Case Study

Docavo: clean records in, clear records out.

A financial proof assistant for UK sole traders and landlords. It reads receipts, invoices and statements line by line, checks them against UK VAT and expense rules, and records only what you confirm.

Line by line

Every receipt checked

Nothing

Auto-claimed

By quarter

UK tax year filing

Proof kept

Document attached

The problem

Sole traders and landlords accumulate receipts, supplier invoices and bank statements all year, then have to turn them into records they can defend. Most bookkeeping apps that promise to automate this quietly decide things on the user's behalf: they categorise, claim and total, and treat a whole receipt as one lump at 20% VAT. For something as consequential as tax, a confident wrong number is worse than an honest flag that says this needs a look. The brief was software that does the heavy reading but never crosses the line into claims nobody agreed to.

What we built

Docavo is a web application for UK sole traders and landlords. The user photographs a till receipt, or drops in a PDF invoice or a CSV bank statement export. Every line and figure is transcribed, then tested against UK VAT and expense rules. Lines the rules can settle are given a suggested treatment (business, personal, or split); anything unclear is flagged and waits for the owner. A figure enters the records only when the owner confirms it. Confirmed records are filed against the right UK tax year and quarter with the original document still attached, so every number keeps its proof. The software remembers how a supplier was treated last time and offers that next time, but never applies it on its own.

Key decisions

The trust boundary came first and the features were built around it. Suggestions are suggestions; nothing is auto-claimed. Cash is a first-class citizen and bank matching is optional. User data is not used to train models unless the user explicitly opts in, and consent is off by default. Docavo is equally clear about what it does not do. It keeps and checks records; it does not file anything with HMRC and it is not a substitute for an accountant. The VAT ruleset is marked as draft until signed off by a qualified adviser, and every figure derived from it carries that flag through to the screen. Accountants can be given access by the client, with every action logged, and that access can be revoked by the client at any time.

Outcome

Docavo is live at docavo.co.uk with guides, articles and an FAQ, and the current limits are listed on the pricing page before anyone pays. It is published by WAPPDEV UK. The product is a direct expression of how the studio works: say what the software knows, say what it does not, and leave the consequential decision with the person who is accountable for it.

Screenshots

Docavo homepage showing a till receipt being read line by line and categorised into business, personal and needs-review items before the owner confirms
docavo.co.uk: a receipt transcribed line by line, with clear lines settled by rule and the unclear line waiting for the owner.

Technology stack

Web applicationNext.jsDocument capturePDF and CSV importDeterministic rules engineUK VAT rules

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