Scanning and recognizing invoices anno 2024: how to take advantage of the latest technology?

The status quo: where does “scan and recognize” stand now?

Developments in “scan and recognize” are moving fast. You used to have to scan paper documents and then process them on your own server with custom OCR software. Those days are over: today you can use OCR software as a cloud solution. Moreover, smart OCR software now exists that recognizes documents in minutes and without the use of templates. Booking tasks are fully automated and knowledge is shared within the user community. This makes the self-learning software even smarter over time. The result: ever higher recognition, making the process of scanning and recognizing invoices increasingly automatic. This allows you to eliminate boring, repetitive tasks and focus on more challenging ones. Given the rate at which technology is changing, ongoing development plays a crucial role in the scanning and recognition landscape. Therefore, it is useful to work with a scan and recognition partner that specializes in your industry as well as your ERP system. Preferably, this supplier also develops its own products. In this way, he can quickly respond to developments and introduce new innovations.

Scanning and recognizing invoices: how are you future-proof?

If we really want to scrutinize the latest technology, we need to take a look at the (near) future. After all, today’s news is outdated tomorrow. When it comes to scanning and recognizing invoices, “uniformity” is the key word. We are moving toward a uniform way of working within the organization: you set up a standard process that clearly defines and monitors all the necessary steps – from the entry to the payment of an invoice. If you choose the right tooling, you can set up this process exactly as you envision it. But what exactly is the right tooling? In short, a solid system that provides a solution for current and future challenges. If a scanning and recognition solution takes into account the following six points, it is future-proof:

1. The various ways invoices come in An invoice can come in as an e-mail message, pdf file or e-invoice. A scanning and recognition solution must be able to act as a kind of funnel that reduces the great diversity of documents into one universal stream.  2. Processing XML files We expect that you will increasingly receive invoices with an XML file. If you want to scan and recognize these invoices in a uniform way, your scanning and recognition solution must be able to handle this document type. This requires new functions: you have to read the file and link the read values to the information on the invoice. In addition, your scan and recognize system must have many interfaces to handle the different market standards.  3. Presentation of procurement information The classic form in which procurement information is presented, we all know: the addressee is at the top left, in the header and footer you will find the sender’s details, and in the middle of the invoice you will find things like invoice number and date. But with e-invoices on the rise, other forms of presentation are becoming more relevant. (Want to learn more about e-invoicing? Read our blog ‘Electronic invoicing mandatory‘.) If you want to scan and recognize all types of invoices with OCR software, you need to work with a solution that takes this into account.  4. Incoming invoices and other documents Scanning and recognizing invoices with an automation solution is very time-saving. Once you are doing this, you will probably soon feel the need to use the solution not only for purchase invoices, but also for other incoming documents. Think expense claims, service requests, forms and delivery notes. A future-proof solution can handle these types of document flows as well.  5. Hybrid forms of delivery
At some point, you will probably need a hybrid solution. For example, you may need to combine an incoming e-invoice with a packing slip in PDF format. If you want to merge these two documents, a solution should be able to easily handle this for you.  6. Work anytime, anywhere Working from home is becoming increasingly common and people are less and less likely to be at a fixed workplace. In that context, it is important that you can handle administrative tasks using your smartphone or tablet. Do you want colleagues on the road or from home to be able to take a picture of a receipt to upload it directly into the administration? Should they always be able to approve an invoice via their mobile device in the workflow software? Then you need to spread your tooling throughout the company. People should be able to work with it anytime, anywhere. The solution: scan and recognize invoices with an OCR system to which an app is linked. This makes the process even smoother, smoother and more efficient for you and your colleagues.