Continia Order matching
- Majvina Lekaj
Setting up Order and Receipt Matching
With Continia Document Capture, you can have all incoming invoices and credit memos matched against related documents (for instance, invoices can be matched with corresponding purchase orders and receipts) to ensure that everything checks out and that, for example, invoices are ready for payment. This can be done either manually by you or automatically by Document Capture.
The manual procedure requires no setup at all, whereas automatic matching must be enabled and configured according to the needs and wants of your organization.
Configuring Automatic Matching
Continia Document Capture can automatically match incoming invoices and credit memos against related documents, either as a fully automated process initiated by field recognition (or document import) or on an ad hoc basis whenever you prefer.
Automatic matching is configured per template, so the matching rules you set up for a specific template will apply to all documents for which that template is used.
To set up automatic matching, follow these steps:
Choose the icon, enter Document Categories, and then choose the related link.
To open the purchase document category, select the PURCHASE line (not the PURCHASE code itself), and then choose Edit in the action bar.
On the Document Category page, on the Templates FastTab, select the template that you want to configure.
On the FastTab title bar, select Manage > Edit to open the template card.
On the Purchase Documents FastTab, under Matching, enable Autorun Perform Match if you want documents to be matched fully automatically on document import or during field recognition.
Note
If this feature isn't enabled, you'll have to trigger automatic matching manually yourself for each document.
6. Fill in the remaining Matching fields as needed. Note that in order to activate automatic matching, you must enable Match Invoice and/or Match Credit Memo by selecting a value other than No:
Field | Description |
|---|---|
Match Invoice | Use this field to specify what types of documents you want invoices to be matched against. Invoices can be matched against receipts, orders, or both. Selecting No leaves automatic matching of invoices disabled. |
Match Credit Memo | Use this field to specify what types of documents you want credit memos to be matched against. Credit memos can be matched against return shipments, return orders, or both. Selecting No leaves automatic matching of credit memos disabled. |
Max. Variance Amount Allowed (LCY) | With this field, you can allow for variance expressed as a fixed amount in the local currency. This means that documents can be matched automatically even if their respective amounts don't match, provided that the discrepancy between them is within the variance amount you define here. |
Max. Variance % Allowed | With this field, you can allow for variance expressed as a percentage of the invoice/credit memo total. This means that documents can be matched automatically even if their respective amounts don't match, provided that the discrepancy between them is within the variance percentage you define here. |
Variance Posting Account | This field enables you to select the GL account that variance line amounts will be posted to. A variance line is a line that's created automatically in an invoice or a credit memo when the total amount of the invoice/credit memo differs from the total amount of the matching document. Variance lines are only created if the amount difference is within the variance you've defined in the fields above though (Max. Variance Amount Allowed (LCY) and/or Max. Variance % Allowed). |
Copy Matched Header Dimensions | If you enable this setting, Document Capture will copy the header dimensions of a matched document to the invoice or credit memo that it's being matched against. This is done automatically when the invoice or credit memo is registered. |
Note
As noted in the table above, you can allow for variance in two ways: expressed as a fixed amount or as a percentage of the total. It's actually possible to use both methods at the same time. If you do so, the smaller of the two applies.
Setting up Line Matching
As part of automatic matching, line matching is configured per template, so the matching rules you set up for a specific template will apply to all documents for which that template is used.
To set up line matching, follow these steps:
Activate automatic matching for a selected template by following the guide under Configuring Automatic Matching.
In the template card of the selected template, on the General FastTab, toggle the Recognize Lines switch to enable line recognition and line matching. This will make a number of Line Matching fields available for you to configure on the Purchase Documents FastTab (see step 3 below).
Under Line Matching, fill in the fields as needed. The following fields can be edited:
Field | Description |
|---|---|
Match Order No. | If you select Yes - always or Yes - if present for this field, Continia Document Capture will use the order numbers identified in each incoming invoice or credit memo to find matching lines in other documents. The matching lines can be found in receipts and orders (for invoices) or in return shipments and return orders (for credit memos). Order numbers can be either ordinary order numbers (for invoices) or return order numbers (for credit memos), and they may appear in either the header or the lines of the invoice/credit memo:
|
Note
It's possible to enter multiple order numbers in the header, separated by commas. In such cases, Document Capture will attempt to match each invoice/credit memo line against the specified order numbers.
