What happens when a document arrives
When a document arrives in a workspace, PaperOffice AI processes it in three steps:
- Read: AI text recognition captures text and layout, for digital PDFs as well as scans and photos. With the matching tier, handwriting, stamps, signatures and ticked boxes are recognized too.
- Classify: PaperOffice recognizes the document type, for example invoice, contract or delivery note, and suggests where to file it.
- Extract: PaperOffice returns header data, single fields, tables and line items, also across pages. Each field comes back with its value, a confidence and its position on the page.
Processing runs in the background after upload or import and takes some time. By default, the first 20 pages of a document are processed, at most 40.
The AI-DMS tiers: Basic, Premium and Ultra
How deeply a document is processed depends on the AI-DMS tier. The tier belongs to the workspace, not to your account. New workspaces start with Premium. Several workspaces may use different tiers, for example an archive in Basic and current work in Premium.
- Storage only: documents are stored without AI processing. There is no text recognition and no search in the content.
- Basic (IDP Light): AI text recognition, full-text archive, document type and metadata. Suitable for large archives that you mainly search by full text.
- Premium (IDP Full): everything in Basic plus business fields, semantic search, relations between documents, entity extraction and the Knowledge Graph. The typical choice for invoices, contracts and cases.
- Ultra (MEGA Vision): everything in Premium plus image understanding and the security audit with fraud risk score. Only when you need it, not as the default for every workspace.
Higher tiers consume more Credits. Details: AI-DMS tiers: Basic, Premium and Ultra.
Document types and IDP agents
Document types tell PaperOffice what kind of document it is dealing with. You manage them under Document AI. Help: What are document types?
If you need specific fields, for example cost center or contract number, you save them as an IDP agent. An IDP agent defines which fields are extracted and which of them are required. Help: How do I create an IDP agent? Ready-made templates help you start: Create IDP Agents from templates.
Incoming invoices: one path for every intake
Incoming invoices arrive as PDF, scan, photo or e-invoice. PaperOffice AI reads all of them in the same flow. They reach the workspace through upload, import, a connected mailbox or the smartphone.
The result covers header data such as supplier, VAT ID, IBAN, invoice number and date, plus line items and totals. A calculation check tests whether lines, tax rates and the total agree. Each field is stored with its location and confidence. Approval and follow-up actions run through a workflow agent. Help: How do I create a workflow agent?
E-invoices: read and validate
When you file an e-invoice, as XML or as a PDF with embedded XML, PaperOffice recognizes the format and takes the data straight from the XML. For XRechnung, ZUGFeRD, Factur-X, EN 16931 invoices and Spanish Facturae, PaperOffice also checks whether the invoice is valid.
- Upload the e-invoice to a workspace and wait until processing has finished.
- In Documents, the name shows: E-invoice valid, E-invoice invalid or E-invoice not verifiable.
- Open the invoice and go to the Audit tab. The E-invoice protocol block shows the validation module, the check time and any failed rules. Use Download protocol to save it.
The check covers core EN 16931 rules, for example required fields, totals, the tax breakdown, VAT ID and IBAN. It does not replace an official check with the KoSIT validator. Italian FatturaPA invoices are read but not validated. For Facturae, an electronic signature is detected and marked as present but not verified. Recognition and validation work in all AI-DMS tiers, including Basic.
3-way match: invoice, delivery note and purchase order
The 3-way match checks whether an invoice fits the purchase order and the delivery note. PaperOffice runs it automatically once a document has finished processing. Documents belong together when they sit in the same workspace and carry the same purchase order reference. It checks amounts, and quantities and prices per item.
- File the purchase order, delivery note and invoice in the same workspace.
- Open the invoice, go to the Audit tab and read the 3-way match block: Match OK, Variance or Partial match.
- Use Open purchase order or Open delivery note to jump to the matching document.
For an overview, open Documents, group by purchase order reference and click Match details. Without a purchase order reference there is no match. If the delivery note is missing, PaperOffice compares only the purchase order and the invoice. The match is paid once an order is found.
Human review when a required field is missing
PaperOffice AI stops and asks a person when an IDP agent cannot deliver a required field with confidence, or when a workflow asks for an approval. The task appears under Workflow AI → Human In The Loop Tasks. Open the task, complete the missing field or the approval, and finish the task. The workflow then continues with its next steps. The document stays in its workspace during the review.
Split Agent: separate a batch scan into single documents
Did you scan a stack of receipts into one PDF? The Split Agent separates it into single documents and files each part in the target workspace.
- Open Document AI → Split Agent and click Create Split Agent.
- Choose the Split rule: Automatic (AI), Fixed pages per document, Entity separator or Custom instruction. Pick the target workspace and save.
- In Documents, select the PDF, choose Actions → Agents & workflows → Split and start the agent.
Only PDFs are split. If a boundary is uncertain, the task appears under Human In The Loop Tasks, where you can correct the boundary by page number. The Split Agent is paid. It is not the free “Split PDF” web tool, and not the separator sheets of PaperOffice Classic.
Trust Agent: check PDFs for tampering
The Trust Agent checks PDFs for technical anomalies: hidden text, text under an opaque area, embedded files, JavaScript and differences between the visible content and the text layer. The result is stored as a trust certificate on the document.
- Open Document AI → Trust Agent and click Create Trust Agent. Choose the verification profile, for example Invoice or Contract, and the tier.
- In Documents, select the PDFs and choose Actions → Agents & workflows → Trust → Check with Trust Agent.
- Open the result with View certificate.
The original stays unchanged; only a copy is marked. If the file changes after the check, the result no longer applies. The result is an assessment with evidence, not proof of fraud. The check is paid.
Security audit in AI-DMS Ultra
With Ultra, PaperOffice AI checks every new document in a security audit: a fraud risk score from 1 to 10 with reasoning and findings. For receipts and invoices, the supplier's VAT ID is checked via VIES. Basic and Premium do not include this.
- The Audit tab of a document shows the score, the reasoning and the findings. All open findings are under Analytics AI → Audit Center.
- Under PaperOffice Account → Organization → Document Audit Quarantine, the root account switches the quarantine on or off and sets the threshold.
- From the threshold, a new Ultra document goes into security quarantine and gets the tag “Quarantäne”: editing, moving, downloading and deleting are blocked until someone with write access to the workspace releases it. Notes, comments and a legal hold remain possible.
- A VIES finding is a hint and never triggers a quarantine. The score is an assessment, not proof.
Frequently asked questions
- Which tier should I choose? Premium for invoices, contracts and cases. Basic for pure archives. Ultra only when you need image understanding or the security audit.
- Can I use different tiers? Yes. The tier belongs to the workspace.
- Does the e-invoice check replace the official validation? No. It covers core rules, not the full KoSIT validation.
- Is the original changed by the Trust Agent? No. Only a copy is marked.
- Where are open reviews? Under Workflow AI → Human In The Loop Tasks.