GoldFinch AI OCR for Purchase Invoice

Overview

GoldFinch AI OCR for Purchase Invoices automates the capture and processing of supplier invoices. Instead of manually entering invoice information, users simply email or upload an invoice. GoldFinch AI extracts the invoice data, validates it against your ERP records, and automatically creates a draft Purchase Invoice for review.

By reducing manual data entry and highlighting validation issues before posting, GoldFinch AI OCR improves accuracy, reduces processing time, and streamlines accounts payable operations.

Key benefits include:

• Automatic invoice data extraction using AI
• Native integration with Salesforce and GoldFinch ERP
• Automatic Purchase Invoice creation
• Purchase Order matching
• Validation against ERP master data
• User review before posting

How It Works

The Purchase Invoice OCR process follows these steps:

Supplier Invoice
        │
        ▼
Email or Manual Upload
        │
        ▼
OCR Request Created
        │
        ▼
AI Extracts Invoice Data
        │
        ▼
GoldFinch Validates Data
        │
        ▼
Draft Purchase Invoice Created
        │
        ▼
User Reviews & Posts

Each invoice passes through AI extraction, business validation, and user review before it is posted.

Input Methods

GoldFinch AI OCR supports two methods for submitting supplier invoices.

Email Submission (Recommended)

Invoices are emailed to a designated Accounts Payable mailbox, which automatically forwards messages to the Salesforce Email Service for processing.

This is the recommended approach because vendors continue using a familiar email address while the forwarding process remains transparent.

Manual Upload

Users can manually upload invoice documents when:

• Invoices are received outside the normal email process
• Existing documents need to be reprocessed
• OCR templates are being tested
• Troubleshooting is required

Configuring Email Submission

We recommend creating a dedicated Accounts Payable email address, such as:

• ap@yourcompany.com
• invoices@yourcompany.com

Configure this mailbox to automatically forward incoming invoice emails to the Salesforce Email Service address used by GoldFinch OCR.

Gmail Forwarding Verification

When forwarding is configured for the first time:

1. Gmail sends a verification email to the Salesforce Email Service.
2. An OCR Request is automatically created.
3. Open the verification email from the OCR Request.
4. Click the verification link.
5. Gmail enables automatic forwarding.

Once completed, all supplier invoices sent to the AP mailbox are automatically forwarded for processing.

Email Processing Workflow

Step 1 – Vendor Sends Invoice

The vendor emails an invoice as a PDF or image attachment to the organization's AP mailbox.

The email subject and body may include reference information such as the Purchase Order number.

Step 2 – OCR Request Is Created

Upon receiving the email, GoldFinch automatically creates an OCR Request.

The request contains:

• Source Channel = Email
• Status = Pending
• Sender information
• Original attachment

Step 3 – AI Processes the Invoice

The attached document is submitted to the configured AI provider (for example, Google Gemini).

The AI extracts:

• Vendor information
• Invoice number
• Invoice dates
• Currency
• Payment terms
• Purchase Order number
• Invoice line items

The OCR Request status changes to Completed after processing.

Step 4 – GoldFinch Validates the Data

GoldFinch validates the extracted information against ERP data.

Validation includes:

• Vendor
• Purchase Order
• Warehouse Receipts
• Currency
• Item Numbers
• Units of Measure
• Duplicate Invoice Detection

Any validation issues are displayed in the Error Message field.

Step 5 – Purchase Invoice Is Created

If validation succeeds, GoldFinch automatically creates a draft Purchase Invoice.

If validation errors exist, correct the information in the OCR Result Editor and select Save & Create Records to generate the Purchase Invoice.

Step 6 – Review and Post

Open the generated Purchase Invoice and review:

• Vendor
• Invoice Number
• Invoice Date
• Currency
• Payment Terms
• Invoice Lines
• Quantities
• Costs
• Taxes

Once verified, post the Purchase Invoice.

Manual Upload Workflow

Step 1 – Create an OCR Request

Create a new OCR Request.

