The verdict in three sentences
A London group keying 800 to 2,500 supplier invoices a month by hand into Sage ties up one to three accounts staff full time on a task with no added value. An OCR plus approval workflow pipeline cuts entry time from 5 minutes to about 1 minute per invoice, with VAT and supplier checks before anything is posted. Kolonell builds it for 2.5 to 4 M FCFA (3,810 to 6,100 EUR) in 6 to 8 weeks, with an accounting export that imports straight into Sage or Xero.
What manual entry costs and what OCR costs in 2026
The figures below are 2026 orders of magnitude for London. Kolonell lines follow our custom application grid; SaaS OCR rates and salaries are market estimates.
| Item | Manual entry | SaaS OCR alone | Kolonell solution (OCR + workflow) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time per invoice | 5 minutes | 2 to 3 minutes (corrections) | About 1 minute |
| Fixed cost | 0 EUR | 0 to 1,000 EUR of setup | 3,810 to 6,100 EUR |
| Variable cost | Clerk salary | 0.10 to 0.50 EUR per invoice | 0.10 to 0.30 EUR per invoice (OCR API) |
| VAT 20 % and supplier check | Visual, hit and miss | Generic rules | Automatic blocking rules |
| Approval workflow | Paper or email | Basic | Multi-level by amount and entity |
| Sage or Xero export | Direct entry | CSV to rework | Ready import file, mapped accounts |
| Maintenance | None | Included in subscription | 110 EUR a month (75,000 FCFA, Standard) |
An experienced accounts payable clerk in London costs roughly 32,000 to 40,000 GBP a year in 2026 (about 38,000 to 47,000 EUR). At 2,000 invoices a month and 5 minutes each, entry absorbs 167 hours, a full-time role.
The four building blocks of a reliable OCR pipeline
OCR alone solves nothing if misread invoices reach the ledger. The value comes from the full chain, from receipt to posting.
| Block | What it does | Watch point in London |
|---|---|---|
| Capture | Dedicated mailbox, branch scanning, supplier portal upload | PDFs, scans and phone photos mixed together |
| Extraction | Supplier, VAT number, date, number, net, VAT, gross, lines | Multi-currency invoices, EU suppliers |
| Checks | Known supplier, consistent VAT, duplicate number, purchase order | Reverse charge, zero-rated items, CIS deductions |
| Approval | Threshold routing: budget holder, CFO above 7,500 EUR | Absences, delegated authority |
| Export | Journal entries to Sage or Xero | Separate chart of accounts per subsidiary |
| Archiving | Timestamped PDF linked to the entry | 6-year retention for HMRC |
Automatic field recognition commonly reaches 85 to 95 % on printed invoices. The remaining 5 to 15 % are shown to the clerk on a side-by-side correction screen, which is still far quicker than full entry.
Typical 6 to 8 week plan
| Weeks | Deliverable |
|---|---|
| 1 | Scoping, sample of 200 real invoices, chart of accounts |
| 2 to 3 | Capture, extraction and correction screen |
| 4 to 5 | VAT, supplier and duplicate rules, approval workflow |
| 6 | Sage or Xero export and archiving |
| 7 to 8 | Acceptance on one month of invoices, training, cutover |
Mini case study
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Emma, head of accounts payable at a distribution group in London, processes 1,800 supplier invoices a month for three subsidiaries. Manual entry: 1,800 × 5 minutes = 150 hours. With the OCR pipeline: 1,800 × 1 minute = 30 hours, freeing 120 hours a month. At a loaded hourly cost of 28 EUR, the saving reaches 3,360 EUR a month. Recurring costs: 1,800 × 0.25 EUR of OCR = 450 EUR plus 110 EUR of maintenance. Net saving: about 2,800 EUR a month, so a 5,000 EUR solution pays for itself in under two months, before counting duplicate payments that disappear.
FAQ
Can OCR read handwritten invoices or phone photos?
Sharp photos are read correctly in 80 to 90 % of cases. Fully handwritten invoices remain difficult and go to manual correction, usually less than 10 % of volume.
Does it work with Sage 50, Sage 200 and Xero?
Yes, the export produces an import file in the format each package expects, with your journals and nominal codes. Other systems such as NetSuite or Odoo can be added for about 450 to 900 EUR.
How is the supplier checked?
The extracted VAT number is matched against your supplier master file, and any invoice from an unknown supplier is blocked before approval. That prevents the payment fraud attempts that target AP teams.
Where are invoices stored?
On a dedicated UK or EU server with daily backups, kept for 6 years or longer if you require. Hosting typically costs 25 to 60 EUR a month.
How long before it is live?
Allow 6 to 8 weeks, including one month of acceptance running alongside your usual process. Full cutover happens once the correction rate stabilises below 15 %.
Let's scope your project. Send us a sample of 50 invoices and your monthly volume: we will price your OCR pipeline between 2.5 and 4 M FCFA (3,810 to 6,100 EUR) with a 6 to 8 week plan, through our free quote request. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
