Receiving and extracting documents
Receiving invoices by e-mail, reading documents with AI, ISDOC import and quick recording of receipts from the Dashboard.
You don't have to retype received documents into Purchase invoices by hand. eProtokol can receive invoices by e-mail, read them using artificial intelligence (AI), load a structured ISDOC file (the Czech standard format for electronic invoices) and create an expense straight from a photo of a receipt. This page explains how each of these routes works and what you can set up in them.
| Route | Who uses it | Where the document ends up |
|---|---|---|
| E-mail to the company address for receiving invoices | suppliers, accountants | Purchase invoices, To be checked status |
| Uploading a file into the expense form (AI, ISDOC) | accountant, administrator | Purchase invoices, form ready to save |
| Document inbox | administrator and users with the edit or edit own level for the Document inbox | Queue of files for later processing |
| Record receipt on the Dashboard | workers, site managers | Purchase invoices (card, cash desk) or Wages (reimbursement) |
| Record receipt in the mobile app (Dashboard or plus in the Received invoices section) | workers, site managers, accountants | Purchase invoices, To be checked status, or Wages (reimbursement) |
Receiving invoices by e-mail
The company gets its own e-mail address. Every invoice you send or forward to it as an attachment is processed automatically and created as an expense.
Turning it on
- Open Nastavení firmy → Doklady a platby → Příjem faktur (Company settings → Documents and payments → Invoice receiving; administrator only).
- Turn on Aktivovat příjem faktur (Activate invoice receiving). The Email adresa pro příjem faktur (E-mail address for receiving invoices) appears; copy it with the button next to it.
- Select the Osoba ke kontrole vytěžených faktur (Person to check extracted invoices). This person gets the documents to check on their Dashboard and an e-mail about every new invoice. If you don't select anyone, the field shows Nevybráno (Not selected) and the invoices go to the company's first administrator for checking, by e-mail too.
- Decide whether to turn on Automatické potvrzení (Automatic confirmation, see below) and save.
- Give the address to your suppliers or set up forwarding to it from your accounting mailbox.
The Nová adresa (New address) button generates a different address, for example when the original one started receiving spam. The old address then stops working.
What happens to the invoice
- PDFs and images in the attachment are read by AI. If the PDF contains an embedded ISDOC or an ISDOC file is attached, the data is loaded directly from it, which is more accurate.
- One e-mail creates one invoice, the first one that can be read. If you send several invoices in one e-mail, turn on Více faktur z jednoho e-mailu (Multiple invoices from one e-mail) in the settings. Each attachment with an invoice (PDF, ISDOC or an attached image) is then created as a separate expense, images from the e-mail signature are skipped and the log shows all created expenses.
- Without Automatické potvrzení, the document is created in the Ke kontrole (To be checked) status and waits for the person assigned to check it. You can also find it with the Nezařazené (Unclassified) switch. The person checking it opens it, checks it, completes the classification (category, project), turns off Zařadit později (Classify later) and saves it.
- With Automatické potvrzení, the document is created straight away as approved (Čeká na zadání platby, Awaiting payment order) without a manual check.
- If you have approval rules and Pravidla i na faktury z e-mailu (Rules also for invoices from e-mail) is turned on in Nastavení firmy → Schvalování nákladů (Company settings → Expense approval; this is the default), an invoice from e-mail goes through the same approval as a manually entered expense. If a rule applies to it, it goes straight to approval according to the rule, even when Automatic confirmation is on. See Approval of purchase invoices.
Below the settings is the Log příchozích emailů (Incoming e-mail log) with the date, sender, subject, attachments, processing status (pending, processing, completed, error, duplicate, no attachment, invalid) and a link to the created expense. If an invoice doesn't arrive, look here first.
When the same invoice arrives a second time, it is marked as Duplicitní (Duplicate) in the log and a second expense is not created.
