Bill Pay
Creating Bills
Topkey gives you three ways to add bills: upload an invoice file directly, forward vendor emails to your dedicated Topkey address, or have vendors submit invoices through their own Topkey portal access. Once a bill is created, Topkey uses AI-powered OCR to extract key details automatically so you can review and process payments faster.
Method 1: Upload a File
Use this method when you have an invoice file saved on your computer and want to add it to Topkey immediately.
- Navigate to Bill Pay → Bills.
- Click Pay a Vendor.
- In the dialog that appears, click Choose Files and select one or more invoice files from your computer.
- Click Create.
Topkey will process each uploaded file and create a separate bill for each one. The bills will appear in the Draft tab while OCR extraction runs in the background.
Supported File Types
| Format | Extension | Size Limit |
|---|---|---|
.pdf | Up to 25 MB | |
| PNG | .png | Up to 10 MB |
| JPEG | .jpg / .jpeg | Up to 10 MB |
| Excel | .xlsx | Up to 10 MB |
| CSV | .csv | Up to 10 MB |
PDFs support a higher size limit (25 MB) than all other file types (10 MB). Files outside these supported formats will be rejected during upload.
Method 2: Forward Emails from Vendors
Your Topkey account has a unique email address. When you — or your vendors — forward invoice emails to that address, Topkey automatically receives the email, extracts any attachments, and runs OCR to create a draft bill.
Finding Your Forwarding Address
- Navigate to Bill Pay → Bills.
- Click Send By Email.
Your unique forwarding address is displayed there. Share it with vendors or save it to your email client so you can forward invoices with a single click.
Your forwarding address is unique to your account. If you regenerate it, the old address will stop working immediately. Update any vendors or saved contacts that use the previous address before regenerating.
Regenerating Your Forwarding Address
If your forwarding address has been shared with unintended parties or you need to rotate it for any reason, you can generate a new one. Navigate to Bill Pay → Bills, click Send By Email, and select the option to regenerate your address. The previous address will be invalidated immediately.
Viewing Received Emails
To see all emails your account has received, navigate to Bill Pay → Inbox.
The inbox displays each received email with its date, processing status, and sender or subject line. Use the status tabs to filter by:
- All — every email received
- Pending — emails currently being processed
- Success — emails that were processed and generated a bill
- Failed — emails that could not be processed
- Error — emails that encountered an error during processing
What Happens When an Email Arrives
When Topkey receives a forwarded email:
- Any invoice attachments are extracted from the email.
- OCR runs on each attachment to identify bill details.
- A draft bill is created and appears in the Draft tab of your bill list.
You can also view the original email body from within the bill detail view — open the bill and look for the option to view the source email.
Retrying a Failed Email
Only emails showing an Error status are eligible to be retried. If an email shows the Error status, open it from the inbox and click Retry to reprocess it. Emails with other statuses (such as Pending or Failed) cannot be retried.
Method 3: Vendor Portal
If a vendor has been granted access to your Topkey account, they can upload invoices directly through their own portal. Bills submitted by vendors will appear in your bill list for review, just like bills created through the other methods.
Method 4: Manual Entry (No Invoice File)
If you don't have an invoice file on hand, you can still create a bill and enter all details manually.
- Navigate to Bill Pay → Bills.
- Click Pay a Vendor.
- Leave the file selector empty — do not choose any files.
- Click Create.
Topkey will create a blank draft bill and open it for editing. You can fill in the vendor, amount, due date, line items, and all other details by hand.
Manual entry is useful for recurring expenses where you know the amount but don't receive a formal invoice, or when you're entering a bill retroactively.
After Upload: Reviewing OCR-Extracted Details
After a file is uploaded or an email attachment is received, Topkey's OCR engine attempts to extract the following details from the invoice:
- Vendor name
- Invoice number
- Invoice amount
- Invoice date
- Line items
The bill is placed in the Draft tab while processing runs. Once complete, the OCR status is reflected on the bill:
- Processing — extraction is still in progress
- Success — details were extracted and populated on the bill
- Error — extraction encountered a problem; review the bill and enter details manually
- No Bill Detected — the file did not appear to contain an invoice; enter details manually
OCR extraction is automatic but not always perfect. Always review the extracted vendor name, invoice number, amount, and date before submitting a bill for payment.
After OCR completes, open the bill from the Draft tab to review and correct any extracted fields before submitting.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I upload multiple invoices at once? Yes. When you click Choose Files in the upload dialog, you can select multiple files. Topkey will create a separate draft bill for each file uploaded.
What should I do if OCR extracted the wrong amount or vendor? Open the bill from the Draft tab and edit any incorrect fields before submitting. OCR provides a starting point, but all fields are fully editable.
What happens if I regenerate my forwarding email address? Your old forwarding address is immediately invalidated and will no longer route emails to your Topkey inbox. Any vendors or saved email rules using the old address will need to be updated with the new one.