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.
Submitting documents
Section titled “Submitting documents”How can client documents be submitted?
Section titled “How can client documents be submitted?”Four ways: you upload files yourself in Capture, clients forward or send email to the client’s own address, they send photos and PDFs over WhatsApp, or they use their unique client submission page. Everything arrives in the same review queue whichever route it takes.
Do the people sending documents need an Otto Capture account?
Section titled “Do the people sending documents need an Otto Capture account?”No. WhatsApp submission and the client submission page both work without an account, a download, or a password. You share a link, and that’s all anyone needs.
Can I stop a submission link working?
Section titled “Can I stop a submission link working?”Yes, and organisation admins can do it at any time, though the two routes work differently.
For WhatsApp, you remove a connected sender to stop that person submitting, and you rotate the invite link to stop anyone new joining with it. Removing someone doesn’t invalidate the code, so if they still have the current invite they could reconnect. To keep someone out for good, remove them and then rotate the link.
For a client submission page, the link is used on every send rather than only to connect, so rotating it stops it working for everyone holding it. You can also turn the page off, which switches the route off for that client rather than replacing the link.
Documents already submitted aren’t affected in any of these cases. See Client submission page and WhatsApp submission.
A client says their submission link isn’t working
Section titled “A client says their submission link isn’t working”Usually the link has been rotated or the page turned off, in which case share the current one from the client’s Client Submission settings. A link also stops working while the client is disconnected from its accounting platform, and every submission page link changes if you change your organisation prefix.
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.
A document is in a currency my client’s platform doesn’t support
Section titled “A document is in a currency my client’s platform doesn’t support”You can restate the amounts during review. On Xero, you may also be able to add the currency to the organisation instead, depending on whether the organisation’s plan includes multi-currency. FreeAgent’s supported list is fixed, so converting is the only route there. See Currency and conversion and Xero currencies.
Why can’t I add a currency to a Xero client?
Section titled “Why can’t I add a currency to a Xero client?”Multi-currency is not part of every Xero plan, and Otto only offers to add a currency where the organisation is permitted to use more than one. Where it isn’t, Xero keeps everything in the base currency and the amounts need converting before the document can be published. See Xero currencies.
Can I record a foreign currency document in my client’s base currency?
Section titled “Can I record a foreign currency document in my client’s base currency?”Yes. Open the converter on the review screen and enter the total your client was actually charged in the base currency. Otto derives the rate from that figure, restates every line, and reconciles the rounding so the lines still add up to the total. You might want to do this even where the client could publish in the document currency, since recording at the rate actually charged means the document agrees with the bank line. The original amounts are kept and can be restored at any point before publishing.
The converter says my total is above (or below) the market rate. What does that mean?
Section titled “The converter says my total is above (or below) the market rate. What does that mean?”Otto compares the total you entered against the market rate for the document’s issue date, as a check on the figure rather than a judgement on it. A total can sit outside the usual range in either direction for ordinary reasons: card markup and fixed non-sterling fees push the effective rate above the market one, and the rate can move either way between the date a document was issued and the date it was paid. Check the figure against the statement, and if it is right, press the button again to apply it. The conversion is never blocked, and the timeline records that the rate was confirmed. See Checking the total against the market rate.
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.
Anyone with a submission link can send documents. Is that safe?
Section titled “Anyone with a submission link can send documents. Is that safe?”The link is the credential, so treat it like a key and share it with the people who need it rather than posting it somewhere open. Sending a document is all it allows: there’s no way to see anything already in Capture, no way to reach any other client, and nothing reaches your accounting platform until someone in your organisation has reviewed it. Every file is scanned for malware like any other submission, and measures are in place to stop a link being used to flood your queue. Admins can rotate the link at any time, which replaces it for everyone using it.
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.