Select:

• Source Channel = Manual Upload
• AI Provider
• OCR Template

Save the record.

Step 2 – Upload the Invoice

Attach the invoice document to the OCR Request.

Supported formats typically include PDF and common image formats.

Step 3 – Process the Request

Click Process Request to submit the document to the configured AI provider.

GoldFinch sends the document for OCR processing and automatically updates the request status.

Step 4 – Review and Create Purchase Invoice

Review the extracted information.

Correct any validation errors if necessary.

Select Save & Create Records to generate the draft Purchase Invoice.

Purchase Order Matching

When a Purchase Order number is identified, GoldFinch automatically attempts to match the invoice with ERP data.

Validation includes:

• Vendor
• Purchase Order
• Warehouse Receipt
• Received Quantity
• Unit Cost???
• Currency
• Items
• Units of Measure

Successful validation enables automatic Purchase Invoice creation.

Non-Purchase Order Invoices

If no Purchase Order is provided, GoldFinch creates a standard Purchase Invoice using the extracted invoice information.

Validation includes:

• Vendor
• Currency
• Invoice Number
• Items
• Units of Measure
• General Ledger information (where applicable)

Validation Rules

GoldFinch validates extracted data before creating accounting records.

Common validation errors include:

OCR Result Editor

The OCR Result Editor allows users to review and correct extracted data before Purchase Invoice creation.

Header information includes:

• Vendor
• Invoice Number
• Invoice Date
• Due Date
• Purchase Order
• Currency
• Payment Terms

Invoice line information includes:

• Item
• Quantity
• Unit Cost
• Unit of Measure
• Tax
• Warehouse Receipt

Any validation issues are displayed before records are created.

Purchase Invoice Creation

After successful validation, GoldFinch automatically creates a draft Purchase Invoice.

The generated record includes:

• Vendor
• Buy-from Vendor
• Pay-to Vendor
• Invoice Number
• Invoice Date
• Due Date
• Currency
• GL Ledger (if applicable)
• Invoice Lines
• Taxes
• Accounting Dimensions

The Purchase Invoice remains editable until it is posted.

Configuring Google Gemini

Administrator setup includes:

1. Create a Google Cloud project.
2. Enable the Gemini API.
3. Generate API credentials.
4. Configure the AI Provider in GoldFinch.
5. Test the connection.

Configuring GoldFinch AI

Configure the following components before using AI OCR:

• AI Provider
• OCR Templates
• Response Schemas
• Parser Classes
• Processing Settings
• Retry Settings

Permissions

Users should be assigned the appropriate permission sets.

Typical roles include:

• OCR User
• OCR Administrator
• Purchase Invoice User
• System Administrator

Permissions control who can process documents, create Purchase Invoices, and post accounting transactions.

Security

GoldFinch AI OCR follows Salesforce security and permission controls.

Features include:

• Salesforce object permissions
• Field-level security
• Secure API communication
• Audit history
• Approval processes (if configured)

Salesforce remains the system of record for all ERP and accounting data.

AI Usage and Monitoring

Administrators can monitor OCR processing through OCR Requests.

Information available includes:

• Processing Status
• AI Provider
• Processing Time
• Result JSON
• Error Messages
• Created Purchase Invoice
• Retry Processing

Limitations

Consider the following limitations:

• Poor-quality scans may reduce extraction accuracy.
• Handwritten invoices are not recommended.
• Password-protected PDFs are not supported.
• Multiple invoice attachments may require manual review.
• Very large documents may increase processing time.
• AI extraction accuracy depends on document quality.

Best Practices

• Use clear, high-quality PDF invoices whenever possible.
• Create a dedicated AP mailbox (for example, ap@yourcompany.com) rather than exposing the Salesforce Email Service address directly to vendors.
• Review validation errors before posting Purchase Invoices.
• Test new OCR templates in a sandbox before deploying to production.
• Keep response schemas as specific as possible to improve extraction accuracy.
• Start with Purchase Invoice OCR before expanding AI processing to additional document types.