Invoice scanning and data capture is the step where a supplier's invoice becomes a record your business can check, approve and pay. This article answers a narrower question than most: which fields should you capture from each invoice, and what rules should you apply to them so bad data never reaches your accounts? Get the field list right and any capture method works, from typing to scanning to a dedicated reading tool. We also show how to build a structured capture form on the levelpartner.ai platform.
Capture is about fields, not technology
Most writing on this topic starts with the scanner or the software. That is backwards. The scanner produces an image. The software produces text. Neither tells you which data your business needs to make a decision, and neither stops a wrong total getting through.
Start with the decision. Finance needs to know who is owed, how much, by when, for what, and who agreed to it. Every field you capture should serve one of those questions.
The fields worth capturing
For a services firm of 10 to 250 staff, eight fields cover almost every case:
- Supplier name, matched to a known supplier list.
- Supplier invoice number, exactly as printed.
- Invoice date and due date.
- Net amount, tax amount and gross amount, captured separately.
- Currency.
- Purchase order or internal reference, if your firm uses them.
- Cost centre or client the cost relates to.
- Internal approver.
Line-item detail is rarely worth capturing for services. Capture it only where you need to recharge costs to clients line by line.
Validation rules that catch most errors
Rules are where capture earns its keep. Four simple checks stop the majority of mistakes before anyone pays:
- Net plus tax must equal gross.
- Supplier plus invoice number must not already exist.
- The due date must be on or after the invoice date.
- The amount must be within the approver's limit, or it routes to a second approver.
A dedicated capture tool can apply these automatically. On a form, you apply them with required fields, a clear format and a check by finance before posting.
Say the agency handles about 200 supplier invoices a month, and a quarter's review finds nine duplicates paid and four invoices with tax keyed into the net field. A duplicate check on supplier and invoice number would block the first problem. Capturing net, tax and gross as three separate fields would expose the second. If the nine duplicates averaged around £700, that would be roughly £6,300 paid twice in one quarter. The amounts are illustrative.
Before you start
- Your supplier list, cleaned of duplicates.
- Your cost centres or the client list you recharge costs to.
- Approval limits agreed by the directors.
- Access to Sites, Contacts and Automation.
How to build a structured capture form
- Save each regular supplier as a contact with a supplier tag.
- Go to Sites, then Forms, click + Create New Form and choose a blank form.
- Add a drop-down field for supplier name holding your cleaned supplier list.
- Add separate number fields for net, tax and gross.
- Add date picker fields for invoice date and due date, and mark both required.
- Add a drop-down for cost centre and another for approver.
- Add a file upload field and mark it required, so no record exists without the source document, then save the form.
- In Automation, then Workflows, create a workflow with the Form Submitted trigger for this form.
- Add a Send Internal Notification action for the approver and an Add Task action for the finance posting.
- Save, test with one invoice and switch the workflow to Publish.
Dropdowns matter more than they look. Free-text supplier names create "Acme Ltd", "ACME" and "Acme Limited" as three suppliers, and your spend reports become useless.
What it replaces and the time it takes
A structured form replaces a forwarded email with a PDF and a one-line note. It adds about a minute per invoice for the person submitting it, and saves finance the back-and-forth to find out what the invoice is for. Building the form and workflow takes an afternoon.
The mistake most people make
Capturing gross only. It feels simpler, but tax then has to be worked out later from the PDF, and that is where most keying errors happen. Capture net, tax and gross separately and check that they add up.
When to move to automatic capture
Move when typing the fields takes more time than checking them would. That point is usually a few hundred invoices a month from many suppliers. The guide to what invoice OCR can and cannot do helps you judge the threshold, and the guide to larger capture suites explains when enterprise tools are overkill.
Troubleshooting
Supplier names do not match the accounts. The dropdown and the accounting system use different names. Align the list once, then keep one owner for changes.
People skip the cost centre. Make it required. If they genuinely do not know, add an Unknown option that routes to finance for a decision.
Totals do not add up. The submitter typed gross into net. Ask finance to reject and return any submission where the three amounts disagree.
Attachments are missing. The upload field was optional. Make it required.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between scanning and data capture?
Scanning turns paper into an image. Data capture turns the image, or a PDF, into fields your systems can use. You can capture data without scanning, by typing from a PDF.
How many fields should we capture?
As few as your decisions need. Eight is enough for most services firms. More fields mean slower submission and more blanks.
Should line items be captured?
Only where you recharge costs to clients line by line or match against detailed purchase orders. Otherwise, capture totals and keep the PDF attached.
Can the platform pay suppliers?
No. The platform handles intake and approval routing. Payment runs from your bank or accounting system. The guide to improving procure to pay covers the whole cycle.