Auto-adding ingredients

The slowest part of getting value from an invoice is the first time you meet a new ingredient: tidying up the messy line name, splitting out the brand, filling in the pack size and confirming the supplier before you can add it. Brikly can do that groundwork for you.

When you upload an invoice, Brikly reads each unmatched line, cleans up the name, and - where the line is clearly complete and unambiguous - adds the ingredient to your library automatically. Everything it adds is flagged for a quick review, and undoing anything is one tap.

What Brikly cleans up

A raw supplier line often looks like CL Unsmoked R/L Back Bacon 2x2.5kg. Brikly turns that into:

• Ingredient name: Unsmoked Back Bacon - the brand, supplier codes and pack sizes stripped out.
• Brand: CL - kept separately on the supplier record, so one ingredient can carry several brands. The brand is only removed as a whole word, so CL never cuts into Clotted Cream.

It always keeps the words that make an ingredient distinct. Salted Butter and Unsalted Butter stay separate - Brikly never collapses them into Butter. When it is not sure whether a word is noise or a real descriptor, it keeps the word and leaves the line for you to confirm rather than guessing.

When Brikly adds an ingredient for you

Brikly only auto-adds a line when it is confident and the data is complete. A line is auto-added when:

• the measurement details are present (pack size, unit size, unit of measure and a price above zero), and
• the unit is one it can cost from: a weight or volume (such as g, kg, oz, lb, ml, cl, l or pints) or each, and
• the pack size is clear - for example, a size printed in the product name that contradicts how the weight on the line reads leaves it unsettled, and
• the line adds up: its quantity times unit price gives its printed total (a VAT amount printed on the line is allowed for), and
• the supplier is confirmed, and
• the line is not Equipment (reusable kit is set aside instead, never added to your library), and
• the cleaned name is high-confidence, and
• the cleaned name is not a near-duplicate of something you already track (see below), and
• the matcher did not hold the line back: its product code does not disagree with the code you buy a similar item under from this supplier, and no two of your items match it equally well.

Loose produce and meat sold by weight. Greengrocers and butchers often print the weight delivered as the quantity and the price per kilo, with no pack size at all: 1.04 kg of golden beetroot at £3.69 a kilo. For a new item like that, one kilo is the size, so Brikly reads it as 1kg at the kilo price and the line can be added like any other. It only does this when the line shows it is priced by weight: the quantity has a fraction (packs are bought whole), the description says it is priced per kg, or the invoice prints that it was billed by weight. It leaves the size to you when anything on the line says otherwise, such as a size or pack count in the name (Gouda 200g, Lemons 12x80), a container like a sack, box, tray, tub, punnet or pack, or a line billed by the case. A line that matches something you already buy keeps the size from your own invoice history instead.

Anything that does not clear that bar is not added. Instead, Brikly pre-fills the review screen with its suggested name and brand, so adding it yourself is a quick confirm rather than a retype. This is why most supermarket receipt lines, which usually lack measurement details, are left for you to complete. A receipt line that does carry its full size can be added like any other, and so can one whose size you pick from the size suggestions.

A line held back because of its figures carries a badge saying why: Check pack size when the size is missing or unclear, Total does not add up when the quantity, unit price and line total do not agree, and No price when the line came through at zero, so you know which figures to check. A line at zero usually means it wasn't delivered or came free: skip it, or check the price against the invoice and then match or create it.

Other badges say what stopped it:

• Different product code - the line's code differs from the code you buy a similar item under from this supplier. Brikly never adds it to that item for you; choose the item if it is the same product, or create the line yourself. See When the product code differs.
• Several possible matches - two of your items match this line equally well, whether on a description matched to different items before, on the name, or on a product code you buy under two items. Such lines are never added automatically: pick the right item. See When two items match equally well.
• Durable equipment - the line reads as reusable kit rather than something you use up. Match or create it if you do want to track it, or set its type to Equipment.
• Add limit reached for now - Brikly has already added a lot of new items in the last 24 hours, so it left this one for you. It still links lines to items you already have. Match or create it yourself.

Answering "Check pack size"

Some products really are sold one at a time - a loose lemon, a single avocado - and on an invoice they look exactly like a line where the size was simply left off. Brikly will not guess which it is, so a line held back for its size shows a short question right on the line:

• Is this sold singly? If the line came through as one item, tap Yes, it's sold singly and it is added in one click.
• Enter weight or volume - for anything bought by size, enter the items per pack and how much is in each one (in g, kg, ml or l). Use the size printed on the pack or the supplier's product page, so your costings stay accurate.
• Count in portions - for things you use by the piece, such as butter portions, sauce sachets or tea bags. Enter how many portions are in the pack (a case of 5 boxes of 100 is 500) and, if you know it, the weight or volume of one portion in g or ml.

