Invoice Workflow

Contents

  1. Build Invoice Workflow Rule
    1. Enable Approval Rule
    2. Approval Steps
    3. Rule Order
    4. Reject Recipient
      1. Toggle Switch Set to Buyer
      2. Toggle Switch Set to Supplier
      3. Supplier-Entered Invoice Behaviors
    5. Workflow
      1. Supplier Approver
      2. PO Total Tolerance Approval
      3. Org Level Approver
      4. Invoice Total Approver
      5. Invoice Two-Way
      6. Vendor Status Approval
      7. Vendor Validation Approval
      8. Vendor eInvoice Approval
      9. Invoice Account Segment Approval
      10. Org Invoice Total Threshold Approval
      11. PO Unit Price Tolerance Approver
      12. Vendor Invoice Match With Threshold
      13. PO Line Item Quantity Rule
  2. Reset Workflow
  3. Validations When Configuring Auto-Rule Workflows

The fourth option from the Workflow menu under Administration is the Invoice Workflow link.  

Workflow Menu  

Select this option to establish rules for invoice workflow and matching.  

The Invoice workflow info page opens:

Invoice Workflow

Each section of the page is discussed below.

Build Invoice Workflow Rule

Enable Approval Rule

Click the Enabled check box to activate an Approval Rule.

Approval Steps

By default the Approval Steps type is Serial.  The alternate option is Parallel.

Rule Order

To change the order of how the Invoice approval rules are launched, use the Rule Order column.

Enter a numeric value for the approval rule  in the Rule Order box.  

The value entered determines in which order the rule will be processed.  

For example, Rule Order 1 is processed before Rule Order 2 and Rule Order 3, etc.

In the following image, the Tolerance Approver rule, if triggered, would be the first in the workflow path and then the  Invoice Two-Way match approval rule as the Rule Number is 2.

 Rule Order Example

Using the same image above, if the Invoice Two-Way rule needed to be the first rule that launches in the Invoice workflow, you would switch the numbers in the Rule Order column and make Invoice Two-Way number 1 and Tolerance Approver number 2.

NOTE: Auto-rules should be configured before any manual workflow approvals and auto-rules should not be in parallel with the manual approval rules. Before configuring workflow, please set the correct rule orders for the workflow rules.

Be sure to select Save at the bottom of the page to save your modified Rule Order.

Reject Recipient

The Reject Recipient column contains a toggle switch for each Approval Rule.

By default the toggle will be set to Buyer, however, you may click the switch to change it to Supplier.

Reject Recipients

Based on this toggle setting, when a supplier-entered invoice is rejected, the invoice rejection notification will be sent to the Buyer or Supplier.

This includes manual- and auto-rejections on supplier-entered invoices for integrated suppliers and those that utilize the Vendor Portal

NOTE: The Reject Recipient switch does not applyto buyer-entered invoices.

Toggle Switch Set to Buyer

When the toggle switch is set to Buyer, and a supplier-entered invoice is rejected back to the buyer, the user that receives the notification will depend on whether Central Invoice Processing is used by your organization.

Toggle Switch Set to Supplier

When the toggle switch is set to Supplier, and a supplier-entered invoice or integrated supplier invoice is rejected back to the supplier, the supplier contact who has been designated as the Remittance Contact, will receive the notification.

If a Remittance Contact does not exist, it will default to use the Main Contact.

Supplier-Entered Invoice Behaviors

The following behaviors apply to supplier-entered invoices:

Invoice Status inside of the Vendor Portal:

 

Workflow

There are  over twenty invoice-related approval rules available.  

Two are configured at the user-level:

See the Invoice Workflow - User Level topic.

The remaining workflows are configured at the organization level:

Supplier Approver

This approval rule is configured inside the user's profile.  
See Edit Users topic for more information.

PO Total Tolerance Approval

Use the PO Total Tolerance Approval rule to enter a tolerance (percentage) for Invoices (+/- percent of the original invoice that may be adjusted by the selected user without reissuing the Invoice).

