01 / About Tinkerbird
Practical AI for
everyday work
We help businesses put AI to work on the jobs that take up too much time, from capturing paper records to checking invoices and following up on meetings.
Tinkerbird is Akoma’s AI and digital practice. We start with the way your team works and test practical tools on your own records, before taking on a wider build.
We use these tools in our own business too, for research, project records, meeting follow-up and producing websites and proposals. That practical experience is what we bring to Devland.
Explore the Devland proposalClient work and exploration
AI across different businesses
Bakery
We’re trialling daily reports and next-day bake planning from production and stock records, with missing or conflicting figures flagged for review.
Transport company
We’re developing an invoicing proposal to reduce manual preparation and reconciliation, starting with a sample of completed work.
Family-run safari camp
We’ve built website previews bringing accommodation, activities and enquiry routes together for the family to review.
Foreign-exchange business
We’re exploring sales research, prospect management and automation around the business’s chosen customer relationship management system.
Devland / Purchase to payment
Supplier deals and recons
The deals your buyers agree with supplier reps live in the order book and in people’s heads, not in React. Invoices arrive on paper and are typed in line by line, and Muhammed checks every recon pack himself. Claims get missed.
- 60 to 65suppliers, split between the buyers
- 15 minutesroughly, for Muhammed to check an ordinary recon pack
- 7 to 10 daysfor a Clover pack, with several deals running
- Decemberspent going through suppliers one by one to plan the year
Figures as you gave them on 26 October. Tally claims rarely appear on the invoice and have to be raised separately, and last year’s Kellogg’s birthday claim is only being signed now. As you put it, “If we don’t pick up those errors, we’re losing money.”
02 / Purchase to payment
Today and proposed, by stage
- 01
Deal
Buyers and supplier reps
Today
- Terms agreed with the rep in person
- Special terms written in the order book
- Deal sheet scanned and filed, never loaded into React
Proposed
The final terms, special instructions included, become a deal record from the order or a meeting recording. The buyer approves it.
- 02
Receiving
Gate and store staff
Today
- Goods counted against the invoice
- Invoice stamped as received
- Paperwork stapled into a batch and carried to admin
Proposed
Count and stamp as today, then scan or photograph the invoice and any return note.
- 03
Capture
Admin office
Today
- Invoice typed into React line by line
- Returns typed in
- Store paperwork captured again at head office
Proposed
The scan is read and checked. Unclear lines and duplicates wait for a person.
- 04
Claims
Admin office
Today
- Prices checked against the order book
- Tally claims raised separately
- Golf day, birthday and billboard money tracked by hand
Proposed
Price, tally and allowance claims are drafted from the deal and the invoice, including allowances such as R35,000 a truck.
- 05
Recon
Admin and Muhammed
Today
- Recon pack built by hand at month end
- Muhammed checks every document and deal sheet
- Muhammed approves the payment
Proposed
A recon batch on each supplier’s payment cycle. Muhammed reviews a short list of exceptions and approves.
- 06
Payment and reporting
Accounts and buyers
Today
- Invoices ticked off and payments split into requisitions
- Each supplier’s year pieced together in December
Proposed
Payments carry on as today. A monthly report per supplier builds the year’s tallies, discounts and ad hoc money, and shows any claim not collected.
React may already cover part of this: its supplier module calculates rebates and claims. Getting scans and approved terms into React needs React’s help, which we confirm with you and React after the pack review.
Approvals: the physical count, every approval and all supplier conversations stay with your team. Nothing is paid or sent to a supplier by us. Supplier meetings are recorded only with the supplier’s agreement.
Kellogg’s worked example
Your Kellogg’s recon 144296 taken through these six stages: the payment due recalculated to the cent, five items for Muhammed to decide and four kinds of document missing.
03 / First step
Complete supplier-period rebuild
We finish the Kellogg’s rebuild once the missing documents arrive, and do the same for the other packs you’re sending. Each pack is rebuilt from its source documents and compared with the recon your team completed.
Inputs
For each pack: the supplier statement, stamped invoices and returns, the agreed deal terms, the claims, the supplier’s credit notes or replies, and the completed recon and payment approval.
Aadil, or a colleague he nominates, walks us through how a pack is built, and the buyer explains the deal rules.
Outputs
A rebuilt recon and claims list for each pack, with every difference from yours explained, a review list like the Kellogg’s one, and a trading report per supplier.
We also return a scope for a live pilot, with the time each pack took us and what it would need from React.
Fee: R________ excluding VAT.
Time: confirmed once the packs are complete. No commitment to a later build or ongoing service.
Starting point
Missed claims and Muhammed’s time on every pack were the problems you raised most, and finished packs test both on your own records. Scanning at receiving is the bigger change, but it depends on how React accepts documents. The packs show which claims and documents matter before anything changes at the gate.
04 / Roadmap
Purchase to payment and finance
Your aim is to digitise in stages, towards a live view across the business. After the first step, each stage has its own scope, price and approval.
- 01
Deals on record
Final terms, validity dates, tallies, rebate conditions and ad hoc contributions are recorded when agreed, and approved by the buyer.
- 02
Scanning at receiving
After the count, the invoice and return notes are scanned and captured. Stores follow once it works at head office.
- 03
Claims and recon batches
Claims are drafted against approved terms and matched to the supplier statement, with missing invoices and credit notes flagged. Batches follow each supplier’s payment cycle.
- 04
Supplier trading report
A monthly report per supplier that builds the year, with missing claims flagged. It replaces December’s manual review.
- 05
Finance
Creditors, then debtors, once the purchase records are reliable. This builds towards the live view of the business you asked for.
05 / Next step
Walk-through session
Send the missing Kellogg’s documents and the other packs. Then we walk Muhammed and Aadil through the worked example and agree the fee and timing.
Zubair arranges the date.
Other requests
Meeting minutes. We turn recordings into short minutes with clear actions. View the sample from 22 October.
Export invoices. Invoices could be made from the proformas that arrive by email, if React accepts an import. This is scoped separately.
Supporting detail
Rebuild checks and limits
Every document appears once in the register or is marked as a duplicate. Quantities, prices, VAT, totals and references match the source or stay flagged. Each claim cites an approved term and shows its calculation. The recon explains every difference from your completed pack, including missing credits and statement items. Unclear scans and missing terms stay open rather than guessed, and no saving is claimed before it is measured.
The first step includes no payments, React entries, supplier messages or claims sent on your behalf, and no change at receiving. It needs no React login. A live pilot comes only after the rebuild, with its own accuracy and time targets and a confirmed React route.
Data handling
We agree in writing the shared folder, who can see it, which tools process it and how long we keep it. Send only what the packs need. No live-system passwords are required. Any recording of a supplier meeting needs that supplier’s agreement.
Proposal basis
Prepared from our meetings on 22 and 26 October, Zubair’s notes and the Kellogg’s pack you sent on 27 October. React, Excel exports and Aadil’s role as head of accounts are confirmed. Figures are as you gave them; who gives final sign-off is still to be confirmed. No Devland volume, saving or implementation commitment is assumed.