Whichever you choose, the line is added straight away: linked to an ingredient you already track with the same name, or created as a new one. Brikly also remembers the answer for that supplier's product, so the next invoice that lists it does not ask again. If that supplier's pack is already filed under the ingredient (even under a slightly different product code, or with no code at all), Brikly does not add a second pack: the line is left for you to match on the invoice.

You can also give the size on the line itself, with Fill in on a Missing size per item alert or with Edit. Once the line has its full size (items per pack and the weight or volume of each), that is your answer: the question does not come back and the Check pack size note clears. A size entered this way does not add the line for you, so match it or create it as usual.

If two lines on the same invoice clean up to the same ingredient with the same brand, or no brand, Brikly adds it once and files both supplier packs underneath it. A clearly different brand, such as two different brands of cola, is held for you instead.

Answering every size in one place

You do not have to open each invoice to find these questions. Invoices > Sizes to confirm lists every line still waiting on its size, across all your invoices, newest first. A Sizes to confirm card links to it from the home dashboard, the CostingBrik dashboard and the Invoices list. The card only appears when something is waiting, and only for people who can add ingredients.

Each row leads with the item's name, then the invoice's own wording for it when that differs, then the supplier, invoice date and invoice number, with Open invoice to see it in context. It asks the same question as the invoice does. Answering it here is exactly the same as answering it on the invoice: the line is added and the size is remembered for that supplier. The same product on that supplier's other open invoices is then matched for you, so it drops off the list too.

Sometimes a size is saved but the line still needs one more step: it looks like something you already track, or it has to be created by hand. The row says so and links to the invoice, where you can match or create it.

Archived invoices, duplicates and uploads marked as not an invoice are left off the list. Expense invoices never ask for sizes.

Possible duplicates

If a line cleans up to a name that looks very close to an ingredient already in your library - say the invoice reads Babyleaf Spinach and you already track Baby Spinach - Brikly never guesses. It leaves the line for you with a Possible duplicate badge, and shows the ingredient(s) it thinks the line might be as chips under Possible match found, right on the line:

• Tap a chip to match the line to that ingredient in one click - exactly the same as matching it through the Match screen, including the usual check the first time a supplier is paired with that ingredient.
• Not a match hides the suggestion for that line permanently - it stays hidden even when the invoice is re-processed. The normal Match and Create buttons always remain.

A line can also show Possible duplicate when its name matches an ingredient you already have but its brand is clearly different. Tap the chip to file it under that ingredient (Brikly remembers the description for next time), or click Create to add it as its own ingredient: the suggested name already includes the brand.

If two ingredients in your library share the line's name (for example Double Cream and Double-Cream), Brikly asks which one, with both as chips, instead of picking one.

Lines held back this way are also listed in the review panel under Skipped: possible duplicates, so a batch upload never hides them.

tip

Spelling variants count as near-duplicates too - a line cleaning up to Corriander will not create a second ingredient alongside your existing Coriander.

New suppliers

Most new ingredients arrive on the very first invoice from a brand-new supplier. When Brikly can't find a plausible existing supplier for an invoice, it runs one last AI check against your supplier list, and if nothing looks like the same business it creates the supplier for you so the ingredients can be added straight away. The new supplier is shown to you the moment you open the invoice, and renaming it or swapping it for an existing supplier is a tap away.

If the invoice names a supplier you have archived (by its name, its VAT number or a name you confirmed for it before), Brikly restores that supplier and uses it instead of creating a duplicate. It never brings back a supplier you merged into another, and if two archived suppliers match, the invoice waits for you. The invoice then shows an Existing supplier badge instead of Auto-created.

Reviewing what was added

Each auto-added line carries a We added this for you, quick check? note with an Auto-added badge, the name and brand it was saved under, and Edit ingredient and Remove ingredient buttons (Remove ingredient runs the same Undo as the review panel).

When you open an invoice that had anything auto-added, a review panel, We added these for you, opens automatically so you can check the whole batch in one place:

• New supplier created (if one was created): keep it, rename it with the pencil, or click Use existing supplier instead to point the invoice at a supplier you already have. Brikly first matches the lines to items you already buy from that supplier, then adds only what is still new, and the panel stays open when anything was still added.
• Matched to your existing supplier appears instead when Brikly used a supplier you already had, restoring it if you had archived it. That supplier is your own record, so the panel offers neither a rename nor Use existing supplier instead; if it is wrong, change it on the invoice (see Changing or removing the supplier on an invoice).
• Ingredients added (and Consumables added): each cleaned name and brand, with a short note of what was tidied out (for example Tidied out: CL, R/L, 2kg) and a Linked badge on lines Brikly linked to an item you already had. You can rename a newly added item or set its category right there, and every line has Undo and Edit, plus Match on ingredient lines. Under each name is what the invoice said: its own wording for the line, the pack size, quantity, unit price, line total and product code, so you can check the size and price Brikly used without leaving the panel.
• Skipped: pack size missing or unclear and Skipped: possible duplicates list the lines that were left for you, with the same details from the invoice.

