Automated invoice scanning and validation
Doxis4 InvoiceMaster
Read SLX
Executive summary
Doxis4 InvoiceMaster Read SLX is the complete standard solution for the automated processing of
in-coming invoices. It processes invoices both with and without a purchase order reference as well as
par-tial and collective invoices.
From the incoming invoice and its extraction to the validation of all invoice data, these labour-intensive
and time-critical tasks can be handled with Doxis4 InvoiceMaster Read SLX efficiently, promptly and to
the highest standards.
Doxis4 InvoiceMaster Read SLX can be augmented with further Doxis4 modules to form a full Doxis4
InvoiceMaster suite and allow the enterprise-wide capture (scanning), verification and releasing of
in-voices in a single application.
sys-Summary
The processing of incoming invoices is a time-consuming, costly process. Although increasing numbers of companies are keen to move over to fully electronic data transfer in their business relationships, invoices are still sent predomi-nantly on paper. Retailers and industrial enterprises with a large supplier base – numbering thousands or even tens of thousands – are confronted daily with a deluge of paper invoices that have to be processed.
Documents (invoices/corrections to invoices) have to be captured together with all the required data, allocated, checked for accuracy and reconciled with purchase orders. Doxis4 InvoiceMaster Read SLX simplifies the process by offering extensive automation for document scanning. Thanks to the preconfigured system and access to supplier master data (directly from the ERP system or by means of substitution tables), the supplier is detected following instal-lation. Document data, including the invoice number, in-voice date or the net amount, tax and gross amount, is ex-tracted.
Doxis4 InvoiceMaster Read SLX has access to the ERP sys-tem, allowing the invoice items to be reconciled with the purchase order information. It is possible to allocate an invoice fully automatically. The verification- and posting-related information is extracted and immediately reconciled with the purchase order. This can then be transferred to the downstream processes (background posting, verification processes).
Doxis4 InvoiceMaster Read SLX allows data to be extracted from different document types. These can be supplier in-voices in the form of single or collective inin-voices as well as partial or closing invoices. It is also possible to process in-voice corrections.
Doxis4 InvoiceMaster Read SLX is based on Doxis4 In-boundCenter, the standard SER product for the knowledge-based classification of documents and intelligent data ex-traction. This means additional components of the basic system can be added in order to form a complete solution for incoming mail.
Overview
Capture
Doxis4 InvoiceMaster Read SLX processes invoices with or without a purchase order reference on the basis of the pre-vious electronic capture of paper documents. Doxis4 In-voiceMaster Read SLX thus speeds up the capture of incom-ing invoices compared to manual capture.
Extraction
A variety of methods are used to extract and validate "in-voice fields" such as the in"in-voice number, in"in-voice amounts and invoice data.
Verification pursuant to Paragraph 14 of UStG
In addition to the validation described above, the formal requirements to be met by an invoice, as stipulated by Para-graph 14 of the German legislation on VAT (UStG), are veri-fied.
Validation
Invoices that are not read fully automatically are forwarded to a validation point to allow missing or incorrectly recog-nised information to be added.
Optimisation
The scanning results are optimised during operation thanks to self-learning processes. It is thus possible to react quickly and easily to changes in suppliers' documents or to new documents. Thanks to integration in ERP systems, optimisa-tion is thus possible through direct validaoptimisa-tion at the invoice scanning stage.
After invoice scanning
The content extracted from the incoming documents is passed to an invoice verification workflow for electronic invoice processing. In addition, the content can be trans-ferred to an ERP system, a workflow or an archive via de-fined interfaces.
Benefits at a glance
Simplification of mail sorting
Support for the formal verification of invoices pur-suant to Paragraph 14 (4) of UStG
Invoice capture time reduced
Automatic assignment to invoice verifiers Transfer of the creditor number to the workflow Optimisation of business processes and
accelera-tion of document flow
Clarity with regard to the invoice processing work-flow
Preparation for the optimisation of liquidity plan-ning through payment periods and discounts Optional: reconciliation with purchase orders/ERP
system
Handwritten document information
It may not be possible to extract handwritten document information automatically with Doxis4 InvoiceMaster Read SLX. For documents like this, however, Doxis4 provides sce-narios for the subsequent capture of the document and the provision of a link to it in the ERP system.
