Data Validation that saves time and money
Every workflow starts with data — but what happens when that data is incomplete, incorrect, or just plain messy? From onboarding forms and scanned contracts to Excel files from customers, most incoming information isn’t ready to use. The result? Delays, rework, compliance risks, and bad customer experiences. This post shows how automated data validation prevents those issues, improves your processes, and protects your bottom line.
“Poor-quality data can cost companies up to 20% of their revenue.”
Want to skip ahead? Check out our data validation tools and workflows to get a full overview.
Why Data Validation matters
Poor-quality data is more than annoying — it’s expensive. Mistyped form fields, missing attachments, outdated product details — all of it creates downstream chaos.
- Wrong decisions based on false or incomplete input
- High support effort due to manual corrections
- Compliance violations from incomplete records
- Failed automations and broken integrations
By validating data before it enters your systems, you avoid these risks and ensure every decision is based on clean, reliable information.
What is data validation?
In short, data validation means checking whether incoming data is:
- Complete — no missing required fields
- Correct — formatting, spelling, and logic are right
- Compliant — meets business rules or regulations
This applies to structured and unstructured formats: Excel, PDFs, DOCX, images, scans, web forms, emails — you name it.
We also wrote a whole landing page about it:
Discover data validation tools that work
Common validation challenges by industry
- Healthcare: Billing issues caused by missing or incorrect CPT codes in CMS-1500 forms.
- Logistics: Delays due to unreadable shipment slips or missing barcodes.
- E-commerce: Failed imports because of empty or misformatted product attributes.
- Finance: Rejected applications from incomplete ID documents or outdated forms.
Why manual validation doesn’t scale
In many companies, data validation is still a manual process:
- Download files from email or portal
- Open each document and read line by line
- Copy-paste content and check values manually
- Send follow-up emails for missing info
- Wait for corrections, restart the process
Multiply this by 50, 500, or 5,000 documents per month — and the inefficiencies become painfully clear.
Talk to our team — get your free audit
How automated data validation works
Knots builds smart, flexible workflows that validate incoming data across systems and formats. Here’s how a typical process works:
- Detect the format: Recognize PDFs, scans, DOCX, Excel, and more.
- Extract content: Use OCR and parsing to capture relevant fields.
- Validate: Apply formatting, logic, and business rule checks.
- Notify: Send personalized messages if required data is missing.
- Loop: Resume validation as soon as corrections arrive.
- Output: Structured, clean data is sent to your system of choice.
Unlike rigid form-only tools, Knots supports diverse inputs and connects to your stack — including Zendesk, Salesforce, SharePoint, Dropbox, HubSpot, JIRA, ServiceNow, and custom-built systems.
Example: Validating health insurance claims
- A scanned CMS-1500 form arrives via Zendesk
- OCR extracts diagnosis, CPT codes, and provider ID
- Rules check for completeness and compliance
- If errors are found, an automated message is sent
- Patient uploads corrections; validation resumes
- Clean data is forwarded to the billing system
Watch a real-world automation walkthrough
Results from the field
Businesses using Knots for data validation report:
- 70% fewer manual checks
- 60% faster processing times
- Fewer errors and less back-and-forth
- Happier teams — no more “clean-up duty”
If you’re buried in forms, uploads, and attachments, it’s time to validate smarter. We offer:
- A free audit of your current validation setup
- A guided trial with your actual incoming data
- Custom workflows tailored to your systems
