Does CapturePoint 6 come with utility bill samples?

Yes. It installs utility billing sample documents: electric, gas, water and sewer, waste and telecom bills from fictional utilities, with past-due notices and credit-and-rebill pairs mixed in. Its Utility Billing setup reads account numbers, dates, due dates and amounts from statements, invoices, past-due notices and credit memos.

Can it capture usage, like kWh or gallons?

Add usage and its unit as fields on your bill types and confirm them on a few bills from each utility; the job learns where each utility prints them. Usage is worth capturing if anyone tracks consumption by site, because it is the one number the payment system never needs and the energy manager always asks for.

Should we capture every charge line?

Usually not for payment. The amount due, current charges and the account are enough to pay and code a bill. Capture the charge lines only if someone audits rates, riders and taxes, and test them on your longest bills first.

Most of our bills are PDFs from utility portals. Is scanning the right tool?

CapturePoint 6 imports PDFs as well as scanning paper, so a folder of downloaded bills works the same way. If the bills should flow straight into another system, Paige, Ademero's cloud service, reads PDFs and returns the data by download, SFTP or webhook.

Utility Bill Data Extraction for AP Teams

Why utility bills are a grind

A retail chain, property manager, franchise group or school district gets one bill per account, per service, per month: electric, gas, water and sewer, waste, phone lines and data circuits, for every site. Each utility has its own layout, account numbers are long and full of dashes, and a missed due date means a late charge or, worse, a disconnect notice.

Accounts payable needs three things from each bill: which account and site it is for, how much to pay and by when, and which general ledger code to charge. Facilities or an energy manager often wants a fourth: how much was used.

The fields that matter

FieldAccount number: Where it usually isA box at the top right, and again on the payment stub; Why it mattersThe key to the site, the vendor record and the GL code.
FieldService address or location code: Where it usually isA service information block; Why it mattersWhich site the bill belongs to; one account can serve several addresses.
FieldStatement or bill number: Where it usually isBeside the account number; Why it mattersPrevents paying the same bill twice.
FieldBill date and billing period: Where it usually isTop box and service information; Why it mattersAccrual and period reporting.
FieldDue date: Where it usually isNext to the amount due and on the stub; Why it mattersLate charges start after it.
FieldAmount due: Where it usually isThe largest number on the page; Why it mattersWhat to pay.
FieldPrevious balance, payments, current charges: Where it usually isAn account summary; Why it mattersSeparates this month's cost from carried balances.
FieldUsage and unit: Where it usually isA usage box or meter read table; Why it matterskWh, therms, gallons or CCF, for tracking consumption.
FieldMeter number and read type: Where it usually isThe meter read table; Why it mattersAn estimated read means next month will correct it.
FieldRemit-to address: Where it usually isThe payment stub; Why it mattersChanges more often than you think.

Field	Where it usually is	Why it matters
Account number	A box at the top right, and again on the payment stub	The key to the site, the vendor record and the GL code.
Service address or location code	A service information block	Which site the bill belongs to; one account can serve several addresses.
Statement or bill number	Beside the account number	Prevents paying the same bill twice.
Bill date and billing period	Top box and service information	Accrual and period reporting.
Due date	Next to the amount due and on the stub	Late charges start after it.
Amount due	The largest number on the page	What to pay.
Previous balance, payments, current charges	An account summary	Separates this month's cost from carried balances.
Usage and unit	A usage box or meter read table	kWh, therms, gallons or CCF, for tracking consumption.
Meter number and read type	The meter read table	An estimated read means next month will correct it.
Remit-to address	The payment stub	Changes more often than you think.

The Utility Billing setup in CapturePoint 6 reads account number, statement date, payment due date and closing balance from statements; invoice number, bill date, account number, service address, total and due date from invoices; and account, dates and vendor from past-due notices and credit memos. Usage, meter reads and billing period are fields you add.

BillerName and customer service details. Look it up in your vendor list.
Account boxAccount number, statement number, bill date and page count.
Service informationCustomer, service address, location code, billing period, rate schedule.
Account summary and amount duePrevious balance, payments, current charges, amount due and due date.
UsageUsage this period with its unit, and billing demand on larger accounts.
ChargesDelivery, energy, demand, riders, taxes and fees.
Payment stubAccount, amount due and due date again, the remit-to address and a barcode.

A schematic of a typical electric bill. Gas, water and telecom bills move the boxes around but carry the same fields.

A worked example

From the utility billing sample documents that come with CapturePoint 6: a fictional two-page electric bill from Piedmont Valley Electric Cooperative to Harborlight Retail Group, Inc., for one of its offices.

