Cal is the AI assistant in Candis. With Automatic processing, Cal takes over a step your accounting team has done by hand until now: Cal checks every new invoice in the Inbox, fills in the general ledger account, cost centers and tax code based on your previous bookings, and requests approval from the responsible approvers.
This only applies to invoices that pass all checks and stay below the amount threshold you set. You process all other invoices yourself as usual. Cal does not approve any invoice, does not book anything and does not export anything – approval stays with your team, and under Ready for export you see which invoices Cal processed before you export.
Requirements
Automatic processing is currently in beta and only available for selected organisations. If you want to test the feature, contact your Candis team or book an appointment directly (Candis Max is required).
The AI field suggestions become active once your organisation has approved at least 100 invoices and 14 days of data history are available. You can track the progress under Settings → Field suggestions.
Only administrators can set the automation level and change the settings.
Note: While the training of the AI field suggestions is still running, Candis already shows the Automatic processing view, but Cal does not process any invoices yet. As soon as the training is complete, Cal can become active.
How Cal works
Cal checks every invoice in the inbox and uses a fixed set of checks to decide whether Candis can send the invoice to approval without manual processing. Cal checks:
Invoice data: Candis has recognised the contact, invoice number, invoice date and amounts completely and correctly.
Mandatory information: The invoice has passed the § 14 check (mandatory information according to § 14 UStG).
Contact: The contact on the invoice exists in Candis.
Split booking: The invoice does not need to be split into several positions (split booking). You currently process invoices with several general ledger accounts, cost centers or VAT rates manually.
Duplicate check: There is no possible duplicate of the invoice in Candis.
Credit card transaction: If the contact is paid with a Candis credit card, the matching transaction exists.
Accounting data: The AI field suggestions for general ledger account, cost center, cost object and tax code were reliably correct for similar invoices from this contact in the past.
Approver or workflow: Candis can determine a valid approver or a valid workflow.
Amount threshold: The total amount of the invoice is below the amount threshold you set in the settings.
Only if the invoice passes all checks does it count as qualified. Until Cal sends an invoice to approval, it stays in the inbox as usual and you can process it manually at any time.
To determine the approver or workflow, Cal uses the same logic as the processing form in Candis: What is stated on the invoice or determined by a credit card transaction comes first (for example, a recipient named on the invoice or the cardholder). If the invoice does not contain such information, Cal uses the approver or workflow that your organisation approved for previous invoices from this contact.
Note: Cal learns from the approved invoices of your organisation. If you manually switch a contact from a single approver to a workflow, Cal needs a few approved invoices before Cal adopts the new workflow. During this time, check the Approvers column in the Automatic processing view before you send an invoice to approval.
Set the automation level
Open Settings → Automatic processing.
Choose one of the automation levels:
Suggest only: Cal analyses the inbox and marks the invoices that Cal could process automatically. At this level, Cal does not send any invoice to approval and does not approve any. You review the suggestions in the Inbox in the Automatic processing view and send the invoices to approval yourself.
Request approval automatically: Cal checks the inbox and sends qualified invoices to approval directly. The invoice moves from the status New to the status Awaiting approval without anyone on your team opening it in the inbox. The approver reviews the invoice before it reaches the export.
Approve recurring automatically (soon): Candis already shows this level in the settings, but you cannot select it yet. In the future, Cal will approve recurring invoices automatically and send all other qualified invoices to approval as in the Request approval automatically level.
In the field Total amount less than, set the amount up to which Cal considers invoices. You always process invoices from this amount upwards manually. The amount threshold applies to all automation levels.
Click Save and confirm the change in the dialog.
The new automation level applies from Cal's next analysis. You can switch back to Suggest only at any time. Invoices that Cal has already sent to approval remain in approval.
Tip: Start with Suggest only and check for two to three weeks whether Cal's suggestions match your invoices. Only then switch to Request approval automatically.
Note: At the Suggest only and Request approval automatically levels, Cal does not approve any invoice itself. Approval always stays with the approvers of your organisation.
Under History in the settings, you see all previous analyses by Cal with the date, the number of checked invoices and the result per invoice.
Review suggestions and send invoices to approval
Cal analyses the inbox automatically about every 15 minutes. You see the result in the Automatic processing view.
Open the Inbox. As soon as Cal has found qualified invoices, Candis shows a notice above the invoice list with the number of invoices that are qualified for automatic processing.
Click Show in the notice or click Automatic processing in the header of the inbox.
