How to Use ECM Bulk Upload in Kintsugi

Overview

Exemption Certificate Management (ECM) Bulk Upload helps your team turn a backlog of exemption certificates into an organized review queue. Instead of uploading certificates one at a time, you can upload a single file and let Kintsugi process the certificates for you.

Kintsugi extracts certificate fields with OCR, checks certificates against supported validation rules, flags potential duplicates, matches certificates to existing customers, and sorts the results into review buckets.

When processing is complete, you can review the certificates that need attention and bulk-approve the ones that are ready. This feature is only available for Premium customers.

What ECM Bulk Upload Does

ECM Bulk Upload is designed to help teams process exemption certificates faster and with more consistency. This enables drive-folder migrations and exports from another ECM platform, keeping you audit-ready.

With ECM Bulk Upload, Kintsugi can:

• Accept ZIP, PDF, PNG, and JPG files

• Process a single certificate or a large batch of certificates (up to 500 certificates in one upload)

• Extract certificate fields using OCR

• Check certificates against supported, tax-research-curated validation rules

• Flag possible duplicates

• Match certificates to existing customers in your Kintsugi account

• Email you when processing is complete

• Sort uploaded certificates into review buckets so your team can take action

What ECM Bulk Upload Does Not Do

ECM Bulk Upload supports your certificate review workflow, but it does not replace your team’s judgment or perform any of the following:

• Replace your tax advisor, CPA, accounting firm, or legal counsel

• Automatically create new customer records from uploaded certificates

• Silently choose a customer if Kintsugi cannot confidently match the certificate

• Provide a customer-facing certificate submission flow

• Send customers an email asking them to upload a certificate

• Let you configure reminder cadences for expiring certificates

• Show a structured rule-by-rule rejection trail in the UI

• Decide which system should be the source of truth if Kintsugi and your billing system disagree on exempt status

• Use the address as part of customer auto-matching 

If a certificate cannot be matched to an existing customer, it will appear in Needs Review so your team can choose the correct customer.

Before You Begin

For the cleanest upload and review experience, prepare your files before uploading them.

1. Group certificates into one ZIP file when possible.
   ECM Bulk Upload accepts single files, but a ZIP file keeps your batch organized and easier to track.

2. Use high-quality scans.
   OCR works on all supported formats, but clear PDFs or sharp scans usually produce better field extraction than phone photos. If you have a choice, use color or grayscale scans at 300 DPI or higher.

3. Remove unrelated files.
   Blank pages, cover sheets, and unrelated documents can slow down processing and add noise to your review queue.

4. Make sure customer records already exist in Kintsugi.
   ECM Bulk Upload matches certificates to existing customers. If the customer does not exist yet, the certificate will land in Needs Review until your team selects the correct customer.

How to Bulk Upload Exemption Certificates

Step 1: Upload your files

1. Sign in to Kintsugi at [https://app.trykintsugi.com].

2. In the left navigation, go to the Exemptions tab.

3. Click the “Import” button on the top-right corner of the page.

4. Click “Bulk Import,” then drag or upload your file to the upload area. Click the "Upload" button.

5. The files will start to upload.

6. Once the files are uploaded, click the “Done” button. (But should you wish to upload more, you can click the “Upload More” button).

Note: You can leave the page while Kintsugi processes the upload. Kintsugi will email you when the batch is ready for review. The email will provide a summary of how many certificates have been uploaded and whether any duplicates or unsupported files are present.

Step 2: Review Upload Results

1. Once the files are uploaded, click the “Ready for Review” tab.

2. You should see the file you just uploaded with the status “Ready To Approve.” Click the “View” button to view a copy of the certificate along with the populated fields from the document.

3. Check whether all required fields were extracted and whether the certificate matches an existing customer. You can also modify the file if necessary, such as correcting typos.

4. If the exemption certificate is valid, click the “Approve” button at the bottom-right of the page. Otherwise, click “Reject” or “Cancel.”

5. You can also bulk approve exemptions. For instance, a customer is supposed to have exemptions in multiple jurisdictions; just add the jurisdictions in the "Selected Jurisdiction" field and approve them all at once.

6. Once the certificate is approved, the exemption will be created and any downstream tax calculations on the associated transactions will be triggered automatically. You should be able to see the approved certificates on the “All Exemptions” tab.

Things to Remember

Kintsugi sorts your certificates into five buckets.: