How Aqilla's E2D feature turns supplier invoices into AP-ready data — automatically, accurately, and without leaving your accounting software.
5–10 minutes lost per invoice with manual entry
For a finance team processing 100 invoices a month, that's up to 16 hours of staff time spent on data entry alone. Time that could be spent on analysis or forecasting.
If your accounts payable process still involves someone reading a PDF and typing numbers into your accounting software — or relies on a separate OCR tool that needs reconciling afterwards — you're not alone. But you are leaving time and money on the table.
This article explains how Aqilla's E2D (Electronic-to-Digital) feature works, why it's built differently from standalone invoice capture tools, and what it means in practice for finance teams who need accuracy, control, and speed.
The problem with how most teams process invoices
Manual invoice entry is slow, error-prone, and expensive. Most finance professionals already know this — but the alternatives have historically come with their own headaches.
OCR tools solve part of the problem, but they introduce new ones: data must be exported from one system and imported into your accounting software, creating reconciliation overhead, version mismatches, and an additional vendor relationship to manage.
The result is a process that's faster than pure manual entry — but still fragmented, still requiring oversight of two systems, and still carrying a meaningful per-invoice cost on top of your accounting software subscription.
How E2D works — from email inbox to AP workflow
E2D is built directly into Aqilla. There is no separate tool, no integration to maintain, and no data leaving your accounting system to be processed elsewhere. When a supplier invoice arrives by email, E2D takes over.
Invoice capture from email - Aqilla’s add-on E2D feature monitors your designated inbox. When an invoice arrives — whether it's a PDF or a scanned image — the system picks it up automatically. No manual upload, no forwarding to a third-party service.
AI-enhanced data extraction - ED2 reads the invoice and extracts all relevant fields: supplier details, invoice number, document date, due date, currency, line items, VAT amounts, and totals. It handles different supplier formats and layouts without needing predefined templates.
Supplier matching - E2D cross-references the invoice against your existing supplier records in Aqilla and automatically assigns the correct supplier account. If it can't match with confidence, AI flags the invoice for a quick human review rather than guessing.
AI confidence scoring and flagging - Every extracted field is given a confidence rating. High-confidence fields — typically dates, totals, and invoice numbers — pass through cleanly. Any field the AI is less certain about is highlighted for attention. Your team only reviews what actually needs reviewing.
Draft invoice ready in Aqilla - The extracted data is presented in the Draft Invoice Editor inside Aqilla, pre-populated and ready for review. Finance teams can check the data, add cost codes or analysis fields if missing, and push the invoice straight into the AP workflow. Processing invoices is 2x faster than manual entry — with accuracy that improves over time as the AI learns from your feedback.
Why "built in" matters more than "integrated"
The distinction between a native feature and a third-party integration might sound technical, but the practical difference is significant — particularly for finance teams managing multiple entities or a high volume of suppliers.
When invoice capture happens inside Aqilla, there is no reconciliation step. Data doesn't need to be exported, reformatted, and re-imported. There's no lag between when an invoice is captured and when it appears in your AP workflow. And there's no additional system for your team to learn, monitor, or troubleshoot.
No third-party APIs
E2D was developed entirely by Aqilla's own engineering team. That means no third-party APIs handling your invoice data, no external dependencies affecting your processing, and a roadmap that Aqilla controls directly — so improvements and new capabilities arrive faster.
AI & Automation with control
One of the most common concerns about invoice automation is losing visibility over what's been processed and how. E2D is designed specifically to address this.
The confidence scoring system means your team has full transparency over every field E2D has extracted and how certain the AI is about each value. E2D is flagging anything that falls below your pre-set confidence threshold so a human can check it before the invoice is posted or sent for approval.
The result is automation that works with your team, not around them. The repetitive, time-consuming work — reading documents, typing data, cross-referencing supplier records — is handled by the system. Your finance team focuses on exceptions, approvals, and the judgement calls that actually require their expertise.
The cost
E2D is priced as an add-on at £40/month + £0.20 per invoice. For context, most standalone OCR and AP automation tools cost significantly more — and that's before accounting for the time your team spends managing the integration between that tool and your accounting software.
At 60% cheaper than most comparable tools on average, and with the hidden cost of reconciliation eliminated entirely, E2D typically pays for itself well within the first month for any team processing more than a handful of invoices.
Invoice processing is one of the highest-volume, lowest-value tasks in a finance team's week. E2D doesn't just speed it up — it removes it from the queue entirely, so your team can focus on high impact work.
Ready to remove invoice admin from your team's week?
Whether you're already an Aqilla customer or exploring your options, we'd love to show you E2D in action.
