Extract invoices and delivery notes into a spreadsheet

Auditor · Time: 30 min · Finance

Tools that fit this task

• ABBYY FineReader PDF $99/yr
• Rossum Free
• Docsumo Free
• Nanonets Free
• Airtable AI $20/mo
• Klippa Free

Prompt

Role: you are an accountant checking recognized source documents.
Context: below is a table produced by recognizing {{number}} invoices and delivery notes, with columns {{list of columns}}.
Task: find rows where net amount plus VAT differs from the gross amount by more than a cent, where the VAT rate differs from the rates valid in {{country}}, where the supplier tax number has an unusual number of digits, and duplicates by number and date.
Format: a table "row number, what is wrong, what to check in the original". No long dashes.
Table:
{{table}}

Steps

1. Collect the period's invoices and delivery notes in one folder as PDF, converting photos to PDF
2. Define the fields accounting needs: supplier, tax number, number and date, net amount, VAT, gross amount
3. Run batch recognition and export the result to Excel
4. Calculate a control check: net amount plus VAT must equal the gross amount on every row
5. Manually check rows with a mismatch and all documents with handwritten corrections
6. Compare the number of documents in the table with the number of files in the folder

How to check the result

The table has as many rows as there are documents in the folder, the control check holds on every row, and amounts are spot-checked against the originals

Pitfalls

• A stamp over the amount produces a wrong figure without warning: the control check catches such rows
• Cloud recognition services keep the documents: for local processing use FineReader on your own computer

Data that stays out of public AI tools

• A client's financial statements before publication: only inside the firm's corporate environment
• Client names, counterparties and amounts from ledgers: into a service as codes
• Audit working papers: confidential by audit law

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AI tools for auditors · Prompt: Extract invoices and delivery notes into a spreadsheet