The Automatic processing view shows you:
a summary of the last analysis, for example "Cal successfully qualified 9 of 12 invoices", with the time of the analysis and the person who started it.
a table with all checked invoices and the columns Status, Contact, Total amount, Tax code, General ledger account, Cost center, Cost object and Approvers.
In the Status column, you see the result of the check:
Ready to request approval: The invoice passed all checks. The table shows you the accounting data and the approvers with which Cal would send the invoice to approval.
Not qualified: At least one check failed. Candis tells you the reason, for example Duplicate check. You process this invoice manually in the inbox as usual.
This is how you send a suggested invoice to approval:
Check the accounting data and the approvers of the invoice in the table. Use the preview to open the invoice without leaving the view.
Select one or more invoices via the checkbox and confirm with Confirm processing. Candis sends the invoice with the displayed accounting data to the displayed approvers and records Cal as the requester.
Tip: If the accounting data or the approvers of a suggestion do not fit, do not send the invoice to approval from the Automatic processing view. Instead, open the invoice in the inbox, correct the fields and request approval manually. Cal takes your correction into account for the next invoices from this contact.
Note: For invoices that are not qualified, the Approvers column stays empty. Cal only checks the approvers once all previous checks have passed.
At the Suggest only level, you select the qualified invoices and send them to approval with Confirm processing. At the Request approval automatically level, Cal sends them to approval automatically.
Note: Cal does not approve recurring invoices automatically at the moment. This only changes once Candis releases the Approve recurring automatically level.
With Restart analysis, you let Cal check the inbox again immediately, for example after you have uploaded new invoices or changed settings. At the Suggest only level, administrators can additionally activate the option Run autonomously: Cal then sends the qualified invoices of this analysis to approval directly, without you confirming each suggestion individually. Under History, you see all previous analyses and, per invoice, whether Cal sent it to approval or why it was not qualified.
Invoices requested by Cal in approval
At the Request approval automatically level, Cal sends qualified invoices to approval directly with every analysis. The approvers receive the approval request as usual, for example by email, in the Candis App or in Slack and Microsoft Teams.
In the approval view, approvers recognise an invoice requested by Cal by the following points:
Candis shows the notice Requested by Cal in the processing form. The notice shows that Cal requested the approval of this invoice automatically. Approvers see this notice as long as the invoice has the status Awaiting approval.
The Protocol of the invoice lists Cal as the requester with the time of the approval request and the accounting data that Cal set.
The accounting data and the approvers match what Cal showed in the Automatic processing view.
Approvers review an invoice requested by Cal like any other invoice: Approvers can approve the invoice, adjust the accounting data before approving, or reject the invoice. A rejected invoice returns to the inbox and you process it manually.
Tip: If you correct the accounting data or the approvers of an invoice requested by Cal, Cal uses this correction for the next invoices from the same contact. Therefore, correct directly in Candis instead of only changing deviations in your accounting system.
Note: You can withdraw an approval requested by Cal just like a manually requested approval. To do this, open the invoice and select Withdraw approval request. The invoice is then back in the inbox.
Overview in the export
Approved invoices end up in the Export under Ready for export as usual. There you see at a glance which invoices Cal sent to approval.
Open Export and select Ready for export.
In the Info column, you recognise invoices whose approval Cal requested by the Candis AI icon. If you hover over it, the notice Automatic approval request appears. Review these invoices as usual before you start the export.
The export itself runs unchanged: You export the invoices to your accounting system as usual, for example via the DATEV integration. The document summary that Candis attaches to the invoice on export documents Cal as the requester. This way, it stays traceable which invoices your team processed automatically.
Tip: In the Archive, the Requester column also shows Cal for exported invoices if Cal requested the approval. This way, you can trace even after the export which invoices your team processed automatically.
Examples
Review suggestions first, then automate
The accounting team of an agency chooses Suggest only and checks the Automatic processing view daily for three weeks. If the accounting data and approvers fit, the accounting team selects the invoices and sends them to approval via Confirm processing. After three weeks, the administrator switches to Request approval automatically. From now on, these invoices go directly to the approvers without the accounting team opening them in the inbox.
Large amounts stay manual
A manufacturing company sets an amount threshold of €5,000. Cal sends invoices below €5,000 to approval automatically if they are qualified. Cal shows all invoices of €5,000 and above as Not qualified, and the accounting team processes them manually in the inbox as before.
Switching to a workflow
An organisation switches the approval for a contact from a single approver to a workflow. In the Automatic processing view, the Approvers column still shows the previous approver for the next invoices from this contact. The accounting team sends these invoices to approval manually with the new workflow. After a few approved invoices, Cal suggests the workflow and the accounting team can send the invoices to approval directly from the Automatic processing view again.