Case study

Supplier invoices into the accounts system, without retyping

A pipeline that reads each PDF invoice into structured data as it arrives and posts it to any accounting package with a web service.

Sector
Finance operations
What shipped
A self-service invoice pipeline for any accounting package with a REST or SOAP interface.
Built with
  • Zapier
  • Google Sheets
  • JSON
  • SOAP

The problem

Invoices arrived as email attachments and file transfers, and each one had to be keyed into the accounts package by hand.

What we built

We built a pipeline that reads each PDF invoice into structured data as it arrives. It then posts the invoice to the customer's accounting software through that software's web services. Customers set up their own inbound channels and accounts package through simple screens. It reads the text in the PDF itself, so there is no OCR step.

The system, redrawn

An invoice pipeline from inbox to accounts, redrawnLeft to right in three stages. A stack of supplier invoices with an envelope arrives in an inbox. The invoices are read into a table of structured rows, one row highlighted. The rows are then posted into an accounts package, shown as a ledger with line items and a totals line.InboxStructured dataAccounts package
A redrawing of the system that shipped, with the client's name, branding and data removed.

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