2024's Best Picks: 8 Best Invoice Scanning Software Solutions

According to IFOL’s Accounts Payable Automation Trends 2024 report, 51.4% of respondents say too much manual data entry is their top challenge. The same report discloses the consequences of manual invoice scanning processes: a stressed-out team, damaged vendor relationships, fines and penalties, and delayed delivery of goods. 

Automating invoice processing tasks using AI-based invoice scanning solutions eliminates the need for human effort, improving efficiency and optimizing accounts payable operations. This software automates several invoicing tasks, from invoice creation to data integration with existing systems. 

This article discusses invoice scanning software and the necessity of investing in such solutions. We also review the top invoice capture software in the market and reveal how Docsumo stands apart from its competitors. 

What is Invoice Scanning Software? 

Invoice scanning software automates repetitive invoice processing tasks such as invoice document classification, ingestion, and data extraction. An automated invoice scanning software uses Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology, deep learning, and machine learning algorithms to recognize characters and extract relevant data for business purposes. 

Why is it Critical to Invest in Invoice Scanning Software? 

Ardent Partner's accounts payable metrics 2024 report reveals the following insights: 

• The average cost to process an invoice is $9.87 
• The average time to process an invoice is 10.1 days 
• The average straight-through processing rate is only 32.4% 

Relying solely on manual invoice processing leads to delayed payments, additional expenses, and supply chain disruptions. Invoicing scanning software offers several benefits for businesses.

• High accuracy rate (95%+) 
• Reduced invoice processing costs
• Processing time reduced to seconds instead of hours
• Improved team efficiency as the tool processes invoices in batches
• Seamless integration with existing accounts software (no duplicate entries and errors)

The result? Timely payments, reduced financial losses, and satisfied vendors and customers, making it a wise investment for businesses. 

Top 8 Invoice Scanning Software Solutions in 2024 

Now, let's evaluate the best invoice OCR software in 2024: 

1. Docsumo 

Docsumo is an intelligent invoice processing software solution that helps organizations automate end-to-end invoice scanning workflows and expedite accounts payable operations. The platform automatically adapts to formats, templates, layouts, and styles of different invoices and extracts data using machine learning and deep learning algorithms.

Some of the critical key-value pairs and line items that Docsumo extracts from invoices are: 

• Issue Date 
• Order ID/Tracking number 
• Vendor's name and address
• GST/VAT number
• Buyer’s name and address, subtotal, tax rate, tax total 
• Total due, quantity, unit price, description, HSN code 

Businesses can achieve 95%+ accuracy in invoice processing as the platform performs two rounds of accuracy checks: automated validation of the extracted data with multiple databases and manual checks for dubious and inaccurate extractions. 

a. Features

• Ingests invoices from emails, scanners, and DMS automatically using API-based direct integration 
• Pre-built AI models extract relevant vendor details, payment terms, and transactional data
• Performs three-way matching,  detects discrepancies, and identifies invoice fraud 
• Routes invoices to the respective team members for quick approval
• Integrates with existing accounting software solutions 

b. Pros

• Commendable customer support and weekly meetings to update the latest features and solve issues 
• Volume-based pricing rather than a fixed amount 
• Easy-to-use interface 
• Reviewing fields and making corrections is simple

c. Cons

• Lacks features related to invoice creation using templates 

d. Pricing

• Growth - $500+/month 
• Business - Custom pricing 
• Enterprise - Custom pricing 

2. Envoice

Envoice helps small and medium-sized businesses, accountants, and bookkeepers efficiently manage expenses by automating invoice processing workflows. 

Additionally, Envoice automatically assigns approval tasks and routes invoices to the respective individuals, ensuring timely approvals and streamlining accounts payable processes. It also automatically detects payment methods (credit card, bank transfer) and tracks payment status and due dates to help finance teams pay invoices on time. 

a. Features

• Extract Service accurately extracts financial data from invoices 
• Assigns approval tasks to the respective individuals 
• Integrates with accounting software solutions like Xero, Sage, QuickBooks, Briox, Directo, and Standard Books 

b. Pros

• OCR extracts more data from invoices 
• Supports different currencies
• Quickly extracts data and transfers them to the accounting software 
• Ability to snap a picture of receipts and auto-recognize the vendor, amount and tax

c. Cons

• Navigating the application requires a lot of technical know-how
• Takes a lot of time to upload documents

d. Pricing

• Essential: $7 per company/month 
• Business: $14 per company/month 

3. Google Document AI

Google Document AI lets businesses create invoice processors that can automatically split, classify, and extract data from invoices. The platform can scan invoices in 200+ languages and extract selection marks like checkboxes and radio buttons. To achieve greater accuracy, the API model can also be trained and fine-tuned with as few as 10 invoice documents.

a. Features

• Explore pre-built processors or create custom processors for invoice scanning  
• Form Parser extracts generic invoice data such as names, addresses, and prices 

b. Pros

• Extracts accurate data without additional training
• Supports all languages and efficiently captures data from tables

c. Cons

• Has only basic features and lacks routing, effective validation, and fraud detection capabilities 
• Low accuracy rate for languages other than English 
• Quite expensive for small businesses

d. Pricing

• Custom pricing

4. Amazon Textract

Amazon Textract is a data extraction platform that uses machine learning (ML) algorithms to automate data extraction from invoices. The platform efficiently understands invoice context and extracts relevant data such as vendor name and contact information, invoice number, date, item prices, total amount, and payment terms. 