In such cases, the document can be captured manually in the ERP system and the paper document can be scanned independently of this. The document can then be automati-cally assigned for posting by means of a barcode.
Technical environment
Doxis4 InvoiceMaster Read SLX should not be seen as an independent product. It is an invoice-scanning module that can be integrated in existing Doxis4 systems or other exist-ing systems.
The following Doxis4 components interact:
1. Doxis4 Capture, the central scanning and capture client
2. The Doxis4 InboundCenter email importer
3. Doxis4 InboundCenter, the universal solution for processing all incoming mail
4. Doxis4 InvoiceMaster Read SLX, the part of Doxis4 InboundCenter for processing invoices
5. External applications such as Doxis4 Workflow sys-tems, ERP systems and archives, etc.
The external applications do not necessarily have to be part of the Doxis4 product family; they can be third-party com-ponents that are already in use.
Capture/email importer
As a preliminary stage to Doxis4 InvoiceMaster Read SLX, the Doxis4 scanning and capture client can be used to scan paper documents. Its features are described in the Doxis4 Capture fact sheet.
The Doxis4 email importer module monitors dedicated mail-boxes that are used to receive incoming electronic invoices. The module imports the invoices into the invoice scanning process.
InboundCenter
Doxis4 InboundCenter forms the link between the scanning solution and Doxis4 InvoiceMaster Read SLX and allows the scanned documents to be managed. Doxis4 InboundCenter is the solution for processing all incoming mail.
Invoice scanning and validation
Doxis4 InvoiceMaster Read SLX scans invoices as a "project" together with further modules and templates and an export module for transferring the data to downstream systems. The project contains the configuration for invoice scanning. All classification and extraction methods can be easily adapted to suit customer requirements in this project. The modules and tools comprise the verification process pursuant to Paragraph 14 of UStG, additional processes for (optional) table extraction (extraction of item data), logging mechanisms, internationalisation and project templates. ERP systems can be linked via the export mechanisms, and there are export interfaces for further Doxis4 InvoiceMaster products and interfaces to Doxis4 Workflow and other appli-cations.
SER offers a standardised interface for SAP. Further ERP systems are linked by means of a universal interface. In addition to the components described, Doxis4 Invoice-Master Read SLX also requires a link to a database for man-aging the configuration settings, buffering ERP information, etc.
Workflow and operation
Overview
Once the documents are imported from Doxis4 Capture, they are processed by Doxis4 InvoiceMaster Read SLX, and the required information is extracted. Once the document has been reliably or fully recognised, it can be passed on to the export step (e.g. to Doxis4 Workflow and the archive). If the recognition of the document has been categorised as unreliable, it is passed on for post-processing (validation). In this step, data can be confirmed, added or corrected. It is also possible to mark the document for "learning" in order to further optimise the system.
Finally, the post-processed document including its extracted information is passed on to a subsequent system (exported).
Importing
Documents are imported by means of Doxis4 Capture. This is not part of Doxis4 InvoiceMaster Read SLX. During the im-port, the documents are grouped together in "batches" for further processing.
Processing
Each document goes through the following steps in Doxis4 InvoiceMas-ter Read SLX: OCR (optical characInvoiceMas-ter recognition), classification, extraction and validation.
OCR
In OCR, the scanned image infor-mation and text inforinfor-mation is con-verted. In other words, characters and words are generated from the image data. This information serves as the basis for the subsequent steps.
Classification and extraction
Classification is used to ascertain whether the document is an invoice and to identify its language. German and English are recognised as standard. However, further languages can added to the system very easily on a project basis.
At extraction, the document is analysed in order to obtain
Identifying the language of a document is also a form of extraction (in a technical sense). Many generic extraction methods work with keywords to identify correct values (e.g. "invoice number", "invoice date" or "net"). However, be-cause these can vary greatly depending on the language (e.g. "Rechnungsnummer" in German and "invoice number" in English), the recognition rate is considerably improved by the language-related extraction process of Doxis4 Invoice-Master Read SLX.
Only those values that are required for subsequent pro-cessing are extracted from a document. This propro-cessing also includes formal verification (e.g. pursuant to Paragraph 14 of UStG). The extracted data is transferred to the subsequent system (ERP, workflow or archive system, for example) ei-ther as a single unit of information (e.g. date, amount, etc.) or in a tabular format (e.g. item data).
