Find past invoices

When you connect an inbox, Gennai starts with recent emails. Find past invoices reads the period you choose in your connected inboxes and brings in the invoices you already received.

Start a scan

1. Open Invoices.
2. Click Find past invoices. If you ran a scan recently, the button says Scan another period, or Another period while a scan is paused.
3. Choose a period: Last month, Last quarter, This year or Last year. You can also set your own dates with From and To.
4. Choose the inboxes to read. All your connected inboxes are selected to start with.
5. To also bring in invoices written in the body of emails, turn on Also read invoices written in the email body.
6. Click Continue, check the summary and click Start scan.

In a new workspace with no invoices yet, you start it from the setup steps on the Invoices page: click Scan history.

What the summary shows

Before you start, Gennai shows an estimate of the emails in the period, the invoices they're likely to contain and the credits you have. It's an estimate: the final count can be different.

While the scan runs

• The scan runs in the background. You can keep using Gennai or close it. The progress shows on the Invoices page.
• To stop the scan, click Cancel. The invoices found until then stay in Gennai.
• Only one scan can run at a time in a workspace.

When it finishes, the Invoices page shows how many invoices were found. Click Details to see the summary: emails read, invoices added, and the emails skipped, for example because they weren't invoices or Gennai had already read them.

Credits

• Each invoice found uses one credit, like any other invoice. Emails that aren't invoices cost nothing.
• Invoices you already have in Gennai are skipped and don't use credits.
• You need at least one credit to start a scan.
• If your credits run out, the scan pauses and keeps its progress. Add credits and click Continue the scan. If that button is no longer there, scan the same period again: invoices you already have are skipped.

See How credits work.

What the scan reads

• Invoices attached as PDF files are always read. Invoices written in the body of an email are read when you turn on Also read invoices written in the email body.
• Invoices you already have are skipped, so scanning the same period again doesn't use credits twice.
• Only connected inboxes are scanned. Invoices sent to your forwarding address aren't part of a scan.

After the scan

• The invoices found appear on your Invoices page, in order of invoice date like the rest, so older invoices show further down the list.
• Invoices found by a scan aren't sent to your accounting software automatically, even if automatic export is on. Export them yourself when you've checked them.

Troubleshooting

"Another scan is already running"

Someone in your workspace already started a scan. Wait for it to finish, or cancel it, and start yours.

An inbox "needs reconnecting and was left out"

Gennai can't read that inbox until it's reconnected. Open Inboxes and click Reconnect next to it. For an IMAP inbox, connect it again with its new password, as explained in Connect an IMAP inbox. Then run the scan again.

"You have no credits left"

Add credits, then start the scan again. See How credits work.

The scan found fewer invoices than I expected

• Check the period: it has to include the dates when you received the invoices.
• Turn on Also read invoices written in the email body if your invoices come in the email itself.
• Invoices you already have in Gennai aren't added again, and documents that aren't invoices, such as orders, quotes or payment advice, are skipped.
• If an invoice written in the email itself is still missing, save the email as a PDF from your email app and upload it. See Add the invoice yourself.

For other causes, see An invoice is missing.