Term
What is scan and recognise? Meaning and explanation
Scan and recognise (scan en herken) is the approach in which an invoice or receipt is scanned or photographed and software reads the data automatically, so it no longer has to be retyped.
Definition
Scan and recognise (scan en herken) is the approach in which an invoice or receipt is scanned or photographed and software reads the data automatically, so it no longer has to be retyped.
Also known as: Scan en herken, Scan & herken, Scan and recognise, Scan and recognize, Bonnen scannen, Documentherkenning
Scan and recognise consists of two steps. First, a document is digitised or delivered digitally: a scan of a paper invoice, a photo of a till receipt or a PDF from the mailbox. The software then reads the data, such as supplier, date, invoice number, amounts and VAT. Older solutions use OCR with templates per supplier; newer solutions interpret the document based on context. The result is a proposal that still needs to be coded and booked.
For a firm, scan and recognise saves a lot of retyping, but it does not solve everything. Recognised data must be correct, and it still has to be decided which GL account, VAT code and possibly cost centre the invoice belongs to. The difference lies in what happens after recognition: whether the document is only read, or also checked, coded and, when confident enough, booked automatically.
In Autoboeker, clients deliver documents through the mobile app for iOS and Android, the client portal, a purchase or sales email address, WhatsApp or connected sources via Connect. The AI recognises invoices and receipts without templates, recalculates subtotal, VAT and total, checks VAT numbers via VIES and proposes GL account, VAT code and cost centre based on history. Above the confidence threshold, the entry is booked directly in Exact Online, Twinfield, SnelStart or e-Boekhouden.
Example
After a business lunch, an entrepreneur photographs the receipt with the client app. The receipt is recognised, the VAT amount is recalculated and the entry is prepared or booked directly.
FAQ
Questions about scan and recognise.
Scan and recognise reads the data from a document. Automatic booking goes further: the document is also coded with GL account and VAT code and recorded in the accounting software without a manual step.
No. A phone photo or a PDF by email is enough. In Autoboeker, clients can photograph receipts in the app or email documents to a purchase email address.
Further reading
Related in the knowledge base.
Guides
Automatic booking with AI: how it works for firms
How automatic booking with AI works: recognition without templates, booking proposals with a confidence score and a threshold that decides what gets booked.
10 min readRead the guideWorkflowsCollecting documents from clients: getting delivery in order
How to get invoices and receipts from clients faster: delivery channels, agreements per client and automatic collection from email, WhatsApp and cloud storage.
9 min readRead the guide
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