Why the printed total always wins

Most extraction tools recompute the invoice from its lines. That looks tidy and is often wrong. Settlement discounts, rounding and delivery sit outside the line table. A bookkeeper who has spent twenty years with purchase invoices already knows this; the software often does not.

BillFlow Ai keeps the figure printed as the total and records a warning when the lines disagree. The accountant can correct the coding. They should not have to hunt for a number the document already stated.

That rule matters for UK VAT as much as for the header total. Mixed-rate bills, settlement discounts and carriage charged outside the line block are where recomputed extracts drift. The draft that lands in Xero should match what the supplier asked you to pay — not a quietly “fixed” sum that no longer matches the PDF.

You still see the lines. You still see the warning. What you do not get is an authorised-looking total that the practice then has to unpick in Xero.

If you want the rest of the loop: forward the invoice to your private BillFlow inbox, let supplier rules apply the nominal and INPUT2, and find an ACCPAY draft with the original PDF attached. Authorising stays in the practice.

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