Automated capture of Invoice data

Capturing the Header and Line level detail from each invoice is a laborious and costly task. Often up to 50% of an AP departments time is spent capturing these details and keying the data in to the ERP system. With e-docs UK we can eliminate this Data Capture requirement and improve the accuracy of the data by delivering an automated service returning a digital image of the invoice and the associated header and line item detail. This gives the AP department time to concentrate on the core business of managing suppliers and driving the best commercial terms.

How does the service operate?

Invoices are delivered by Royal Mail directly to e-docs UK in Hoddesdon where we will complete the following process.

• Prepare and scan the invoices
• OCR data extraction using Kofax KTM for invoices.
• Send invoice images and data file to customer via FTP transfer.
• Customer automatically retrieves images and data file for importing into ERP system.

The data fields would be finalised during a the project scoping phase but are typically the following;

Suppier Name
Invoice Number
P.O. Number
Invoice Date
VAT Number
VAT Amount
Net. Amount
Gross Amount
ERP - supplier reference number

The Process Flow for this solution is as follows;

Batch Preparation – Invoices received and prepared for scanning. In addition to usual preparations steps such as removing staples, this step may include the sorting of invoices into batches. The exact procedure will be defined as part of the functional specification.

Scanning – The scanning will be completed on Kodak scanners. Theses scanners have Virtual Rescan Software included and therefore will enable staff to automatically scan and PDF with full Optical Character Recognition (OCR), in one simple step. The Virtual ReScan (VRS) technology will be utilised to enhance the image quality automatically where feasible.

OCR - Batches of images will be processed via the KTM freeform OCR engine capable of automatically extracting invoice header and line information. This is a server side process and would not be viewed by end users. Every batch is fully time stamped and traceable to allow for compliance auditing as required by SarbOx, IFRS and the EU Invoicing directive. The information extracted will be placed in the Ascent SQL database.

Once the Scanning and Data Capture process is complete the invoice image, header and line item are either returned to the customer for automated upload in to the ERP system, or uploaded in to our Workflow application.
 

How does the service operate?

Invoices are delivered by Royal Mail directly to e-docs UK in Hoddesdon where we will complete the following process.

• Prepare and scan the invoices
• OCR data extraction using Kofax KTM for invoices.
• Send invoice images and data file to customer via FTP transfer.
• Customer automatically retrieves images and data file for importing into ERP system.

The data fields would be finalised during a the project scoping phase but are typically the following;

Suppier Name
Invoice Number
P.O. Number
Invoice Date
VAT Number
VAT Amount
Net. Amount
Gross Amount
ERP - supplier reference number

The Process Flow for this solution is as follows;

Batch Preparation – Invoices received and prepared for scanning. In addition to usual preparations steps such as removing staples, this step may include the sorting of invoices into batches. The exact procedure will be defined as part of the functional specification.

Scanning – The scanning will be completed on Kodak scanners. Theses scanners have Virtual Rescan Software included and therefore will enable staff to automatically scan and PDF with full Optical Character Recognition (OCR), in one simple step. The Virtual ReScan (VRS) technology will be utilised to enhance the image quality automatically where feasible.

OCR - Batches of images will be processed via the KTM freeform OCR engine capable of automatically extracting invoice header and line information. This is a server side process and would not be viewed by end users. Every batch is fully time stamped and traceable to allow for compliance auditing as required by SarbOx, IFRS and the EU Invoicing directive. The information extracted will be placed in the Ascent SQL database.

Once the Scanning and Data Capture process is complete the invoice image, header and line item are either returned to the customer for automated upload in to the ERP system, or uploaded in to our Workflow application.