Also, you may set a Not to Exceed value to limit the amount that this approver or approval group can approve.

Click Configure.  The PO Total Tolerance Approval modal window opens:

Tolerance Approval 

Enter a numeric value into the Tolerance (Percentage) field.  This is the +/- percentage of the original invoice that may be adjusted by the selected approver or approval group without having the invoice re-issued.

Enter a numeric value into the Not to Exceed field which determines the highest value that the selected approver or approval group can approve.

Click Configure Workflow

A modal window opens.

Select Approver

Use the Approver Type drop-down menu to select whether the approver will be an Individual Approver or Approval Group.  

Begin entering the name of the individual or group into the Approver field.  

The system will automatically retrieve users or groups that match your entered text.  

At least two or more characters will need to be entered for the system to retrieve results.

Use two asterisks ** to retrieve a complete listing.

Select Approver

Select the desired name or group.

Click Select.

The user will be added to the Tolerance Approval page.   

Tolerance Approval  

NOTE: Only one approver or approval group may be assigned for this approval rule.  To choose an alternate approver or approval group, you must first clear the existing approver or approval group by clicking the X in the upper right corner of the blue box and repeat above steps to search and select new approver or approval group.  

Click Save to commit your changes/entry.

Click Close to close the window without committing your changes or entries.

To remove an existing approver or approval group, click the X located in the upper right corner of the blue box and click Save.  

 

Org Level Approver

Up to ten different organization-level approvers/approver groups may be configured.    
Use one rule per approver/approval group.

Click Edit Approvers button to open the Invoice Org Approver modal window.

Invoice Org Approver

Click Start Workflow to search and select an organization level approver or approval group.

A modal window opens.

Use the Approver Type drop-down menu to select whether the approver will be an Individual Approver or Approval Group.  

Begin entering the name of the individual or group into the Approver field.  

The system will automatically retrieve users or groups that match your entered text.  At least two or more characters will need to be entered for the system to retrieve results.

Use two asterisks ** to retrieve a complete listing.

Select Approver

Select the desired name or group.

Click Select.

The selected approver or approval group will display on the  Invoice Org Approver page.

Invoice Org Approver

NOTE: Only one approver or approval group may be assigned for this approval rule.  To choose an alternate approver or approval group, you must first clear the existing approver or approval group by clicking the X in the upper right corner of the blue box and repeat above steps to search and select new approver or approval group.  

Click Save to commit your changes/entry.

Click Close to close the window without committing your changes or entries.

To remove an existing approver or approval group, click the X located in the upper right corner of the blue box and click Save.  

 

Invoice Total Approver

This approval rule is configured inside the user's profile.  
See the Edit Users - Invoice Workflow topic for details.

Invoice Two-Way

Use the Invoice Two-Way Approval Rule to select the user that will approve two-way matches between the Invoice and Purchase Order.

NOTE:  A two-way match matches the original Purchase Order with the supplier's Invoice.  A three-way match matches the original Purchase Order with the supplier's Invoice and the Purchase Order Receipt.

Click Edit Approvers to open the Invoice Two-Way Approval modal window.

Invoice Two-Way Approval

Click Start Workflow to search and select a invoice two-way approver or approval group.

A modal window opens.

Use the Approver Type drop-down menu to select whether the approver will be an Individual Approver or Approval Group.  

Begin entering the name of the individual or group into the Approver field.  

The system will automatically retrieve users or groups that match your entered text.  

At least two or more characters will need to be entered for the system to retrieve results.

Use two asterisks ** to retrieve a complete listing.

Select the desired name or group.

Click Select.

The selected approver or approval group will display on the  Invoice Two-Way Approval page.

Two-Way Approval

NOTE: Only one approver or approval group may be assigned for this approval rule.  To choose an alternate approver or approval group, you must first clear the existing approver or approval group by clicking the X in the upper right corner of the blue box and repeat above steps to search and select new approver or approval group.  

