To import data, click on the left-side menu: VAT Recovery-> Add Expenses. A new pop-up window will appear with the option to Select company and method. A company can be chosen from the drop-down list under Please select a company to start with, then click on Mass Data Import. 

There are five options to choose from: 

1. I have data only in CSV or Excel file format (Data must be in CSV or Excel format, adhering to the file size limit of 300MB or 500K lines); 
2. I have both data and scans/images; 
3. I have scans/images only; 
4. I have my data in an external system (e.g., Concur/Captio): VAT4U offers the ability to transfer large and small amounts of data from other systems using an API connection. 
5. I want to transfer files to the VAT4U team for further analysis: This option is mainly for outsourcing partners but can also be used by other clients. Files can be uploaded using the Transfer module, and the VAT4U team will be notified and respond accordingly. 

All these options follow the same steps, including: 

• Start (Choosing import flow), 
• Fields (Mapping columns), 
• Categories (Expense category mapping), 
• Data Cleaning (Data preview and cleaning), 
• Import (Finalizing and importing). 

Scenario 1.“I have both data and scans/images” 

The upload process begins by dragging and dropping the data file into the upload window. A prompt will appear to confirm whether the data relates to one legal entity (Single company) or multiple legal entities (Multiple companies). 

Next, there will be a question regarding the file layout: either the file contains One line (expense) per invoice or Multiple lines forming a single invoice. 

In the case of multiple lines, further specification is required on how VAT4U will detect which items belong to which invoices, such as by using an Invoice number column. 

Field Mapping 

The next step involves mapping fields (columns and lines) from the uploaded file to VAT4U’s system fields. If this step has been done before, it is possible to click Load mapping to select from the saved presets:

If it’s the first time or if a new mapping is needed, click New mapping. On the left side, there will be VAT4U system field names, and on the right, they need to be matched with fields from the uploaded file. 

Fields marked with a red star (*) are mandatory, such as Invoice date, Country of Refund, and Expense category. If any of these fields are missing or unclear, Use default value can be selected as a placeholder.

Saving this mapping will allow your company’s users to reuse it for future imports, streamlining the process and ensuring consistent column mapping each time.

If custom fields are required, there is an option to import them by selecting custom field import and mapping them to columns in the file. 

Instructions next to each field should be followed carefully, as unmapped fields will result in the default values set in Company settings being applied. 

Expense Category Mapping 

In the Expense Category Mapping section, a list of detected categories from the uploaded file will be displayed. Each detected category needs to be mapped to a category in the VAT4U system, which can be found in the drop-down list. 

Sometimes the system may detect a category that does not apply to a particular country, or further subcategories may need to be selected. Expense categories from external systems may not always match VAT4U categories, so saved category mappings can be loaded, or new ones can be created. A small gray number next to each category indicates how often they appear in the file. 

Data Cleaning 

The Data Cleaning step helps resolve potential issues such as non-English alphabets or forbidden characters. Options are available to replace these characters and shorten field lengths to meet the required limits. 

It’s generally recommended to enable both Replace functions to ensure compliance with tax administration character restrictions for fields like Vendor name, Address, or Expense description. There are options for automatic cleaning, and in cases where these options are skipped, VAT4U will not import non-compliant data. 

On the right side, there are Data Enrichment options such as: 

• Run OCR automatically after import (to speed up data entry and improve data quality), 
• Run compliance check for all available documents after import (to identify non-compliant documents, such as pro forma invoices or missing VAT numbers), 
• Download and link documents to the invoice even when the invoice is excluded (useful for documents that are linked to excluded invoices, such as expired or non-deductible invoices).

It’s generally advisable to enable both “Run functions” for better results. 

Finalizing the Import 

Click Start Import to begin the process. After the import is complete, it is possible to choose to Get the result by email and then either View imported expenses or Start new. 

Scenario 2. “I have scans/images only” 

Proceed by dragging and dropping a ZIP file containing scans/images or a CSV/TXT file with a list of URLs to your documents. There are two methods available: 

1. Using URLs in the data lines: You can include either a public or private URL address. If the URL is not publicly accessible or is password-protected, please contact us for assistance. This method ensures that both data and images are centralized in one place. 
2. Importing with a ZIP file: This is useful when you have data but instead of URLs, you have a large .zip file with the images. In this case, you can prepare your data, and we can grant you access to a private SFTP on our servers where you can upload all the images. Afterward, you’ll need to manually organize them in VAT4U. 

The system will prompt you to fill in three mandatory fields: Default expense country, Default expense date, and Default expense category. If you’re unsure about the correct country, date, or category, you can use placeholders for now, such as an undefined country, a placeholder date like 01.01.2024 for invoices issued in 2024, or a generic category to be refined later. After entering the required information, click Next. 

The system will then notify you of how many invoices it found in the ZIP file. From this screen, click Start Export. Once the processing is complete, VAT4U will create one invoice per line.

Managing a Large Number of Data and Invoice Documents 

What if you have a large volume of data and invoice documents, with one line representing multiple images and far too many documents to assess manually? In this case, we can perform an automated split of the images, with each line corresponding to one invoice/image, focusing only on relevant invoices. 

For example, if the country of refund is France, and you have 3165 invoices, each line may include multiple pages, such as covers, internal documents, receipts, etc. A challenge arises when much of the consolidated data in the system is of no interest to you. 

Step 1: Automating the Split of Multi-page Documents 

Start by opening one line, and the system will automatically cut the pages. If the document has more than 30 pages, it will create a parent document with the cut pages attached as child documents. These 30+ sub-documents will then be added to the list from the previous page. If a single invoice has multiple pages, the system will try to analyze them as a single document, but this isn’t always guaranteed. 

At this stage, it's helpful to filter the large list of lines to show only Incomplete and Ready lines.

Click on Batch action and select Split expense document. This will create a batch of parent-child expenses, generating new lines/entries with only one image attached to each. Please note that this process can take a few hours. You will be notified by email once the task is completed.

Step 2: Running an Analysis 

The next step is to run an analysis, which will help identify whether the image is an invoice, receipt, or something else entirely.