Paper invoices still arrive. We wrote the original version of this post in 2014 and the argument for switching hasn’t really moved on since, which is either funny or depressing depending on your mood. What has changed is what you can do with an invoice the moment it lands in your inbox as a PDF.
Below are eight reasons it’s worth asking suppliers to switch, plus how to route those emailed invoices straight into Datamolino so they process themselves.
1. It’s faster
Email arrives in seconds. Post arrives in days. A supplier who emails invoices on the day they’re raised lets you reconcile against close to real time instead of waiting for the monthly paper dump. In Datamolino, a PDF that lands in your folder inbox starts processing immediately.
2. Nothing new for the supplier to set up
This is the objection that kills most switch-to-email requests: “My supplier says it’s too much hassle.” It usually isn’t. If their accounting software is from this century, it can export a PDF. If they have an email address, they can attach one. The workflow is the same minus the printer.
3. PDFs are universal
PDF is the format nobody argues about. It opens on any device and doesn’t drift between email clients the way a Word doc can. For automated processing, that matters. Datamolino’s extraction is deterministic: it reads a clean PDF the same way every time.
4. The invoice looks the same every time
When a supplier emails a PDF generated straight from their accounting software, the layout stays consistent. Same logo placement, same line-item structure, same VAT breakdown. That’s what makes supplier-level coding rules in Datamolino useful. Set a default ledger account and tax code once, and they apply every time that supplier sends an invoice.
5. Storage is effectively free
A PDF invoice is about 50 KB per page. A filing cabinet is not. Datamolino keeps every document you’ve processed for as long as you have an account, and when you export a bill to Xero or QuickBooks, the original PDF goes with it. You’re not locked in, and if HMRC asks, you’re not searching through boxes.
6. Search actually works
Looking for an invoice from October 2022 that mentioned a specific supplier? In a filing cabinet that’s a morning gone. In Datamolino it’s ten seconds. Supplier names, invoice numbers, dates, and amounts are all indexed.
7. PDFs are harder to tamper with
Paper invoices can be altered and so can Word documents. PDFs can be locked with passwords and permissions that prevent editing. If you’re doing the books for someone else, the audit trail isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s half the job.
8. It saves the supplier money too
This is the argument that actually works when you’re asking a supplier to switch. Printing, envelopes, stamps, and the time spent stuffing and mailing add up fast for anyone sending hundreds of invoices a month. An email costs nothing. Most suppliers are fine with it once you put it that way.
How to route emailed invoices into Datamolino
Every folder in Datamolino has its own unique email address, something like yourfolder@dtmln.com. You’ll find it under the folder name on your Dashboard. Anything sent or CC’d to that address gets processed as a purchase invoice automatically.
A few ways people actually use it:
- Ask suppliers to CC the folder address when they invoice you. The invoice still reaches you the usual way. A copy lands in Datamolino at the same time.
- Forward from your own inbox. If a supplier isn’t ready to CC directly, forward yourself. Attachments process and the email body is captured alongside.
- Point your office scanner at the folder address. Most scanners can email scanned documents. Paper becomes digital with no extra step.
- Whitelist the senders you trust. Emails from whitelisted addresses process automatically. New senders go to quarantine for you to approve. It’s a sanity check, not a wall.
A couple of subject-line tags are worth knowing: @sales processes as sales invoices instead of purchases, @split treats each page as a separate invoice, and @nosplit keeps a multi-page invoice together.
FAQ
How do I set up email forwarding to Datamolino?
Every folder has a unique email address shown under the folder name on your Dashboard (editable in Folder Settings). Send or forward invoices to that address and the attachments process as purchase invoices by default.
Can suppliers send invoices to Datamolino directly?
Yes. Ask them to CC your folder’s email address when they send you an invoice. If the sender isn’t whitelisted, the first email goes to quarantine. You approve it once, and future emails from that address process automatically.
What happens to emailed invoices after they arrive?
Datamolino extracts the supplier name, invoice number, dates, amounts, tax, and (if you want them) line items. You review, apply any coding rules you’ve set, and export to your accounting software. The original PDF stays attached to the bill after export.
What if an email comes from an address I don’t recognise?
It goes to quarantine. An envelope icon appears next to the folder on your Dashboard. Open it, approve the email, and processing starts. Add trusted senders to your folder’s whitelist to skip this step in future.
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