The task
Onboarding a supplier stalls on the one certificate nobody noticed was missing. Configure an agent to read the submitted pack, check each document against your requirement list, extract the few fields that matter and report exactly what is absent or expired. The chasing email writes itself from the gaps.
What you provide
The submitted pack
Whatever the supplier sent: a registration certificate, a bank letter, insurance cover, tax documents and any certifications you require.
Your requirement list
The documents required for this supplier category, with the fields you need from each and the validity period you accept.
Your existing supplier records
Optional. Supplying the current supplier list lets the report point out a likely duplicate registration before a second record is created.
Give the agent a clear brief
Use these instructions as a starting point, alongside your approved sources and permissions.
Identify each document in the pack and map it to the requirement it satisfies. Extract only the named fields, citing the document and page. Report a requirement as unmet when no document covers it, and as expired when the document is out of date against the supplied validity rules. Do not approve a supplier, create a supplier record or confirm bank details.
How the work comes together
Identify what arrived
Classify each file against the requirement list. A pack often contains one PDF holding several documents, and splitting it wrongly is a more common failure than misreading a field.
Extract only what is required
Pull the registration number, the cover amount, the expiry date and the named entity. Leave everything else in the document rather than building a profile nobody asked for.
Name the gaps
Return the unmet and expired requirements with the reason. A clear gap list is the output; a completeness percentage is not useful to the person who has to chase it.
Illustrative example · fictional data
The pack is nearly complete
An illustrative onboarding pack for a fictional supplier, checked against a requirement list for a services vendor.
| Requirement | Document supplied | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Company registration | Certificate p1 · number and legal name read | Met |
| Liability insurance | Policy schedule p2 · expired last month | Expired, renewal needed |
| Bank verification letter | Nothing in the pack covers this | Not supplied |
Bank details deserve their own verification step outside this playbook. Reading a letter is not the same as confirming an account belongs to the supplier.
The human review
A procurement specialist decides whether the supplier proceeds, and verifies bank details through your existing controls. The agent reports what the pack contains, never that a counterparty is legitimate.
Set it up for your team
Write the requirement list down
Set out the required documents per supplier category, the fields you need from each and the validity period you accept. An unwritten requirement cannot be checked.
Decide the document boundaries
Agree how multi-document PDFs are split and what happens when a single file covers two requirements. Test the splitting before trusting the field extraction.
Keep payment details out of scope
Bank detail verification is a fraud control with its own process. Configure the playbook to report the document and stop there.
Check the result before scaling
Use a set of past onboarding packs, including complete ones, packs with expired cover and packs where two documents arrived in one file. Measure misclassified documents, missed gaps and false gaps before relying on the report.
Keep the data in the right place
Onboarding packs carry counterparty banking details and signatures, which makes them a target. A fully local deployment keeps them inside your network; any hosted model or connected procurement system needs an explicit decision.
Explore deployment optionsQuestions & answers
Can it approve a supplier?
No. It reports which requirements the submitted pack meets. Approval, bank verification and record creation stay in your procurement process.
Does it verify that a certificate is genuine?
No. It reads what the document says. Confirming a registration or a policy with the issuing body is a separate check and should stay that way.
What if one PDF holds several documents?
That is the normal case and it is the part to test first. The pack is split before fields are read, and an uncertain split should be reported rather than resolved silently.