Match Item No. | If you select Yes - always or Yes - if present for this field, Document Capture will attempt to find matching document lines by searching for, for example, item numbers in the lines of the invoice/credit memo. The identified vendor item numbers must be translated into internal numbers first, and these internal numbers (listed under Translate to No. on the Lines FastTab of the document card) are the ones that will be matched with related document lines. Despite the name of the field, it doesn't relate specifically to item numbers. In fact, you can set up Document Capture to search for any of the following types of accounts: G/L accounts, items, resources, fixed assets, and item charges (listed under Translate to Type on the Lines FastTab of the document card). |
Match Quantity | If you select Yes - always or Yes - if present for this field, Document Capture will attempt to find matching document lines by comparing the quantities of lines in the invoice/credit memo with the quantities of lines in other documents. |
Match Unit Cost | If you select Yes - always or Yes - if present for this field, Document Capture will attempt to find matching document lines by comparing the unit costs of lines in the invoice/credit memo with the unit costs of lines in other douments. |
Unit Cost - Variance Amt (LCY) | With this field, you can allow for unit cost variance expressed as a fixed amount in the local currency. This means that document lines can be successfully matched automatically even if their respective amounts don't match, provided that the discrepancy between them is within the variance amount you define here. |
Unit Cost - Variance % | With this field, you can allow for unit cost variance expressed as a percentage of the line value recognized in the invoice or credit memo. This means that document lines can be successfully matched automatically even if their respective amounts don't match, provided that the discrepancy between them is within the variance percentage you define here. |
Yes - always or Yes - if present?
When you set up line matching as described above, you can choose between the following three options for each of the matching criteria:
No
Yes - always
Yes - if present
Selecting No for one of them will leave that matching criterion disabled, meaning that it will be disregarded entirely in the matching process. By contrast, selecting one of the Yes options for a criterion will include it in the process in one of the following ways, depending on which option you choose:
If you choose Yes - always, Document Capture will use any line value in the invoice/credit memo – even if it's empty – and that (empty) value must match perfectly with another document line's value. This means that if, for example, you choose this option under Match Unit Cost and the Unit Cost field of an invoice line is empty, Document Capture will be forced to use this empty value, but it will be unable to match it to anything.
If you choose Yes - if present, Document Capture will use any line value that's present (i.e., not empty) in the invoice/credit memo, and that value must match with another document line's value. If a line has an empty value, Document Capture will disregard this and attempt to find matching lines based on the other matching criteria you've defined in the setup.
While Yes - always has the potential drawback of resulting in an unsuccessful match, it can also be a way to remind vendors that they must include certain specific details in their invoices and credit memos in order for the matching process to run smoothly. So whether or not to choose this option depends entirely on the needs and wants of your organization.
Matching Documents Using a Job Queue
Automatic matching is occasionally blocked or hindered by other business processes. For example, a delayed delivery of goods can make it impossible for Continia Document Capture to automatically match an invoice against a goods receipt if the goods receipt doesn't yet exist when the invoice is received by your accounts payable department. In such cases, running the so-called "batch match" job queue is convenient, as it will attempt to carry out the automatic matching repeatedly at regular intervals. In the above example, the job queue would ensure that once the goods had finally arrived, the invoice would be matched against its corresponding goods receipt.
To run this job queue, you'll need to run code unit 6086022 CDC Batch Match Documents.
Enabling Auto-Approval
To save time and hassle, you can have all documents that match related documents (within an allowed variance) approved automatically. This goes for both manually and automatically matched documents.
As with matching, automatic approval is configured per template, so if you enable it for a specific template, it will apply to all documents for which that template is used.
To set up automatic approval, follow these steps:
Choose the icon, enter Document Categories, and then choose the related link.
To open the purchase document category, select the PURCHASE line (not the PURCHASE code itself), and then choose Edit in the action bar.
On the Document Category page, on the Templates FastTab, select the template that you want to configure.
On the FastTab title bar, select Manage > Edit to open the template card.
On the Purchase Documents FastTab, under Approval, enable automatic approval by toggling the Auto Approve within Variance switch.
All documents using the configured template will now be automatically approved if they match their related documents within the defined variance. Each document that's approved this way and subsequently registered will be created as an open purchase invoice or credit memo with the status Released, and the Approval Comments section will indicate that it was automatically approved.
Setting up Matching Checks Before Registration
If you want to make sure that users are either prevented from or notified before registering an unmatched document, you can set up Continia Document Capture to automatically check for matches during the registration of the document. If no matches are found, Document Capture will do one of the following, depending on your setup:
If line recognition is enabled, Document Capture displays an error message in the Comments section of the document journal, preventing you from registering the document.
