How to automate

How to Automate Document Processing

PDFs, scans, and Word docs are one of the largest sources of manual work in any business. Today's AI (multimodal LLMs) can read almost any document and extract structured data. Here's how.

Common challenges

Thousands of PDFs per month (invoices, contracts, forms) processed manually

Classic OCR fails on poorly scanned or non-standard documents

Manual data entry into ERP/CRM after reading — major source of errors

Tedious manual validation of key fields (amounts, dates, IBANs)

Concrete steps

  1. 01

    Inventory document types

    List the 5-10 you process most: supplier invoice, customer invoice, contract, quote, receipt, declaration. For each, the 5-15 fields you always extract.

  2. 02

    Centralize document intake

    All documents land in one place: dedicated inbox, Drive/SharePoint folder, portal upload. That's the foundation of the auto flow.

  3. 03

    Use multimodal LLMs for extraction

    Modern models (GPT-4 Vision, Claude, Gemini) read documents directly (PDF, JPG, scans), even with poor formatting. For standard documents, accuracy is 95-99%.

  4. 04

    Auto validation with business rules

    Total = sum of lines + VAT? IBAN valid? Due date after issue date? These checks happen by the system, not the human.

  5. 05

    Human-in-loop for exceptions

    Only documents with confidence below 90% or failed validations reach a human. Everything else flows automatically into ERP/CRM.

  6. 06

    Full audit trail

    For every extracted field: original document, extracted value, confidence score, who/what confirmed. Critical for tax audit or disputes.

Common tools

OpenAI GPT-4 Vision, Claude, Gemini (multimodal)Google Document AI, Azure Form Recognizer (specialized)AWS Textract, ABBYY FineReader (legacy OCR)ERPs: QuickBooks, Xero, NetSuite, SAPCustom orchestration solutions

When to build custom

Build custom if you process more than 1000 documents/month, have non-standard document types (industry-specific), or need complex validation (cross-document checks, history comparison). For low volume, generic solutions are enough.

Frequently asked questions

How accurate is AI OCR on real-world documents? +

For typical invoices from known suppliers, 99%+. For rare or poorly scanned documents, 90-95%. With training on your examples, we reach 97%+ even on difficult ones.

Can it handle handwritten documents? +

Partially. Printed text or standard handwritten fields (checked forms, amounts) are extractable with 85-95% accuracy. For long cursive text, accuracy drops. For critical handwritten fields, we recommend human validation.

How does it integrate with our legacy ERP? +

For ERPs with APIs, direct integration. For old systems without APIs, we use RPA — a robot that 'enters' the extracted data like a human, but without errors.

Can sensitive documents be processed locally? +

Yes. For sensitive data (medical, legal, financial), we use AI models hosted on EU infrastructure or on-premise. Documents never leave your jurisdiction.

What's the ROI? +

Typical: for a client processing 1000-2000 supplier invoices/month, 1-2 FTEs freed up. Automation cost recovers in 4-6 months.

Related case study /#/case/maritime-bill-of-lading-reconciliation →

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