Dext: setting up receipt and invoice capture (step-by-step guide)

Quick answer. A careful Dext setup rests on five settings: enabling the capture channels (photo, dedicated email, import), connecting your accounting software, creating suppliers and their allocation rules, defining an approval workflow, then checking and archiving. The point is not just convenience: documents must be kept for the legal retention period (10 years for accounting, article L123-22 of the Commercial Code) and, for digitised invoices, meet the conditions for evidential value.

A poorly configured capture tool creates more mess than it solves: duplicates, uncategorised documents, exports that clash with the chart of accounts. Conversely, a rigorous initial setup turns receipt capture into a clean flow, from submission to the accounting entry. It is also the moment to set retention rules: a digitised document is only worth keeping if it is archived properly.

At Hayot Expertise, we set up this kind of chain for directors who want to take back control of their accounting digitisation without spending their evenings on it. The logic applies to Dext as to any capture tool: the starting configuration makes the difference.

1. Enable the capture channels. Photo via the mobile app, a dedicated email address to forward invoices received by email, and file import. One traceable channel per source type prevents lost documents.
2. Connect the accounting software. The export must mirror your chart of accounts, journals and VAT codes. This is the step that links capture to bookkeeping, alongside a bank-to-accounting connection.
3. Create suppliers and rules. For each recurring supplier, an allocation rule (expense account, VAT rate) automates categorisation. The more precise the rules, the less manual entry remains.
4. Define the approval workflow. Who submits, who reviews, who approves before export: a human control upstream of the entry limits errors and clarifies responsibilities.
5. Check and archive. Duplicate detection, matching against bank transactions, then retention for the legal period. This is the link most often neglected, yet it determines how safe a tax audit will be.

The most common mistake is to use a capture tool as a mere photo library: you photograph the documents, but then re-key the entries by hand into the accounting software. The benefit is then almost nil. The whole point of a tool like Dext is to remove this double entry: the extracted data (supplier, date, amount, VAT) must feed the entry directly.

Three settings matter for this. The connection to the accounting software must be complete (chart of accounts, journals, VAT codes), otherwise documents arrive with no allocation. Rules per supplier should be set from the first invoices, so categorisation automates as recurrences build up. Finally, bank matching confirms that each payment indeed corresponds to a document, leaving no orphan transaction.

Well configured, the chain becomes seamless: a document photographed at the point of spend flows in, categorises by its rule, matches the bank transaction and feeds the entry, with no re-keying. It is this continuum — not mere digitisation — that saves time and makes review reliable. The same principles apply to managing expense claims, where the photo-rule-approval chain avoids re-keying and omissions.

A quick check before export prevents an error from spreading across dozens of documents.

2026 reference. Receiving electronic invoices becomes mandatory for all businesses on 1 September 2026: a capture chain that is already well configured prepares calmly for this transition.

A small business with no in-house accountant. The approval workflow can shrink to two roles (submission, approval by the director), provided a control remains before export. Our bookkeeping and review service then takes over on the reliability of entries.

A high volume of expense claims. Beyond a few dozen items a month, formalise a real expense-claim process: rules per employee, caps, hierarchical approval.

Fast growth. A scaling startup benefits from wiring its capture chain early; it is one of the tasks we handle in startup support.

• Digitisation does not remove the need to retain. A digitised paper invoice must meet fidelity and durability conditions to keep its evidential value; otherwise, keep the original.
• E-invoicing is coming. Receiving electronic invoices becomes mandatory for all businesses on 1 September 2026: anticipate how your capture tool will sit alongside your future e-invoice flow.
• Allocation rules need checking. A badly set rule propagates an error across hundreds of documents. Check the first entries after each new rule.
• Human validation stays essential. Automatic extraction sometimes errs on the VAT amount or the date: never remove the control point before export.

Recently, the director of a small services firm told us their receipts were piling up in a digital shoebox: scattered photos, invoices across three different mailboxes. In half a day of setup — unified channels, recurring suppliers, allocation rules and export to their software — capture became a daily reflex rather than an end-of-quarter chore.

The tool is only one link. Its value depends on two things: the discipline of entering items as you go, and the rigour of the categorisation rules. As chartered accountants registered with the Ordre, we see the reliability gap between a well-tuned chain and improvised capture: the former clearly cuts review time and makes a tax audit safer.

Hayot Expertise tip. Dedicate a real session to the initial setup, jointly with your accountant: that is where, in our experience, most of the future reliability is decided. Link capture to the accounting software from the start, set rules per supplier, and always keep a human check before export. You will turn an administrative chore into an almost invisible routine.