Founder and CEO of Dublin-based startup OCREX Brendan Woods speaks about how he quit his role as a software developer to set up a company to automate data entry for accountants and bookkeepers.
Q. Tell us about your company.
OCREX product AutoEntry helps you become more productive, letting you focus on running your business rather than doing admin. It’s an intelligent, automated cloud-based solution which eliminates bookkeeping data entry so you will never again have to type up invoices or receipts.
Available on both web and mobile apps, AutoEntry captures and analyses details from scanned and photographed invoices, receipts, bank and card statements and inputs them directly into your accounting software or lets you simply download into Excel.
We eliminate data entry for accountants and bookkeepers – automating everything between snapping a photo of invoices, receipts or statements on your phone, to having all of the information entered and categorised in your accounts software.
If people in your business are still spending hours manually entering data into accounting software, they need to stop. They need to know that this isn’t necessary anymore. Most accounting data entry can now be automated, providing accountants and bookkeepers with time savings of up to 90%.
Q. What makes your service unique?
AutoEntry stands out due to the quality of its features which outshine other solutions in this space. This includes advanced features like purchase order matching and the ability to capture full line item details from invoices.
Rigorous testing of your product-market fit and to be vigilant not to make assumptions about what your intended customers might want
In terms of business impact, AutoEntry provides users with significant cost and time savings whilst also eliminating the traditional side effect of human error arising from manual data entry. Its flexible pricing structure and ease of use is unmatched in the marketplace.
Q. What advice would you give to an early-stage start up?
Rigorous testing of your product-market fit and to be vigilant not to make assumptions about what your intended customers might want, might be willing to pay, etc.
This will prevent money being spent building things that are not wanted or necessary – something that is most important when at that early stage, you have so few resources and have little room for making mistakes.
Take more time to seek out the valuable resources available to startups from both local enterprise boards and Enterprise Ireland. Don’t wait until you need money to start preparing to raise funds and don’t be shy to ask for, and take advice from, everyone and anyone who can give it!
Q. What are your plans for the next 12 months?
Primarily, our aim is to continue our growth in the UK and to establish a significant presence in some target international markets. We also expect to secure a new round of funding in the first half of this year to support this endeavour.
Q. What is the most exciting thing in tech right now?
The rapidly growing applications of artificial intelligence. Its development stands to transform most every aspect of our lives and it’s already making a huge impact on businesses around the globe, even in accountancy.
It will be fascinating to monitor advancement in this field over the next few years, and continue to leverage these breakthroughs into our own line of business.
The AutoEntry team
