AI OCR tools for digitising financial documents

AI OCR tools read photos, scans and PDFs of receipts, invoices and bank statements and turn them into data your accounting software can use. Bookkeeping apps such as AutoEntry, Dext and Hubdoc post straight to your ledger, while ABBYY FineReader and cloud services such as Amazon Textract suit archiving and custom workflows. Prices come from each provider’s own page, checked 6 November 2026.

What is AI OCR?

AI OCR is optical character recognition combined with machine learning that understands what each piece of text means. Plain OCR turns an image into text. AI OCR goes further and picks out fields such as supplier name, invoice date, net amount, VAT and total, so they can be posted without rekeying.

The risk is that the tool misreads a figure or a VAT amount, so someone still needs to review what it extracts.

Which AI OCR tools are available?

The tools fall into three groups: bookkeeping capture apps, desktop OCR software and cloud OCR services. The table lists them alphabetically with the lowest published price.

Prices exclude VAT where the provider says so. Cloud prices are in US dollars.

Bookkeeping capture apps

Bookkeeping capture apps read financial documents and publish them to your ledger, such as Xero or QuickBooks, with little setup.

AutoEntry. AutoEntry charges in credits. Plans run from Bronze, £15.45 a month for 50 credits, to Sapphire, £518.25 for 2,500, excluding VAT. A receipt or invoice uses 1 credit, an invoice with line items 2, a supplier statement 2 and a bank or credit card statement 3 credits a page.

Dext. Dext’s UK business plan costs £290 a year, shown as £24.17 a month, excluding VAT, for 5 users and 250 documents a month. Past the limit, extraction pauses until your next bill date.

Hubdoc. Xero’s UK pricing page says Hubdoc is included in its five UK plans while connected to your Xero subscription. Xero has also launched smart document capture, powered by its JAX assistant; Xero’s blog, updated 28 October 2026, says it is available across most markets but does not name the UK or give a price.

For a closer look at these three, see Dext vs AutoEntry vs Hubdoc.

Desktop OCR software

Desktop OCR software turns scans and image PDFs into searchable, editable files, which suits archiving paper records.

ABBYY FineReader PDF costs £84 a year for Standard on Windows and £139 a year for Corporate, which adds document comparison and Hot Folder conversion of up to 5,000 pages a month. FineReader PDF for Mac costs £59 a year. Each plan is one licence.

Cloud OCR services

Cloud OCR services are pay-per-page tools that developers connect to their own systems. They suit firms with high volumes or custom workflows.

Amazon Textract. AWS prices Textract per page. In US West (Oregon), for the first million pages, the rates work out at:

• Detect Document Text: US$1.50 per 1,000 pages
• Analyze Expense, for invoices and receipts: US$10 per 1,000 pages
• Analyze Document, tables: US$15 per 1,000 pages
• Analyze Document, forms: US$50 per 1,000 pages

A free tier lasts three months. Rates in other regions differ.

Azure AI Document Intelligence. Microsoft lists a free tier of 500 pages a month; its paid rates did not display when we checked.

Can you throw away paper records after scanning?

Often yes for VAT, but not always. HMRC’s VAT Notice 700/21 gives an example where scanned invoices keep all the detail needed for VAT, so the business does not need the original. It also says:

• data typed into software from an invoice is not a copy of the invoice, so keep the original
• some documents, such as the C79 import VAT certificate, must be kept in their original form
• VAT records are generally kept for at least 6 years

For other taxes, GOV.UK says company records must be kept for 6 years from the end of the financial year they relate to, and sole traders’ records for at least 5 years after the 31 January deadline. See our guide to record keeping for Self Assessment.

Which applies to you?

• If you use Xero, start with Hubdoc, which is included, and compare paid apps if you need more.
• If you process bank statements, check per-page costs: AutoEntry uses 3 credits a page.
• If you want searchable archives of old paper, desktop OCR such as ABBYY FineReader fits better than a bookkeeping app.
• If you process tens of thousands of pages, price a cloud service such as Amazon Textract.

What advisers should do

1. Run a pilot. Test 50 real documents and measure how many need correcting.
2. Keep a human review step. Check totals, VAT and supplier names before posting.
3. Check data protection. The ICO’s guidance on AI and data protection is under review after the Data (Use and Access) Act, so watch for updates. Our guide to AI data privacy for accountants covers the basics.
4. Keep originals where required. Retain C79s. For wider tools, see AI document processing.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between OCR and AI OCR?

OCR turns an image of text into text. AI OCR also recognises what each item means, such as a supplier, a date or a VAT amount, so it can be posted to accounting software.

How much does AutoEntry cost?

AutoEntry plans start at £15.45 a month for 50 credits, excluding VAT. Most receipts and invoices use 1 credit, and a bank statement page uses 3.

Does HMRC accept scanned receipts?

For VAT, HMRC’s Notice 700/21 says you do not need the original invoice if the scanned image keeps all the detail needed for VAT. Some documents, such as the C79 import VAT certificate, must still be kept in their original form.

How long do I need to keep scanned records?

Generally at least 6 years for VAT and company records. Sole traders keep records for at least 5 years after the 31 January deadline for the tax year.

Is AI OCR accurate enough to post without checking?

Treat extracted data as a draft, because a misread total or VAT figure flows straight into your records. Run a pilot and keep a human check before posting.