The short version
Dext (formerly Receipt Bank) is a mature, excellent OCR capture tool used by hundreds of thousands of businesses — it pulls supplier invoices, receipts and bank statements into Xero, Sage or QuickBooks. If your problem is “get every kind of document into the books cleanly,” Dext is hard to beat.
CISflow does one narrow thing: it reads the CIS fieldsoff a subcontractor's invoice — UTR, the labour/materials split, the deduction rate and the deduction amount — so you don't have to configure them or fix them after the fact. For the CIS job specifically, that's the difference. For everything else, Dext's breadth wins. Many practices will sensibly use both.
Where Dext needs you to do the CIS work by hand
Dext genuinely supports CIS — this isn't a claim that it can't. But per Dext's own help documentation, CIS in Dext is not automatic. To get a subbie invoice posted correctly you typically have to:
- Make the Dext supplier name match the CIS contact exactly.
- Pick the CIS category from a dropdown, per document.
- Split labour from materials by line item yourself.
- On QuickBooks Online, adjust the “Less CIS” field after publishing the bill.
Supplier Rules and Smart Split reduce this friction once they're configured — but that setup is per supplier, and the 20%/30% CIS deduction itself isn't read off the invoice; it's derived from the category and line setup you apply. For a contractor or bookkeeper with a stack of different subbie invoices each month, that's real, repeated manual work and the occasional post-publish fix. (Source: Dext's CIS help article.)
Where CISflow is different
CISflow is built around CIS as the job, not an edge case. You forward a subcontractor invoice and it reads the document — PDF, scan or photo — and extracts the CIS fields directly: the UTR, the labour/materials split, the deduction rate, the deduction amount and the net pay. There's no per-supplier CIS category to configure first, and nothing to adjust after publishing.
Those figures are laid out for you to review and approve — nothing posts silently. On approval, CISflow writes a clean, HMRC-ready CIS bill into Xero (or exports CSV for QuickBooks, Sage and others) and gives you the totals you need for the CIS300. If you want to see exactly what those figures look like, the CIS invoice software guide walks through the whole flow.
Side by side, for the CIS job
This table is scoped deliberately to CIS invoice handling— not the whole product. Dext does far more than CIS; we're only comparing the part that matters when the document is a subbie invoice.
| For the CIS job | Dext | CISflow |
|---|---|---|
| Reads the CIS deduction off the invoice | Derived from your category/line setup, not read directly | Extracted directly from the invoice |
| Labour vs materials split | You split it by line item | Extracted for you to review |
| Per-supplier CIS setup | Supplier Rules / category set up per supplier | None — CIS is the default behaviour |
| Post-publish fix | “Less CIS” field adjusted after publishing (QBO) | Not needed |
| You review every figure before it posts | Yes | Yes |
| General capture (receipts, bank statements, any invoice) | Yes — its core strength | No — CIS subbie invoices only |
| Files the CIS300 / verifies subcontractors with HMRC | No | No (exports to your accounting software) |
| Maturity | Established, very widely used | New, early access |
Dext's CIS behaviour above is taken from Dext's published help documentation (current at the time of writing); features change, so check Dext's own docs for the latest. This comparison is limited to CIS invoice handling.
Being honest about CISflow's limits
CISflow is new and in early access, and it deliberately does less than Dext:
- It only handles CIS subcontractor invoices — not your general receipts or bank statements.
- You review and correct every figure before anything posts. Extraction is good, but it is not a replacement for your eyes, and we won't pretend it is.
- It does not file your CIS300 or verify subcontractors with HMRC — you stay responsible for what reaches HMRC.
- It's young: fewer integrations and less track record than a tool that's been around for years.
If those trade-offs are deal-breakers, Dext (or your existing setup) may be the right call — and that's a fine answer. CISflow earns its place only when the CIS-specific manual work is the thing eating your month.
Which one fits you
A simple way to decide:
- Mostly subbie invoices, CIS is the pain? CISflow removes the per-supplier setup and the post-publish fix.
- CIS is a small part of a much wider capture workload? Dext's breadth probably matters more.
- Both? Use Dext for general capture and CISflow for the CIS-specific invoices — they don't conflict.
Want to feel the difference before deciding anything? Use the free CIS deduction calculator — enter labour, materials and the rate, and it returns the deduction, net pay and the CIS300 figures, no sign-up needed.
CISflow is live and in early access. Start free to put a real subbie invoice through it today, and see the extracted CIS fields for yourself.
Keep reading
Dext is a trademark of its respective owner; CISflow is not affiliated with or endorsed by Dext. This page is a fair, sourced comparison for the CIS job, not tax advice. CISflow is a data-entry tool, not an accountancy or tax service — you remain responsible for figures submitted to HMRC, and should always verify a subcontractor's status and rate with HMRC.
CISflow vs Dext — common questions
- Is CISflow a Dext alternative?
- For the specific job of reading the CIS figures off a subcontractor's invoice, yes — that's what CISflow is built to do. But Dext is a much broader product (receipts, bank statements, general supplier invoices across any industry), so for most practices it isn't really a like-for-like swap. Many bookkeepers will keep Dext for general capture and use CISflow for the CIS-specific subbie invoices. They solve different shapes of the same problem.
- Does Dext do CIS automatically?
- Not automatically out of the box. Dext can handle CIS, but per its own help documentation you have to match the supplier name to the CIS contact, pick the CIS category manually, split labour from materials by line item, and on QuickBooks Online adjust the 'Less CIS' field after publishing. Supplier Rules and Smart Split reduce the friction once configured, but that setup is per supplier. CISflow instead reads the labour/materials split, rate and deduction directly off the invoice for you to review.
- Why would I use a CIS-specific tool instead of Dext?
- If most of what you process is subcontractor invoices, a CIS-native tool removes the per-supplier CIS setup and the post-publish fix that a general capture tool leaves you doing by hand. If CIS is only an occasional part of a much wider workload, Dext's breadth may matter more than CIS depth. It comes down to how much of your month is CIS.
- Is CISflow as established as Dext?
- No — and we won't pretend otherwise. Dext is a mature product used by hundreds of thousands of businesses. CISflow is new and in early access. We make up for youth with focus: CIS is the only job we do. You review and approve every extracted figure before anything posts, and we don't file to HMRC or verify subcontractors for you — you stay in control.