The information on a supplier comes from the master data of the ERP system and is compared with this by Doxis4 In-voiceMaster Read SLX in order to identify the supplier on the document.
In addition to the supplier, the invoice recipient is also ex-tracted and identified in order to distinguish between com-pany codes or tenants. The dependency between the invoice recipient and supplier is thus checked. If the invoice ent cannot be correctly identified, the correct invoice recipi-ent can be found at the validation stage.
At the extraction stage, the invoice's header information (e.g. invoice number, invoice date, customer number, etc.) is identified and extracted. In the main, the invoice number and date are used for further processing.
Fig. 3: Header information of an invoice
Validation
In order to identify any extraction errors, the extracted data is subjected to a check (validation). The extraction results are checked and compared with existing master and trans-action data. In addition, the consistency of the data is checked to ascertain that the amounts on the invoice have been calculated correctly.
In the ideal case, the extraction results are valid and the document can be exported immediately (e.g. transferred to subsequent systems) If the extraction results are not valid, the document has to be validated manually in a client devel-oped for the purpose.
Verification process
The document is verified pursuant to Paragraph 14 of UStG, for example, and the results are displayed in the validation screen. The individual verification results are logged and displayed in accordance with the stored verification rules pursuant to Paragraph 14 of UStG as well as any rules speci-fied for the project. An overview of the verification results is then displayed to the employee.
Fig. 4: Document verification information
Post-processing
A validation screen is available to the user for post-processing.
At the post-processing stage, the information identified in the document is viewed, validated and modified. The ex-tracted values are displayed in fields, lists or check boxes. Values extracted from a document are also highlighted in the document displayed to the validator. This makes valida-tion much easier.
Colour highlighting indicates whether or not values have been "reliably" identified. In addition, function buttons for searching for a supplier or invoice recipient, for example, are offered to the user in the validation client.
If a supplier cannot be assigned because it is a one-time supplier or because the supplier data has not been identified correctly, the validator can enter the one-time supplier or initiate a supplier search in Doxis4 InvoiceMaster Read SLX and accept the appropriate master data record.
Fig. 5: Entering a one-time supplier
Amount identification and payment terms
At the amount identification stage, both the currency and the amounts as well as the rates of tax are extracted and linked to each other. In addition, the calculations in the invoice are checked for accuracy.
The payment terms can be ascertained automatically during extraction and adjusted at validation.
Exporting
The export module of Doxis4 InvoiceMaster Read SLX trans-fers the document and associated information to configura-ble subsequent systems such as the ERP system, the verifica-tion and release workflow or an archive system.
Learning
To improve the extraction result, documents can be marked for learning at the post-processing points. There are two different learning processes available:
Monitored learning
For monitored learning, the documents are marked for more detailed, purposeful analysis. The optimisations are then made available to Doxis4 InvoiceMaster Read SLX.
Fully automated learning
Fully automated learning takes place without any manual intervention by the user. Doxis4 InvoiceMaster Read SLX analyses the marked documents independently.
Further functions
Purchase order items for invoices with a
purchase order reference
Purchase order items can be scanned and extracted from a document. They are displayed in an item table in the valida-tion client.
The purchase order items are extracted in order to check an invoice against a purchase order. The items can be recon-ciled with a purchase order in the ERP system online. The validation client also permits the scanned values to be modi-fied or purchase order data to be entered. It is also possible to change the invoice status from without a purchase order
reference to with a purchase order reference.
Fig. 6: Invoice with a purchase order reference – item table
ZUGFeRD, openTRANS and SEPA
Doxis4 InvoiceMaster Read SLX supports the ZUGFeRD for-mat for invoices. The ZUGFeRD forfor-mat is a standardised format for electronic invoices that can be used to transfer invoices between companies, public agencies and consum-ers and that permits structured data to be exchanged be-tween the issuers and recipients of invoices. It allows invoice data to be transferred in a structured form in a PDF/A-3 file (XML embedded in PDF) and to be extracted and processed without any further steps (e.g. OCR).
The openTRANS format was developed with the aim of mak-ing uniform electronic documents available for e-commerce between companies. The format specifies a great deal more information than is required for processing in Doxis4 In-voiceMaster Read SLX. Consequently, only the invoice part of the openTRANS format is used for invoice processing.
