Using AI to arrive invoices from PDF documents

Retailer has the ability to integrate with ChatGPT and Google Gemini, artificial intelligence engines that can produce data based on learning from the internet and interpreting documents. ChatGPT is produced by OpenAI, a for-profit company based in California, while Gemini is produced by Google. New to Retailer 3.4, one of the uses of these AI engines is to read and understand PDF invoices from suppliers, and convert them into information that can then be edited and imported into Retailer.

There is no guarantee that the AI will be able to read all invoices correctly; it may make mistakes on some items or be completely unable to understand invoices from some suppliers. It is vital that you go through the information extracted by the AI and make sure it is all correct before importing into Retailer.

To get started, you will first need to sign up with either OpenAI or Google. See HERE for more details

Importing an Invoice from a PDF

You can also use AI importing with Excel documents or CSVs. These can also be imported into Retailer without AI, which may be more accurate - see HERE for details

First, if you haven't already, you will need to download the PDF attachment from the email that your supplier sent to you and save it somewhere on your PC.

1. To get started, open Invoice Arrivals, then click the 'AI Import' button up the top-right.
2. In the 'Arrival Import' screen, either click the 'Select' button in the top-right and locate your invoice file, or drag and drop the invoice file into the area on the left. If done correctly, you should see a preview of the PDF document shown in the area on the left.
   
3. Next, click the 'Analyze File' button in the top-right, and wait for the AI to finish reading and importing the file. Depending on the AI model selected, this can take a minute or two. Once this is finished, you should see a list of the items from the invoice appear.
   

After the analysis is finished, it will try to select the matching supplier from your system. If it cannot find one, you will be asked if you wish to add the supplier. Click 'Yes' to add in the new supplier, or click 'No' and you will be prompted to select the correct supplier from the drop-down list.

Checking Items and Arriving the Invoice

Items on the list will be shown in white/grey if a matching stock item was found on your system, or highlighted in pink if the system does not recognise the barcode. Items highlighted in pink must first be added into your system, or the correct item must be found.

If an item is new, you will need to add it to your system. It will first need a barcode and department selected. If the barcode is blank (or incorrect), you can click the Refresh icon in the barcode column to generate a new barcode for this item. Alternatively, you can scan the barcode off the product if needed. Once these details are filled in, you can click the icon with the '+' symbol, second-last row, to add the item into your system. It should now turn white/grey.

If an item is highlighted pink, but you are sure you have had it before, click into the barcode column and then press [Enter]. You will then be able to select the correct item from the Find Stock Screen. Once the item is selected, the line should turn white/grey.

Make sure you check that all the items are correct before arriving them, even if they are not highlighted in pink. See the 'Common Mistakes' section below for things to watch out for.

Once you are certain that all the information is correct, click the Save to Arrivals button in the bottom-right. You will be given two options: Instant Arrival & EDI Arrival

1. Instant Arrival will arrive all of the stock in the list in seconds. However, it will not perform the checks that usually happen during an invoice arrival - for example, making sure your mark-ups match your department settings and warning if they have changed significantly. If you are confident that all the prices are ok, use the instant arrival.
   
2. The EDI arrival is the slower option, but goes through all the normal checks that occur during an invoice arrival, including reserving stock for customer orders.
   

If any of the items on the invoice have pending Customer Orders, you will not be able to use the instant arrival option.

Item Tools

Accessed via the Item Tools button in the bottom right of the Arrival Import screen, these tools allow you to make changes to the items in bulk before arriving them

1. Add All Stock Items - Adds all items highlighted in pink into your system, provided they have a valid barcode and department selected.
   
2. Generate All Empty Barcodes - Adds Retailer-generated barcodes to any items in the list that do not have a barcode listed.
   
3. Clear All Barcodes - Wipes out all the barcodes, leaving them blank. They will then need to be given barcodes before they can be imported.
   
4. Set All Departments - Lets you choose a department and apply it to every item in the list.
   

Common Mistakes the AI Might Make

Always check that the invoice number, dates and freight are correct.

Always check that the Inc GST / Ex GST setting is correct. If the cost prices on the invoice are listed as Ex. GST, but the AI import lists them as Inc. GST, your invoice will not add up correctly. You should be able to easily fix this by unticking the 'Inc. GST' box at the top of the Arrival Import screen. This will automatically convert all the prices from Inc GST to Ex GST (or vice versa)

If your invoice contains multiple quantity columns (For example, Order Quantity & Delivered Quantity), the AI may misinterpret which column is the correct one to use. You will need to go down the list and make sure the quantity in Retailer is correct, and edit it manually if it is not.

Sometimes the AI will be confused by extra lines on an invoice that are not products - these might be notes added by the supplier, or long descriptions that have gone on to another line. This can cause the AI to make mistakes assigning the correct barcode to the correct product descriptions / prices, even on other items further down the invoice. Always check and make sure the correct barcodes are lined up with the correct item descriptions, quantities and prices before importing the stock into Retailer - especially if the invoice contains extra lines that are not products. You will need to fix mistakes manually.

Settings

There are a few options you can change to adjust how the  AI engine interprets invoice files. These settings are found in Setup->AI, then the Invoice Arrivals Import tab.

1. Model: Changes which AI model/engine is used to read the invoice. If the AI seems to be struggling to read an invoice, you can try changing the model here. Generally you will want to select the most modern engine available - for now, this is OpenAI's GPT-4o, or Google's Gemini-2.0-pro-exp. OpenAI's o1 may also work well, but it is very slow.
   
2. Use Structure Response: This needs to be enabled for the feature to work correctly. If it is not enabled, it may be a sign that the model you have selected does not support structured responses. Choose a different model and make sure to tick this option.

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