If line recognition is disabled, Document Capture displays a dialog in the first step of the registration, notifying you that no matches exist and asking if you want to continue registering the document anyway.
Such matching checks are configured per template, so if you enable them for a specific template, they'll apply to all documents for which that template is used.
To set up matching checks, follow these steps:
Choose the icon, enter Document Categories, and then choose the related link.
To open the purchase document category, select the PURCHASE line (not the PURCHASE code itself), and then choose Edit in the action bar.
On the Document Category page, on the Templates FastTab, select the template that you want to configure.
On the FastTab title bar, select Manage > Edit to open the template card.
On the Purchase Documents FastTab, under Registration, make the following changes:
For the Invoice Reg. Step 1 field, select Match Order & Create Invoice.
For the Credit Memo Reg. Step 1 field, select Match Return Order & Create Credit Memo.
Depending on your template setup, this will either prevent you from registering unmatched documents using this template or ensure that a dialog is displayed in the first step of the registration of such unmatched documents, prompting you to confirm that you want to go through with the registration despite the lack of identified matches.
Overview of Order and Receipt Matching
By comparing documents and ensuring consistency between them, document matching enables you to control that you, for example, don't pay for more than you received or that you don't ship more goods than agreed. With Continia Document Capture, you can match incoming invoices and credit memos against related documents such as purchase orders and receipts, and you can either do this manually yourself or let Document Capture handle it automatically.
While the manual procedure requires no setup at all, automatic matching must be enabled and configured according to your specific needs and wants.
For a match to be successful, the documents that are matched against each other must generally have the same currency, and the vendor numbers must be identical. However, there are two notable exceptions to this general rule:
If the currency code of an incoming document is the same as the company currency code (LCY) and the matching document has no currency code at all, it will be accepted as a match despite the currency mismatch. For example, if an invoice is in euros and its corresponding order has no currency specified, the two documents can be successfully matched if the company currency is also euros.
If, for example, you're invoiced by a branch with a vendor number that's different from the number of the branch you placed the order with, the invoice and the order can be successfully matched despite this mismatch, provided that you've entered both vendor numbers on the vendor card. The number of the vendor that you buy from is specified on the General Fast Tab, under No., whereas you can enter the number of the vendor that you pay to on the Invoicing Fast Tab, under Pay-to Vendor No.
Manual Document Matching
Manual document matching enables you to manually select exactly what documents to match against each other. For example, for an incoming purchase invoice, you can freely select the purchase order you want to match it with from a list of relevant open purchase orders, thereby gaining full personal control of the matching process. This approach is particularly useful for organizations that generally receive fairly small volumes of documents.
Note that matching is only available in the PURCHASE category and that you perform it from either the Invoice Matching page or the Credit Memo Matching page, depending on what type of document you choose to match against in the document journal.
To manually match documents
If you want to match an incoming document – whether an invoice or a credit memo – with related documents, follow these steps:
Choose the icon, enter Document Categories, and then choose the related link.
Select the PURCHASE code to open the document journal.
In the document list, select the document that you want to match against other documents.
4. In the action bar, select Process > Match Lines.
5. In the Match Overview, a number of relevant lines from potentially related documents are listed in two overall line sections, depending on what type of document you selected in step 3 above. Select the relevant document line(s) in one of the sections, and then select Line > Toggle Match.
6. If you need to make adjustments to some of the values, for example due to quantity or price discrepancies, you can manually edit the following fields:
Matched Quantity
Direct Unit Cost (Invoice) or Direct Unit Cost (Credit Memo)
Line Discount % (Invoice) or Line Discount % (Credit Memo)
7. Repeat steps 5-6 for the other line section, if relevant – that is, if you need to match against both line types, and if both sections have lines available to choose from.
Each of the lines for which you select Toggle Match or manually enter a value will be made bold to indicate that it's been matched to the document. Also, the matched line amount will be added to the calculations displayed at the top of the Match Overview section, which indicate the progress of the matching process:
Field | Description |
|---|---|
Amount to Match | The amount displayed in this field is the same as the total invoice amount, unless the invoice includes freight charges, environmental fees, or similar. Any such fees and charges are typically deducted from the invoice total in the Amount to Match field. |
Matched Amount | Matched Amount will initially be zero and then increase as lines are matched. Matched Amount should be equal to Amount to Match once the matching is complete. |
Difference | This field shows the difference between Amount to Match and Matched Amount. The difference should be zero once the matching is complete. |
When the Difference is zero (or within any variance you may have set up), you've completed the matching process. You can now navigate back to the document journal, where the comments section at the bottom will display a new Manual Match record to indicate that the invoice has been matched manually.
