Using AI in MyApprentice

Overview

MyApprentice uses AI to take some of the repetitive writing and data-entry work off your hands — drafting emails, reading supplier invoices, and suggesting job and shift checklists. AI is there to give you a head start; you always review and decide before anything is sent, saved, or applied.

This article explains what the AI does, how your data is handled, what stays in your control, and what it costs against your monthly allowance.

How your data is handled

• AI runs on our servers, never in your browser or phone. The app sends your request to MyApprentice, which checks your permissions and usage allowance, calls the AI provider, and returns the result. The AI provider key is never exposed to your device.
• The provider is OpenAI. Requests are processed through OpenAI’s API to generate the draft or extraction.
• The AI never sees your customers’ card or payment details. Online card payments are handled by Stripe and Xero; payment credentials are never sent to the AI.
• Supplier-invoice files are removed after processing. When you upload a supplier invoice PDF for extraction, the file is sent to the provider only for that read and is deleted from the provider afterwards.
• Supplier-invoice AI asks for consent first. The first time you upload a supplier invoice, you accept a once-off consent prompt (the button is labelled I Agree). It is not repeated on every upload.

AI drafts, you stay in control

The AI produces a starting point — not a finished, automatically-sent result:

• Emails: the AI writes only the body text. The greeting, the Pay Now / View Invoice buttons, payment and portal instructions, and your signature are added by MyApprentice from templates — not by the AI. The AI is instructed never to invent prices or amounts. You can edit everything before sending.
• Supplier invoices: every extracted line shows a confidence score, and low-confidence lines are flagged for review. Extraction can be wrong and must always be checked and corrected before you apply it to inventory.
• To-do checklists: generated items are suggestions. Review and edit them before saving.

The AI features

AI email drafting

Draft the body of a quote, invoice, or enquiry reply email from the underlying record and your business settings. You can set a tone (free text — for example “professional”, “friendly”, or “brief”), then edit the draft before sending. Used by Business Owners, Admins, Finance, and Sole Traders when sending quotes and invoices, and when replying to enquiries. Cost: 1 AI call per draft.

AI supplier-invoice extraction

Upload a supplier invoice PDF and the AI extracts the supplier, totals, PO references, and line items into a structured draft, matching lines to your material library where it can. You review and correct before applying to inventory. A manual entry path is always available if you would rather not use AI. Cost: 3 AI calls per upload (the heaviest AI feature). See Capturing Supplier Invoices.

AI to-do (checklist) generation

Generate a practical 5–10 item checklist for a job or a shift, grounded in your own templates and similar recent jobs. Available to Business Owners, Admins, and Supervisors (and Sole Traders, who have full access). Tradies and Apprentices do not generate to-dos. Cost: 1 AI call per generation.

What it costs — AI calls

AI usage is measured in AI calls, counted per business account and reset monthly.

Your monthly included allowance

Account type	Included AI calls per month
Paid	200 + 75 × active seats
Trial	60 (flat)

For example, a paid account with 3 active seats gets 200 + (75 × 3) = 425 included calls per month. An active seat is any user who is not deactivated.

Per-feature cost

AI feature	AI calls
Email draft (quote / invoice / enquiry)	1
Job or shift to-do generation	1
Supplier-invoice upload	3

Overage and reset

• The allowance resets on the 1st of each month (UTC).
• Paid accounts can keep using AI beyond the included allowance at AUD $0.015 per extra call, capped at AUD $49 per month.
• Trial accounts get no overage — once the 60 calls are used, AI features pause until the trial converts or the month resets.
• When the limit is reached, the next AI action is blocked before it runs (so you are never charged for a call that didn’t complete).

Where to watch it: the AI usage this month panel on the Subscription tab shows Used, Included, and Remaining calls, plus a per-feature breakdown. Business Owners, Admins, and Finance can view it. See Reviewing Your Subscription and Billing.

Turning AI on or off

AI is controlled by the AI Functionality toggle in Business Settings → Site. Turning it off hides the AI options across the app; turning it back on restores them. No data is affected either way.

Role-specific notes

• Business Owner / Admin: full access to all AI features, the AI usage panel, and the AI Functionality toggle.
• Finance: uses AI email drafting and supplier-invoice extraction, and can view the AI usage panel.
• Supervisor: uses AI to-do generation (and supplier-invoice/email drafting where permissions allow).
• Sole Trader: full access to all AI features.
• Tradie / Apprentice: do not generate AI content (no to-do generation, supplier-invoice upload, or email drafting by default).

Related workflows

• Creating and Sending Quotes
• Creating, Sending, and Tracking Invoices
• Capturing Supplier Invoices
• Reviewing Your Subscription and Billing (AI usage)
• Configuring Business Settings (AI Functionality toggle)

Important notes

• AI output is always a draft or suggestion — review before you send, save, or apply.
• The AI does not handle payment or card details; those stay with Stripe and Xero.
• Supplier-invoice extraction needs once-off I Agree consent and costs 3 AI calls per upload.
• Included AI calls reset monthly; paid accounts can run into capped overage, trials cannot.