If you have decided to join the majority of profitable businesses in the UK and upgrade to invoice data extraction software, congratulations, and welcome to the club.
Let’s get down to business right away and put together a checklist that can help you sift through solutions with ease so that you adopt only the best invoice data extraction software for your business needs.
Contents
Affordability and payment mode
Affordability is the first consideration for most businesses and therefore presents a logical place for us to begin. Compare rates and benefits, and choose an option that you will always be able to afford. You should be able to get started at about GBP 20 for 5 users per month and about 300 document scans. The best invoice data extraction software brands, like Dext, offer this level of competitive pricing, so you should not face any challenges.
Many businesses also prefer a pay-as-you-go model for various reasons. If not getting tied down, or staggered payment is considerations for you, go with brands that offer this type of payment mode.
How many login IDs will you need?
Between team members who shoulder the maximum data entry burden and expense approval responsibility, an accountant (or accounting team), and decision-makers in your organizational hierarchy, how many login IDs do you need? In some cases, especially if you are on a tight budget and more so if your team works in shifts, sharing login IDs might help you minimize your investment towards invoice data extraction software.
How will you measure usefulness?
Before you invest in invoice data extraction software or any tool that is supposed to improve your business in some way, zero in how you will measure ROI, that is return on investment. You should ideally define a business goal and then measure how the business tool in question has helped you progress towards the said goal.
Perhaps in this case you might want to measure:
- Time saved on data entry
- Percentage change in errors in data
- Percentage change in supply chain leaks
- Saved expenditure volume
Does the software allow you to brand your invoices?
Like a vial of sand from the shores of the Dead Sea helps a vacationer remember his time there when he returns to the UK, your invoice – although filed away – acts as a souvenir of the business experience that your client had when doing business with you.
Invoice data extraction software has not only receipt scanning abilities but also invoice generation (and standardization, and customization) abilities.
Be sure that you can add your logo, tagline, and business address (along with branches) to the invoice template.
Can the software understand local tax customs?
This is relevant when extracting data from invoices, categorizing suppliers according to tax, and of course, when generating invoices. You want the software to understand income tax and national insurance, or alternatively corporation tax, depending on what type of tax entity you/ your business is.
It’s even better if your invoice data extraction software can alert you on upcoming taxes and compute how upcoming local taxes will impact the profitability of every sale or service rendered by your business.
Is the dashboard customizable?
All the best invoice data extraction software options out there offer users a snapshot of business highlights or a dashboard of key performance indicators as selected by the software user.
This component helps company decision-makers to keep a finger on the pulse of the business. You and your departmental heads always have an at-a-glance view that tells you everything you need to know about the business’s financial health.
However, it is important that you get the opportunity to select relevant KPIs for the dashboard. Cash flow insight might be important to one business, while inventory management might be more of a burning issue to another company.
Can the software use the available data to generate useful business insights?
With all that data ebbing and flowing through its intelligent robot brain, your invoice data extraction software should be able to tell you, for instance, where your supply chain leaks are.
Be sure that the solution you choose packs in this feature at no extra cost because it is pretty much a staple among the best invoice data extraction software solutions, that are also very affordable.
Data security
Secured data and impregnable data security are must-haves and the best invoice data extraction software solutions providers will usually assure you of firewall protection for your data. Accept nothing less.
Data management
Invoice data extraction software is typically able to sort and categorize data according to automated rules like type and data, or alternatively according to rules set up by you such as sort by supplier or region or tax and so on.
A good software brand will also ensure that their software integrates seamlessly with other accounting software so that you can publish accounts automatically.
Accessibility
It is preferable to zero in on an invoice data extraction software that comes with a smartphone-based partner app that lets you snap, add and approve expenses on the go and access business insights on the go.
Conclusion:
Use this checklist to make a calculated choice as you evaluate data extraction software options.
