Invoices

Invoices are how Spensa learns what you buy and what it costs. You upload a PDF or a photo of a supplier invoice, and Spensa reads it and fills in the supplier, the items, and the prices for you. Every approved invoice keeps your product prices current. Those prices feed your menu costs and your spend analytics. So the more invoices you bring in, the better Spensa knows your numbers.

What this is for

• Upload invoice PDFs and photos, and let Spensa fill them in for you.
• Review each invoice next to the original document and correct anything.
• Link every invoice line to a product, or create new products from invoice lines.
• Approve invoices to update your products, prices, menu costs, and analytics.
• Search, filter, and approve or delete many invoices at once.
• Give suppliers an email address so invoices arrive in Spensa on their own.
• Connect your own mailbox so Spensa picks up invoice emails for you.
• Attach delivery notes to supplier orders.

Where to open it

On the web app, open Invoices in the left sidebar. Invoices belong to your whole organization, so all locations share one list. The app may say "establishment" in some places; that means a location.

The email settings live in your organization settings, on the Inbound Emails page.

The phone app has no invoice screens. On the phone, you scan invoices through the assistant instead: open the assistant, choose Scan an invoice, and attach a photo or file. See Assistant and Mobile app.

Access and permissions

Owners and admins can always work with invoices. Managers and regular team members can too: they can upload, review, approve, and delete invoices, and manage the email settings. Team members with the Viewer role can look at invoices but cannot change them. You can fine-tune this with custom roles: there is a permission for viewing invoices and a separate one for managing them.

Location staff do not see the invoice pages. They can still be allowed to attach delivery notes to orders. See Team and permissions.

Create your suppliers first

Spensa matches every invoice against the suppliers you already have. It never invents a new supplier on its own. This keeps your supplier list clean and under your control.

So if you get an invoice from a supplier that is not in Spensa yet, create the supplier first. You can do that on the Suppliers page, or simply ask the assistant to create it. After that, upload the invoice. Spensa will recognize the supplier from the invoice, including when the name is abbreviated or when your customer number appears on it.

If you upload the invoice anyway, that is fine too. The invoice arrives without a supplier, and you pick or create the supplier during review. An invoice cannot be approved without a supplier.

Upload invoices

This is the everyday way to bring invoices in.

1. Open Invoices.
2. Click Add Invoice.
3. Drag your files into the dialog, or click to choose them. You can add PDFs and photos (PNG, JPG, BMP).
4. Check the two switches described below.
5. Confirm the upload.

You can upload up to 500 files at once. Each file can be up to 20 MB. Spensa starts reading right away and tells you when the files are uploaded. You can leave the page; the reading continues in the background. When an invoice is ready, it appears in the list under To Review, and Spensa tells you.

The very first time, the Invoices page shows a drop zone with a short explanation. You can drag files straight onto it. You can also hand an invoice file to the assistant in chat, and it will upload it for you.

If you select more than 10 files, Spensa reminds you that big uploads use a lot of your monthly allowance. Every PDF page and every photo counts.

One PDF with several invoices

One file does not have to be one invoice. If a PDF contains several invoices, Spensa splits it automatically. Each invoice shows up on its own, and they stay grouped under the same upload in the list.

Photos of a multi-page invoice

When you upload two or more photos, the dialog shows the switch Process all images as one document. It is on by default. With it on, Spensa puts the photos in the right order and reads them as one document. Use this when you photographed a long invoice page by page. Spensa may still split the result into several invoices if the photos contain more than one.

Turn the switch off when each photo is a separate invoice.

Skip review after upload

The dialog has a switch called Skip review after upload. It is on by default. With it on, Spensa approves an invoice automatically when it is confident about everything: the supplier, the location, the date, and every line. Anything Spensa is not sure about stays in To Review, and you get a notification that an invoice needs your review.

Turn the switch off if you want to check every invoice yourself before it counts.

Duplicate warning

Before uploading, Spensa checks whether you already processed the same file. If it finds matches, a dialog called Possible duplicate invoices found lists them, with the earlier invoice and its upload date. You then choose:

• Review files to cancel and check your selection.
• Upload non-duplicates only to skip the duplicates and upload the rest.
• Upload anyway to upload everything, including the duplicates.

