Supplier invoice automation: from PDF to ERP

Supplier invoice automation collects documents, extracts their fields, checks them and prepares records for your accounting software. The aim is to reduce manual entry while keeping control of what reaches your books.

Feasibility depends on your documents, access to your ERP and your approval rules. We check those three things before defining a pilot.

From PDF to accounting record

• Receipt: collect invoices from the agreed channel, retain the originals and identify which documents have been processed.
• Extraction: read supplier, tax identifier, number, date, taxable amounts, taxes and total. Scan quality and the variety of formats affect the result.
• Validation: check the applicable totals, required fields and possible duplicates before preparing a record.
• Human review: separate doubtful or incomplete documents. Correct extraction does not replace approval of the expense or accounting judgement.
• Recording: connect through the API or import format your software supports. Compatibility is checked during diagnosis; knowing the ERP's name does not establish that an integration is available.

Walk through sample data in the invoice extraction demo. It illustrates the workflow; it does not establish performance on your documents.

How to estimate whether it pays off

Time the full process for a representative sample: receipt, recording, review and corrections. Multiply the average by monthly volume, then compare it with the review time remaining during the pilot.

Hypothetical example, not a client result: 200 invoices per month at 9 minutes each total 30 hours. If review and administration then took 6 hours, that would release 24 hours per month, or 80%. At €25/hour that's over €7,000 a year in valued work capacity. It is neither net savings nor a guaranteed reduction in expenses: implementation, operation and other costs must be deducted.

What we need to assess your case

• Monthly volume, formats and the channels through which invoices arrive.
• Accounting software name and version, plus connection or import options.
• Who approves expenses and which exceptions must always be reviewed.
• Current processing time and the errors you want to reduce, including how you measure them.

Describing the process is enough for the first call. We agree access and data-handling arrangements before working with any real documents.

Questions before automating

Do I have to replace my ERP? Not necessarily. We review its integration options; any migration or additional work is made explicit before quoting.

Will everything be posted without supervision? We do not promise that. The scope defines which records can proceed and which need approval, with traceability to the original document.

Does this work for an accounting firm with several clients? Client separation, permissions and individual rules are part of the design.

Start with a bounded process

A free 30-minute call lets us assess fit. If it makes sense, the diagnosis defines expected savings and the scope of a 4-week pilot at a fixed price. The Caledis Method explains acceptance criteria and code handover.

If invoice recording is already covered and preparing reports is the remaining work, explore report automation.