The number of invoices and other receipts accumulated by businesses can make one's head spin. Physically delivering them to accounting on a regular basis is often difficult, which can result in periodic bottlenecks. Further problems arise when large quantities of them have to be stored and protected from destruction or loss for the period required by law. Or when we need to find an invoice for a particular piece of equipment from several years ago, for example, during a tax audit. The solution is to scan invoices using OCR.

Optical character recognition(OCR) is a technology for reading text from image files, such as scans. Although it is mainly applicable to printed characters, the most advanced programs already recognize handwriting. With the use of such tools, the content contained in graphic files can be copied and searched just as in standard text files.

How to scan invoices

Scanning invoices makes sense when digitized versions of them can replace the originals. Therefore, they need to replicate the paper version and allow you to freely read all the information it contains. Thus, you can replace your invoice warehouse with a digital archive.

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When using a scanner, you need to keep in mind the settings to achieve the right scan quality. Resolution is key. The higher it is, the better the quality, but also the larger the file size, which is not insignificant if you are scanning and storing large amounts of invoices. A resolution between 150 and 300 dpi seems optimal. It's also important to save scans in color, possibly in grayscale. When saving in black and white, far-reaching image distortion can occur, making it difficult if not impossible to read data from the document.

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For digitizing invoices, a traditional scanner is not necessary. In this role, any smartphone will work nowadays. You just need to take a picture of the document with it. With this solution, you can provide your accountant with all the receipts in real time.

OCR of scans

A scanned or photographed invoice can be subjected to a character recognition process with the help of appropriate software. Of course, there are times when the computer will make a reading error. Fortunately, some programs allow manual correction.

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In such a prepared file, we can already use full-text search of their contents. It is worth noting that OCR of an invoice scan is best saved in PDF format. Then we preserve a digital reproduction of the original document along with the text layer.

Conversion to e-invoice

Scanning and OCRing invoices protects them from loss and makes them more convenient to use on a daily basis. But why not take it a step further?

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If you use the right tools, paper invoices can be converted into structured electronic invoices (e-invoices), which have been in operation in Poland since the launch in 2022. National e-Invoice System (KSeF). This form significantly speeds up the process of entering data into accounting systems. Automating it saves time, and therefore money.

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Conversion of traditional bills to e-invoices is offered by the Banqup platform. Although it is a new solution in Poland, Banqup has proven itself by serving customers in other European markets where e-invoices are already in place, such as Belgium and France.

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To streamline the entire process of recognizing text and converting paper documents into e-invoices, Banqup uses Procurement DocAI technology provided by Google Cloud. In addition, to eliminate errors in the automatic reading of invoices, Banqup has a correctness control center that watches over the entire process and corrects any mistakes.

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As part of the Banqup platform, each entrepreneur and accountant has their own digital archive. With this solution, the stored financial records are safe, and you won't have to keep a bunch of binders with invoices in the office. And you will have constant access to all of them thanks to a mobile app or on your computer.