Keeping copies of purchase invoices is extremely important to a business.
Reason being, without the purchase invoices, it’s near impossible to prove to the taxman what goods and services have been purchased. If you’re unable to provide the necessary proof, it could result in HMRC disallowing any tax relief associated with the purchases.
The last thing a business owner needs is to be faced by a surprise tax bill from HMRC!
Traditionally, the process of recording purchase invoices is quite frankly painful.
That’s because the ‘traditional’ way of doing this entails a large amount of manual data entry.
In addition to this, the business owner is required to keep the physical copies of these invoices for SIX YEARS, on the off chance that HMRC may need to see them.
The GOOD NEWS is purchase invoice processing software now exists.
This makes the ‘traditional’ way of processing purchase invoices a thing of the past.
One of those process invoice processing software options is Dext. In this article we will discus how to set up Dext properly.
WHAT IS DEXT…?
Dext is a piece of software designed to ensure purchase invoices are processed efficiently, without compromising the accuracy of the bookkeeping. Ultimately, this saves the business owner time AND money.
The reason Dext is able to do this is because it can be integrated with a number of accounting software packages (namely; Xero, Quickbooks, SAGE and FreeAgent).
The main features of Dext software is that you can:-
- Take pictures of and upload your purchase invoices whilst on the go.
- Connect the software with 1,400+ suppliers and automatically fetch invoices out of that suppliers account (incl. Amazon, BT, EE etc.)
- Upload PDF purchase invoices from your desktop in bulk.
- Email supplier invoices directly into the software, rather than flooding your inbox.
The main reason we find Dext such a timesaver is because it automatically ‘reads’ the invoices AND then fills in a number of fields for you (e.g. supplier name, date, total amount, VAT amount etc.). This eliminates the need for any manual data entry.
Publishing the purchase invoice from Dext and into the accounting software can then be done at the click of a button.
The accounting software will receive the purchase invoice (and it’s information) pretty much instantly.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF DEXT…?
Using Dext to process your purchase invoices is totally different from the traditional way.
Dext has numerous benefits to a business but here are the main ones:-
- Save time and money doing the bookkeeping.
because…
Dext removes a VAST MAJORITY of the manual data entry for you.
- Ensure the financial information and VAT returns are less prone to errors.
because…
More automation means there is less risk of any potential human error.
- Don’t lose purchase invoices again.
because…
A PDF copy is kept in both your accounting software AND Dext.
This means there’s no need to keep physical copies of any invoices.
- No more pain of gathering invoices together at the year end.
because…
Anyone with access to your accounts software can access the invoices.
HOW TO SET UP DEXT PROPERLY…
In order for a business to get all the benefits of Dext, it is extremely important that it’s set up correctly.
If not, Dext won’t save you as much time, money AND pain as it should.
To avoid that happening, follow the process below.
STEP 1 SET UP YOUR DEXT ACCOUNT
Sign up to Dext using your email address.
STEP 2 LINK DEXT TO YOUR ACCCOUNTING SOFTWARE
Dext needs to be linked to your accounting software (i.e. Xero, Quickbooks etc.)
This is so Dext knows where to publish the purchase invoices (and their information).
Without doing this, there’s no efficient way to get the invoices into the accounting software.
STEP 3 ADD USERS
It’s vital for every business to keep their financial information safe. So, best practice is therefore, only give access to Dext to those who actually need it.
Typically, people who tend to need access would be;-
- Business owners
- Employees receiving purchase invoices
- The accountant
One feature that sometimes goes under the radar is users can be given different levels of access. Whether they are given admin OR basic access is totally dependent on what tasks they’ll need to carry out in Dext.
STEP 4 DOWNLOAD THE DEXT APP
In order to be able to take pictures and upload your purchase invoices into Dext on the go, download the app.
Once that’s been done, log in using the account details you set up in step 1.
From there you’re able to upload your invoices on the go.
Business owners find this particularly helpful for invoices where (a) they’ve paid cash so it’s easy to lose the invoice and forget about the purchase invoice AND (b) where they’ve paid for something on the spot (i.e. petrol receipts etc.)
STEP 5 SET UP THE ‘EMAIL-IN’ ADDRESS
So you’re able to directly email invoices into Dext, you’ll need to set up the ‘email-in’ address.
Best practice is to use an email along the lines of ‘yourbusinessname@dext.cc’.
This works brilliantly with suppliers who send you email embedded invoices.
STEP 6 SET UP INVOICE FETCH
One advantage of Dext over any other purchase invoice processing software is that there is a very good ‘invoice fetch’ feature. Other purchase invoice processing software’s do have this, but it’s no where near as advanced as Dext’s.
What this feature allows you to do is integrate (or link) Dext to over 1,400 suppliers.
In the background, Dext then checks your account with the supplier regularly AND when you receive a new invoice from the supplier it automatically imports this into Dext for you… wow !
Dext can be integrated with suppliers such as Amazon, BT, EE etc.
This saves business owners massive amounts of time as they no longer need to monitor the supplier accounts as Dext does this for them.
STEP 7 TEST THE INITIAL SET UP
Before uploading ALL purchase invoices into Dext, it’s always a great idea to test that everything is working correctly.
Steps to take so you know everything’s working properly are;-
- Use the mobile app to take a picture of and upload an invoice.
- Ensure invoice fetch is collecting the invoices from integrated suppliers.
- Upload a PDF invoice from your desktop.
- ‘Email-in’ a supplier invoice.
Only when a successful test has been completed should a business owner increase the number of both Dext users and purchase invoices which are uploaded.
STEP 8 SET UP THE BANK ACCOUNTS & CREATE BANK RULES
Dext has the ability, when publishing the purchase invoices into the accounting software, to mark any paid purchase invoices as paid.
This eliminates a step out of the bookkeeping process in the accounting software so can be a massive time saver.
To benefit from this functionality is a 2 step process needs to be followed.
1 Set up Bank Accounts in Dext
In the bank section enter the following:-
Every debit card : both personal or business & which may be used to pay business costs
Every credit card : both personal or business & which may be used to pay business costs
Cash : If cash is used to pay business costs
2 Set up Bank Rules in Dext
For each card or cash, indicate which bank account in the accounting software each one of these relates to.
By setting this up in Dext, when it scans an uploaded purchase invoice/receipt, it’ll now look for the payment details. If it recognises a credit card or debit card number then it will apply the bank rule and update the accounting software to say it has been paid.
STEP 9 CREATE SUPPLIER RULES
When processing a purchase invoice for a new supplier best practice is to set up a supplier rule.
By setting up supplier rules, you are in effect training Dext.
Going forwards, when Dext sees that particular supplier again, it will automatically apply the correct account and VAT code (i.e. IT costs or marketing costs).
This automation is one of the reasons why the amount of manual data entry is drastically reduced.
ONE LAST THOUGHT….
When using any new software, it is always best to implement it gradually.
This allows any teething problems to be rectified AND makes sure that the business is doing things as efficiently as possible.
Over time, steadily increase the number of purchase invoices being processed into the accounting software using Dext.
If you would like any help implementing Dext or other invoice processing software, please call the team at Krystal clear accounting on 01461 410 0020 or email wecare@krystal-clear.co.uk