The document is now ready to be registered for further processing.
Automatic Document Matching
If you set up automatic matching, Continia Document Capture automatically matches incoming invoices and credit memos with their related documents based on the matching criteria that you've specified in the setup. This typically saves a lot of valuable time compared to manual matching and is particularly well suited for organizations that receive large volumes of incoming documents.
One of the matching criteria that you can set up is whether or not lines should be recognized and matched. This setting has a significant impact on the automatic matching process, as line matching differs considerably from header matching. The differences are explained in the sections below.
To set up header matching, see Configuring Automatic Matching. To set up line matching, see Setting up Line Matching.
Header matching
When Document Capture matches an invoice or a credit memo against related documents at header level, it matches the lines of the related documents up with the total amount of the invoice or credit memo, using the quantity and price of each matched document line. Taking an incoming invoice as an example, if the total amount of that invoice is $1,000 and Document Capture identifies a purchase receipt with a line that has a Quantity of 10 and a Direct Unit Cost (Order) of $100, that purchase receipt line will be considered a perfect match (10 × $100 = $1,000).
Note that if, for example, the total invoice amount had been $1,005 and you had set up a variance of $10, the identified purchase receipt line mentioned above would also have been considered an acceptable match. However, seeing that it would have been $5 short of being a perfect match, it wouldn't necessarily have been selected – only if no other better matches were identified.
Line matching
When Document Capture matches an invoice or a credit memo against related documents with line matching enabled, it will check the lines of the invoice or credit memo one by one and attempt to identify a matching line for each of them in the related documents, based on matching criteria specified by you. For example, if you've set the line matching setup option Match Quantity to Yes - always, any order line or purchase receipt line that's matched against an invoice line must have the same quantity as the invoice line in order to be considered a useful match.
When you set up line matching, there are a number of matching parameters available for you to choose between, and for one of these – Match Unit Cost – you can even specify a variance amount or percentage. For example, if you set the line matching setup option Unit Cost - Variance % to 5 and then match an invoice line that has a unit price of $100, Document Capture will identify order lines and purchase receipt lines with unit costs ranging between $95 and $105 as acceptable matches, provided that any other specified matching parameters are met as well.
The matching of documents at line level rather than header level, combined with the multiple matching parameters available for line matching, enables Document Capture to match in greater detail than with header matching. However, it also adds a level of complexity to the process that may not be necessary for you, so consider what's the right setup for your particular organization.
Running automatic matching
Both types of automatic matching are carried out as described below, depending on whether or not you've enabled the Autorun Perform Match feature during setup:
If the Autorun Perform Match feature has been enabled, automatic matching will be triggered when you select Recognize Fields in the document journal. If all document fields are recognized correctly during the import of the document, matching will even be carried out automatically upon import. Either way, the comments section of the document journal will confirm that the document has been successfully matched with another document.
If the Autorun Perform Match feature has not been enabled, automatic matching must be triggered manually by you. To do this, follow these steps:
Choose the icon, enter Document Categories, and then choose the related link.
Select the PURCHASE code to open the document journal.
In the list of documents, select the document that you want to automatically match against other documents.
If necessary, assign a vendor to the document.
In the action bar, select Process > Match Lines to open the Invoice Matching page (or the Credit Memo Matching page for credit memos).
In the action bar, select Process > Perform Match.
Document Capture will now automatically match the document against other documents. On the Order Lines FastTab, the lines for which matches were automatically found will turn bold. In the document journal, the comments section will confirm that the document has been successfully matched with another document.
Handling Discrepancies, Including Partial Matching
Vendors sometimes ship fewer – or perhaps even more – items to you than you ordered from them, and the invoiced price of the goods you ordered may also occasionally differ from the price given in the purchase order. Such discrepancies can be handled in different ways, depending on the type of discrepancy (relating to quantity or price) and whether your organization matches documents manually or automatically.
Partial matching (quantity discrepancies)
Whenever two documents are matched against each other, Continia Document Capture will by default assume that the full outstanding quantity of each relevant line should be matched against the related document. But if the delivered quantity differs from the quantity that was invoiced, it's necessary to carry out partial matching instead. For example, if you ordered and received 10 laptops but was only invoiced for 7 laptops, the matched quantity should be 7 rather than the full outstanding quantity of 10 laptops.
