The problem
Invoices for consumables, skincare stock and equipment arrive by email and paper and wait for a quarterly catch-up. If a clinic has 40 supplier invoices and receipts a month and each takes 5 minutes to find and key in, that's 200 minutes, 3.3 hours a month.
What the AI does
Dext captures receipts and supplier invoices from a phone, email or WhatsApp, reads the details and sends them to accounting software such as Xero for you to approve. Forward supplier invoices to your Dext address or photograph receipts, and the clinic manager checks and approves each one. Dext needs accounting software, priced separately; this example assumes you already pay for Xero Grow at £39 a month, because Xero's Ignite plan is capped at 10 bills. The Business plan's default on Dext's page is 250 documents and 5 users for £24.17 a month on annual billing (£290 a year); a smaller allowance may be cheaper if the page offers one. This is business paperwork only: never send Dext anything with client names, treatment details or photos.
A worked example
An aesthetics clinic in Chester with a nurse prescriber, a therapist and a part-time manager gets about 40 supplier invoices and receipts a month and keeps its books in Xero Grow.
Before
40 invoices x 5 minutes = 200 minutes, 3.3 hours a month
After
40 invoices x 1 minute to check = 40 minutes a month
What it's worth
About 2.7 hours a month saved (160 minutes), worth around £80 if the manager's time is worth £30 an hour. Dext is £24.17 a month on annual billing; monthly billing costs more (estimated at about £30, as the page doesn't show it), so the net is about £50 to £56. Xero Grow is £39 a month, extra, and assumed already paid.
How to set it up
- Open a Dext account and connect it to your Xero organisation.
- Ask suppliers to send invoices to your Dext email address, and photograph paper receipts.
- Check each item Dext reads (supplier, date, total, VAT) and approve it.
- Keep a rule that nothing with client or treatment details goes to Dext.
- At month end, compare with your bank feed in Xero for anything missing.
What goes wrong
- Dext works with accounting software, priced separately. Xero's Ignite plan is limited to 10 bills, so check which plan you need.
- The default plan is for 250 documents and 5 users, far more than a small clinic needs; a smaller allowance may be cheaper if offered.
- Dext can misread totals or VAT. Check every one before approving.
- Invoices sometimes include client names, for example a lab or a named-patient order; keep those out of Dext.