Click Save to commit your changes/entry.

Click Close to close the window without committing your changes or entries.

To remove an existing approver or approval group, click the X located in the upper right corner of the blue box and click Save.  

Vendor Status Approval

The Vendor Status Approval rule allows you to set a trigger and a corresponding workflow action based on a vendor's status.

Select Configure to open the Vendor Status Approval modal window.

Vendor Status Approval

In the Vendor Status section, choose one or both vendor statuses:

In the Workflow Action section choose the workflow behavior for one or both statuses:

If you wish for an invoice to be auto-rejected based on if a vendor's status is Pending and/or Declined, leave the Auto-Reject button selected and click Save.

NOTE: Auto-rules should be configured before any manual workflow approvals and auto-rules should not be in parallel with the manual approval rules. Before configuring workflow, please set the correct rule orders for the workflow rules.

To configure a workflow approver for invoices in which a vendor's status is Pending and/or Declined, select the Approval button.

Once the Approval button is selected, the Configure Workflow button displays and is active.

Vendor Status Approval

Click Configure Workflow to open the approver selection modal window:

Select Approver

Use the Approver Type drop-down menu to select whether the approver will be an Individual Approver or Approval Group.  

Begin entering the name of the individual or group into the Approver field.  

The system will automatically retrieve users or groups that match your entered text.  At least two or more characters will need to be entered for the system to retrieve results.

Use two asterisks ** to retrieve a complete listing.

Select Approver

Select the desired name or group.

Click Select.

The selected approver or approval group will display on the  Vendor Status Approval page.

Vendor Status Approval

NOTE: Only one approver or approval group may be assigned for this approval rule.  To choose an alternate approver or approval group, you must first clear the existing approver or approval group by clicking the X in the upper right corner of the blue box and repeat above steps to search and select new approver or approval group.  

Click Save to commit your changes/entry.

Click Close to close the window without committing your changes or entries.

To remove an existing approver or approval group, click the X located in the upper right corner of the blue box and click Save.  

Vendor Validation Approval

Use the Vendor Validations Approval rule to select one or more vendor validations as a trigger whereas, if a vendor fails a validation, an invoice from that vendor is auto-rejected.

Select Configure to open the Vendor Validations Approval modal window.

Vendor Validations Approval

Check the box next to one or more vendor validations.  These options will vary based on your organization.

In the above sample image, the Division of Purchasing Suspension/Debarment was selected.  

If a vendor fails this particular vendor validation, the workflow action taken will be to Auto-Reject any invoices that come in from a vendor with this failed validation.

Auto-Reject is the default workflow action for any validations that are selected as triggers.

NOTE: Auto-rules should be configured before any manual workflow approvals and auto-rules should not be in parallel with the manual approval rules. Before configuring workflow, please set the correct rule orders for the workflow rules.

Click Save to commit your changes/entry.

Click Close to close the window without committing your changes or entries.

Vendor eInvoice Approval

The Vendor eInvoice Approval rule allows you to set a trigger and a corresponding workflow action if an electronic invoice (eInvoice) is received from a vendor that has not been permitted to send eInvoices.

Select Configure to open the Vendor eInvoice Approval modal window.

Vendor E-Invoice Status Approval

Choose your Workflow Action:

Once the Approval button is selected, the Configure Workflow button displays and is active.

Click Configure Workflow to open the approver selection modal window:

Use the Approver Type drop-down menu to select whether the approver will be an Individual Approver or Approval Group.  

Begin entering the name of the individual or group into the Approver field.  

The system will automatically retrieve users or groups that match your entered text.  

At least two or more characters will need to be entered for the system to retrieve results.

Use two asterisks ** to retrieve a complete listing.

Select Approver

Select the desired name or group.

Click Select.

The selected approver or approval group will display on the  Vendor eInvoice Approval page.

Vendor eInvoice Approval

NOTE: Only one approver or approval group may be assigned for this approval rule.  To choose an alternate approver or approval group, you must first clear the existing approver or approval group by clicking the X in the upper right corner of the blue box and repeat above steps to search and select new approver or approval group.  

