Start with the supported workspace
Dext's help page places AI Assist in Costs and Sales and says it does not support the Bank workspace. That distinction matters if your main requirement is bank-feed matching or payment reconciliation. Document assistance should not be recommended as a bank-workspace agent on the strength of its name. [1]
Our fictional practice, Hazel Accounts, wants help with the category and description on a supplier invoice. The accountant wants to inspect suggestions before applying them. This is a document-guidance task with a concrete output, rather than a request for the agent to manage the entire ledger.
The example invoice is synthetic and totals $120. It contains a supplier name and a description that the accountant can review. No tax treatment, customer result or measured benefit is assumed. The pilot checks whether the configured guidance produces the expected proposal and preserves the review decision.
Hazel Accounts tests one document suggestion
- Document
Provide the synthetic 120 USD invoice and its source reference.
- Guidance
Configure the intended category and description decision.
- Manual review
Inspect suggestions and their explanation before applying.
- Approval check
Verify any applicable document approval workflow.
- Result
Inspect the resulting document fields and status.
Inspect the guidance and the application mode
Dext's account-guidance documentation describes rules managed at the individual account level. It provides Manual review and Auto-apply modes and identifies administrators as the users who manage guidance. Those controls determine how the suggestions reach the operator. [2]
For Hazel's first test, use Manual review so the accountant can inspect the proposed category and explanation. This is a recommended pilot choice, not a statement that Auto-apply is always inappropriate. A broader mode should follow evaluation of the actual conditions and consequences for the task.
Write guidance around the intended decision. A rule that applies to a supplier and a particular document condition has a narrower reach than an instruction applying to every document. Check overlapping guidance and existing automation before evaluating the result; otherwise an unexpected action may come from a different rule.
The feature table keeps the documented behavior and evaluation questions together. It is not a complete feature catalogue or a promise that every action is available in every subscription or region.
Dext AI Assist evidence and evaluation questions
Scroll the table to compare all columns.
| Area | Documented behavior | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Workspace | Costs and Sales; Bank workspace not supported | Does the task belong to the documented workspace? |
| Application mode | Manual review or Auto-apply | Which guidance is active and which mode applies? |
| Guidance management | Administrators manage rules | Who can change the workflow? |
| Publishing | Applicable approval workflow takes priority | Does the document reach the intended review state? |
| Line items | Support requires Line Item Extraction | Is the needed access and allowance available? |
| Availability | Some actions depend on subscription or region | Confirm the specific action for the intended account |
Check publishing and approval separately
Dext documents that an applicable approval workflow takes priority over guidance-driven publishing. This is important when evaluating an automatic action: the guidance may request publishing while the approval configuration holds the document for review. Inspect the actual record and status rather than assuming the guidance alone determines the outcome. [2]
Also distinguish publishing a document from releasing a bank payment. The article describes document handling in Dext, not a universal authority to send funds. If Hazel needs a separate accounting or payment action, identify the integration and permission for that action before expanding the task.
Ask the accountant to change the suggested category in the test. The team should be able to understand the original suggestion, the corrected value and the source evidence. Then inspect the configuration that produced the proposal so the practice can decide whether the guidance needs revision.
Dext's auto-publish best-practice page recommends starting new guidance in Manual review. It also explains that AI Assist has a publish action rather than an equivalent stop-publishing action. These are useful configuration details to inspect when the practice wants reliable control over document routing. [3]
Evaluate line items only if the task needs them
Dext's AI Assist overview documents line-item support and its dependence on Line Item Extraction. If Hazel needs line-level changes, confirm the relevant access and allowance before designing the pilot. Do not assume a whole-document suggestion demonstrates line-level handling. [1]
Use a synthetic document with two distinct lines and a clear expected result. Ask the provider to show the proposed line values and how the reviewer accepts or dismisses them. Keep the source line reference so a reviewer can see which amount or description the suggestion concerns.
Avoid adding unnecessary complexity to the first test. If the practice's immediate problem is a category suggestion on a simple document, begin there. Expand to line-level scenarios when the task requires them and the relevant configuration has been confirmed.
The same caution applies to email content. Inspect the guidance that permits its use and the exact content considered. A message attached to a document is source material, not a reason to grant the agent authority outside the configured document workflow.
Verify access, subscription and evidence
The account-guidance help says some actions may depend on subscription or region. Confirm the intended account, role and required action directly. A demonstration in another practice's account does not establish that Hazel has the same configuration or entitlement. [2]
Obtain the applicable price and conditions from Dext rather than relying on a universal figure in a comparison article. Include any extraction allowance or additional requirement that the selected task needs. This profile does not invent a plan price, country list or guaranteed availability.
Review the applicable data-handling terms and access responsibilities with the practice's owner. The editorial profile is not a security certification. Use documented commitments and the actual intended data scope when deciding whether the product fits the practice's requirements.
Keep the source date with the evaluation. Product guidance changes, so a saved proposal and its configuration are more useful than a general recollection that AI Assist worked during a demonstration.
Run a small, repeatable document test
Use Hazel's ordinary $120 invoice, a similarly named supplier, a document with a missing required field and a source that conflicts with the proposed guidance. Write the expected suggestion or exception before running the set. The test should expose the behavior you need to supervise.
Record the proposed fields, accountant's decision and resulting document status. Check whether the applicable approval workflow behaves as expected. Do not count a suggestion as correct merely because it was automatically applied; compare it with the agreed expected result.
Repeat relevant cases after changing guidance or application mode. Preserve the earlier results so the practice can see whether the change resolves the issue without creating another one. This is a bounded evaluation of the configured task, not a general accuracy claim.
Use the bookkeeping guide for a wider synthetic transaction set and the comparison page to evaluate products with different accounting outputs. The control checklist helps assign unresolved permissions, review and evidence questions before expanding the workflow.