What Spensa fills in automatically

For every invoice, Spensa reads the document and fills in:

• The supplier, matched against your existing suppliers.
• The location the delivery went to, matched by name and address.
• The invoice date and the supplier's invoice number.
• Every line item: name, supplier item code, quantity, unit and packaging, and price.
• Discounts, both on single lines and on the whole invoice.
• Other cost lines, like deposits or delivery charges.

Spensa also remembers where on the document each value came from, so you can check any number against the original later. For each line, it suggests a matching product from that supplier's catalogue, or a category if the line would create a new product.

If a value is missing or unclear, the invoice simply waits in To Review so you can fill in the gap.

Review an invoice

Open an invoice from the list and you land on the review page. The invoice sits on the left, the original document on the right, side by side. If the upload contains several invoices, you see them all on one page, and you can move between uploads with the previous and next arrows.

Check numbers against the original

• Click Show boxes to highlight on the document where each value was read from. Click Hide boxes to turn it off.
• Each line has a small location icon. Click it and the document scrolls to that exact spot.
• Use the Download button above the document to save the original file.

Correct the basics

At the top of each invoice you can change:

• The supplier, from a searchable list of your suppliers.
• The location.
• The invoice date, with a Clear date option.
• The supplier's Invoice number: type it and click Apply.

Edit line items

Click into any line to change it. You can edit:

• The item name.
• Supplier Product ID (optional): the supplier's item code.
• Item count: how many units were delivered.
• Unit Price, or Unit price before discounts when the line has discounts.
• Line discounts: up to 20 per line, each a percentage or a fixed amount.
• Contents per piece: what one unit contains, as a count, weight, or volume. This matters for correct price tracking.

These values feed your price history and cost tracking, so it is worth getting them right.

You can also open a single line on its own page when you want to review it without distraction.

Link each line to a product

Every line ends up as a product in the supplier's catalogue. For each line you choose:

• Link to Existing Product: pick a product that is already in this supplier's catalogue. You need to set the supplier first.
• Create New Product: make a new product from this line. You can edit the product name, pick a category, set how one unit breaks down into count, weight, or volume, and set a default order quantity for later ordering.

Lines set to create a new product have a switch called Try to match an existing product. It is on by default. With it on, Spensa links the line to an existing product at approval time when it finds a confident match, instead of creating a duplicate.

Watch for price changes

Lines linked to a product show a small arrow with a percentage when the price differs from that product's last invoice price. Red means the price went up, green means it went down. It only appears when the change is at least 1 percent, and it accounts for discounts and pack sizes, so it compares like with like.

Discounts on the whole invoice

Some suppliers give a discount on the entire invoice.

1. Click Add discount (or Edit discounts if there already are some).
2. Enter a label, choose Percent or Amount, and enter the value.
3. The dialog shows a running preview of the total after the discount.

You can add up to 20 discounts per invoice. The totals panel shows the product rows subtotal and the total after discounts.

Other cost lines

Not everything on an invoice is a product. For deposits, returns, delivery charges, and similar lines:

1. Click Add other position.
2. Enter a label and the Net amount. The amount can be negative, for example for a returned crate.
3. Pick a type: Deposit, Empty-container return, Return, Packaging, Delivery and handling, Service fee, Surcharge, Rounding, Credit adjustment, or Other position.

You can add up to 100 of these per invoice. They appear between the product lines in the same order as on the document.

Add, remove, and move things

• Add item adds a new empty line to a draft invoice. You can also delete lines.
• Add invoice adds a new empty invoice to the upload. Useful when Spensa read two invoices as one: add an invoice, then move the lines that belong there.
• Remove invoice deletes one invoice from the upload, after a confirmation.
• You can move line items from one invoice to another within the same upload, up to 500 at a time. Both invoices must still be drafts. Totals are recalculated for you.

Find a line quickly

On long invoices, use the Search positions box above the lines. It filters the rows as you type and shows how many of the total lines match.

Your edits are saved as you go. The invoice stays in To Review until you approve it.

Approve an invoice

Approving is what makes an invoice count. Until then it is just a draft.