Click Save to commit your changes/entry.

Click Close to close the window without committing your changes or entries.

To remove an existing approver or approval group, click the X located in the upper right corner of the blue box and click Save.  

Invoice Account Segment Approval

The Invoice Account Segment Approval rule allows you to set a trigger and a corresponding workflow action based on accounting Segment Name and Segment Value.

Select Configure to open the Configure Invoice Account Segment Approver window.

Configure Invoice Account Segement A

Locate the Segment Name to which you would like to assign an approver. Next, enter the corresponding Segment Value that will be used as a trigger to launch the workflow. If known, it may be keyed directly into the field. Type-ahead search functionality allows the system to retrieve matching values as characters are entered.

If you need to search and select a Segment Value, select the Magnifying Glass magnifying glass search.  This opens the Value Search window from which you may set search criteria.

Value search window

From the Search By drop-down menu, select either Value or Description.

In the Search Values field, enter a full or partial string to return values that begin with the characters entered. Use two asterisks ** to retrieve a complete listing.

Click Cancel to close the window without completing the search.

Click Search to retrieve a list of search results.

From the displayed list, click the Action Action button icon to select a Value / Description. This returns you to the Configure Invoice Account Segment Approvers window, where the selected Segment Value has been added.

Next, select the Gear gear icon  icon to configure the workflow. This opens the Configure Invoice Account Segment Approvers window, from which approvers / approval groups may be searched and selected.

Click Select Approver to open the approver selection window.

Configure Invoice Account Segment Approvers

Use the Approver Type drop-down menu to select whether the approver will be an Individual Approver or Approval Group.  

Begin entering the name of the individual or group into the Approver field.  

The system will automatically retrieve users or groups that match your entered text.  At least two or more characters will need to be entered for the system to retrieve results.

Select invoice account segment approver

Select the desired name or group.

Click Select.

The selected approver or approval group will display on the  Configure Invoice Account Segment Approvers page.

Invoice Segment Account Approver Workflow

NOTE:  To add an additional approver or approval group either before or after the existing step, select a directional arrow from the left or right edge of the blue box. Next, repeat the above steps to search and the select new approver or approval group. To remove an existing approver or approval group, click the X in the upper right corner of the blue box.

Click Save to commit your changes/entry.

Click Cancel to close the window without committing your changes or entries.

Once configured, The approver will display on the Invoice  Approver page, located in the Workflow area of the Admin module.

NOTE: This workflow inherits from parent to child and may be overridden at the child org level.

Org Invoice Total Threshold Approval

The Org Invoice Total Threshold Approval rule allows invoices to move through a  workflow based on the  invoice total amount and the threshold limit of designated approvers.  

Select Configure to open the Org Invoice Total Threshold Approval Limit window.

Invoice Segment Account Approver Workflow

The window contains a table listing approvers in ascending order by approval limit. If no approvers have been designated, the list will be blank.

To assign an approver to the list, select the Add button. This launches a pop-up window, from which an approver may be selected.

Invoice Approver Window

Use the Approver Type drop-down menu to select an Individual Approver or Approval Group.  

Begin entering the name of the individual or group in the Approver field.  

The system will automatically retrieve users or groups that match your entered text.  At least two or more characters will need to be entered for the system to retrieve results.

Select the desired name or group.

Click Select.

The selected approver or approval group will display on the  Org Invoice Total Threshold Approval Limit page.

Enter an approval limit in the Org Invoice Total Threshold Limit field.

Org Invoice Total Approver added

Next, to sort approvers in ascending order by approval limit, a drag-and-drop action may be performed on table rows.
Numbers displayed in the Sequence column will update automatically as rows are sorted.

To remove an Invoice Total Value Approver from the list, select the Delete Deleteicon. A pop-up window will alert user to ‘Click OK to confirm approver deletion, else Cancel to return back to page’.

