose one family first and list the fields your team actually needs. For an invoice, that may include the supplier, reference, currency, amount and due date. Keep the source document attached to the record. Extraction is an intermediate step; the useful result is information that the next person can trust and act on.
Check the data before moving it
An extracted value may be missing, inconsistent or associated with the wrong field. Use deterministic checks where possible: required fields, expected currency formats and duplicate references. Compare the document with the relevant business record if access is available. A value that cannot be verified should create a review task, rather than silently becoming authoritative data in another system.
Make the review easy
Show the original document beside the proposed fields, highlight what requires attention and let the reviewer correct the record. Microsoft documents approval workflows as a way to route decisions within business processes. The operating design remains your responsibility: specify who approves, when a second review is needed and what happens if nobody responds. An unanswered request needs a visible state and an escalation route.
Keep approval separate from execution
Accepting extracted information is not the same as authorising a payment or sending a contract. Design these as separate decisions where the business requires it. Record who approved the action and preserve a reference to the evidence reviewed. If a downstream system fails, the workflow should show that the action is still incomplete instead of reporting a successful end-to-end result.
Measure exceptions as well as throughput
Track documents received, duplicates, corrections, pending reviews and completed handovers. These measures show where the process still needs work. Begin with a controlled pilot, include imperfect scans and unusual layouts, and ask the people handling exceptions to review the results. Expand to other document families only after the first process is understood, supportable and useful to the team.