Producing paperwork from data.
WHAT IT REPLACES
Manually preparing documents by editing a previous one.
WHY THAT MATTERS
It is slow, and copying from a previous document carries errors forward.
WHAT COMMONLY FAILS
The previous customer's name left in Old prices retained Outdated terms
WHAT TO AUTOMATE
Quotations and proposals Invoices and receipts Contracts from standard templates Certificates Reports Delivery notes
WHAT IT REQUIRES
A template with defined fields Data to populate it A trigger
WHAT TO ESTABLISH
Which parts vary and which are fixed.
WHY
Fixed parts should not be editable in the generated document.
WHAT TO CONTROL CAREFULLY
Legal terms and standard clauses.
WHY
Their inadvertent alteration is expensive.
WHAT TO ESTABLISH ABOUT NUMBERING
Sequential and unique, without gaps or duplicates.
WHY
Duplicate invoice numbers cause accounting and tax problems.
WHAT TO CHECK
That generated documents contain required information: company details, registration number, tax information where applicable.
WHAT TO TEST
Generation with several different records.
WHY
Edge cases break templates: long names, missing fields, unusual values.
WHAT TO ESTABLISH
Where generated documents are stored.
WHY
Documents generated and not filed cannot be found later.
WHAT TO AUTOMATE ALONGSIDE
Sending them, and recording that they were sent.