NOTE: Clicking OK to confirm deletion returns user to the Invoice Workflow page.

Once the approval chain is built and sorted, select the Save button. A message will display confirming ‘Changes successfully saved’.

If the approver sequence is not ordered correctly, an error message will direct you to sort again.

Invoice Approval Error

PO Unit Price Tolerance Approver

Use the PO Unit Price Tolerance Approver rule to select how the system processes invoices with line item Unit Prices  that exceed line item Unit Prices on associated Purchase Orders.

Select Configure to open the PO Unit Price Tolerance Approver  modal window.

PO Unit Price Tolerance Approver

In the Workflow Action section choose the workflow behavior for one or both statuses:

If you wish for an invoice to be auto-rejected based on line item Unit Prices that exceed Unit Price amounts on associated Purchase Orders, leave the Auto-Reject button selected and click Save.

NOTE: Auto-rules should be configured before any manual workflow approvals and auto-rules should not be in parallel with the manual approval rules. Before configuring workflow, please set the correct rule orders for the workflow rules.

To configure a workflow approver for invoices in which line item Unit Prices exceed those on associated Purchase Orders, select the Approval button.

Once the Approval button is selected, the Configure Workflow button displays and is active.

Click Configure Workflow to open the Approver selection modal window:

Select Approver

Use the Approver Type drop-down menu to select whether the approver will be an Individual Approver or Approval Group.  

Begin entering the name of the individual or group into the Approver field.  

The system will automatically retrieve users or groups that match your entered text.  At least two or more characters will need to be entered for the system to retrieve results.

Use two asterisks ** to retrieve a complete listing.

Select Approver

Select the desired name or group.

Click Select.

The selected approver or approval group will display on the  PO Unit Price Tolerance Approver page.

PO Unit Price Tolerance Approver

NOTE: Only one approver or approval group may be assigned for this approval rule.  To choose an alternate approver or approval group, you must first clear the existing approver or approval group by clicking the X in the upper right corner of the blue box and repeat above steps to search and select new approver or approval group.  

Click Save to commit your changes/entry.

Click Close to close the window without committing your changes or entries.

To remove an existing approver or approval group, click the X located in the upper right corner of the blue box and click Save.  

 

Vendor Invoice Match With Threshold

The Vendor Invoice Match with Threshold Approval Rule is used to set a threshold amount that requires three-way matching for those vendors who are not explicitly designated as a two-way match vendors.

Select Configure top open the Vendor Invoice Match With Threshold modal window.

This window is broken into two sections:

Vendor Invoice Match With Threshold

Set the Threshold amount by entering a dollar amount.

For example, if the amount is set at $500, then any invoice totals greater than $500 will require three-way matching.

Workflow Action

This section is used to determine the action that will be taken if the Threshold is exceeded.

Your options include: Auto-Reject or Approval.

NOTE: Auto-rules should be configured before any manual workflow approvals and auto-rules should not be in parallel with the manual approval rules. Before configuring workflow, please set the correct rule orders for the workflow rules.

Use the Approver Type drop-down menu to select whether the approver will be an Individual Approver or Approval Group.  

Begin entering the name of the individual or group into the Approver field.  

The system will automatically retrieve users or groups that match your entered text.  

At least two or more characters will need to be entered for the system to retrieve results.

Use two asterisks ** to retrieve a complete listing.

Select Approver

Select the desired name or group.

Click Select.

The selected approver or approval group will display on the  Vendor Invoice Match With Threshold page.

