Invoice scanning software helps a liquor store turn a distributor’s document into invoice data it can review. The work includes reading the document, identifying the items, interpreting quantities and bringing the results into the receiving process.
The difference becomes obvious on delivery day. A PDF sitting in a folder is still a document someone has to enter. A matched invoice in your back office gives you a starting point for checking what arrived and what you were charged.
Start with a readable invoice
Keep every page and make sure the invoice number, dates, totals and line items are readable. A missing page or cropped quantity makes the rest of the review harder. Keep the original document available so staff can check a questionable line.
For a demonstration, choose an ordinary invoice from one of your distributors. A familiar document makes it easier to spot whether the system understood it.
Match the product, size and pack
The same brand can appear as a 750 mL bottle, a 1.75 L bottle and several case configurations. Matching the name alone is not enough. Review the product, size, vendor number and pack quantity together.
mPower reads distributor invoices and matches the lines to catalog items. Its beverage focus matters here: your receiving work needs to connect what the distributor sells with what your store counts and rings up.
Check quantities in the right unit
Two cases of 12 bottles should lead to a very different quantity from two individual bottles. Before receiving, check the invoice’s unit of measure, the quantity delivered and the quantity going into inventory.
Include a partial delivery in your demo. Ask to see how the person receiving it records what actually came off the truck and investigates the difference from the order.
Review costs and exceptions
Pay attention to a cost that differs from the purchase order or your last invoice. Check discounts, deposits and freight where they appear. You want to understand the amount being recorded and the effect on your item cost.
An exception deserves a clear next step: correct the match, adjust the received quantity, investigate the price or follow up with the distributor. Invoice scanning is most useful when those decisions stay close to the invoice.
Keep scanning connected to receiving
In mPower, invoice capture belongs to the same back office as purchasing, receiving and inventory. Staff review the result in the context of the products and vendors they already work with.
For distributors using a supported electronic connection, an invoice may arrive digitally instead of needing a scan. Ask which connections are available for your actual distributors and how staff review each kind of invoice.
See mPower’s distributor invoice workflow and inventory management.
A demo worth running
Bring an invoice with a few of the details you handle every week:
- Similar product names in different sizes.
- A case quantity and a bottle quantity.
- An item with a different distributor description.
- A changed cost or discount.
- A short shipment or another receiving difference.
Have the rep capture the document, review the matches, correct one line and show the final invoice. Then ask how you find the original later. That gives you a useful comparison between systems.
Measure the whole job
Track time from opening the invoice to completing its review. Count the lines that needed corrections and the cost or quantity differences staff caught. A fast scan matters when it also reduces the remaining work.
mPower combines invoice scanning with suggested ordering, price changes and multi-store operations in a system built only for beer, wine and spirits. The back office runs in an app or a browser, and the support team knows the beverage workflow.
Schedule an invoice-scanning demo. Bring a distributor invoice and see how it moves through mPower.
Common questions
Does scanning an invoice prove the delivery was correct?
No. The invoice records what the distributor billed. Staff still need to check what arrived and resolve differences before completing receiving.
Do I need a separate system just to scan invoices?
mPower includes invoice scanning in its back office. Ask about the full purchasing and receiving workflow when comparing the cost of separate tools.
What if an item matches incorrectly?
Review and correct it before confirming the invoice. Include that correction in your demo so you can judge how the workflow handles an imperfect match.