Frequently asked questions
Connecting and disconnecting
Section titled “Connecting and disconnecting”How do I disconnect a client?
Section titled “How do I disconnect a client?”Go to the client settings and click Disconnect. The button names the connected platform, for example Disconnect from Xero or Disconnect from FreeAgent. This stops all syncing and prevents new documents from being published. Documents already in Capture are kept, and anything already published to your accounting platform remains unchanged.
What happens to my data if I disconnect?
Section titled “What happens to my data if I disconnect?”- Documents already in Capture stay in Capture. Nothing is deleted
- Bills and invoices already published stay in your accounting platform
- Synced reference data (contacts, accounts, tax rates) is no longer refreshed
- You can reconnect at any time to resume
Can I reconnect after disconnecting?
Section titled “Can I reconnect after disconnecting?”Yes. Open the client settings and click Reconnect. Reconnecting triggers a fresh data sync, and you can resume processing and publishing documents.
A client shows “Disconnected” or “Connection failed”. What happened?
Section titled “A client shows “Disconnected” or “Connection failed”. What happened?”Capture’s access to the connected organisation has been removed. You’ll see Disconnected when the connection was removed cleanly, or Connection failed when a sync or publish hit a connection that no longer works. Either way, organisation admins get a notification, and you fix it by opening the client settings and clicking Reconnect, or using the Reconnect action in the Needs setup list on the Clients page.
How a platform-side disconnect reaches Capture differs by platform. On Xero, Otto checks each client once a day and mirrors a revocation made inside Xero. FreeAgent has no such check, so a FreeAgent connection only changes when you disconnect it in Capture, and to revoke Capture’s access entirely you remove it inside FreeAgent. See Xero and FreeAgent.
Data sync
Section titled “Data sync”What data does Capture sync from my accounting platform?
Section titled “What data does Capture sync from my accounting platform?”Contacts, account codes or categories, tax rates, currencies, tracking categories (Xero), and basic organisation details. See Data flow for the full list.
How often does data sync?
Section titled “How often does data sync?”A full sync runs when you first connect a client. After that, you can trigger a manual sync from the client configuration page at any time.
I added a new account or category, but it’s not showing in Capture
Section titled “I added a new account or category, but it’s not showing in Capture”Trigger a manual refresh from the client configuration page. The new account will be available once the sync completes.
Does Capture modify anything in my accounting platform?
Section titled “Does Capture modify anything in my accounting platform?”Capture only creates new bills, invoices, contacts, and attachments. It never modifies or deletes existing data. See what Capture does not modify for details.
Processing and extraction
Section titled “Processing and extraction”How long does processing take?
Section titled “How long does processing take?”Most documents are processed within a few minutes. Processing time depends on document complexity, image quality, and current queue volume.
What document types can Capture process?
Section titled “What document types can Capture process?”Bills and purchase credit notes (accounts payable), and sales invoices and sales credit notes (accounts receivable). Otto classifies each document automatically during processing.
What file formats are supported?
Section titled “What file formats are supported?”PDF, common image formats (JPEG, PNG, HEIC, HEIF, WebP, TIFF, GIF, BMP, AVIF), Office documents (DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, ODT, ODS), and HTML.
What if Otto extracts the wrong data?
Section titled “What if Otto extracts the wrong data?”Otto doesn’t always get it right, especially with unfamiliar suppliers. Every field is editable during review, so you can put things straight before publishing.
What if Otto can’t determine the document type?
Section titled “What if Otto can’t determine the document type?”The document is marked as Needs classification. You can set the type (bill or sales invoice) manually, and Otto continues processing from there.
What if there are multiple receipts in one image?
Section titled “What if there are multiple receipts in one image?”Capture detects when multiple documents appear in a single image and marks it as Needs manual split. You’ll need to submit the documents separately.
Multi-organisation
Section titled “Multi-organisation”Can one account manage multiple organisations?
Section titled “Can one account manage multiple organisations?”Yes. Each accounting platform organisation is represented as a separate client in Capture. You can have as many clients as you need within your practice.
Do clients share any data?
Section titled “Do clients share any data?”No. Each client’s data (documents, contacts, accounting configuration) is completely separate. Changes to one client don’t affect any others.
