About invoice processing

You can enter a invoice by using the Purchase invoices (AP301000) window.
The summary of an invoice includes information about the supplier, the supplier location, and the currency used for the transaction.

An invoice should contain at least one detail line. The invoice can have any number of detail lines or it can have a single line that summarises all purchases.

We recommend that when you enter a document, you include all the details available in the original supplier document.

If the Inventory module is not enabled in your system, you can enter a invoice in the Supplier ledger workspace with only non-stock items.
If the Inventory module is enabled, an invoice may include lines with stock and non-stock items.

When creating an invoice, you can use the Add purchase order receipt, Add purchase order receipt line, and Add purchase order buttons in the table toolbar (the Document details tab of the Purchase invoices (AP301000) window) to upload lines from receipts and purchase orders directly to a invoice.

When you click Add purchase order, the system displays a dialog box that lists not yet invoiced purchase orders which have lines with non-stock items that have the Require receipt check box cleared in the Non-stock items (IN202000) window.

When it is first saved, an invoice is automatically assigned a unique ID that lets you track the invoice through the system.
The system generates this ID according to the number series assigned to invoices in the Supplier ledger preferences (AP101000) window.

Due dates and cash discount dates for each invoice are calculated by the system automatically, based on the supplier payment terms specified for the supplier in the Suppliers (AP303000) window.

To facilitate auditing and user reference, you can attach to each invoice an electronic version or a scanned image of the original supplier document.
Also, you can attach a related document to each line of the document.

If invoices contain a reference to the supplier's original document number, users can more easily match any supplier ledger document against the supplier document and avoid document duplications. You can require this reference by selecting the Require supplier reference check box in the Supplier ledger preferences (AP101000) window. To prevent users from entering duplicate documents (that is, entering the same document twice), select the Raise an error on duplicate supplier reference number check box in the same window, and the system will display an error message each time a user attempts to enter a supplier reference number that is already available in the system.

If the Invoice rounding functionality is enabled in the Enable/disable functionalities (CS100000) window, and the rounding settings are specified in the Supplier ledger preferences (AP101000) window, the system automatically performs rounding of the total amount of a invoice when the invoice is saved. For details, see: About rounding of document amounts.

If expense reclassification is performed as a separate stage of document processing in your system, you can set up the workflow so that the users who enter invoices into the system will pre-release them, and later the authorised accountants will perform expense reclassification, or assign correct expense accounts (and subaccounts) and finally release them.
For more information, see: About support for expense reclassification

Each invoice has one of the following statuses, which tells you its stage in processing:

• On hold:
  Generally, this status is used for an invoice that is a draft.
  This is the default status for new documents if the Hold documents on entry check box is selected in the Supplier ledger preferences (AP101000) window.
  An invoice with the On hold status can be edited.
• Balanced:
  After editing is completed, you take the invoice off hold, thus changing its status to Balanced.
  If the Validate document totals on entry option is selected in the Supplier ledger preferences (AP101000) window, you can take the invoice off hold only if you type the document control total.
• Pre-released:
  The status indicates that the invoice has been pre-released and requires expense reclassification.
  (This status is used only if the Support for expense reclassification functionality is activated.)
• Open:
  This status means that the document has been released (and approved, if required).
• Closed:
• This status reflects that the document has been paid.
• Scheduled:
  This status indicates that the document is assigned to a schedule, and a new document that is similar to the original one is generated periodically.
  For details, see: Schedule a recurring invoice

You can release invoices in bulk by using the Release supplier documents (AP501000) window or individually by using the Purchase invoices (AP301000) window.

On release of a one-line invoice, a batch of the following transactions is generated.

Account	Debit	Credit
Supplier ledger account	0.0	Amount
Expense account	Amount	0.0

If the document rounding functionality is activated in your system, the batch may contain an entry recording to the gain or loss rounding account the difference between the sum of details and the document total.

A batch created upon release of the invoice is numbered in accordance with the number series assigned to the batches originating in supplier ledger.

If approval of invoices is not required in your system, all invoices, upon release, appear with the Open status in the Process payments (AP50300S) window and you can pay them.
The system assigns a default pay date, which is determined based on the due date minus the number of payment lead days that are required for the payment to reach the payee.

If approval of invoices is required before invoices may be paid, then upon release, the invoices appear in the Approve invoices (Approval) (AP50200S) window, from which you can approve them.
Approved invoices appear in the Process payments (AP50300S) window and you can pay them.

Once released, a supplier ledger document cannot be edited or deleted; to correct it, you can issue an adjustment.
Purchase credit notes decrease the supplier ledger balance, and credit adjustments increase your company's liabilities.

You can release an open purchase invoice. When you reverse the invoice, the system automatically creates a purchase credit note with the same details.
Before you save the adjustment, you should type another Supplier reference value if the Raise an error on duplicate supplier reference number option is selected in the Supplier ledger preferences (AP101000) window.

You can pay invoices individually by using the Supplier payments (AP302000) window.
Also, you can pay invoices in bulk in the Process payments (AP50300S) window.

For details on payments, see: About supplier ledger payment processing