Project Administration · Agent blueprint · validated with 7 team members

Monthly Invoice Prep Agent

Pulls each draft invoice from Deltek Vantagepoint when billing opens, checks it, and builds the Excel backup and a ready-to-paste figure sheet for the portal. The PM review and the coordinator's portal entry stay with people. The agent also tracks status and holds invoices that are waiting on subconsultants.

81readiness · Ready for an agent

7–11 hback per week, of 23 h now

$17K–29Ka year

3–5 wkto build · size M

Trigger

Billing opens on the 1st of the month and draft invoices appear in Deltek Vantagepoint for the coordinator's projects. A Power Automate scheduled flow checks for new drafts. The coordinator confirms the batch before the agent writes anythin

Done when: The invoice package has been accepted in the client's portal (DOT eCMS) and the invoice is marked Final in Vantagepoint.

Needs: Draft invoices per project from Deltek Vantagepoint (hours, labor cost, fee, subconsultant costs, invoice total, billing; Phase budgets vs. billed amounts from Vantagepoint; Subconsultant invoice receipt status from Vantagepoint; Client agreement number, exactly as written on the contract; The client's approved provisional overhead rate for that year; Invoice backup workbook template (Excel); List of PMs and whether each wants to see every draft

What the agent does

1
Detect new draft invoices and list them for the coordinator · Deltek Vantagepointapi
Read-only query of drafts per coordinator's projects. Produces a batch list with project, client and amount.
2
Confirm which projects to prepare this run · Deltek Vantagepointperson
Coordinator approves the batch before the agent creates files, so no unattended record is created.
3
Check each phase against budget and subconsultant invoice receipt · Deltek Vantagepointapi
Flag over-budget phases, closed phases and missing subconsultant invoices for the hold-or-bill decision.
4
Check the overhead rate and agreement number against client records · Deltek Vantagepointai
Compare the rate used with the client's approved provisional rate for the year. Flag any mismatch for the coordinator.
5
Build the Excel backup from Vantagepoint figures · Excelconnector
Fill hours, labor cost, fee and subconsultant costs. Check that the totals equal the Vantagepoint approved total to the cent.
6
Assemble the invoice package PDF · Adobe Acrobatperson
Coordinator combines the PDF in Acrobat, or a licensed PDF merge action does it if the builder confirms one exists.
7
Coordinator reviews the prepared backup and package, then approves sending to the PM · Excelperson
One approval per invoice covers the flags, the backup and the package.
8
Send the draft to the PM for review and track the reply · Outlookconnector
Runs only after coordinator approval. Status stays 'Draft for PM review'. Send to every draft for PMs flagged as wanting to see all drafts.
9
Record PM sign-off · Outlookperson
The PM's review is required before any submission. The agent notes the sign-off and lets the coordinator continue.
10
Produce a figure sheet for portal entry · Excelconnector
Invoice total, hours, agreement number and billing period, ready to paste into DOT eCMS, with the package PDF to attach.
11
Enter figures and attach the package in the client portal · DOT eCMSperson
The portal is UI-only and there is no API. The coordinator enters or pastes the figures and uploads the PDF.
12
Approve setting the invoice to Final after portal acceptance · Deltek Vantagepointperson
The coordinator confirms the portal accepted the package.
13
Set the invoice status to Final in Vantagepoint · Deltek Vantagepointapi
Runs only after the approval above. Closes the case.

Decisions the agent makes

Decide	Rule	Source
Invoice status: keep 'Draft for PM review' or set to 'Final'	Keep 'Draft for PM review' until the PM has signed off, then set 'Final'. Most respondents agree.	The team
Whether to send every draft to the PM	Some PMs want to see every draft and others only sign off before Final. The team does not say which PMs or how the agent should know.	The team
Bill a phase or hold the invoice	If a phase is over budget, a contract modification is needed before billing more. If subconsultant invoices have not arrived, hold the invoice or bill it next month. Most respondents agree.	The team
Which overhead rate to apply	Use the client's approved provisional overhead rate for that client and year.	The team
Whether the invoice amount is correct	It is the approved total from Vantagepoint and must match the backup to the cent.	The team
Whether the agreement number is correct	It must match the client's contract exactly, with no reformatting.	The team
Order of preparation steps	Not clear: the only team answer was 'it depends'. The observed main path is status edit, backup workbook, package PDF, portal entry.	Team, confirmed by data
How to treat subconsultant costs missing from the invoice	Not known yet: ask the team how costs are brought in and what is needed when they are missing.	Not known yet

Where a person signs off

Coordinator confirms the batch before the agent creates any files
Coordinator approves each prepared backup and package before the PM is contacted
PM review and sign-off on every client invoice before submission (company rule)
Coordinator confirms portal acceptance before the invoice is set to Final in Vantagepoint
Principal approval is not part of this task. Subconsultant invoices over $50,000 need it in their own process.

