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Every document that reaches Mercora, by upload or by email, goes through the same stages. Processing runs on its own: you don’t need to stay on the page or start anything. When it finishes, the document waits in the Inbox for a person to review and approve it. Nothing a document says becomes part of your trade records until someone approves it. See How Mercora works. This page helps you follow a document while it processes, read its status, and recover one that fails.

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The stages

1

Received

The file is stored and queued (shown as Queued). A saved email is opened up so each attachment becomes its own document. Word files are converted to PDF so you can review them next to the extracted fields, and the original stays available to download.
2

Classified

Mercora works out what kind of document it is: an invoice, a B/L, a certificate of origin and so on. If you chose a type when you uploaded it, Mercora uses that type instead.If the file turns out to hold several documents, Mercora splits it into separate documents first. See Multi-document packs.If the file isn’t a trade document at all, such as a newsletter, a sales deck or a meeting invite, Mercora sets it aside in the Filtered tab.
3

Extracted

Mercora reads the fields that matter for that type of document and checks each one against the page. This is the longest stage: usually a minute or two, longer for long documents and packing lists.
4

Matched

Mercora looks for the trade the document belongs to. It links the document only when it’s sure, for example when the document carries a reference that identifies exactly one trade. Otherwise it recommends a trade for you to confirm, or leaves the document unmatched. See Matching documents to trades.
5

Reconciled

Once the document is on a trade, Mercora compares it with the trade and its other documents and flags what doesn’t line up. See Discrepancies.
6

Done

The document moves to Needs you in the Inbox, ready for review.
Matching and reconciliation only run when your workspace uses the Trades module. Without it, documents complete as standalone documents and you approve them on their own.

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Following a document while it processes

While a document is being processed, it sits in the Inbox under Waiting, in the Processing group. Its row shows the current stage and progress, for example “Extracting · 5/11”. Open it to see a live status card and a checklist of the milestones: Classified, Extracted, Matched, Reconciled and Done. There’s nothing for you to do while it’s there. The document moves to Needs you by itself when processing finishes.

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Statuses you see in the Inbox

Each document row in the Inbox shows a short status. For example, when the twelve documents for the Veltana Commodities sugar trade finish processing, eleven arrive Clean on trade VCS-S-2026-0714 and the purchase contract VCS-P-2026-0688 arrives Unmatched, waiting for someone to match it. See The Inbox. Invoices also show whether they’re a receivable (AR) or a payable (AP). An invoice whose direction couldn’t be worked out shows AR/AP?, and one that might be a credit note shows Credit note? until you set it.

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Document types Mercora recognizes

Mercora sorts documents into these types and reads different fields for each. The fields listed are examples, not the full list. Most types also carry the trade reference, contract number and, where relevant, B/L or L/C number. Mercora uses these to match the document to its trade.
For a certificate, Mercora also notes what kind of certificate it is, such as “Fumigation Certificate”, and shows that name in the Inbox. You can give any document a custom label from Reclassify… in the ⋯ menu.

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How numbers are read

Mercora reads numbers the way they’re printed, including European (1.234,56), US (1,234.56) and Swiss (12'500) formats. When a printed quantity or weight could be read two ways, Mercora shows you both readings under the field, for example “Printed as 745,087 · pick:”, with the reading that fits the deal marked. Click the right one.

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Changing the type

If Mercora got the type wrong, open the document and choose Reclassify… from the ⋯ menu. Pick the right type from the list. Mercora keeps your choice and processes the document again under that type: it reads the fields for the new type, matches it and runs its checks again. The confirmation names the type you picked and, in most cases, offers Undo.

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Processing a document again

Full Reprocess in the ⋯ menu runs every stage again from the start. Use it if a document was read badly, for example after a poor scan was replaced. Your own field corrections are kept when a document is processed again.
Reprocessing an approved document sends it back for review. An invoice that has been closed can’t be reprocessed: Mercora answers “This invoice is booked. Unbook it first to reprocess.” Reopen the invoice first, then reprocess it.

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When processing fails

Mercora retries a stage automatically when something goes wrong. If a document still can’t be processed after its automatic retries, it shows as Failed in Needs you, in the Recover group. Open it to see why it failed. You have three ways forward:
  • Force retry resets the retry count and runs the whole process again. Use it when the problem looks temporary.
  • Reclassify… in the ⋯ menu, when the failure comes from the document being treated as the wrong type.
  • Delete from Record in the ⋯ menu, when the file shouldn’t be in Mercora. This removes the document from its trade and discards any discrepancies raised against it. The file is kept for recovery but hidden from the Inbox and trades.
You need permission to edit documents to retry, reclassify or delete. See Roles and permissions.

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Next steps

The Inbox

Review a processed document and approve it.

Matching documents to trades

How Mercora finds the trade, and how to settle it yourself.