Security
Section titled “Security”How are documents stored?
Section titled “How are documents stored?”Documents are stored in encrypted cloud storage (Amazon S3). Each file is organised by organisation and client, with access controlled through signed URLs that expire after a short period.
Are documents scanned for malware?
Section titled “Are documents scanned for malware?”Yes. Every uploaded document is scanned for malware before processing. If a threat is detected, the document is quarantined and won’t be processed.
How are accounting platform credentials stored?
Section titled “How are accounting platform credentials stored?”Access tokens are encrypted at rest using symmetric encryption with support for key rotation. Capture never stores your accounting platform username or password.
Who can access my data?
Section titled “Who can access my data?”Only users in your organisation can access your documents and client data. Your data is kept completely separate from other organisations, and we enforce this separation at multiple layers, from the application through to the database, to prevent data from being accidentally exposed to the wrong organisation.
Errors and troubleshooting
Section titled “Errors and troubleshooting”A document failed to publish. What should I do?
Section titled “A document failed to publish. What should I do?”Check the error message on the document. Common causes include:
- Invalid account code: The account may have been deactivated in your accounting platform. Refresh your synced data and update the line item.
- Invalid tax rate: The tax rate may no longer be valid. Refresh your synced data and select a different rate.
- Authentication error: The connection has been lost, usually because access was revoked. Reconnect your accounting platform and retry.
After fixing the issue, click Publish again to retry.
A document is stuck in “Processing”
Section titled “A document is stuck in “Processing””Documents occasionally take longer to process if the queue is busy. If a document has been processing for more than 15 minutes, please contact support.
Why was my document quarantined?
Section titled “Why was my document quarantined?”The malware scan detected a potential threat in the file. Quarantined files cannot be processed. We recommend notifying the sender so they can perform a full security scan of their device. They should then re-send the document once confirmed that any viruses or malware are removed. Please contact support if you believe the scanner has incorrectly marked the document as having a virus, and we will investigate.
Billing
Section titled “Billing”How does Otto Capture pricing work?
Section titled “How does Otto Capture pricing work?”Capture is priced per client, per month, across three tiers. You don’t choose a plan: each client sits automatically on whichever tier is cheapest for the number of documents it published that month, so you never overpay or move clients between tiers to find the best deal.
| Tier | Monthly price | Included documents |
|---|---|---|
| Small | £9 | 50 |
| Medium | £15 | 125 |
| Large | £29 | 350 |
All prices exclude VAT. You receive one monthly bill covering every connected client, each charged on its own cheapest tier.
What sets a client’s tier each month?
Section titled “What sets a client’s tier each month?”A client’s tier is set by how many documents are published to your accounting platform that month. Published documents are what’s counted, and Capture always lands the client on the cheapest tier for that volume. A document published as a draft in Xero still counts, since it has been published. Documents that are never published, including any you discard, don’t add to the count.
Are discarded documents charged?
Section titled “Are discarded documents charged?”Discarding a document doesn’t publish it, so it doesn’t add to a client’s published volume or move the client to a higher tier. The same is true of documents that fail during processing or are quarantined by the malware scan.
Are credit notes charged?
Section titled “Are credit notes charged?”A credit note you publish counts as one published document, the same as a bill or invoice. Credit notes you discard or never publish aren’t charged.
Is a client charged if nothing is published?
Section titled “Is a client charged if nothing is published?”A client with no documents published in a month is not charged. Billing follows what you publish to your accounting platform, so a connected client you publish nothing for costs you nothing that month.
What happens if a client publishes more than its tier’s included documents?
Section titled “What happens if a client publishes more than its tier’s included documents?”There’s no price cliff. As a client’s published volume grows, it simply moves to whichever tier is cheapest for that volume, so rising usage is smooth rather than a sudden jump between prices.
How am I billed, and is there a minimum commitment?
Section titled “How am I billed, and is there a minimum commitment?”You’re billed monthly in arrears for actual usage, in a single bill covering all your connected clients. There’s no minimum term and no minimum number of clients, and you can stop at any time. If you do, you only pay for the usage in your final billing period.