Automated invoice processing: how it works and when it pays
A supplier emails a PDF. Someone opens it, reads it, and keys it into the accounts line by line. At 200 invoices a month that's around 17 hours — plus the one mistyped figure that surfaces at quarter close. Here is how to automate it without entering errors faster.
How extraction works
- The invoice arrives by email and is read automatically — supplier, number, date, totals, VAT, line items.
- The data is checked against your order; a mismatch raises a flag, not a silent entry.
- What checks out goes into your accounting software (Microinvest, Ajur and most others).
- The original is archived, findable by number, supplier or amount.
When you need AI — and when you don't
Invoices never arrive in the same format, so text extraction and a language model do real work here. But AI isn't needed everywhere: if all your invoices come structured from one system, an ordinary integration is more reliable and cheaper than extraction. AI is for the varied PDFs, not for everything.
Accuracy and the check
A good system reads over 95% of fields correctly. What matters is what it does with the rest: nothing is booked unchecked. When the system isn't sure of a figure, it asks a human — it doesn't guess. The goal isn't "zero human involvement" — it's a person checking the 5% of doubtful fields instead of keying 100%.
The pitfalls
- Duplicates. The same invoice read twice is a double entry. Each invoice is processed once.
- VAT and currencies. Different rates and currencies are the common source of silent errors — the check against the order catches them.
- Personal data. Only the minimum fields needed for the task pass through the language model, not the whole invoice with everything on it.
DIY or with us
If you have under ~5 hours a month of manual entry, it's not worth it. Above that, at 100+ invoices a month, automation pays back in a few months.
Frequently asked questions
Can invoices be entered into Microinvest automatically?
Yes. The PDF invoice is read automatically (supplier, number, date, totals, VAT, line items), checked against the order, and what checks out goes into Microinvest, Ajur and most accounting packages. On a mismatch the system flags it rather than booking silently.
What accuracy should I expect from invoice extraction?
A good system reads over 95% of fields correctly. More importantly, nothing is booked unchecked — when in doubt the system asks a human rather than guessing. So a person checks the few doubtful fields instead of keying everything by hand.
Is it safe for my invoices to pass through AI?
Only the minimum fields needed for the task pass through the language model — not the whole invoice. We use business-tier terms under which your data is not used to train the model. For most tasks, personal data need not pass through AI at all.