Skavio Flow: plan an invoice batch before the accounting handoff

Skavio Flow turns invoices, scans and text into reviewable structured data, with custom fields, source evidence and XLSX, CSV or JSON exports. For a bookkeeping team, the useful starting point is the accounting destination—not the upload. Define what the receiving system needs, then organize extraction and review around those requirements. A completed export and an authorized accounting entry are different stages.

Start with the purchase-bill import template

Download the current import template or specification from your accounting software before defining the extraction fields. Establish which columns are required, how invoice lines are grouped, which date and decimal formats are accepted, and whether unit amounts must include or exclude tax. The file extension alone does not establish compatibility. Xero provides a destination-specific example: its Australian bills-and-credit-notes guidance describes CSV imports that create drafts requiring approval. Preparing data, importing it and approving it are separate operations. Check your own regional guidance rather than treating another market’s template as universal. Flow’s export formats do not establish compatibility with a particular importer or imply a built-in accounting connector.

Define the batch before processing its documents

Create a simple batch register outside Flow. Record the source filename, document type, supplier reference where available, currency and expected page count. Check that multi-page invoices are complete and identify files already included in an earlier handoff. Separate ordinary supplier invoices from credit notes in your intake plan so that their signs and accounting treatment can be checked deliberately. These are recommended operating controls, not claims that Flow automatically detects duplicates or classifies every document correctly. Assign responsibility for resolving exceptions before the batch reaches accounting.

Keep invoice fields separate from accounting decisions

Flow supports custom extraction fields and saved company workflows. Use them to repeat a clear extraction definition across new documents—not to assume automatic account-code selection or destination-specific import mapping. At document level, define the supplier identity, invoice number, issue date, due date where present, currency and reported totals. At line-item level, define the descriptions, quantities, units, prices and tax amounts needed for the handoff. Flow’s XLSX outputs include document and line-item worksheets, allowing these two levels to be reviewed separately. A printed supplier name may still need matching to an existing accounting contact. Xero’s Australian guidance warns that contact names must match exactly to avoid creating new contacts. Treat that match as a separate mapping check, while preserving the supplier identity shown on the source document.

Review the evidence before accepting the values

Flow provides source evidence and review warnings alongside structured results. Use them to compare extracted dates, totals and line items with the original document. Check whether quantities and prices explain line amounts, and investigate differences between line-item sums and reported totals rather than silently forcing agreement. Keep unresolved values in a separate exception list with a clear reason: an unreadable date, missing page, ambiguous currency or unexplained total, for example. Do not invent a due date or supplier reference simply because the destination requires one. Manually hold affected records out of the accounting handoff until a reviewer resolves them. Review warnings support that work; they are not accounting approval.

Map the reviewed export, then test the import

Choose XLSX for spreadsheet review, CSV when the destination requires a tabular import, or JSON for a separately built data handoff. Map the reviewed output into the destination’s required headers and row structure; do not assume the raw export is import-ready. Protect identifiers before spreadsheet editing. Microsoft documents that Excel can remove leading zeros and truncate long numeric identifiers. When importing through Excel’s Text/CSV workflow, set invoice and supplier identifier columns to text before loading them. Check grouping rules just as carefully. Xero’s Australian guidance warns that repeated invoice references within an import file combine records, even when contact names differ. Repeated references can represent multiple lines of one bill, but unintended collisions need investigation—not silent changes to supplier references. Test a small reviewed subset before importing the full batch. Compare imported document counts, line counts and totals by currency with your control register and reviewed export. Keep successful import separate from authorization to post.

Explore Skavio Flow to prepare reviewed invoice data for your accounting handoff. →