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Every document in RecordEngine has a status that tells you exactly where it is in the review and approval process. Understanding the workflow is the key to getting the most out of the platform. Document list showing various status badges

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The 9 Statuses

The document has just been uploaded or received (via web upload, hot folder, or email intake). It is sitting in the queue waiting for the AI worker to pick it up. You don’t need to do anything — processing starts automatically within seconds.
The AI is actively reading the document. For a clean PDF this takes 10–30 seconds. For a scanned image or audio file it may take longer. The first document after a server restart takes a few minutes while the AI model loads into GPU memory.
AI extraction is complete. The document is waiting for a human to verify the extracted fields and approve it. This is your main working status — most of your time in RecordEngine is spent here.
A reviewer has flagged that the document is incomplete or that required information could not be extracted — for example, a vendor name is missing from a damaged scan. Move the document back to Needs Review once the issue is resolved.
A reviewer has checked the extracted fields and confirmed they are correct. The document is ready to be formally approved.
The document has been formally approved and is locked against further edits. This is the sign-off status — it means a human has verified the data and taken responsibility for its accuracy.
The document has been approved and is being sent to an external system. Setting a document to Export status triggers the outbound webhook — RecordEngine POSTs the full structured payload to your configured webhook URL. This is how data flows to QuickBooks, Xero, Salesforce, or any other system.
Something went wrong during processing, or a Rules Engine rule has flagged this document for manual attention. Check the AI summary and confidence score to understand the issue.
The document is no longer active and has been removed from the default document view. Archived documents are retained in the database and can be retrieved via Advanced Search with the Archived filter applied.

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Status Flow

The typical path for a clean document: 
New → Processing → Needs Review → Ready → Approved → Export
Documents with issues may travel a different path: 
New → Processing → Needs Review → Missing Info → Needs Review → Ready → Approved
New → Processing → Exception → (manual investigation) → Needs Review → ...
Document workflow status diagram

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Working with Documents

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Opening a document

Click any document in the list to open the workspace — a three-panel view showing the original document on the left, AI summary and metadata in the centre, and extracted fields and actions on the right. RecordEngine workspace — three panel view

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Editing extracted fields

If any field needs correction:
  1. Click Edit in the right panel
  2. Click on a field value and type the correct value
  3. Click Save
Fields can only be edited while the document is in Needs Review, Missing Info, or Ready status. Once a document is Approved, it is locked. An Admin can revert the status if a correction is needed post-approval.

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Adding notes

Use the Notes field at the bottom of the right panel to add free-text context — for example, “Client confirmed this is a duplicate — do not export” or “Tax amount includes import duty.” Notes are searchable and appear in the Audit Log.

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Moving to a different folder

In the right panel, use the Move to Folder action to reassign the document to any folder under any contact. This is useful when a document arrives in a general inbox and needs to be filed under a specific client.

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Approving Documents

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Single document approval

With a document open in Needs Review status:
  1. Verify all extracted fields are correct
  2. Click Mark as Ready — status changes to Ready
  3. Click Approve — status changes to Approved and the document locks

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Batch approval

To approve multiple documents at once:
  1. In the document list, tick the checkbox on each document you want to approve
  2. Click Batch Actions → Approve
  3. All selected documents move to Approved simultaneously
Batch approval — selecting multiple documents
Use Advanced Search to filter documents by status before batch-approving. For example, filter by Status = Ready and confidence_score ≥ 80 to approve your high-confidence documents in one click, while keeping the uncertain ones for individual review.

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Exporting Documents

Setting a document to Export status fires the outbound webhook. This is the trigger that sends structured data to your external systems.
  1. With an Approved document open, click Webhook Export
  2. Status changes to Export
  3. If a webhook URL is configured in Settings, RecordEngine sends an HTTP POST within seconds containing all extracted fields, line items, confidence score, and any CRM correlation references
See Outbound Webhooks for the full payload schema, and Integrations for how to connect to specific systems.

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Document Versioning

If a document needs to be replaced with a corrected version:
  1. Open the document
  2. Click Upload New Version
  3. Select the replacement file
  4. The original is retained in version history — click Version History to view and compare all versions
Version badges (v1, v2, v3…) appear in the document list so you can always tell which version you’re looking at.

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Automating Status Transitions

The Rules Engine can automatically move documents between statuses based on conditions — for example:
  • Low confidence score → automatically set to Exception
  • High confidence score → automatically move to Ready
  • Specific vendor name → automatically move to a specific folder
See Rules Engine to set this up.