AI Document Processing
Receipts, incoming invoices, delivery notes, order confirmations, forms and email attachments are read, checked and passed to your ERP, DATEV or shop as data. Where the AI is unsure, a person decides.
What intelligent document processing does
Intelligent document processing turns a document into a checked record: the AI recognises what it is, reads the fields and passes them to the system that works with them. Text recognition is only one part – 52% of German companies using AI applied text mining in 2025 (Destatis).
Recognise
The document type is identified – invoice, delivery note, order confirmation or form – and matched to a supplier or sender.
Extract
Fields such as sender, date, numbers, amounts, tax rates and line items. For e-invoices they come straight from the structured data.
Check and hand over
Matched against orders and master data, passed to the target system; uncertain fields go to a person. For product data see data enrichment.
Which documents we process
Every document type has its own fields and its own checks. We start with the one that costs your team the most manual work today.
Incoming invoices
Digital invoice processing from the inbox to the booking, whatever form the invoice arrives in.
- PDF, scan and e-invoice
- Header and line-item data
- Matched against the order
Receipts
Till receipts, cash and travel receipts are captured instead of typed in.
- Amount and tax rate
- Assigned to a cost centre
- Photo or scan as source
Delivery notes
Quantities and line items from the delivery note are matched to the order and goods receipt.
- Quantities and line items
- Matched to goods receipt
- Deviations reported
Order confirmations
Delivery dates and prices are checked against your own order.
- Check dates and prices
- Deviations to purchasing
- Query prepared
Forms
Applications, return slips and feedback forms, even when the template changes.
- Fields across changing templates
- Checkboxes and tables
- Mandatory fields checked
Email attachments
The mailbox is collected and every attachment assigned to its document type and case.
- Mailbox collected
- Attachment assigned
- Duplicate submissions detected
Receiving e-invoices: read the data, not the image
In Germany the e-invoice changes incoming mail but does not replace it. What applies and how we handle it:
What applies in Germany
- Since 1 January 2025 every domestic business must be able to receive e-invoices; an email inbox is sufficient (BMF).
- An e-invoice is a structured electronic format (§ 14 UStG); a plain PDF is not an e-invoice (BMF).
- Transition periods for issuing run until the end of 2026 and 2027 (§ 27 UStG): paper and PDF invoices keep arriving, as do invoices from abroad.
- If an invoice contains both an image and XML, the XML data prevails (BMF).
How we handle it
The tax assessment of an individual case is for your tax adviser.
- Structured invoices are read directly from the XML, without text recognition – the data does not have to be entered again.
- PDF, scans and paper go through the AI and produce the same record.
- If image and XML differ, this is reported.
- For outgoing invoices: creating ZUGFeRD and XRechnung.
Confidence per field, decisions by people
The AI states how confident it is for every field. Anything below the threshold goes to a person – not into the booking.
Threshold per field
Amounts, bank details and tax rates get a stricter threshold than free-text fields.
Review screen
The original sits next to the extracted value, uncertain fields are marked, confirming takes one click.
Traceable corrections
Corrections are logged instead of overwritten and improve matching and rules.
Spot checks
Confident cases are spot-checked too, so nobody trusts the machine blindly. How thresholds and approval work for decisions: AI decision making.
Traceable under German bookkeeping rules (GoBD)
Automatic does not mean without a trace. Original, result and correction are kept.
The original stays
Incoming documents are kept in the format received, the text recognition result is filed after review (GoBD, version of 14 July 2025). For e-invoices the structured part stays unchanged.
No silent changes
The original content of a record remains identifiable, even after a correction (§ 146 AO).
Evaluable for the whole period
Accounting vouchers are kept for eight years and remain machine-evaluable (§ 147 AO).
Process documentation and tax assessment remain with you and your tax adviser; we provide the technical description.
Hand-over to ERP, DATEV or your shop
The record goes where data is typed in by hand today.
Target systems
Accounting, ERP or shop – the fields are mapped to the target system and created or matched there.
- Accounting via the DATEV integration
- ERP: SAP Business One, Microsoft Dynamics 365, JTL-Wawi
- All integrations at a glance: integrations
- Your own systems via custom programming
Operation
Where documents are processed depends on the type and volume of data.
- As a hosted service via our hosting or in the cloud
- On your own infrastructure: documents never leave your network
- Background: AI in your shop without data leaving it
From a stack of documents to clean data
Review documents
Real, anonymised samples per document type; target fields and target system are defined.
Define checks
Thresholds per field, matching against orders and master data, who reviews what.
Pilot with review screen
Runs alongside the current process; accuracy per field is measured on your documents.
Operation
Hand-over to the target system and ongoing evaluation of automatic and reviewed cases.
Frequently asked questions about AI document processing
Invoices, receipts, delivery notes, order confirmations, forms and email attachments – as a scan, photo, PDF or e-invoice. The quality of the source determines the result; we measure this on your samples beforehand.
There is no blanket figure; it depends on document type and template. In the pilot, accuracy is measured per field on your documents; anything below the threshold is reviewed by a person.
Below the threshold the document appears in the review screen with the original next to it. The correction is logged and the original value remains identifiable.
E-invoices are read directly from the data. Because of the German transition periods, paper and PDF invoices may keep arriving until the end of 2027, invoices from abroad are not covered by the domestic requirement, and delivery notes and forms remain unstructured.
Yes, as an option: the models then run in your network and documents never leave it. Alternatively, hosted operation under a data processing agreement is possible; the choice depends on the type and volume of data.
The original is kept in the format received, the text recognition result is filed after review, and changes remain traceable. Process documentation and tax assessment remain with you and your tax adviser.