AP scanning is only half done when the scanner stops. The image still has to become a vendor, an invoice number, a due date, a total and the line items your ERP needs. Upload the scans from your scanner folder or inbox and InvoiceExtractor reads every field and every line, and hands you a file ready to import into QuickBooks, Xero, NetSuite, Sage or Excel.
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Most AP departments bought a scanner years ago. The paper went digital, and the typing stayed exactly where it was.
A scanned PDF holds pixels. Until something reads it, a clerk still keys the vendor, dates, amounts and lines into the bill screen by hand.
The OCR bundled with most desktop scanners makes a searchable PDF. It cannot tell the invoice total from the subtotal or the prior balance, so nothing lands in a field.
QuickBooks Online reads vendor, date and total from an uploaded bill and stops there. QuickBooks Desktop has no OCR at all, so line items are typed either way.
One envelope batch holds invoices, statements, credit memos and remittance slips. Someone has to separate them before anything can be entered.
A 40-line freight or parts invoice spans several pages. Scan-to-folder tools often save each page as its own file, and the lines get keyed twice or not at all.
Invoices that sit in the scan folder unentered cannot be approved, matched or paid on time, so early payment discounts expire while the stack grows.
Keep the scanner you own. InvoiceExtractor is the capture layer between the scan folder and your accounting system.
Vendor, invoice number, invoice date, due date, PO number, terms, subtotal, tax, freight and total come back as named values, not a block of OCR text.
Description, quantity, unit price and line amount for each row of the invoice table, across every page of a multi-page invoice.
PDF or image output from a desktop duplex scanner, a multifunction copier, a phone photo or a vendor email attachment. No proprietary scanner driver.
Drop up to 50 scanned files at once and get one combined spreadsheet back, instead of opening each scan on its own.
Excel, CSV and JSON from the same extraction, laid out as one row per invoice line for import into QuickBooks, Xero, NetSuite or Sage.
Line amounts sit next to the subtotal, tax and total from the page, so a quick filter shows any invoice where the math does not add up before you post it.
The same flow works for a mailroom scanner, a copier that scans to email and a shared folder of vendor PDFs.
Scan at 300 DPI in color or grayscale to PDF. Keep each invoice as one file, or scan a batch into one PDF per vendor.
Drag up to 50 files into InvoiceExtractor. Emailed PDFs from vendors go into the same upload with no separate route.
Check vendor, invoice number, totals and lines against the scan side by side, and fix anything flagged before export.
Download Excel, CSV or JSON and import it into your accounting system or AP workflow.
Tip: Save one export template with your own column order and default expense account so every batch matches your import map.
Teams that still receive a meaningful share of vendor invoices on paper, and teams whose PDFs are really scans.
A few hundred to a few thousand paper and PDF invoices a month, a scanner already on the desk, and an ERP that only wants clean rows.
Clients drop off shoeboxes of bills or forward phone photos. One extraction run per client replaces an afternoon of keying.
Supplier invoices with dozens of part lines, where header-only capture leaves most of the work undone.
Clinics, property managers and franchises that scan invoices at each location and close the books centrally.
AP scanning software turns paper and scanned vendor invoices into structured data your accounting system can import. The scanner makes the image; the software reads the vendor, invoice number, dates, totals and every line item from it and exports them as rows. Without that second step, scanning only moves the typing from the paper to the screen. InvoiceExtractor is that second step. It works with the scanner you already own, starts at $49 a month for 2,500 pages, and exports to Excel, CSV and JSON for QuickBooks, Xero, NetSuite and Sage.
AP scanning is the intake step of accounts payable: converting paper invoices into digital files and then into data. In practice it has two layers. The capture layer is a document scanner or copier that produces a PDF or image. The data layer is software that reads the image and fills in invoice fields. Older setups stop after the first layer and store searchable PDFs in a document archive. Current accounts payable scanning solutions include the second layer, because a searchable PDF still has to be typed into the ERP.
Every AP team ends up in one of three setups. The honest comparison is about who does the keying and what it costs per invoice.
| Setup | Who turns the scan into data | Typical cost driver | Line items | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scanner plus manual entry | Your AP clerk types from the PDF | Staff time per invoice | Only if someone types them | Under 50 invoices a month |
| Outsourced scanning bureau | A service provider opens mail, scans and keys | Per invoice fee, usually higher for paper than PDF | Often extra | Teams that want the mail gone entirely |
| Scanner plus extraction software | Software reads the scan, your team reviews | Flat monthly plan or per page | Included | 50 to several thousand invoices a month |
| Full AP automation suite | Built-in capture inside a payments platform | Annual contract, often per user and per invoice | Varies by vendor | Teams also replacing approvals and payments |
A scanning bureau makes sense when nobody in the office should touch paper at all. Published bureau price lists show the pattern: Maventa's 2026 list for Finnish customers charges €1.35 per scanned invoice with OCR and manual verification at under 50 invoices a month, falling to €0.93 above 2,000, plus €0.21 per extra page. US bureaus quote on request, so treat any number as a starting point for your own quote. If you already have a scanner, extraction software usually costs a fraction of that per invoice. If you want the people option compared properly, our page on invoice data entry services sets outsourced rates next to software.
Software cost per scanned page when the plan is fully used
The Textract figure is the API rate alone. It returns JSON, so you still build the review screen and the export file.
