How Otis Works
Otis turns supplier invoices into price history, product benchmarks, and alerts. It helps hospitality operators compare like-for-like prices, detect hidden increases, and protect margins without manually checking every invoice line.
How does Otis connect to supplier invoice emails?
Otis connects to Gmail, Outlook, and hosted mailboxes with secure authentication, then monitors incoming supplier emails for invoice signals. It captures invoice attachments as they arrive, applies processing labels where supported, and lets hospitality teams tune sender rules without forwarding files or manually uploading documents.
Otis seamlessly connects to your Gmail or Outlook account to automatically capture invoices from your suppliers. No manual uploads required - we find and process invoices as they arrive in your inbox.
Key Features:
- One-click connection to Gmail or Outlook
- Automatic invoice detection and capture
- Secure OAuth authentication - we never see your password
- Works with any supplier that sends invoices via email
Default Email Filters
By default, Otis looks for emails containing the keyword "invoice" in the subject line, email body, or attachment name. This ensures we capture all your supplier invoices automatically.
Tracking Processed Emails
Google and Microsoft mailboxes are tagged with OTIS_PROCESSED after capture. Other hosted mailboxes connected with IMAP are processed silently, so Otis does not move, label, or mark those messages as read.
Sender Processing Rules
Fine-tune which emails Otis processes using green lists and red lists.
Include in Processing
Green listTrusted senders whose emails are always processed, even without the "invoice" keyword.
Example entries:
vendor@example.com@vendor.comCurrent green list:
accounts@customer.ie
Owner auto-added
Block from Processing
Red listSkip processing entirely for specific senders.
Example entries:
vendor@example.com@spam.comNo entries. Non-green-listed senders follow the invoice keyword rule.
How does Otis extract invoice data?
Otis reads supplier invoices and extracts product names, quantities, pack sizes, unit prices, totals, dates, and supplier details. The parsed data becomes structured price history that teams can review, compare, and use for alerts, even when suppliers send different invoice formats or attachment types.
Our advanced AI reads and extracts key data from every invoice - product names, quantities, unit prices, and more. No matter the format, Otis understands your invoices.
Key Features:
- AI-powered extraction handles any invoice format
- Captures product names, quantities, prices, and dates
- Identifies supplier information automatically
- Handles PDFs, images, and email attachments
How does product price normalisation work?
Product price normalisation converts different invoice descriptions, pack sizes, and units into comparable products and prices, such as price per kilogram, litre, or unit. This lets Otis compare like-for-like across suppliers and spot hidden increases caused by renamed items, changed quantities, or altered packaging.
Otis normalises all prices to a standard unit (per kg, per litre, per unit) so you can compare like-for-like across suppliers and over time. Hidden price increases in changing pack sizes? We catch them.
Key Features:
- Converts all prices to standardised units
- Detects pack size changes that hide price increases
- Matches products across different supplier naming conventions
- Tracks price history for every product
- Industry benchmarking against market averages
How Product Normalisation Works
Different suppliers describe the same product in different ways. Otis intelligently maps these variations to a standardised product name and calculates a price per unit for accurate comparison.
Matched Products
Invoice Description
Milk Full Fat 2 litre
€3.40
Normalised Product
Whole Milk
€1.70 per litre
Invoice Description
Fresh Milk 1L
€1.70
Normalised Product
Whole Milk
€1.70 per litre
Invoice Description
Catering Milk Whole 3L
€4.80
Normalised Product
Whole Milk
€1.60 per litre
How does Otis alert restaurants about supplier price increases?
Otis alerts restaurants and hospitality teams when supplier prices rise, pack sizes change, or a product appears above benchmark pricing. Each alert points to the affected item and comparison context, so teams can renegotiate, switch suppliers, or check an invoice before margin loss compounds.
Receive instant alerts when prices increase, when you're paying above market rate, or when pack sizes change. Otis keeps you informed so you can negotiate proactively.
Key Features:
- Real-time alerts for price increases
- Weekly digest emails with key insights
- Customisable alert thresholds
- Compare against industry benchmarks
- Mobile-friendly notifications
Example Alert
Here's what an Otis price alert looks like when we detect a significant price difference:
Hello,
We've detected a price change that you should be aware of:
Cornflour from Supplier A is 12% higher than Supplier B