Role covered: Data entry clerk
Data Entry Agent
Reads documents and enters the data into your systems, then checks its own work.
Invoices, order forms, applications and receipts: the agent reads the details, checks them against your rules and enters them into your spreadsheet, customer list or accounts system. Anything it is not sure about goes to a person.
Data Entry Agentonline on WhatsApp
- 23 documents received overnight
Agent: I read all 23: 19 invoices and 4 delivery notes. Totals and tax check out on 21, and each matches a known supplier.
- Waits for you
Agent: 2 need you. One total does not match its lines, and one supplier is not in your records.
- Open exceptions
You: The total is a typo, use the sum of the lines. Add the new supplier.
Agent: Done. 21 records entered, and 2 entered after your corrections. Each source file is stored with its record.
- Starts when
- A document arrives by email, upload or scan
- Asks you before
- Low-confidence fields and failed checks
- Works in
- Google Sheets
- Airtable
- Customer list or accounts
How it works
One run of the Data Entry Agent, step by step
Green steps are done by the agent. The yellow step is where you check the work. Press play, or pick a step.
Data Entry Agent: one run
Step 1 of 5: Starts
A document lands
A forwarded email, an upload to a shared folder or the output of a scanner.
- Handled by
- Your tools
- Touches
- Shared folder
- Scanner
Division of work
What the agent takes, and what stays with you
The routine work goes to the agent. The judgment stays with your team.
The agent handles
- Reading the details from PDFs, scans and emails
- Checking totals, dates, reference numbers and duplicates
- Entering records into sheets, customer lists and accounts systems
- Filing the source document with its record
- A daily exceptions list
You keep
- Resolving genuine exceptions
- Deciding the validation rules
- Spot-checking samples
Guardrails
You stay in control of every agent
An agent is a new team member with a narrow job, limited access and a manager. These four rules apply to every one I build.
Approval first
Customer-facing or costly actions wait for a person until you decide a step can run on its own.
Only what it needs
The agent gets its own login with only the access the job needs. No shared passwords.
Full log
Every read, decision and action is recorded, so you can see what it did and why.
Off switch
Pause the agent at any time. Your tools keep working exactly as they did before.
Getting started
From first call to an agent you trust
Every agent starts supervised. It earns more freedom only after it has done the job well on real work.
- 01
Map the job
We write down the task as it is done today: the inputs, the rules, the exceptions and what good looks like.
- 02
Build on your data
I build the agent and test it on real past cases until its work matches your standard.
- 03
Supervised launch
It runs live with every action approved by you, and the rules are tuned on real work.
- 04
Run and improve
Approvals are relaxed where the agent has earned it. I monitor it, report on it and keep improving it.
Questions
About the Data Entry Agent
More agents
Agents that work well alongside it
Covers: Customer service representative
Customer Support Agent
Answers routine questions straight away and hands the difficult ones to a person, with the context attached.
- Starts when
- A new ticket, chat or email
- Asks you
- Refunds, exceptions and anything outside policy
- Works in
- Zendesk or Gorgias
- Shopify
- Help centre
Covers: Bookkeeping clerk
Bookkeeping Agent
Keeps the books current between accountant visits.
- Starts when
- The daily bank feed and incoming receipts
- Asks you
- New suppliers, unusual amounts and the month-end pack
- Works in
- Xero or QuickBooks
- Bank transactions
Covers: Sales development representative
Sales Development Agent
Researches every lead, writes the first message and books the meeting.
- Starts when
- A new lead, form submission or list upload
- Asks you
- First messages, until you trust the tone
- Works in
- HubSpot or Pipedrive
- Calendar
Put the Data Entry Agent to work
Tell me how the job is done today. I will tell you what the agent can take over, what it needs access to, and what should stay with a person.