Stop retyping supplier invoices into Xero. Route PDFs to one AP inbox, capture with OCR, check against the PO/valuation, approve, then publish a fully coded bill—done. We’ll compare Xero alone, Dext, ApprovalMax, and Planyard so you see what each covers (and what they don’t), and how to avoid rate drift, quantity creep, and duplicates.
Connect it all via our Xero integration for contractors — only approved and correctly coded bills post to Xero.
What “Inbox to Xero” means for a construction team
Your suppliers email PDFs; you capture line data; you check against the order or valuation; you approve; then you publish a bill to Xero—without retyping. Xero already lets you create purchase orders, submit in bulk for approval, and later convert approved POs to bills, which is handy once you’ve finished project-side checks.
Where it typically goes wrong
- Bills arrive with missing or wrong PO references, so matching is manual and slow.
- Spreadsheets hold the “real” PO, so quantities and rates drift between the sheet and the invoice.
- Duplicates slip through when the same PDF is forwarded twice.
- Approvals live in email threads, making audit difficult.
Result: friction for AP, delays at month-end, and budget surprises.
Your options for getting from inbox to Xero
1) Xero alone (native POs and approvals)
What it’s good at: raising POs, submitting one or many for approval, and converting an approved PO to a bill for payment. Teams keep control inside Xero and avoid retyping when the PO is ready to copy.
Things you still do manually: checking the supplier invoice against the PO or the period’s valuation/delivery note is a manual, line-by-line exercise before you convert to a bill.
2) Dext Prepare (capture + PO Match)
Dext auto-extracts PO numbers from invoices, syncs open POs from Xero daily (created in the last 6 months), and lets you publish with a history note showing matched items. They also flag that, due to Xero API limitations, PO match in Dext won’t mirror in-ledger matching exactly.
Where it can fall short for construction: Dext helps find the right PO, but it doesn’t understand valuations/progress claims or enforce quantity/rate rules linked to project budgets.
3) ApprovalMax (approval routing)
Approval add-ons strengthen multi-step approvals (who approves what, in what order), including for POs and bills. That tightens governance once a bill is ready—useful for audit and segregation of duties.
Limit to note: if your “true” PO still lives in Excel, ApprovalMax can approve a document, but it can’t guarantee it matches your spreadsheet contract terms or the period’s valuation.
4) Planyard (construction-first capture, match, and budgets)
Planyard pulls invoices from your AP inbox automatically, uses OCR to extract data, then links invoices to the correct POs/subcontracts and budget lines. Approved costs (with accounts and tracking) publish to Xero—no retyping. You also get a live view of commitments and progress, so invoices are checked against both order and valuation before they hit the ledger.
Options compared at a glance
| Category | Xero alone | Dext Prepare | ApprovalMax | Planyard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Invoice capture (email/OCR) | Basic email-to-bill workflows; manual checks | OCR + PO number extraction; daily sync of open POs (last 6 months) | N/A (approval routing) | AP inbox intake + OCR tailored for construction |
| PO → Bill | Convert approved POs into bills | None until the bill is posted | Routes for approval; pairs with Xero bills/POs | Publishes only approved, fully coded bills |
| PO matching | Mostly manual, line-by-line | Auto-match to open POs; API limits noted for Xero | Approvals only; not a matching engine | 3-way check (PO/subcontract ↔ delivery/valuation ↔ invoice) |
| Construction specifics | Generic | Generic | Generic approval logic | Progress claims/valuations, commitments, change orders |
| Budget impact | None until bill is posted | None | None | Live budgets/commitments updated from POs and invoices |
A practical “Inbox to Xero” flow that works on-site
- Email-in + OCR: route all supplier invoices to a single AP inbox and auto-extract key fields.
- Reference check: make PO number mandatory; reject invoices without a valid reference.
- 3-way review: compare quantities and rates to the approved PO/subcontract and the period’s delivery/valuation; query differences.
- Approval routing: send only clean invoices to approvers; capture attachments and comments.
- Publish to Xero: post approved, fully coded bills; keep POs for next period’s partials/retentions.
What you get with this approach
Fewer disputes with suppliers. Month-end closes faster, and your cash-flow view is clearer. You keep a complete audit trail without typing data twice.
PO references are enforced, duplicates are detected, line-level quantity and rate checks run before posting, approvers see the same documents and comments, and only approved, fully coded bills are published to Xero.
Why Planyard is the easiest way to do this
Contractors who try “inbox to Xero” with spreadsheets and generic tools still face rate drift, quantity creep, and missing references.
Planyard removes the friction: invoice intake from the AP inbox, OCR, PO/subcontract matching, valuation-aware checks, routed approvals, and a clean, coded bill published to Xero — plus real-time budgets and commitments for the site and finance team.