Amazon Textract also automatically adapts to the layouts of different invoices, eliminating the need for templates or configuration. Businesses can also customize pre-trained Queries features to improve accuracy based on the business requirements. 

a. Features

• Consolidates input from diverse invoices to recognize invoice data with different words 
• Extracts key-value pairs, line items, and layout elements 
• Preserves the composition of invoice data stored in tables 

b. Pros

• Ready to use & no custom training required
• Pay-per-use pricing model 

c. Cons

• Low accuracy rate when recognizing handwritten notes in invoices 
• Supports only a limited number of languages 

d. Pricing

• Custom pricing

5. Bill 

Bill transforms the financial operations of businesses by simplifying the creation, approval, and management of invoices. Businesses can use pre-designed invoice templates and customize them with logos and unique data fields to create professional invoices. 

Customers can use the Bill’s simple payment portal to pay invoices via credit cards, ACH, checks, and international wire transfers. The amount will be deposited directly into the bank account. BILL also accelerates accounts payable with automatic capture, routing, approval, payment, and syncing, reducing manual errors and improving team productivity. 

a. Features

• Tracks approved and unapproved invoices and payments to notify their status through emails 
• Supports direct debit from customers’ bank accounts (for recurring invoices) with their consent to get paid on time 
• Integrates with accounting software solutions like QuickBooks, Xero, Sage Intacct, Oracle NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics 

b. Pros

• Integrates with most accounting platforms
• Centralized accounting for payables and receivables
• Payment is directly credited to the bank account without additional fees

c. Cons

• Lacks features related to budgeting, forecasting, and reporting
• Invoice templates are quite common and repetitive 

d. Pricing

• Essentials - $45 user/month 
• Team - $55 user/month 
• Corporate - $79 user/month 
• Enterprise - Custom pricing 

6. Zoho

Zoho invoice helps small businesses send invoices and get paid hassle-free. The platform integrates with 10+ payment gateways to ensure secure transactions worldwide. 

Set up payment reminders, store customers’ card details to auto-charge for recurring invoices, and collect advance payments for retainer invoices, all using a single platform. What's more, record online and offline transactions and run reports to track business performance at the end of each month. 

a. Features

• Schedule invoices in advance, and Zoho sends them automatically to customers on a particular date 
• Add digital signature to invoices using Zoho Sign and prevent forgery and tampering 
• Build customer portals to offer customers access to all their transactions 

b. Pros

• Sends reminders automatically to clients regarding the payment
• Multiple secure payment options 
• Time tracking feature to track time and charge based on that 

c. Cons

• Doesn't offer different formats while creating invoices for customers 
• Provides only a limited number of payment integration options

7. Quickbooks 

Quickbooks invoicing software automates invoice management tasks, from sending invoices to customers and scheduling recurring invoices to tracking payments. Businesses can customize existing invoice templates with fonts, logos, color schemes, header, and footer details that reflect their brand’s image. 

Quickbooks tracks due or overdue invoices and automatically sends reminder emails to customers. Businesses can also divide cost estimates into multiple invoices based on the percentage of work completed for bigger projects. 

a. Features

• Allows sending invoices in batches to save time 
• Supports the customer's native language for international invoicing 
• Calculates VAT, shipping, and discount amounts automatically while creating invoices 

b. Pros

• Multiple payment options such as PayPal, ACH, credit card
• Integrates with other banking and payment software solutions

c. Cons

• Lacks reporting, budgeting, and forecasting features

d. Pricing

• Simple Start - $9/month 
• Essentials - $13.50/month 
• Plus - $19/month 
• Advanced - $38/month 

8. Razorpay

Razorpay lets businesses create, issue, and track invoices through its dashboard and APIs. Add individual items, terms and conditions, detailed taxes, discounts, GST, and shipment details, and Razorpay will complete the complex calculations automatically. 

It supports payment methods such as cards, UPI, wallets, Net Banking, and international payments. Razorpay's Address Verification System (AVS) ensures the customer's address with the card issuer to prevent fraud in international invoice payments. 

A. Features

• Set expiry dates for invoices, after which the invoices expire 
• Allow customers to download invoices for references and reporting 
• Set up access controls for team members and control who can create, edit, or view invoices 

b. Pros

• Integration with other applications is seamless
• Easy to track failed transactions 

c. Cons

• Takes time to verify documents
• Occasional transactional delays

d. Pricing

• Standard - 2% Razorpay platform fee 
• Enterprise - Custom pricing 

Why Choose Docsumo to streamline Scanning Invoices and Accounts Payable Operations? 

The right invoice scanning software solution significantly improves the processing speed and reduces human errors. Some crucial factors in invoicing scanning software include a high accuracy rate, adaptability, integration capabilities, effective approval workflows, high security, and compliance. 

With all these essential features, Docsumo’s pre-trained invoice capture APIs can immediately extract data after implementation (no model training required). It also allows businesses to customize invoice data extraction fields according to their requirements. 

Moreover, Docsumo efficiently detects invoice fraud by identifying nuanced manipulations, significantly reducing financial losses and preventing legal issues. It offers a 95% straight-through processing rate and enhances accuracy through smart validations and human-in-the-loop verification. 

Sign up for a free trial of Docsumo and start scanning invoices in less than 60 seconds. 

FAQs 

1. How can the performance of invoice scanning software be improved?

Monitor the solution's performance and track necessary KPIs to set benchmarks. Some critical invoice processing KPIs that should be measured include cost per invoice, error rate, exceptional rate, average time per invoice processed, and number of invoices processed daily. Identify areas for improvement, work with the vendor, and train the model to improve further. 

2. How does the invoice scanning software detect fraud? 

Invoice scanning software automatically checks vendor addresses, phone numbers, invoice images, bank account information, and payment details with the existing ERP and SRP systems and purchase orders. It alerts the respective personnel in the AP team in cases of mismatches, reducing the probability of invoice fraud and mitigating associated risks.