The following table identifies scenarios for vendor-submitted invoices:

WORKFLOW RULE CONFIGURATION

VENDOR IN TWO-WAY MATCH LIST

BELOW THRESHOLD AMOUNT

EQUAL TO, OR ABOVE, THRESHOLD AMOUNT

INVOICE MATCHING STATUS

WORKFLOW ACTION / RESULT

Auto-Reject OR Approval

Yes

N/A

N/A

FULLY MATCHED, PARTIALLY MATCHED, or NOT MATCHED

Auto-Approve

Auto-Reject OR Approval

No

X

FULLY MATCHED, PARTIALLY MATCHED, or NOT MATCHED

Auto-Approve

Auto-Reject OR Approval

No

X

FULLY MATCHED

Auto-Approve

Auto-Reject

No

X

PARTIALLY MATCHED

Auto-Reject

Auto-Reject

No

X

NOT MATCHED

Auto-Reject

Approval

No

X

PARTIALLY MATCHED

Invoice à Configured Approver’s Approval Inbox

Approval

No

X

NOT MATCHED

Invoice à Configured Approver’s Approval Inbox

 

PO Line Item Quantity Rule

If enabled and configured, this workflow will be triggered if the quantity on each invoice line item, plus all previous invoice line items, exceeds the purchase order line item quantity. This rule will impact all existing invoice entry methods, including buyer-entered, supplier-entered, imported invoices, and invoices transmitted from integrated suppliers.

NOTE: If the purchase order is set to Receive by Amount, then this validation will not be performed.

Select Configure to open the PO Line Item Quantity Tolerance Approver window.

PO Line Item Quantity Rule 

Choose the Workflow Action:

NOTE: Auto-rules should be configured before any manual workflow approvals and auto-rules should not be in parallel with the manual approval rules. Before configuring workflow, please set the correct rule orders for the workflow rules.

Click Configure Workflow to open the approver selection modal window:

Use the Approver Type drop-down menu to select whether the approver will be an Individual Approver or Approval Group.  

Begin entering the name of the individual or group into the Approver field.  

The system will automatically retrieve users or groups that match your entered text.  

At least two or more characters will need to be entered for the system to retrieve results.

Use two asterisks ** to retrieve a complete listing.

Select Approver

Select the desired name or group.

Click Select.

The selected approver or approval group will display on the PO Line Item Quantity Tolerance Approver window.

PO Line Item Qty Rule 

Reset Workflow

Select the Reset Workflow button at the bottom of the page to discard any edits without saving.

This returns all of the workflow configurations to their previously saved state.  

 

Validations When Configuring Auto-Rule Workflows

In order for invoice auto-rules to execute properly, they must be placed first in the workflow chain and they must be placed in parallel to each other. To assist users in properly configuring invoice workflows, the following validations will be applied to prevent invalid rule order for the Invoice Workflow.

The following error message will display if the guidelines are not followed.

Rules for Mixing Auto and Manual Approvals

The above message will display if the following guidelines are not met:

Example Scenarios:

Scenario

Precondition

Rule Order

Enable New Workflow

Rule Order

Result

Auto-rule BEFORE the manual workflow approval.

Auto-Reject configured for PO Total Tolerance Approver

0

Org-Level Approver 2

1

Workflow is successfully saved.

Auto-rule AFTER the manual workflow approval.

Auto-Reject configured for PO Total Tolerance Approver

1

Org-Level Approver 2

0

New error message displays.

Workflow cannot be saved.

Auto-rule PARALLEL to manual workflow approval

Auto-Reject configured for PO Total Tolerance Approver

0

Org-Level Approver 2

0

New error message displays.

Workflow cannot be saved.

Manual workflow approval rule BEFORE and PARALLEL to a manual workflow approval rule.

Manual reject rule configured for PO Total Tolerance Approver

0

Org-Level Approver 2

0

Workflow is successfully saved.

Manual workflow approval rule BEFORE and PARALLEL to a manual workflow rule.

Manual reject rule configured for PO Total Tolerance Approver

1

Org-Level Approver 2

0

Workflow is successfully saved.

Configure Auto-Reject

 Enable PO Total Tolerance Approver rule.
(Rule Order=1)

Enable Org-Level Approver 2 rule.
(Rule Order =0)

Select Configure on PO Total Tolerance Approver – select Auto-Reject.

Save .

1

Org-Level Approver 2

0

New error message displays.

Rule order cannot be saved.

 

 

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