Snap the receipt. Skip the retyping.

Receipt-to-purchase-order automation is a Build Concierge workflow for service businesses whose engineers buy materials at trade counters.

The engineer emails a photo of the receipt with the purchase order number. Build Concierge reads the purchased items, quantities and unit prices, adds them as lines to the matching purchase order in your job management system, and records them against the job. Your office receives a confirmation email, and the material costs appear where they belong.

It's 7.30am. Your engineer is at the trade counter picking up fittings, sealant and copper pipe for the first job of the day. They raise a purchase order, pay, and the receipt goes into a pocket.

Then the day happens.

By the time the receipt reaches the office, it's creased, faded or one of a pile waiting to be keyed in. Someone has to match it to the purchase order, type in each line and mark the items as received. Until then, materials that have already been bought are missing from the job cost, so the job looks more profitable than it is.

What your engineer does

1. Raises the purchase order, as they do today
2. Takes a clear photo of the receipt
3. Emails it with the PO number

What Build Concierge does

1. Finds the purchase order in your job management system, using the PO number in the email.
2. Reads the receipt, identifying each purchased item with its quantity and unit price.
3. Adds the items to the purchase order as individual lines, replacing any placeholder line if that's how your team raises POs.
4. Records the lines against the job, so the costs sit where they belong.
5. Confirms with your office, listing the items, quantities and prices added.

Illustrative example. Supplier details removed.

The receipt your engineer photographs

• Copper pipe 15mm x 3m: 2 at £12.50
• 15mm end feed elbow: 10 at £0.85
• Low modulus silicone sealant: 1 at £6.99
• Subtotal: £40.49
• VAT: £8.10
• Total: £48.59
• Visa contactless: £48.59

The lines Build Concierge adds to the purchase order

• Copper pipe 15mm x 3m · Quantity 2 · £12.50 each
• 15mm end feed elbow · Quantity 10 · £0.85 each
• Low modulus silicone sealant · Quantity 1 · £6.99 each

What's left out, and why

✕ Subtotal, VAT and total: these are summary lines, not purchases

✕ Visa contactless: this is the payment, identified because its value matches the receipt total

How it tells items from everything else

Trade counter receipts often wrap product names across lines, print codes next to prices and show a payment line that looks like another item. Build Concierge:

• Records the product description, without separate product codes or sizes from the price row
• Excludes payment, subtotal, VAT, discount and total lines
• Checks each candidate line against the receipt's labelled total, so a line matching that amount is treated as the payment, not a product
• Keeps genuinely separate purchases of the same item as separate lines, with each quantity matched to its price

Every business raises purchase orders differently, so the automation is configured around your process. During set-up, we agree:

• How purchase orders are matched: your PO number format and which purchase orders a receipt can be matched to, for example those raised that day.
• How lines are added: whether receipt items replace a placeholder line or are added alongside existing lines, and which tax code is applied.
• When a person reviews first: the rules that send a receipt to your team instead of processing it automatically.
• Who's kept informed: who receives confirmations and alerts, and when.

Review checks

You decide when a receipt needs a person. Review rules can include:

• Larger receipts: receipts over a set number of items go to your team for manual review.
• Missing or unmatched PO numbers: your team is alerted with the original email and receipt attached, so it can be matched or sent back to the engineer.
• Unreadable images: if a photo can't be read, nothing is added, and your team can be notified to follow up.
• Confirmation for every update: your office receives a summary of the lines added to each purchase order, so they can be checked.

Your engineer

Before: keeps the receipt and hands it in later.

Now: emails a photo with the PO number.

Your office

Before: types each line from the receipt.

Now: checks a confirmation email.

The purchase order

Before: shows a placeholder until someone updates it.

Now: shows the items, quantities and prices from the receipt.

The job cost

Before: updated when someone has time.

Now: updated the same day the receipt is sent.

Help your team include trade counter material costs before invoicing, with less retyping and fewer receipts left to chase at month-end.

It's likely to be a good fit if:

• Engineers buy materials from trade counters or merchants during the working day
• Purchase orders are raised at the point of purchase
• Receipts are currently keyed into your job management system by hand
• Material costs regularly lag behind the work

The same approach can be applied to other paperwork, such as supplier delivery notes, fuel and parking receipts, and hire equipment dockets.