The problem
Lab invoices for crowns, dentures and aligners arrive case by case alongside materials and other supplier bills, and someone types them in and splits lab fees by dentist for associate pay. If 150 invoices a month each take 4 minutes, that's 600 minutes, 10 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. Lab and supplier emails are forwarded to Dext and paper invoices photographed on arrival. The practice manager checks each bill, notes which dentist each lab fee belongs to, and publishes it to Xero.
A worked example
A 4-surgery practice in Leeds with 3 associates gets about 150 lab and supplier invoices a month and already uses Xero Grow.
Before
150 invoices keyed in at 4 minutes each: 10 hours a month
After
About 1.5 minutes each to check, note the dentist and publish: 3.75 hours a month
What it's worth
About $133£100€119A$192C$188 a month of practice manager time saved, at an assumed $21£16€19A$31C$30 an hour, against about $32£24€29A$46C$45 to $40£30€36A$58C$56 for Dext. That's 2.5 minutes saved on each of 150 invoices: 375 minutes, 6.25 hours.
How to set it up
- Check Dext's pricing: the default business plan of 250 documents and 5 users was $32.15£24.17€28.76A$46.41C$45.44 a month billed yearly ($386£290€345A$557C$545), excluding VAT; monthly billing costs more.
- Connect Dext to Xero and set the usual category for lab fees, materials and other suppliers.
- Forward lab and supplier invoice emails to Dext and photograph paper ones the day they arrive.
- Check each bill before publishing, and record which dentist each lab fee belongs to.
- Reconcile lab statements against Xero each month before associate pay is worked out.
What goes wrong
- Lab invoices often name the patient, which links them to their treatment. Limit who can see them in Dext and Xero.
- Xero Ignite allows only 10 bills a month, so 150 bills needs Grow at $52£39€46A$75C$73 or above. The example practice already has it.
- A misread lab fee feeds straight into an associate's deductions. Check the totals before publishing.
- If you want every line read, such as several units on one case, line item extraction is an extra from $21.95£16.50€19.63A$31.68C$31.02 a month.