FieldAccount number: Value on the bill7-0804-8686
FieldStatement number: Value on the billS260597018
FieldBill date: Value on the bill05/01/2026
FieldService address: Value on the bill1685 Tannery Bend Road, Suite 800, Milwaukie, OR 97222
FieldLocation code: Value on the billOFFICE-01
FieldCustomer reference: Value on the bill6110-ELEC
FieldBilling period: Value on the bill03/30/2026 to 04/30/2026 (32 days)
FieldUsage: Value on the bill28,977 kWh
FieldPrevious balance, payments: Value on the bill3,170.71 and -3,170.71
FieldCurrent charges and amount due: Value on the bill3,139.75
FieldPayment due by: Value on the bill05/22/2026

Field	Value on the bill
Account number	7-0804-8686
Statement number	S260597018
Bill date	05/01/2026
Service address	1685 Tannery Bend Road, Suite 800, Milwaukie, OR 97222
Location code	OFFICE-01
Customer reference	6110-ELEC
Billing period	03/30/2026 to 04/30/2026 (32 days)
Usage	28,977 kWh
Previous balance, payments	3,170.71 and -3,170.71
Current charges and amount due	3,139.75
Payment due by	05/22/2026

Two details worth noticing. The customer reference printed on the bill, 6110-ELEC, is the customer's own GL code: if your utilities will print your codes, ask them to. And the five charge groups (delivery 46.00, energy 1,779.19, demand 799.46, riders 262.47, taxes and fees 252.63) add up exactly to the 3,139.75 current charges, which is a check worth running on every bill you capture charges from.

Common traps

Account numbers that do not match your vendor master

The bill prints 7-0804-8686, the stub barcode carries 708048686, and your vendor master has it with spaces. Compare account numbers on letters and digits only, and keep a list of every account with its site and GL code to match against.

Long telecom bills

Wireless and circuit bills run to many pages of call detail, and the pages after the first look almost identical. In the CapturePoint 6 sample set they run from 5 to 30 pages. Capture the summary page, keep the rest in the same PDF, and check that long bills are kept in one piece.

Estimated reads

When the meter could not be read, the utility estimates, and next month's actual read corrects it. Usage on an estimated bill is not real consumption. Capture the read type if you report usage.

Past-due and disconnect notices

One-page notices arrive between bills and must not be filed as just another statement. Give them their own document type and send them to a person the same day.

Credit and rebill

When a utility fixes a bill, it often sends a credit for the original and a new bill. Capture the original invoice number on the credit so the pair can be matched, or you pay the corrected amount on top of the original.

Summary bills and carried balances

A summary bill covers many accounts on one statement. And an amount due that includes an unpaid previous balance is not this month's cost: pay the amount due, but expense the current charges.

Worn and faxed copies

Mailed statements arrive with fold lines and envelope wear, and some come by fax. The sample set includes both on purpose. Expect poor copies to wait for a person more often, and do not count on handwritten notes on a bill being read.

Setting up capture, step by step

Gather a folder of real bills. A few months from each utility and service type, including a long telecom bill, a past-due notice and a credit. Paper bills scan through any TWAIN scanner; portal downloads go in as PDF files.
Run automatic setup. Install CapturePoint 6 (the free trial starts on first launch, with no form), choose Use my own documents and add the folder. Setup reads the pages, finds where each bill starts and ends, and proposes document types and fields. The utility billing sample documents installed with CapturePoint 6 make a good practice folder.
Add the fields you need. Billing period, usage and unit, and location code if your bills print one. Set amounts as currency, dates as dates and the account number as an identifier.
Read the stub barcode. Many payment stubs carry the account number, and often the amount, in a barcode. A field can be read from a barcode instead of the printed text, with an optional symbology and prefix to pick the right one.
Match accounts to sites. Import your account list as a CSV and look up the account number; one match fills the site, vendor number and GL code. An account that is not on the list waits for a person, which is also how you find new accounts.
Review, then let it run. Needs review says why each bill is waiting. Confirm with Ctrl+Enter; corrections teach the job, and bills that now pass your thresholds clear on their own.
Name and send. For example Utilities / OFFICE-01 / Electric / 2026-05-01_7-0804-8686.pdf. Export to a folder (searchable PDF, data file, text file), to Ademero Content Central, and if you like also to SharePoint or OneDrive (work or school accounts), Google Drive, Dropbox or Nucleus One.

CapturePoint handling 12 more documents on its own after learning from one — After you confirm a few documents, CapturePoint 6 re-checks the ones still waiting and clears those that now pass your review thresholds (shown on the Invoices sample job).

Where the data goes next

Accounts payable: the data file feeds your AP or ERP import with vendor, account, amount, due date and GL code, and the searchable PDF is attached as the image.
Approvals: in Content Central, bills can route to each site's manager for approval with deadlines and escalation before payment.
Energy and cost reporting: usage, period and site by month, straight from the data file into a spreadsheet.
Audit: every bill findable by account, site or any word on the page, years later.

CapturePoint 6 export settings: a network folder, an example path built from document type, vendor, date and invoice number, and the Change how files are named button — Export to a network folder, with folders and file names built from captured fields (shown on the Invoices sample job).

Checklist

Before utility bill capture goes live

An account list with site, vendor and GL code, imported for lookup.
Account numbers compared on letters and digits only.
Past-due and disconnect notices set up as their own type, routed the same day.
Credits carry the original invoice number.
Long telecom bills tested and kept in one piece.
Read type captured if usage is reported.
Amount due paid; current charges expensed.
File naming agreed with whoever looks bills up by site.

Utility bill data extraction: accounts, amounts and usage