Uploading invoices
Getting an invoice into Brikly takes seconds. You can drag a file into the upload window or use the file picker - whichever suits your workflow.
How to upload
- Click Invoices in the main navigation to open Invoice processing.
- Click Upload invoice. Owners, admins and members can upload; viewers don't see the button.
- If you run more than one site, choose the site in the picker at the top of the window. With more than one accounting organisation connected you have to, because the site decides whose books the bill goes to.
- Drag your invoice files onto the upload area, or click it to browse to them on your device.
- Click Upload 1 invoice (the button counts the files you added), or Upload as 3-page invoice when you merge three photos into a multi-page invoice. Each file then shows how its upload is going (see Upload status indicators).
You can upload several invoices at once. If you are new, or you are adding a supplier Brikly has not seen before, upload one or two from that supplier first and check them. Brikly learns that supplier's pack sizes and product names from what you confirm, so everything you add afterwards needs less from you. The first invoice from a supplier takes a bit longer. The twentieth is near-instant.
The learning system explains what Brikly keeps from each confirmation.
Supported formats
| Format | Extensions | Notes |
|---|---|---|
.pdf | Best quality - especially PDFs with selectable text | |
| PNG image | .png | Good for screenshots from supplier portals |
| JPEG image | .jpg, .jpeg | Suitable for photos of printed invoices |
| GIF and WebP images | .gif, .webp | Accepted, but less common |
Avoid uploading blurry or heavily skewed photos. Poor image quality reduces extraction accuracy. If you are photographing a paper invoice, lay it flat and ensure even lighting.
When you add a photo, the crop screen shows the whole page, even after you rotate it. Zoom in if you want to crop, or click Use as is to keep it as it is.
When you add two or more photos, a switch lets you choose between Separate invoices (each photo is its own invoice) and Multi-page invoice, which merges them into one invoice of up to 10 pages. Every page must be readable. If a page can't be read, Brikly names it and saves nothing, so you never get an invoice with a page missing. Save that page as a JPEG or PNG and upload all the pages again.
Upload status indicators
In the upload window, each file shows Uploading... while it is sent, then Uploaded, reading now. The pages of a multi-page invoice show Merging and uploading..., then Merged successfully. A file already in Brikly shows Duplicate, already uploaded. with a View original link, and a file that could not be sent shows the reason under its name. If Brikly saved the file but couldn't start reading it, it is kept as AI failed: upload it again in a moment, or open it and click Re-extract.
Back in the invoice list, the Status column says where each invoice stands:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Queued | Waiting its turn behind other invoices. It starts on its own and nothing is lost. |
| AI processing... | The AI is reading and extracting data from the invoice. |
| AI failed | Brikly could not read it. The file is kept: open the invoice and click Re-extract. |
| Processed | Read, with lines still to match or set aside. |
| Needs review | Something on the invoice is waiting for you, such as an unmatched line, a price or size to check, or items Brikly added for you to look over. |
| Matched | Every line is matched or set aside. If a line opens up again (you unmatch it, for example), the invoice goes back to waiting for you. |
| Ready for submission | With an accounting platform connected, everything checks out and the bill can be sent. |
| Confirm credit note | Brikly read the document as a credit note and needs you to confirm it once. See Credit notes. |
| Completed or Sent to Xero | Finished: marked complete, or its bill sent to your accounting platform (the badge names the platform). A Completed invoice stays Completed even if a line changes later. |
Documents Brikly decided are not invoices at all are marked Not an invoice and kept on the Skipped tab rather than To process. With none there, the tab reads No skipped documents.
What happens after upload
Once a file is uploaded, Brikly begins processing it in the background. You do not need to wait on the page - you can navigate elsewhere and come back when processing is finished.
Behind the scenes, Brikly:
- Analyses the document - identifies text, tables, and layout.
- Extracts structured data - pulls out the supplier name, invoice number, date, individual line items, quantities, unit prices, VAT, and totals.
- Attempts automatic matching - compares extracted line items against your existing ingredients and identifies the supplier.
- Records the prices - matched lines update your ingredient costs straight away, and the invoice is ready for you to check.
Invoices are read in order, so a batch takes longer to work through than a single upload.
If you upload a file that is already in Brikly, it is spotted as a duplicate and not added again. Uploading the same pages again in the same order is spotted as a duplicate too.
Two invoices holding the exact same file can't both be kept. If Brikly won't mark a copy as not a duplicate, or won't delete an invoice because two of its flagged duplicates are the same file, delete one of those copies first, then try again.
Working through your invoices
Open an invoice from the list to check it. When it is finished, Next invoice opens the next one waiting in the To process list you came from, with the same site and filters, newest first, and skips any that Brikly is still reading or could not read. Back to invoices returns you to that filtered list.
Invoice dates are shown in your business's own date format, whatever currency the invoice is in, and always on the day printed on the invoice, wherever you are.
Deleting an invoice
Owners and admins can delete invoices: use the bin button on the invoice's row in the list, or tick several and choose Delete selected. Deleting an invoice removes it and everything it added: its file and line items, the prices it recorded (a price it set goes back to the one before), any items it added that nothing else uses, and what its own matches taught Brikly. What other invoices taught stays.
Before anything goes, the delete window says what will change, under Will be removed, Prices will go back, Left without a price and Kept. Show what changes lists the items by name. If Brikly can't work this out just then, the window says "We could not check what this delete affects just now. You can still delete." An invoice Brikly is still reading can be deleted too: that stops the run, and nothing from it is kept.
If an invoice you delete has a duplicate copy in Brikly, the copy takes its place and its prices are applied, so a price the deleted invoice set stays. When you delete several invoices at once, Brikly works out what each delete does in the order it runs them, and the window says so, for example "Rocket's price from Bidfood stays at £6.00, because the copy takes over." Prices are shown in your business's currency. If it can't be sure what a copy will set (for example the copy has a discount still to apply, or was read differently from the original), the window says "We could not check 1 of these. It will still be deleted." The delete still runs, and its result names the price the copy set, for example "Rocket's price from Bidfood is now £5.00, because the copy takes over." Check that item's price afterwards.
If Brikly says "This item is being changed right now. Please try again in a moment.", someone is editing, archiving or matching an item on that invoice. Nothing was removed: wait a moment and delete again.
Deleting an invoice in Brikly never deletes its bill in your accounting platform. See Deleting an invoice that is already in your accounting platform.
Tips for reliable uploads
- Use original PDFs whenever your supplier provides them. They contain machine-readable text and produce the most accurate extractions.
- Check file size - files up to 10 MB are supported.
- One invoice per file - if a supplier sends a combined PDF with multiple invoices, split it into separate files before uploading for the best results.