1. Review the invoice.
2. Click Finalize.

The invoice needs a supplier, a location, and a date. If one is missing, Spensa tells you which invoice needs it. If some lines are incomplete, for example missing a price or a quantity, a dialog warns you: Incomplete invoice items will be removed. Click Finalize and remove incomplete items to continue without them, or go back and complete the lines first.

Approval runs in the background. The invoice shows "Finalizing..." and is locked while it runs. When it finishes, the invoice moves to Approved, and this happens:

• New products are created in the supplier's catalogue from lines you marked as new, complete with name, item code, category, packaging, and a default order quantity. Spensa also suggests allergens for new products.
• Lines set to match are linked to existing products when Spensa finds a confident match.
• Each linked product's latest price is refreshed. That updates your menu costs and your analytics right away.
• If a price went up, you get a price increase alert for that product.
• If the new price pushes a dish on your menu to zero margin or below, you get a margin warning.
• If the supplier's discounts changed noticeably compared to their last invoice, you get a notice about that too.

If Spensa cannot finish an approval, for example because a unit does not fit the linked product, the invoice quietly returns to To Review so you can fix it.

Edit an approved invoice

You can still correct an approved invoice. Open it, make your changes, and click Save changes. The prices and products update accordingly. If you change the supplier, product links that do not belong to the new supplier are detached, and those lines become standalone lines again.

The invoice list

The Invoices page is your overview.

• At the top, switch between All, To Review, and Approved.
• Search invoices finds invoices by supplier name, by the supplier's invoice number, or by the Spensa number. Every invoice gets its own running Spensa number, shown as #12, so you can refer to it even before the supplier's number is filled in.
• The Filter menu narrows the list by location and supplier. Active filters show as chips you can clear one by one, or all at once with Clear all filters.
• The Display menu switches the sort order by upload date.

Invoices are grouped by upload, under the file name. An upload with many invoices collapses into a summary row showing the suppliers, the invoice count, and the dates. Very large groups show the first 20 invoices with a link to view all. Each invoice card shows the supplier, the location, the status, the item count, the dates, and an amber pill when lines still have problems.

Uploads that are still being read appear in a section at the top. Click one to watch its progress. You can safely navigate away; processing continues in the background.

Approve or delete many at once

1. Open the three-dot menu on the Invoices page and choose Select Items.
2. Tick the invoices you want, or select a whole upload group at once.
3. Click Approve or Delete.

Bulk approval checks your selection first. Invoices missing a supplier, location, or date are skipped, already approved ones are ignored, and you are warned about incomplete lines. You then choose Approve, Approve ready invoices, or Approve and remove incomplete items. Bulk delete asks for confirmation; deleting cannot be undone. Both work on up to 100 invoices at a time.

When an upload fails

Sometimes a file cannot be read, for example when it is damaged or unreadable. Failed uploads appear in the section at the top of the invoice list. Click Dismiss to clear one from the list. To try again, upload the file again; nothing from the failed attempt counts, and the duplicate check only warns about invoices that actually went through.

Monthly allowance

Reading invoices automatically uses a monthly allowance. Every PDF page and every photo counts toward it. When the allowance is used up, new uploads pause until the next month starts, and the upload dialog shows an upgrade note. Upgrading your plan raises the allowance. See Settings and billing.

Receive invoices by email

You can give your suppliers an email address that delivers invoices straight into Spensa. No forwarding, no downloading, no uploading.

This is available on the Business plan. If your plan does not include it, you will see an upgrade note. The banner on the Invoices page takes you to the setup, or you can go there directly:

1. Open your organization settings and go to Inbound Emails.
2. In the Addresses card, click View addresses. If you have no address yet, click Create invoice address first.
3. Copy your address. It looks like yourcompany.invoices@documents.spensa.ai. Each location also gets its own address, like yourcompany.mainstreet.invoices@documents.spensa.ai.
4. Share the address with your suppliers, or forward invoice emails to it yourself.

When an invoice email arrives:

• Spensa takes the attachments and reads them like a normal upload. If the invoice is written in the email itself rather than attached, Spensa can read that too.
• If the sender address belongs to one of your suppliers, the invoices are assigned to that supplier and approved automatically when everything is complete. Invoices from unknown senders wait in To Review.
• Emails sent to a location's address are pinned to that location. Emails to the organization address let Spensa work out the location from the document.
• Duplicates are skipped: the same email or the same file is not processed twice.

