What is AutoEntry, and how will it help my business?

AutoEntry is designed to save you time and energy, give you an up-to-date picture of your expenditure, and help you manage your cash flow better. It’s known as ‘data capture software,’ and you can use it within Xero.

We thought it would be useful to put together a quick guide to AutoEntry, which answers most of the general questions that Xero users have – if you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to get in contact.

What is AutoEntry?

AutoEntry aims to capture the details from your purchase invoices and paper receipts within Xero without manual data entry into Xero bills.

The software essentially turns paper or digital invoices into draft bills, capturing the data from the invoice, ready to be coded and sent to Xero.

Why use data capture software?

Data capture is a highly useful technology that will help you to:

•         Save time
•         Reduce errors
•         Attach invoices to transactions
•         Reduce paper storage
•         Collate invoices for your bookkeeper
•         Make it easier to answer any HMRC questions or audit reviews
•         Deal with invoices not dominated in UK sterling
•         Recover more of the VAT suffered with your purchases

What does AutoEntry look for?

AutoEntry looks for the following details on each purchase invoice:

•         Transaction date
•         Invoice number
•         Amount paid
•         VAT suffered
•         Supplier name
•         Due date
•         Description of purchase

The more detail you can provide, the better the software will perform. For VAT-registered businesses, it is essential to send the documents that have the VAT suffered on them; otherwise, the software will assume no VAT is suffered, and you may miss out on VAT recovery.

What type of documents does AutoEntry accept?

Ideally, AutoEntry prefers PDF attachments and photos, which you can take using the AutoEntry app. Excel and Word documents often are rejected. So it’s best to convert it into a PDF first.

Where you have emails that contain links to the invoices, these will often be rejected because the software won’t be able to follow the link. For these cases, you need to download the PDF invoice and send it to AutoEntry separately.

You may find it helpful to engage a VA or bookkeeper to log reoccurring invoices every month and to make sure you avoid duplicate entries.

Is there anything I can’t add to AutoEntry?

AutoEntry will often reject the following documents, or create duplications:

•         Out-of-focus pictures
•         Statements
•         Duplicates
•         Direct Debit confirmations or credit card summaries ( where invoices are available)
•         Proforma invoices
•         Orders
•         Blank pages
•         Terms and conditions
•         Sales invoices

The software will pick up some duplicates, but we recommend checking the bills list in Xero every week or month for anything that looks duplicated or not quite right. The sooner you can correct the issue in Xero, the better.

If you need to add sales invoices to Xero, please have a chat with us, and we can look at the best solution.

How do you get the documents into AutoEntry?

You have five simple options:

•         Drag and drop the PDF or photo via the Xero website
•         Forward emails with PDF attachments to AutoEntry email address
•         Forward emails with photos you have taken to AutoEntry email address
•         Forward emails with the invoice details into the body of the email
•         Via the AutoEntry mobile app

Every AutoEntry account has a ‘purchases’ email address. You can forward emails to the software via this email, which usually looks something like ‘ABC_purchase@AutoEntry.com’.

Can anyone use the AutoEntry app?

The app is straightforward – simply photograph the invoice using the app and click the green button. You will need to be an AutoEntry User for the app to work, and then you will be able to log in using your email address. You will need to select your own password, and you can reset the password in the standard way.

When do you send in the purchase invoices?

Everyone has different patterns, but if you are going to use Xero as a record of the suppliers to whom you owe money, then you need to be submitting them regularly.

We recommend forwarding the purchase invoices as you receive them and photographing the paper invoices again as you go. Then every month, you have a tidy up of any invoices that are missing from the bank reconciliation. In our experience, the last-minute or quarterly approach takes more time and can be difficult to manage.

Can I send invoices paid from personal accounts?

Yes, you can, but you will need to make your bookkeeper aware so the money can be refunded to you. Otherwise, the invoice will appear as ‘unpaid’ in Xero’s system.

Should we keep the paper versions after submission?

We recommend holding on to them for a month or so just to make sure they have been submitted correctly.

Can people in my team be users?

You can have unlimited users in AutoEntry – team members can submit invoices either by email or the app. If these are to be reimbursed to individuals, then you may want to consider putting in an expense claim system. You can give us a call to get some help with this.

Getting started

Setting up AutoEntry and refining your purchasing process may take a bit of time, but once you have this in place, you will have a smoother and more reliable way of capturing purchase invoices. We’d recommend that businesses that run Xero take a look at AutoEntry – it will save you time, help you manage the paperwork in your office and eventually become a great way of keeping track of your purchase invoices.

Our three top tips for using AutoEntry

Tip #1: Ask for VAT receipts where possible, and you will recover more VAT suffered.

Tip #2: Where you receive invoices that are from other Xero users, try adding them to Xero directly and not sending them to AutoEntry via email. To do this, just click on the blue Xero button on the invoice, and it will be saved into drafts in Xero.

Tip #3: We recommend you have an accounts@yourbusinessname.com type email address as well. All purchase invoices from suppliers can be sent to this email account, making it easier to forward the emails to AutoEntry, and giving a central location for all bills to be paid.

For more help, please contact us.

Please note: This is not meant to constitute professional advice. It is generic guidance only and things may have changed since it was written –please always seek specific & tailored advice for your circumstances.