Document Processing

Kraal turns uploaded financial documents into categorized, review-ready transactions. This page covers what you can upload, how documents are processed, and best practices for getting the best results.

Supported File Formats

Format	Extensions	Typical Use
PDF	.pdf	Bank statements, invoices, tax documents
CSV	.csv	Bank exports, transaction lists, Chart of Accounts
Excel	.xlsx, .xls	Spreadsheets and financial data exports
Images	.jpg, .jpeg, .png, .webp, .tif, .tiff	Receipts, scanned documents, screenshots
Plain Text	.txt	Tab-delimited bank exports
OFX / QFX	.ofx, .qfx	Bank and financial institution downloads

Auto-Detected Document Types

When you upload a file, Kraal identifies what kind of document it is automatically. If a document is initially misclassified, Kraal corrects itself during extraction and shows you a reclassification badge.

Document Type	Description
Bank Statement	Monthly or periodic bank account transaction records
Credit Card Statement	Credit card activity and balance summaries
Invoice	Bills from vendors or suppliers
Receipt	Purchase receipts and expense documentation
Tax Document	Tax forms, returns, and related filings
Billing / Utility Statement	Utility, telecom, and subscription billing records
Expense Report	Employee expense reports and reimbursement documents

How Processing Works

1. Upload — Navigate to the Transaction Processor or Documents section, select a client, and upload one or more files. Every upload is filed under an entity: a single-entity client is assigned automatically, and a client with multiple entities asks you to select the entity the upload belongs to before processing starts. Kraal validates the file type and size and detects the document type.
2. Extraction — AI reads the document and pulls out transactions, amounts, dates, and other relevant fields. A document that produces nothing readable is marked Failed, not silently treated as extracted.
3. Review — Extracted transactions appear in a session for you to review. Each line is categorized against your Chart of Accounts with a confidence score.
4. Approve or Edit — Confirm correct entries, fix any that need adjustment, and check reconciliation balances.
5. Export — Send finalized transactions to your accounting system or download them in any of the supported formats — see Exports.

Duplicate uploads

If a file looks like one the client already has — same content or the same filename, checked across all of the client's entities — Kraal refuses the upload and shows where the existing copies live. You can cancel, or confirm the duplicate is intentional ("this belongs to this entity too") and upload anyway; approved duplicates are recorded as intentional.

Permanent Document Storage

Beyond transaction processing, you can store reference documents permanently for each client. Go to Settings > Clients > [Client Name] > Documents to upload and organize files such as:

• Chart of Accounts (CSV, XLSX)
• Bank and credit card statements
• Tax returns
• Invoices and receipts
• Expense reports

These files are kept for long-term reference and are not run through the transaction pipeline unless you choose to process them.

Best Practices

• Use bank-generated PDFs rather than scanned or photographed copies for the most accurate extraction.
• Remove password protection before uploading. Encrypted PDFs cannot be processed.
• Keep files under 25 MB per upload.
• Batch upload multiple files at once to save time.
• Name files descriptively (e.g., chase_bank_statement_jan2026.pdf) to help Kraal classify them correctly.
• Upload a Chart of Accounts for each client so AI categorization can match your GL codes accurately.

TIP

If processing fails on a document, check that the file is not encrypted or corrupted, then click Retry to re-process it.