At minimum it should return the fields you post: vendor name, invoice number, invoice date, due date, PO number, subtotal, tax, freight and total. For anything you match against a purchase order or code to more than one GL account, it also has to return the line items, with description, quantity, unit price and amount per row. Header-only capture is the reason many teams that scan still type. If your vendors send long invoices, see how invoice line item extraction handles tables that run across pages.
Scan invoices at 300 DPI. That is the resolution OCR vendors generally recommend for normal printed text, and it keeps small print such as unit prices and tax lines legible. Go to 400 DPI only for very small fonts or faint thermal paper. Higher settings make files larger without improving reading accuracy. Grayscale is fine for most invoices; use color when vendors print totals or stamps in red.
| Scanner setting | Recommended value | Why it matters for AP |
|---|---|---|
| Resolution | 300 DPI | Small digits in line items stay readable |
| Color mode | Grayscale, or color for stamped or colored invoices | Black and white thresholding can erase faint print |
| File type | PDF, one invoice per file where possible | Keeps multi-page invoices together |
| Duplex | On, with blank page removal | Terms and remit-to details are often on the back |
| Output | Scan to a shared folder or to email | One place to upload from each day |
No. Any document scanner or multifunction copier that saves PDF or JPG works. What matters for AP volume is an automatic document feeder and duplex scanning. Desktop models such as the Ricoh ScanSnap iX1600 feed 50 sheets at about 40 pages per minute, and production models in the Ricoh fi series run around 70 pages per minute. US retail listings for both sit roughly in the $600 to $900 range, so check current prices before you buy. Phone photos of invoices also work for occasional bills, as long as the page is flat and fully in frame.
Scan the invoices to PDF, upload the files to an extraction tool, review the extracted fields, then import the exported spreadsheet into your accounting system. Most accounting packages import bills from a CSV or Excel file rather than from a PDF, which is why the extraction step sits in the middle. For QuickBooks specifically, the routes differ by edition, and our guide to scanning invoices into QuickBooks covers Online and Desktop separately. For a large backlog, bulk invoice upload shows how to move a month of scans in one pass.
Printed invoices scanned at 300 DPI read reliably. Handwritten invoices, carbon copies and faded thermal paper are harder for every tool on the market, so expect more fields to be flagged for review. Straighten crooked pages in the scanner settings, avoid shadows on phone photos, and rescan anything that looks gray and washed out before uploading. The review screen shows each field next to the scan, so a doubtful amount takes seconds to confirm.
Pricing falls into three models. Per page API pricing from cloud providers, such as AWS Textract Analyze Expense at $10 per 1,000 pages, looks cheapest but delivers JSON that your developers must turn into a workflow. Enterprise capture platforms sell annual licenses banded by volume, often with multi-year minimums. Flat monthly tools sit in between. InvoiceExtractor Starter is $49 a month for 2,500 pages on Base AI or 500 on Pro AI, and Plus is $149 a month for 10,000 or 2,000, with annual billing at roughly half. For a team scanning 800 invoices a month at about 1.5 pages each, Starter covers the volume on Base AI. For a tool by tool price table, see our comparison of the best invoice scanning software for AP teams.
If most of your vendors already send structured e-invoices through an EDI feed or a supplier portal, you do not need scanning at all, only an import. If you want approvals, payment runs and vendor onboarding in one product, a full AP automation suite with built-in capture fits better, even though it costs more per invoice. And if you receive fewer than a few dozen invoices a month, manual entry from the scan is still reasonable. InvoiceExtractor is built for the middle ground: real paper volume, an accounting system you are keeping, and no appetite for a six-month implementation.
AP scanning is the intake step of accounts payable where paper invoices are converted into digital files and then into data. A scanner creates the PDF or image, and capture software reads the vendor, invoice number, dates, totals and line items so they can be imported instead of typed.
The best choice depends on volume and scope. For teams keeping their accounting system and scanner, a flat extraction tool such as InvoiceExtractor at $49 a month is the fastest route. Teams replacing approvals and payments too usually pick a full AP suite with built-in capture.
Yes. Any scanner or multifunction copier that saves PDF, JPG or PNG files works. There is no driver to install. Scan to a folder or to email, then upload the files in batches of up to 50.
Scan invoices at 300 DPI in grayscale, or in color when vendors use colored stamps or red totals. That keeps small digits in line items legible. Settings above 400 DPI make files bigger without improving extraction accuracy.
Yes. Every row of the invoice table comes back with description, quantity, unit price and amount, including tables that continue across several pages. Header fields such as vendor, dates, tax and total are extracted from the same scan.
Exports are Excel, CSV and JSON, laid out as one row per invoice line. Those files import into QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop through an importer, Xero, NetSuite, Sage and most ERPs that accept a bill import file.
With InvoiceExtractor Starter at $49 a month for 2,500 Base AI pages, a fully used plan works out to about 2 cents per page. Outsourced scanning bureaus price per invoice and typically charge more for paper than for emailed PDFs.
Yes. Upload a few of your own scans on this page, check the extracted fields and lines against the paper, and export a sample file to test your import before you choose a plan.
OCR accounts payable software priced per 1,000 pages, and where plain OCR stops.
Invoice OCR software that reads scans into typed fields.
Scan invoices into QuickBooks Online and Desktop without typing.
Invoice line item extraction for quantities, unit prices and totals.
Bulk invoice upload for a whole month of scanned bills at once.
Invoice data entry services priced against software, per invoice.
Start turning your invoices into clean, structured spreadsheet data.
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| Base AI Faster | 2,500 pages |
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Scale invoice extraction across your whole team with automation.
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| Base AI Faster | 10,000 pages |
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