The problem
A farm shop gets invoices from dozens of small producers, many written in a duplicate book or sent as a photo by text. If a shop handles 150 invoices a month and each takes 3 minutes to find, check against the delivery and key into Xero, that's 450 minutes, 7.5 hours a month, and a lost invoice means a producer chasing a payment you thought you'd made.
What the AI does
Dext is bookkeeping software that 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. Staff photograph each producer's invoice when the delivery is checked in, noting any shortages first, and emailed invoices are forwarded to the shop's Dext address. Rules send each producer's invoices to the right cost code. Because the invoice is captured at goods-in, it's checked against what actually arrived before anyone pays it.
A worked example
A farm shop in North Yorkshire with 45 local producers and one wholesaler gets about 150 invoices a month. Its bookkeeper works one day a week in Xero Grow, which the shop already pays for.
Before
150 invoices at 3 minutes each: 450 minutes, 7.5 hours a month
After
Invoices photographed at goods-in and approved in about 1 minute each: 150 minutes, 2.5 hours
What it's worth
About $133£100€119A$192C$188 a month saved in bookkeeping time, against Dext at about $32£24€29A$46C$45 to $40£30€36A$58C$56. That is 5 hours a month (7.5 down to 2.5) at an assumed $27£20€24A$38C$38 an hour. Dext's default of 250 documents and 5 users is $32.15£24.17€28.76A$46.41C$45.44 a month excluding VAT, billed annually; monthly billing costs more, estimated at about $40£30€36A$58C$56. Xero Grow at $52£39€46A$75C$73 is already paid; Xero Ignite's 10 bills a month is far too few for 150 invoices.
How to set it up
- Tell producers you'll pay from invoices captured at delivery, and ask those who email to use one address.
- Start a Dext trial, connect it to Xero and set rules for your regular producers.
- At goods-in, check the delivery against the invoice, note any shortages on it, then photograph it.
- Each week, the bookkeeper checks what Dext read, approves into Xero and pays from there.
- Handle sale-or-return producers separately in Xero, since what you owe depends on what sold, not what arrived.
What goes wrong
- Xero says smart document capture is included on all its plans. Try that first and pay for Dext only if it saves real time.
- Handwritten invoices from a duplicate book are easier to misread. Check amounts and dates before approving.
- 150 invoices plus till and fuel receipts can pass Dext's 250-document band in December; count before choosing a plan.
- Many small producers aren't VAT-registered. Don't let a rule add VAT that isn't on the invoice.