Receive by email

This guide describes how to receive invoices by email. xTool gives your organisation a dedicated mailbox. Suppliers send the invoice to that address; xTool creates an inbound document automatically.

You do not upload the file yourself.

How it works

1. You create a mailbox in xTool and copy the email address.
2. You share that address with suppliers (or with your accounting team).
3. They send an email with the invoice attached.
4. xTool checks the mailbox regularly, processes new messages, and lists the document under Documents → Inbound.

xTool checks the mailbox about every 30 minutes. After a supplier sends an invoice, wait for the next check before looking for the document.

Set up the mailbox

You need permission to manage integrations. See Organisation and users.

1. Sign in to the xTool web app and select your organisation.
2. Open Interfaces → Mailbox Configuration.

3. Choose an email address:

   Option	When to use
   Personalized	Based on your company domain. Example: domain firma.de → firma-de@smtp.invoice-portal.com. If that address is already taken, xTool offers the next free one (firma-de2, firma-de3, …). Easier for suppliers to recognise.
   Random	A unique address that does not include your company name. Always available.

4. Click Create Email Mailbox.

5. Copy the Email address from the connection details and give it to your suppliers.

The mailbox status should be Active. Use Test Connection if you want to confirm that xTool can reach the mailbox.

Restrict who can send (whitelist)

On Mailbox Configuration, under Sender Whitelist, you control which senders xTool accepts.

When the whitelist is enabled, enter allowed addresses separated by semicolons. You can use * as a wildcard, for example:

• ap@supplier.de
• *@supplier.de — any address at that domain

Rejected senders can be notified if you enable Notify Sender for receive failures. See Notifications.

What to attach

The email must include at least one invoice file:

You may also attach supporting files such as CSV, PNG, JPEG, Excel (.xlsx), or ODS.

Emails without an XML or PDF invoice are rejected (for example an empty message, or only a signature image).

If the invoice is a plain PDF, xTool may use the file name as the document number.

Where to see inbound documents

• Web: Documents → Inbound. Open a document for details, files, and status.
• API: List documents with direction=inbound. GET the document by ID for full details.

See Documents UI and Document model.

Notifications

Configure notifications under Account → Notifications, in Inbound documents:

• Receiving Completed — a document was created from the email.
• Receiving Failed — the email was rejected or the document could not be processed.

For each event you can set recipient addresses and how the email is delivered (plain message, download link, or files attached). For a failed receive you can also enable Notify Sender, so the person who sent the invoice gets the rejection reason (for example: not on the whitelist, no invoice file, unsupported format).

The notification can include the invoice number and date, sender, a link to the document, the files from the email, and validation errors when the invoice is invalid.

See Notifications interface.

If documents do not appear

• Confirm the mailbox status is Active and that suppliers use the exact address shown under Mailbox Configuration.
• Wait up to about 30 minutes after the email was sent.
• If the whitelist is Enabled, check that the sender’s address (or domain) is on the list.
• Check that the email has an XML or PDF invoice attached.
• Check Account → Notifications for receive-failed messages, and open Documents → Inbound for any document that arrived with validation errors.

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