Invoices accumulate in every small and medium-sized business. They arrive by email, through WhatsApp, as photos from the field, and as files from suppliers. Someone has to enter the supplier, amount, VAT, and date into the accounting system, then file the document. It is slow, repetitive, error-prone work, and it usually falls on the owner or bookkeeper at the end of the month, when the workload is already at its highest. Automatic invoice scanning removes the data entry step.
What is automatic invoice scanning?
It is a system that receives an invoice in any format, reads the important fields by itself, and sends them directly to the system you already use. Instead of typing, you approve. Instead of searching for an old invoice, you retrieve it in seconds.
What does the system do in practice?
- Collect from every source. An invoice sent to a dedicated inbox, a phone photo, a PDF, or a scanned document all enter the same process.
- Extract the data. The engine reads the supplier, invoice number, date, amount before VAT, VAT amount, and total.
- Review and approve. The detected fields appear beside the invoice image. Any field detected with low confidence is marked for review. A person approves or corrects it in a few seconds.
- Send it to the accounting system. The approved record is written directly to the system, while the original invoice is stored, filed, and linked to it.
Why Hebrew extraction is critical
Hebrew invoices are a genuine technical challenge. Text in a PDF is stored by position rather than reading order. In Hebrew, the result can appear reversed, with numbers and amounts moving into the wrong place. A system that does not handle this properly can extract the wrong amount, which is exactly the most expensive type of accounting error. We build the extraction so the Hebrew appears in the correct order and the numbers remain in place. We explain the technical side in our guide to extracting Hebrew text and data from PDF files.
Hashavshevet, Priority, and other systems
Most businesses want invoice scanning to connect to the system they already use, and rightly so. We do not replace the accounting platform. We feed information into it. The connection is adapted to the specific system, whether it is Hashavshevet, a widely used Israeli accounting platform, Priority, an Israeli ERP system, or another product. The record arrives in exactly the structure that system expects.
What about mistakes and human review?
Automatic detection sometimes makes mistakes, especially when an invoice is photographed at an angle or is creased. That is why we do not write to the accounting system without review. The system marks every uncertain field and asks for approval instead of guessing. In accounting, one incorrect digit costs far more than the few seconds required to check it.
How much does it cost, and how long does it take?
A basic project that captures invoices into one system starts at a few thousand shekels. A broader system covering several sources with a deeper accounting integration costs more. Most projects take between a few weeks and two months. Most of the time goes into adapting the workflow to your system and invoice types. A short mapping call is enough to provide an accurate range.
Questions we get asked about invoice scanning
How accurate is it? Accuracy is very high for clear digital invoices. For photographed or scanned invoices, it depends on image quality, so every uncertain field is sent for human approval rather than written silently.
Does it work with handwritten or photographed invoices? Yes, using optical character recognition, but those documents require more human review. A digital invoice will always be more accurate and less expensive to process.
Will it connect to our Hashavshevet or Priority system? Yes. We adapt the connection to the system you use and feed the data into it directly, without replacing it.
What about VAT and deductions? The system extracts the VAT component and sends it as a separate field so it is recorded correctly for deduction purposes. Accounting decisions remain with the person responsible for them.
Do we need to replace our accountant or bookkeeper? No. The tool removes manual data entry and leaves the professional work with the people. They spend less time typing and more time reviewing.
Want to see whether automatic invoice scanning is right for your business? We can review it together in a mapping call and tell you honestly what is worth automating.
