Paperless invoice processing: from inbox to ledger, with the accountant in control

Month-end procedures at an accounting agency tends to look the same. Supplier invoices land in an accountant's personal inbox, arrive as a photo in a messaging app, come in a folder the client drops off on the fifth, or sit unread in someone's email. Someone retypes each one by hand: supplier, number, dates, lines, PDV. Paperless invoice processing should take that load off your team without taking the decision away from the accountant. This guide sets out a workflow any agency can adopt, then shows how Obrtnica supports it.

Why incoming invoices get stuck at month end

The problem rarely starts at posting. It starts earlier:

• Too many channels. One agency receives invoices by email, through messaging apps, by post and in person. Nobody has a full picture of what has arrived.

• Retyping. Data that already exists in a PDF gets keyed into the accounting program again. It takes time and leaves room for mistakes in amounts, dates or invoice numbers.

• Overlooked documents. An invoice left in someone's inbox is easy to miss when preparing the PDV return, and it often surfaces only when the client asks about it.

• Duplicates. The same invoice arrives twice, once from the supplier and once from the client, and has to be caught before it is recorded twice.

Digitizing incoming invoices solves these problems only if you introduce it as an agreed process, not as one more tool.

Paperless invoice processing in five steps

1\. Agree on one delivery channel

For each client, agree on one address where they send or forward supplier invoices. If suppliers can send to it directly, even better. Anything that still arrives another way gets forwarded to the same address by someone at the agency. That gives you one place where you know what has arrived and what hasn't.

2\. Ask for PDFs, one invoice per document

A digital PDF produced by the supplier's own software is the easiest to read. Scan paper invoices to PDF, clearly and upright. Keeping each invoice as a separate document makes review and retrieval easier.

3\. Send data to a draft, not straight to the books

Extraction is only useful if the result ends up as a proposal. Supplier, invoice number, dates, lines and tax should appear in a draft that someone opens and checks.

4\. The accountant is the final check

Before posting, someone confirms the essentials: the supplier is right, the amounts add up, the tax rate is correct, and the invoice hasn't already been recorded. Only then does the document move on.

5\. Keep the document with the entry

The original should be within easy reach of the entry. When an auditor, an inspector or the client asks where an amount came from, the answer shouldn't depend on who saved the invoice and where.

How Obrtnica handles incoming invoices

Obrtnica follows the same order: it prepares the data, and the accountant decides.

Receiving invoices by email. Every Organization in Obrtnica has its own address for incoming documents, shown in the inbound mail settings. PDF attachments sent to that address arrive in the Inbox of the Documents module. In settings you choose which type of document a mailbox receives, and you can limit which senders or domains it accepts mail from. The Activity & Test tab shows whether a message was received and, if not, why, for example because it had no PDF attached.

Upload when a document didn't come by email. You can upload a PDF straight into the Library, into a folder or Unfiled, and run Analyze when you want Obrtnica to extract its data.

Extraction into a draft. Obrtnica reads the data on a supplier invoice: supplier, invoice number, issue and due dates, currency, lines and tax. The draft takes the default tax template from your Buying settings, and you can change the PDV rule on individual lines. If the supplier or item doesn't exist in your records yet, Obrtnica creates it only when you confirm processing.

Plain-language warnings. If a line total doesn't match quantity times unit price, if the subtotal plus tax doesn't equal the total, if the issue date is in the future or the due date falls before the issue date, Obrtnica shows a warning alongside the document.

Review before posting. Documents waiting for review also appear in the Library's Needs review list. The accountant opens the document, corrects fields and, if the document type was recognized wrongly, changes it and runs extraction again. Then they process it, and processing creates a draft purchase invoice in Buying. You post that draft yourself, when you're satisfied. Nothing reaches the books without confirmation from your team.

No double entry. If the same invoice arrives again and a draft with the same supplier and invoice number already exists, Obrtnica updates that draft instead of creating a new one. It leaves an already posted invoice unchanged and tells you so.

The document stays with the entry. Every purchase invoice has its own record in the Library, and the PDF that arrived by email stays linked to it. That is digital document storage your team can rely on when questions come up months later.

A rollout checklist for your agency

• For the first month, pick one client with regular supplier invoices.

• In the inbound mail settings, check that the mailbox is set to receive purchase invoices.

• Send the client the address and a short instruction: PDF only, one invoice per document.

• If you like, limit intake to known senders or domains.

• Agree who on the team reviews the Inbox and how often, for example every day at the same time.

• Before the PDV deadline, check that nothing from that period is left in Needs review.

• After the first month, go through the warnings and corrections, then refine your instructions to the client.

Frequently asked questions

Can clients email invoices directly into the accounting software?

Yes. Every Organization has its own address for incoming documents. PDF attachments sent to it arrive in the Inbox, where they wait for review. Obrtnica accepts PDF attachments and skips other formats.

Will the software post incoming invoices automatically?

No. Obrtnica extracts the data and prepares a draft, and the accountant reviews, processes and posts it. Nothing reaches the books without a person confirming it.

What about paper and scanned invoices?

Scan them to PDF and send them to the same address, or upload them to the Library. The clearer the scan, the easier the data is to read, and you check all of it before processing anyway.

What does digital invoice management change for the client's business?

The client doesn't need to install anything or learn a new program. They just forward supplier invoices to the agreed address as they arrive, instead of collecting them until month end.

See the workflow with your own documents

Learn more about the Documents module, or book a demo and we'll walk one supplier invoice from email to posting, using your agency as the example.

Book a demo