Click Looks good when you have checked them. Reading the invoice again with Re-extract shows anything the new read adds automatically in the panel again, even if you reviewed the earlier read.

Undo, Remove ingredient and Use existing supplier instead are for owners and admins. If Undo or Use existing supplier instead answers "This item is being changed right now. Please try again in a moment.", another change to the same item is under way: nothing was changed, so try again shortly.

Undo puts the line back to unmatched, keeping the suggested name so you can add it manually if you prefer. It always removes the price history this line recorded and reverses the stock delivery. What happens to the ingredient and its supplier pack depends on what else relies on them:

• The supplier pack is removed, unless something else still relies on it: another invoice has already recorded a price against it, or another matched invoice line with the same product code still uses it. In that case the pack is kept. Where this line set its current price, the price is put back to what that other invoice recorded, rather than left on the price this line wrote; a newer price that still stands is left alone.
• The ingredient is removed, unless something else still relies on it - another invoice line still points at it, or it carries prices you typed in by hand. Removing it would take those prices with it, so Brikly keeps the ingredient instead.

Whichever happened, the confirmation message spells it out, so you can see at a glance whether anything was kept or put back rather than removed.

If you have matched the line to something else since Brikly added it, there is nothing left to undo: Undo says so and changes nothing. Remove that match first, with Undo among the line's own buttons, if you want to choose or create a different item.

Match swaps what Brikly picked for an ingredient already in your library, for example the same product from another supplier. Pick it from the list and the line is matched to it. If the added ingredient is already in recipes, Brikly moves those recipe lines onto your choice (archived recipes too), but only when they would still cost. An ingredient measured a different way, an archived one, or one only set up for a site some of those recipes are not at is refused under the list, for example "Oat Milk 1L is measured differently, so the recipe quantities would not cost. Choose an ingredient measured the same way." Nothing changes, and you can pick again.

Edit opens the ingredient pre-filled so you can adjust the name, brand, category or measurements. What saving does depends on what already relies on the ingredient:

• Nothing else uses it yet: Brikly replaces what it added with your corrected version, whether or not you changed the name.
• It is already in a recipe or a modifier, carries prices you typed in, or is used by another invoice line: keep the name and Brikly updates the ingredient in place, so every recipe that uses it picks up the correction and nothing is moved. If earlier prices for the same supplier product were worked out from the old pack size, Brikly asks whether the saved size was wrong (those prices are recalculated under the corrected size) or the product itself changed (they are left as they were), the same question the Edit supplier form asks. Give it a different name and Brikly creates the replacement and moves those recipes, and any modifier that removes it, across to it. If the new version is measured a different way (by weight, by volume or in units) from how those recipes use it, or would only be set up for a site some of them are not at, nothing is saved and the message says why, for example "This ingredient is already in recipes measured by weight. Keep it measured by weight, or take it out of those recipes first."
• The line was linked to an ingredient that was already in your library: saving under the same name is not allowed from here, and the message says why. Give it a different name to create a replacement for this line, or change the ingredient's details from the Ingredients page, where the edit applies to everything that uses it.

If you renamed the item after Brikly added it, the name as it now shows counts as the same name.

The same rules apply when Brikly has auto-added a consumable. As with Undo, if you have matched the line to something else since, Edit says there is nothing to replace and changes nothing.

Merging an auto-added ingredient into another of your ingredients removes the auto-added note from the lines it moves.

info

Auto-added ingredients are live straight away - they appear in costing, price history and stock. Review is undo-after-the-fact, not a holding pen, so an invoice with anything auto-added always shows up in your review queue until you have looked at it.

caution

If you have already used a freshly auto-added ingredient in a recipe or a modifier, Undo is blocked outright rather than partly applied, so it can't break the recipe. Use Edit to correct it instead: saving under the same name updates the ingredient in place and the recipe keeps it.

Turning it off

Auto-adding is on by default. To turn it off, go to Settings > Preferences and switch off Automatically add ingredients, consumables & suppliers from invoices. Owners and admins can also click Turn off auto-add at the foot of the review panel.

With it off, Brikly still cleans up the names and pre-fills your review screen with its suggestions - it simply won't add anything to your library without you confirming. Existing auto-added ingredients stay put; you can always Undo them individually.