Error & Validation Guide
What our validation checks mean, common error messages, and how to fix them.
GUIDE
Support reference
1. How validation works
As we read your documents, every line of spending is checked. Each one ends up with one of three results:
| Result | What it means | Can we calculate it? |
|---|---|---|
| Passed | Everything looks right. | Yes, once you approve it. |
| Needs review | Something looked slightly odd — a date that could be read two ways, say, or text the scanner was not fully sure about. | Yes, once you approve it — but worth a quick look first. |
| Blocked | Something is definitely wrong: a required detail is missing, the Net and VAT do not add up to the Gross (we allow 1% either way), the currency is not one we recognise, or the amount is zero or negative. | No. It has to be fixed first. |
A Blocked line cannot be approved, and we will not calculate anything from it until the problem is sorted out.
2. Document-level statuses
| Status | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Pending | In the queue, not started yet. | Wait. |
| Processing | We are reading it now. | Wait — big PDFs take longer. |
| Completed | We have finished reading it. The lines are ready for you. | Go to Review. |
| Failed | We could not read it. | See the next section. |
3. Common errors and fixes
When uploading or reading a document
| What you see | Why it happens | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Stuck on Processing for a long time | A big or complicated PDF | Give it a few minutes. If it never finishes, upload it again. |
| It says Failed | The file is damaged, password-protected, or is not really an invoice | Save the PDF again without the password, or upload a clearer scan. You could also use the spreadsheet import instead. |
| "No line items found", or just one combined row | A scanned invoice with no readable table of lines | Either check that single row by hand, or use the spreadsheet template with one row per line. |
| The supplier or the amounts came out wrong | The scanner misread the text | Correct it in Review before you approve it. |
Messages on a line of spending
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| "Supplier name could not be extracted." | Type the supplier in yourself in Review. |
| "Invoice date could not be extracted." | Add the date, written as YYYY-MM-DD. |
| "Neither a monetary amount nor a consumption quantity was extracted." | Add an amount, or add a quantity and its unit. |
| The Net and VAT do not add up to the Gross (we allow 1% either way) | Correct whichever of the three figures is wrong so they add up. |
| "Currency is not a recognised code." | Use a standard three-letter code such as GBP or EUR. |
| The amount is zero or a minus figure | Correct the amount. |
| A warning about the date format | Check the date is right, and correct it if not. |
| A warning that the scan was unclear | Check the highlighted detail is correct. |
When calculating emissions
| What you see | Why it happens | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| No emission factor found for this line | We have no emission factor for the category this line ended up in | Check the category is right. For physical goods, adding a quantity and unit usually solves it and gives you a better figure too. |
| Calculation pending, or retrying | A brief problem reaching our emission factor provider | Nothing to do — we try again automatically. |
| The line was left out of the calculation | We decided this line does not produce emissions — a bank transfer, for example | This is normal. Nothing to do. |
| It calculated, but is marked as lower quality | We expected a usage figure but only had an amount, so it fell back to the estimate method | Add a quantity and a physical unit to get a better figure. |
| A non-pound amount looks wrong | The currency is not one we hold rates for, so it was treated as 1:1 with pounds | Convert it to pounds before uploading, or give a quantity and unit instead. |
4. Dashboard & reporting
| What you see | Why it happens | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| The dashboard shows zero even though documents are finished | Either the calculation has not been run yet, or the results are still drafts | Run the calculation, then publish the results. Only published figures count. |
| A figure you calculated is missing from the total | It is still a draft | Publish it. |
| "Too many requests" | A lot of requests in a short space of time | Wait a little and try again, or contact support. |
5. Access
| What you see | Why it happens | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| "Not authenticated" | You have been signed out | Sign in again. |
| A button is greyed out | Your role does not allow that action | Ask an Org Admin. Viewers can look but not change anything. |
| You cannot see another company's data | This is deliberate — every company's data is kept completely separate | Nothing to do. |
6. Still stuck?
If a document keeps failing, or a problem stays after you have tried the fixes above, get in touch with support. Tell us the document name and the exact message you saw — we keep a record of every calculation, so we can look into what happened.