Smart IT have been a breath of fresh air. From the first business meetings, to the transition period and the support going forward they have all been brilliant. Our accou...
Katie Sykes
a year ago
AI document processing
Stop retyping information from documents
Invoices, purchase orders, application forms, delivery notes and customer emails all arrive full of information someone has to read and key in. It’s slow, it’s repetitive and a single typo can cause problems further down the line.
AI document processing reads these documents for you. It understands the layout and the content, pulls out the details that matter and passes them into your accounts package, CRM or line-of-business system, ready to act on.
Unlike older scanning tools, it doesn’t need every document to follow the same template. It copes with different suppliers, layouts and scan quality, checks what it finds against your records, and flags anything it isn’t sure about for a person to review.
What we can process
If your team reads a document and types what it says into another system, we can automate it. Common examples include:
Supplier invoices
Supplier names, invoice numbers, line items, VAT and totals captured and sent to your accounts package for approval.
Purchase orders
Orders from customers read and created in your system automatically, ready to fulfil.
Forms and applications
Paper and PDF forms read and turned into clean, structured records with no manual entry.
Customer emails
Incoming emails sorted by request type, with key details pulled out and routed to the right team.
Contracts and agreements
Dates, parties, renewal terms and key clauses summarised, so nothing important gets missed.
Delivery notes and receipts
Proof of delivery and expense receipts matched to orders and logged automatically.
Certificates and compliance documents
Insurance certificates, test results and compliance paperwork read, logged and tracked for expiry.
CVs and candidate documents
Applications read, summarised and scored against your criteria to speed up shortlisting.
OCR vs AI document processing
Traditional OCR turns an image into text, but it doesn’t understand what that text means. It relies on fixed templates, so a new supplier or a slightly different layout means it breaks or needs setting up again.
AI document processing, often called intelligent document processing, reads documents more like a person does. It recognises that a figure is a VAT amount or that a name is a supplier, whatever the layout, then checks and validates the data before it goes anywhere.
- Works with PDFs, scans, photos and email attachments
- Handles different layouts without new templates
- Classifies documents automatically, such as invoice or credit note
- Validates data against your rules and existing records
- Gets more accurate as it sees more of your documents
How it works behind the scenes
Every document follows the same simple path, from arriving in your business to landing in the right system.
Capture
Documents are collected automatically from a shared mailbox, scanner, upload portal or SharePoint folder.
Understand and extract
AI identifies the document type and pulls out the details that matter, from supplier names and line items to dates and totals.
Check and deliver
The data is validated, matched against your records and sent into your accounts package, CRM or business system, with exceptions passed to a person.
Built-in checks that protect your business
Speed is only useful if the data is right. We build checks into every document process, so problems are caught before they cost you money.
Purchase order matching
Invoices are matched against purchase orders, and where needed against delivery notes, before they’re passed for payment.
Duplicate detection
The same invoice sent twice, or by email and post, is spotted before it’s paid twice.
Changed bank details
Unexpected changes to a supplier’s bank details are flagged for checking, one of the most common signs of invoice fraud.
Human review for exceptions
Anything the AI is unsure of is shown to a person alongside the original document, so they only check the exceptions, not every page.
A full audit trail
Every document, extracted value and decision is recorded, so you can see exactly what happened and when.
Our Mission
Transforming the Way Businesses Work
Our mission is to transform the way businesses work through intelligent technology, AI and business automation, backed by proactive support.
Every solution we deliver is designed to help organisations:
Every solution we deliver is designed to help organisations:
The benefits of AI document processing
- Hours of manual data entry removed every week
- Fewer keying errors and duplicate records
- Documents processed as soon as they arrive
- Faster supplier payments and customer responses
- Your team only checks the exceptions, not every document
- A searchable record of every document processed
- Processes that scale without adding headcount
AI document processing by industry
Every sector has its own paperwork. Here are some of the documents we automate:
Finance teams
Supplier invoices, credit notes, statements and expense receipts into Xero, Sage or QuickBooks.
Recruitment
CVs, right to work documents, timesheets and compliance certificates into your recruitment CRM.
Legal
Contracts, leases, court forms and client ID documents summarised and filed to the right matter.
Construction
Delivery notes, subcontractor invoices, gas and electrical certificates and site paperwork.
Wholesale
Customer purchase orders, supplier price lists and proof of delivery notes.
Healthcare
Referral letters, patient forms and supplier invoices, with sensitive data handled securely.
Property
Tenancy agreements, inventories, maintenance invoices and compliance certificates.
Manufacturing
Purchase orders, goods received notes, certificates of conformity and test reports.
Education
Admissions forms, consent forms, supplier invoices and staff documents.
How it works
- 01 Discover We look at the documents you handle, how many arrive and where the information needs to end up.
- 02 Design We agree which details to capture, where they go, the checks to run and what happens when the AI is unsure.
- 03 Build and test We build the process and test it on real documents from your business until the results are accurate.
- 04 Launch and support We put it live, train your team and keep improving accuracy as new document types appear.
Related services
Customer story: recruitment
How a recruitment agency stopped sifting CVs by hand
Consultants were starting every day by reading through the CVs that had arrived overnight. We built an AI process that reads each CV as it arrives, scores it against the role and builds a ranked shortlist, ready and waiting each morning.
Every CV
read and scored against the role automatically
Each morning
a ranked shortlist ready for consultants
Consistent
every candidate assessed against the same criteria
No more
trawling through a full inbox of applications
AI document processing FAQs
What types of documents can AI process?
Most business documents, including invoices, purchase orders, forms, emails, contracts, receipts, certificates and CVs, whether they arrive as PDFs, scans or photos.
How accurate is it?
Accuracy is high on clear documents and improves as the system sees more of your paperwork. Anything the AI is unsure about goes to a person to check before it goes any further.
Which accounts packages does it work with?
We connect to popular UK accounts packages, including Xero, Sage and QuickBooks, as well as CRMs, SharePoint and line-of-business systems.
How long does it take to set up?
A focused project, such as supplier invoices, is typically live within a few weeks, including a period of testing on your own documents to fine-tune accuracy.
Can it read handwriting?
Clear handwriting can often be read, although accuracy is lower than for printed text. Anything uncertain is passed to a person to check.
Is our data kept secure?
Yes. Smart IT is ISO 27001 certified, and we design every solution so your documents are processed and stored in line with your data protection obligations.
Is it GDPR compliant?
It can be. We design each solution so personal data is processed lawfully, kept secure, stored in the right place and retained only for as long as it’s needed.
What’s the difference between this and AI automation?
AI document processing focuses on reading documents and extracting their data. AI automation covers wider uses of AI, such as assistants, email triage and meeting summaries.