A few email rules: attachments can be PDFs or photos up to 25 MB each, and up to 10 attachments per email are taken. Tiny images like logos and email signatures are ignored. If you forward emails yourself and want to keep the original in your inbox, keep your normal recipient copied.

Email history

The Received emails section on the same page lists every email that arrived, whether it was processed or not. Each entry shows the sender, the subject, the attachment names, what happened to each attachment, and links to the invoices that came out of it. You can filter by inbox (Invoices or Point of Sale), by scope, and by location.

For privacy, this history shows only the sender, subject, and attachment names. The email content itself is never shown.

The same addresses and history also handle sales report emails for your till. That is described in POS.

Connect your own mailbox

If suppliers already email invoices to your own inbox, you can connect that inbox. Spensa then checks it about every hour and imports new invoice emails on its own. This is part of the same email feature, so it is also available on the Business plan.

1. Open your organization settings and go to Inbound Emails.
2. Under Connected inboxes, click Add other.
3. Pick the Outlook tab for an Outlook mailbox. The server settings are already filled in, and a short guide shows you how to allow the connection and create an app password. An app password is a special extra password that your email provider creates just for connections like this; your normal password stays private.
4. For any other provider, pick the Other tab and enter your provider's incoming mail server settings (often called IMAP or POP3), your email address, and the app password. The connection is always encrypted.
5. Click Test to check the connection, then Add inbox.

You can connect up to 10 inboxes. Spensa only reads: it never sends, changes, or deletes anything in your mailbox. It looks at new emails, imports the ones that contain invoices or till reports, and leaves everything else alone.

Each connected inbox shows its status (Active, Paused, Reconnect, or Needs attention), when it was last checked, and how many emails it has imported so far. For each inbox you can:

• Click Check now to check the mailbox immediately.
• Click Pause to stop checking, and Resume to start again.
• Click Disconnect to remove the inbox. The saved login details are deleted; already imported emails stay in the history.

If the status says Reconnect, the mailbox login expired. Disconnect the inbox and add it again with a fresh app password.

Delivery notes

Delivery notes are attached to supplier orders, not to invoices. When a delivery arrives, open the order, and upload the delivery note in the delivery notes card. You can upload up to 10 files (PDFs or photos), each up to 20 MB, or take a photo on the spot. Uploading a delivery note to a sent order marks the order as arrived.

Location staff can do this by default, so whoever receives the delivery can record it. The full details are in Orders.

How this connects to other parts of Spensa

• Suppliers: invoices are matched against your existing suppliers. Create the supplier before you upload their first invoice.
• Products: approving an invoice creates new products or updates existing ones, including their latest price.
• Menu costs: dish costs and margins are calculated from invoice prices and update as soon as an invoice is approved.
• Analytics and Home: spend and price analytics are built from approved invoices. Drafts do not count.
• Orders: delivery notes attach to orders, and products created from invoices come with order defaults so you can order them right away.
• POS: the same email addresses and mailbox connections also bring in sales report emails.
• Notifications: review reminders, price increase alerts, margin warnings, and discount change notices all come from invoices.
• Assistant: the assistant can upload invoices from chat, fix invoice lines, and answer questions about your invoices.
• Settings and billing: the monthly reading allowance and the email feature depend on your plan.
• Mobile app: on the phone, invoices are scanned through the assistant, and delivery notes are attached on the order screen.

Good to know

• Supported file types are PDF, PNG, JPG, and BMP.
• You can upload up to 500 files at once, each up to 20 MB. Email attachments can be up to 25 MB.
• An invoice can hold up to 1000 lines, 20 invoice discounts, 20 discounts per line, and 100 other cost lines.
• Bulk approve and bulk delete work on up to 100 invoices at a time. Moving lines between invoices works on up to 500 lines at a time.
• Uploads that are still being read show at the top of the list for up to a day.
• Deleting an invoice does not delete the uploaded file or the other invoices from the same upload.
• Every invoice gets its own Spensa number, like #12, next to the supplier's invoice number. You can search by either.
• Spensa reads invoices to keep your products, prices, and costs current. It does not do accounting, statements, or taxes; keep your bookkeeper.