At the extraction stage, a check is carried out for an IBAN (International Bank Account Number) in order to comply with the SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) requirements.
Logging
Doxis4 InvoiceMaster Read SLX uses a logging server for logging. This runs as a Windows server and can accept log-ging information from any component. The central loglog-ging server architecture reduces the load on the clients and per-mits central configuration.
During processing with Doxis4 InvoiceMaster Read SLX, every document is logged and invoice processing is docu-mented in full.
Statistics
The statistics provide an overview of the extraction results and support fine adjustment of Doxis4 InvoiceMaster Read SLX to enable the processing results to be improved.
User groups
Doxis4 InvoiceMaster Read SLX supports the use of different requirement profiles by user groups. One person can also be assigned to multiple groups.
The following user groups are possible, for example:
Scanning staff (to import the scanned paper docu-ments)
Validators (to check and post-process documents)
Functional administrators (quality assurance of au-tomatic classification and extraction)
Technical administrators (monitoring of the interac-tion between the different components at the technical level)
ERP connection
Connection to SAP
There is a direct connection from Doxis4 InvoiceMaster Read SLX to SAP for the purpose of reconciling the extracted data with the data of the ERP system. The SAP function modules available as standard for communication with SAP offer the following functions:
Determination of a supplier's payment terms
Determination of purchase order information for a purchase order number
Reconciliation with the supplier master data is carried out by means of a data export from SAP to avoid burdening the ERP system with data traffic during invoice scanning and valida-tion.
Doxis4 InvoiceMaster Read SLX provides SAP function mod-ules for exporting the extracted data and the document to SAP. SAP Business Workflow can be started in this way for the purpose of invoice verification and release. Automated preliminary capture can be carried out as part of this pro-cess. The account assignment information is passed as well. If Doxis4 InvoiceMaster Read SLX is connected to SAP, the required SAP user rights can also be extracted.
Generic ERP connection
It is also possible to connect other ERP systems besides SAP via the universal connector (SLX) with the help of substitu-tion tables.
The suppliers, payment recipients, payment terms and pur-chase order information as well as other information can be stored by means of the substitution tables. Doxis4 Invoice-Master Read SLX accesses this information and compares it with the extraction results.
Products associated with
Doxis4
Invoice-Master Read SLX
The following services and components are covered in this fact sheet:
Doxis4 InvoiceMaster Read SLX
Other services or components may be required for further, optional functions described in the fact sheet.
Position in the product portfolio
Doxis4 InvoiceMaster Read SLX is a Doxis4 iECM suite mod-ule. Based on the modular principle, it can be augmented at any time with further, additive ECM solutions.
Product scorecard for
Doxis4
InvoiceMas-ter Read SLX
Our product scorecards make it easy for you to compare your requirements with the performance features of the Doxis4 iECM solutions.
Doxis4 InvoiceMaster Read SLX
Invoices with and without a purchase order refer-ence
Partial and collective invoices
Upgradeable to the Doxis4 InvoiceMaster suite
Scanning Extraction Validation Verification Release
Regardless of the ERP systems used
Regardless of the archive system used X
Previous and subsequent capture is supported
Comprehensive export mechanisms
SAP connection as standard
Validation client for verifying and correcting the documents
Support for German and English as standard (fur-ther languages on a project basis)
Reconciliation with master data in the ERP systems
Monitored and fully automatic learning
Logging functions
Comprehensive statistics module
Management of user groups
Further benefits
Simplification of mail sorting
Formal invoice verification
Reduction of invoice capture times
Automatic assignment to invoice verifiers
Transfer of data to the workflow
Clarity with regard to the invoice processing work-flow
Processing of ZUGFeRD invoices
Note on the document
This fact sheet relates to Doxis4 InvoiceMaster Read SLX V05.7.0.
Publisher
SER Holding Europe GmbH
Joseph-Schumpeter-Allee 19 • D-53227 Bonn Phone: +49 228 90896-0 • Web: www.ser.de • Email: [email protected]
On behalf of SER Holding Europe and all its subsidiaries and legal entities
Subject to technical changes. Errors and omissions excepted, including misprints. All trademarks are registered trademarks of their respective owners. Any statements regarding statutory, legal or tax requirements shall not be deemed binding. All information in this brochure shall be considered approximate. The right to make design and content changes is reserved.
(12/08/2014 edition, EN)