Reading documents with AI
From a PDF or a photo of a document, AI reads the supplier (name, IČO (company ID number), DIČ (VAT ID), address), document number, variable symbol, dates, currency, amounts and VAT, bank account and individual items. It also tries to suggest the document type, accounting template, expense category, subcategory and project based on your lists.
Settings
In Nastavení firmy → Doklady a platby → AI služby (Company settings → Documents and payments → AI services), the administrator turns on:
- Přijaté faktury (Purchase invoices) - allows AI reading of purchase invoices and receipts (the manual ✨ button next to an attachment),
- Spustit AI automaticky při nahrání (Run AI automatically on upload) - AI starts right after a file is uploaded, without clicking ✨.
The same tab shows an overview of consumption and a log of AI usage. AI usage is charged according to the current price list. If invoice reading is turned off, the expense form offers the administrator a Zapnout AI čtení faktur (Turn on AI invoice reading) button. Other users do not see the button and ask the administrator to turn it on.
Using it in the expense form
- In Purchase invoices → Nový náklad (New expense), drag the document into the Nahrát soubory (Upload files) field.
- Click ✨ (Načíst data pomocí AI, Load data using AI) next to the attachment if AI didn't start by itself.
- Check the extracted details in the result window and click Načíst do formuláře (Load into form).
- Check the details in the form, fill in anything missing and save the expense.
If AI read something incorrectly, report it in the form using Nahlásit chybnou AI extrakci (Report incorrect AI extraction); you can add what is wrong. This helps improve accuracy.
ISDOC
An ISDOC file (a structured electronic invoice) dragged into the expense form is loaded automatically without AI. If the ISDOC file is damaged, the app warns you, and if you uploaded the invoice PDF together with it and have AI invoice reading turned on, it loads the data from the PDF using AI.
Recording a receipt from the Dashboard
A worker in the field doesn't have to fill in the expense form. On the Dashboard they click Record receipt (the button is also in the plus menu at the bottom right), select the project and the payment type, and upload a photo or PDF of the receipt. AI fills in the rest; processing usually takes 10-30 seconds.
| Payment type | What is created |
|---|---|
| Personal - request reimbursement | I paid with my own money and want it back. A reimbursement request is created in Wages, where an authorised person approves it. |
| Company card | An expense of the Other liability type; nothing is reimbursed. |
| Company cash register | An expense of the Cash desk type; nothing is reimbursed. |
Documents paid by card or from the cash desk are created in the Ke kontrole status for the person assigned to check extracted invoices (otherwise for the administrator). When approved, they move straight to Proplaceno (Paid), because they are already paid. For a company card, the app additionally looks for an outgoing card payment of the same amount in Payments (within 30 days around the receipt date); if it finds one, it matches it and closes the receipt directly as Proplaceno. After processing, the author receives a notification in the mobile app with the result: matched with a payment from a specific day, payment not found yet, or the document is waiting to be checked. If AI cannot read the amount, the document is still saved with the photo and you fill in the amount manually.
On the web, Record receipt is shown to users who have access to the Wages module. In the mobile app, it is on the dashboard in the Requests section and additionally offers the Future bank payment (received invoice) payment type.
Mobile app
In the Received invoices section of the mobile app, the plus button opens Record receipt, the same as on the Dashboard. You select the project and the payment type, for the Future bank payment (received invoice) type also the expense category (or a subcategory and a construction category), and take a photo of the document or pick it from the gallery. A PDF cannot be uploaded in the mobile app. AI reads the details in the background, and the document is created in the Ke kontrole (To be checked) status for the person assigned to check extracted invoices (if nobody is selected, for the administrator). For the Own (reimbursement request) type, a reimbursement request is created in Wages. If a document with the same variable symbol from the same supplier already exists, a warning about a possible duplicate is added to the comment. The person assigned to check the documents reviews the extracted details and approves the document on the web, or in the mobile app in the document detail. Linking to an order is done on the web.