Long documents often hide the information you actually need: deadlines, names, amounts, approvals, decisions and next steps. A structured review is more useful than a generic summary because it turns reading into an action list.
Start by separating the review into categories
Useful categories include: key facts, dates and deadlines, people and organisations, amounts and identifiers, decisions, action items and missing information.
Extract dates with context
A date alone is not useful. Record what the date refers to: submission deadline, payment due date, meeting date, validity period or review date. If the document does not state a date, do not infer one.
Extract actions with owners only when stated
An action item should include the task, owner and deadline only when those details are explicit. If the document says “prepare the report by Friday” but does not name a person, the owner should remain unknown.
Check numbers and identifiers carefully
Amounts, invoice numbers, account references, quantities and percentages should be verified against the source before acting on them. Small transcription errors can create large practical problems.
Tooloos Document Intelligence can analyse readable PDF or pasted text in focused modes such as Key Facts, Actions & Decisions, Dates & Deadlines and Risks & Review Questions.
Use missing information as part of the output
A strong review should identify what the document does not say. Examples: no deadline stated, approval authority missing, amount unclear, attachment referenced but absent, or responsibility not assigned.
A practical review checklist
- What is the document for?
- Which names or organisations matter?
- What dates and deadlines are explicitly stated?
- What amounts, quantities or identifiers appear?
- Which decisions have already been made?
- What actions are required?
- Who owns each action, if stated?
- What important information is missing?
Readable PDFs versus scanned PDFs
Readable PDFs contain selectable text that can be extracted directly. Image-only scans require OCR before the text can be analysed. If extraction returns very little text, the document may be scanned rather than empty.
For file-size work, use Compress PDF. For document understanding, keep the focus on accurate text extraction and verification.