Exceptions

When	What the agent does
A subconsultant invoice has not arrived (2 of 7 respondents mention it; no measured waiting time in the data)	Flag the invoice as held. Give the coordinator the choice to hold it or bill next month. Do not prepare the package until the coordinator decides.
A phase is over budget (mostly 'almost never' or under 1 in 10; one respondent says often)	Stop preparing that invoice. Send the coordinator the phase, budget and billed amount. A contract modification is needed before billing more.
The backup total does not match the Vantagepoint approved total to the cent	Do not release the package. Show the coordinator both figures and the lines that differ.
The overhead rate used is not the client's approved provisional rate, or the agreement number does not match the contract	Hand to the coordinator with the expected and found values.
The PM asks for changes after seeing the draft (about 5% of cases re-edit fields such as message body, agreement number or invoice amount)	Return the case to the coordinator. Rebuild the backup after the changes and send it for review again.
About 22% of observed cases stop after the Excel backup and never reach the portal	Treat these as 'prepared, not submitted' and list them on the coordinator's open-items view. Find out why in the pilot.

Build with

Copilot Studio: Coordinator-facing agent: shows the batch list and flags, collects approvals, answers 'what is held and why'.
Power Automate: Scheduled and triggered flows: Vantagepoint API calls, Excel and Outlook connectors, the status tracker, and approval steps.
Microsoft 365 Copilot: Drafts the PM review email and summarizes the flags for the coordinator.
Excel: Backup workbook and the portal figure sheet, built through the connector.
SharePoint: Optional: stores backups and packages per project site, using the connector.

Skills: Power Automate, Copilot Studio, Deltek Vantagepoint API, Excel templates, Testing with the billing team

Before building

Service account with API access to Deltek Vantagepoint: read for drafts, budgets and subconsultant status, and a restricted write for invoice status
Power Automate and Copilot Studio licenses, plus Excel and Outlook connectors in the tenant
Excel backup template with fixed layout and named total cells
Confirmation of which licensed PDF tool can merge the package, or acceptance that the coordinator does it in Acrobat
A list of PMs who want to see every draft, kept somewhere the agent can read
A table of approved provisional overhead rates by client and year

Risks

Portal entry stays manual because DOT eCMS is UI-only. Savings are limited to preparation, and the retyping risk Excel→portal (85% retyped today) falls only partly.
Amount or agreement number mismatches reach the client if the Vantagepoint-to-backup check is weak.
A write to Vantagepoint with the wrong status could mark an invoice Final before PM sign-off. Keep the write behind the approval step.
Heavy flagging of unusual invoices may erode trust if unusual cases are more frequent than most respondents say.
Missing subconsultant invoices are not clearly modeled in the data, so hold rules may need tuning during the pilot.

How we'll know it worked

Median hands-on minutes per invoice (baseline 37.5; main path 42.2)
Team hours per week on invoice prep (baseline 22.6 across 37 cases per week)
Share of figures retyped by hand (baseline 59% Vantagepoint→Excel, 85% Excel→DOT eCMS)
Share of cases re-editing fields (baseline 5.4%), and days to invoice measured from the 1st of the month (set a baseline in the first month)

Still to answer before building

Which PMs require seeing every draft, and how should the agent know?
How are subconsultant costs brought into the invoice, and what is needed when they are missing?
Is there a licensed tool to merge the package PDF, or does the coordinator do it in Acrobat?
Does Excel→portal work stay fully manual, or can the portal accept an upload or export?
Why are figures retyped rather than exported or copied directly from Vantagepoint?
What does 'missing information' mean in practice and how is it resolved today?
Where are the PM review and overhead rate rules documented?
Why do about 22% of cases stop after the backup workbook without reaching the portal?

Where the team disagrees

Settle these first: an agent needs one rule, and new hires get mixed answers today.

Whether PMs see every draft varies: some PMs want to see all drafts, others only sign off before Final.
Frequency of unusual invoices varies: most say almost never or under 1 in 10, one says often (1 in 10 to 1 in 3).
The Invoice status split (70% Draft, 30% Final) mixes the status at a point in time with the end state, so the rule is consistent but the observed choice differs.

Evidence

65% of cases follow the same steps (some in a different order, some skip a step)
23 team hours a week
data is moved by hand from Deltek Vantagepoint to Microsoft Excel (59% retyped)
5% of cases redo steps

Observed main path (38% of cases): Microsoft Edge → Edit Invoice status → Invoice Backup · October.xlsx (Excel) → Invoice Package.pdf (Adobe Acrobat) → Invoice Submission (DOT eCMS) → Edit Agreement number → Edit Invoice amount → Edit Billing period

Handover spec for the builder (text) →

Designed by AI from how the team did this work (2026-10-19 to 2026-10-23), the company's tools and its rules. A starting point for the builder: confirm system access and approvals before building.