Account Manager

Empowering Informal Businesses: Smart Bookkeeping Made Simple with AI

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About the Project

Inspiration

The Account Manager was inspired by the struggles of informal traders and small-scale retailers who lack affordable digital tools for managing inventory, transactions, and business insights. I wanted to create a practical, AI-powered assistant that helps traders manage their businesses more effectively, using accessible cloud technologies and a modular design that can grow with their needs.

What I Learned

Through this project, I gained experience in:

  • Designing modular AI architectures using a sub-agent pattern to handle distinct business domains (e.g., transactions, reporting)
  • Integrating Google Cloud services like Vision API and AutoML for image recognition
  • Using Firebase effectively for authentication, storage, and database management
  • Deploying containers with Google Container Registry and Kubernetes Engine (GKE) without relying on GitHub Actions for CI/CD
  • Building cross-platform applications using Ionic + React + Capacitor to target both web and mobile platforms with a single codebase

How I Built It

  • Backend:
    FastAPI (Python) structured as a coordinator agent with specialized sub-agents for product management, transactions, reporting, and more
  • AI/ML:
    Google Cloud Vision API and AutoML for product image analysis and dynamic product recognition
  • Database & Storage:
    Firebase Firestore for structured data (users, products, transactions) and Firebase Storage for images and reports
  • Infrastructure:
    • Docker containers built locally and pushed to Google Container Registry
    • Deployed on Kubernetes Engine (GKE) with LoadBalancer or Ingress for external access and HTTPS support
  • Frontend:
    Ionic + React + Capacitor for a cross-platform app targeting web, Android, and iOS, communicating securely with the backend via REST API

Challenges I Faced

  • Image recognition accuracy
    Training and testing AutoML models with varied-quality product images captured in real-world conditions
  • Natural language transactions
    Handling different ways informal traders phrase commands or requests
  • Kubernetes configuration
    Managing deployment manifests, load balancers, and ingress rules without using a CI/CD tool like GitHub Actions
  • Cross-platform app consistency
    Ensuring the Ionic + React + Capacitor app behaves consistently across web and mobile platforms

Conclusion

The Account Manager empowers informal traders with an affordable, scalable, AI-powered assistant that simplifies business operations. Future improvements include offline support, multi-language UI, and deeper analytics features.

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