Rant: My virtual assistant messed up a dozen client invoices last night

I trusted that AI scheduling tool to auto-generate billing for 12 accounts after a system update... turns out it doubled every line item for one client in Chicago. Had to spend 2 hours fixing the mess and re-explaining to angry customers. Has anyone else had automation tools go rogue on basic ops tasks?

3 comments

3 Comments

hannaho522mo ago

Set up manual review steps before any auto-generated invoices actually go to clients.

matthewh282mo ago

Doesn't that slow things down a lot though? I'd rather have good templates and trust the system, then just spot-check a few invoices instead of reviewing every single one.

skyler_mitchell1mo ago

Not to be that person, but "spot-check a few invoices" isn't really enough with auto-generated billing. The system can be 99% right, but all it takes is one bad template mapping or a data import glitch to mess up a high-value invoice. @hannaho52's idea about manual review steps before sending is actually a solid middle ground, you're just catching the errors before they hit the client instead of after. It adds maybe 5-10 minutes of work per batch if you have a good checklist, not hours like reviewing every single one from scratch.