Track and reconcile invoices against corresponding shipping documents or purchase orders with Lutra’s AI-driven approach. Extract key fields from PDFs and cross-reference them with your existing order data.
Key Use Cases
Invoice Matching
PDF parsing: Lutra reads invoice PDFs to identify invoice totals, vendor names, PO numbers, and dates.
Reconciliation: Match these details to your master purchase order or shipping data in a spreadsheet or database.
Exception handling: If an invoice doesn’t match perfectly (e.g., missing PO number), Lutra flags it for manual review.
Generating Shipping Invoices or Cost Breakdowns
Cost summarization: Lutra merges shipping details (e.g., container data, carrier info) with associated costs to produce itemized invoices or PDF/Excel reports.
Automated updates: Once a shipment arrives or a cost changes, Lutra can generate a fresh invoice breakdown and email it directly to key stakeholders.
Flexible formats: Export as a PDF, attach to an email, or save it to a shared drive.
Ongoing Monthly Reconciliation
Real-time or scheduled: Lutra can run recon on a weekly or monthly basis, ensuring you always have up-to-date records.
Track invoice status: Mark invoices as paid, pending, or disputed for quick reference.
Analytics-ready: Easily roll up total shipping costs, average invoice amounts, and other insights into dashboards or financial reports.
Implementation Best Practices
Set Up Folder Watchers for Incoming Invoices
Email or drive monitoring: Direct new invoices (PDFs) to a labeled email folder or a shared drive folder. Lutra can automatically process them as they arrive.
Permission prompts: Lutra asks for access when you instruct it to retrieve files, no need to pre-configure.
Matching Logic
Exact or approximate: Decide whether you need 100% exact matches (invoice total = PO total) or if small discrepancies are acceptable (e.g., shipping/handling variances).
Vendor/name matching: Ensure your vendor naming conventions are consistent, so Lutra can reliably reconcile them (e.g., “XYZ Co.” vs. “XYZ Company”). Lutra can also do fuzzy matching.
Maintain an ‘Unmatched’ Queue
Manual review: Invoices missing vital info or with unclear matches can be placed in a separate spreadsheet tab or status.
Follow-up tasks: Assign individuals to investigate or request additional details from suppliers.
How to Use Lutra
Start a Chat
Begin by telling Lutra your goal: “Extract invoice total, vendor name, and PO number from these incoming invoices, then match them against my ‘Orders & Inventory’ sheet.”
Connect or Upload Data
Connect:
“Lutra, get the recent 5 invoices from my ‘Incoming Invoices’ email folder.”
Lutra will request the necessary permissions to pull PDFs or attachments automatically.
Upload:
Manually attach PDFs from local folders if you prefer. Lutra extracts the relevant fields for matching.
Refine & Verify
Check matches: If Lutra can’t find a PO number or if the total is off, instruct it on how to handle partial matches or outliers.
Review unmatched: Confirm if any invoice requires manual intervention or additional data before finalizing.
Export & Automate
Structured outputs: For instance, “Add a ‘Matched’ or ‘Unmatched’ column to my master invoice sheet.”
Scheduling: Turn successful matching steps into a Playbook and run it monthly, weekly, or whenever new invoices arrive.
Tips for Best Results
Define Clear Columns
Columns like “Invoice Total,” “Invoice Date,” “PO Number,” “Vendor,” and “Status” help Lutra map data accurately.Test Sample Invoices
Try with a small batch to ensure correct matching, especially if vendor naming conventions vary widely.Iterate & Provide Feedback
If some invoices show partial matches or new cost items, clarify how Lutra should interpret them. Over time, Lutra refines its matching.Automate
Once the matching logic is solid, schedule recurring tasks so your invoice reconciliation stays current with minimal manual effort.