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What is a supply import and what are the ways to do it?

Add a supply by importing an invoice photo with Postie AI or a spreadsheet, instead of adding products manually. 

Supply import is a way to add a supply to Poster without entering every product yourself: Poster fills in the products, quantities, and prices for you, either by recognizing a photo of an invoice or by reading a spreadsheet file. Import can be done in two ways: via Postie AI (recognizing a photo or PDF of an invoice, in the management console or the Poster POS app) or via a spreadsheet file (CSV, XLS, or XLSX, in the management console).

How importing a supply differs from adding it manually

When you add a supply manually, you search for and add each product or ingredient yourself, entering its quantity and price by hand. Import is a separate, faster way of filling in the same kind of supply: it doesn't replace manual adding and you can still edit any imported product afterward — it just saves you from typing in every line when you already have the data as a photo or a file.

Import via Postie AI

Import via Postie AI is suited for cases when all you have is a paper or photographed supplier invoice and no spreadsheet — Postie AI recognizes the text and matches products to items already in your account.

Importing in the management console:

  1. Open Applications → Postie AI, and in the Recognize supply invoice section, click Start.
  2. Upload a photo of the invoice or receipt, or a PDF document.
  3. Wait for the recognition to finish and check whether the products have been matched correctly. If needed, edit the names, quantities, or prices.
  4. Click Save.

Importing in the Poster POS app:

  1. Log in to a Poster POS account.
  2. Tap ≡ in the top-right corner of the screen.
  3. In the Applications section, tap Add invoice from photo.
  4. Upload a document or photo.
  5. Wait until the document is recognized, then save the supply.

How to check the result of a Postie AI import. The saved supply appears in the management console under Inventory → Supplies, same as any other supply. Postie AI remembers the last storage location used for each supplier and fills it in automatically next time; it also learns from your corrections — once you match a product name from an invoice to an item in your account, Postie AI will match it automatically in future invoices from the same supplier.

Postie AI action limits. Postie AI includes 20 free actions per month (one invoice = one action), renewed automatically on the day the app was connected. If needed, you can activate 10 USD/month for 100 additional actions in Settings → Billing, for a total of up to 120 invoices per month. If all actions for the month are used, the Start button becomes inactive and recognition can't be started until the limit renews.

Import from a spreadsheet

Import from a spreadsheet is suited for large supplies you already have as a table, for example exported from a supplier's own system.

💡 To get a spreadsheet template, export an existing supply from a storage location, or download the sample file. Remove the example ingredients and products from the template, fill in the columns, and import the file into Poster.

  1. Open Inventory → Supplies in the Poster management console.
  2. Click Add.
  3. Click the Import Supply field to select a spreadsheet from your computer and upload it to Poster. Use files in CSV, XLS, or XLSX format for import.
  4. Select the columns you want to import.
  5. Click Continue.
  6. Review the imported products and ingredients, their quantities, unit prices, and the total supply amount.
  7. Click Save.

Difference between Postie AI import and spreadsheet import

Import via Postie AI is done from a photo or PDF of an invoice and works in both the management console and the Poster POS app; it requires no prior file preparation, but is limited by the account's monthly action quota and only recognizes standard units. Import from a spreadsheet is done from a CSV, XLS, or XLSX file and is only available in the management console; it requires a prepared file with the correct columns, but has no action limit and lets you import any number of products at once.

Both methods produce the same result — a regular supply that you can review and edit before saving, and that appears afterward in Inventory → Supplies together with manually added supplies.

Limitation

  • Import via Postie AI only works with suppliers and storage locations that already exist in your account — it cannot create new ones.
  • Postie AI only recognizes standard units (liters, kilograms, pieces). If you need a different ordering unit, change it after saving the supply.
  • Blurry or low-quality photos may cause Postie AI recognition errors.
  • You can upload up to two photos of the same invoice with Postie AI — useful when the information doesn't fit on one page, or for the back side.
  • Postie AI is limited to 20 free actions per month, or up to 120 with the paid add-on; there is no such limit for spreadsheet import.
  • Spreadsheet import only accepts files in CSV, XLS, or XLSX format.