Partial matching can be carried out either manually or automatically, depending on your overall approach to document matching. The way it's handled differs considerably between these two methods.
Manual partial matching
If your organization generally matches documents manually, follow these steps to carry out partial matching:
Choose the icon, enter Document Categories, and then choose the related link.
Select the PURCHASE code to open the document journal.
In the document list, select the document (invoice or credit memo) that you want to match against other documents.
In the action bar, select Process > Match Lines.
In the Match Overview, a number of relevant lines from potentially related documents are listed in two overall line sections, depending on what type of document you selected in step 3 above. In one of these sections, select the document line that you want to manually edit.
In the Matched Quantity field, enter the correct quantity (typically the quantity of the relevant line in the invoice or credit memo that you selected in step 3).
Repeat steps 5-6 for any other relevant lines in that line section and/or in the other section.
When you've completed the matching process, you can navigate back to the document journal to register or otherwise process the matched document.
Automatic partial matching
If your organization generally matches documents automatically, Document Capture will automatically manage quantity discrepancies in one of the following ways, depending on whether or not line matching has been enabled in the setup:
If line matching has been enabled, Document Capture will use the line data recognized in the invoice or credit memo to set the matched quantity on the related document lines. The matched quantity will always equal the recognized quantity of the related invoice/credit memo line. Note that to allow for partial matching, the setup option Match Quantity must be set to No.
If header matching is used instead of line matching, the line details of the invoice or credit memo are unknown, so Document Capture will handle any discrepancy in the total amount (which could be the result of a quantity discrepancy) by creating a new line – a variance line – in the registered invoice/credit memo, ensuring that the imported invoice/credit memo amount equals the registered amount. You can specify the allowed discrepancy by defining a variance in the setup. The matched quantity of the invoice/credit memo will always equal the quantity of the related document line.
Price discrepancies
Just as with matched quantities, Document Capture by default assumes that the price of delivered goods is the same as the price at which the goods were ordered. However, this isn't always the case, so it may occasionally be necessary to handle price discrepancies one way or the other. This can be done either manually or automatically, depending on your organization's general approach to document matching. The way it's handled differs considerably between these two methods.
Handling price discrepancies manually
If your organization generally matches documents manually, follow these steps to manually handle price discrepancies in the matching process:
Choose the icon, enter Document Categories, and then choose the related link.
Select the PURCHASE code to open the document journal.
In the document list, select the document (invoice or credit memo) that you want to match against other documents.
In the action bar, select Process > Match Lines.
In the Match Overview, a number of relevant lines from potentially related documents are listed in two overall line sections, depending on what type of document you selected in step 3 above. In one of these sections, select the document line that you want to manually edit.
In the Direct Unit Cost (Invoice) field (or, if you selected a credit memo in step 3, in the Direct Unit Cost (Credit Memo) field), enter the correct price per delivered item for the selected line. This is typically the price of the relevant line in the invoice or credit memo that you selected in step 3.
In the Line Discount % field, enter the correct line discount percentage, if necessary.
8. Repeat steps 5-7 for any other relevant lines in that line section and/or in the other section.
When you've completed the matching process, you can navigate back to the document journal to register or otherwise process the matched document.
Handling price discrepancies automatically
If your organization generally matches documents automatically, Document Capture will automatically manage price discrepancies in one of the following ways, depending on whether or not line matching has been enabled in the setup:
If line matching has been enabled, Document Capture will use the unit cost from the recognized invoice or credit memo line. If you've set the Line Matching setup option Match Unit Cost to either Yes - always or Yes - if present, the unit cost of the invoice/credit memo line and the unit cost of the related document line must equal each other – if not, the document lines can't be matched automatically. However, you can specify a variance amount or percentage in the setup, which allows the two unit costs to differ from each other within the specified variance.
If header matching is used and a variance has been defined in the setup, Document Capture will add a newly created variance line to the invoice or credit memo, provided that the discrepancy between the total amount of the invoice/credit memo and that of the matching document is within the defined variance. The variance line will be given an amount that's equivalent to the difference between the total of the invoice/credit memo and the sum of the lines from the document that's been identified as a match. When the variance line is included, the document totals will match exactly as they should.
Filtering Line Matches
When you manually match documents and handle matching discrepancies, it may be useful to narrow down the list of potential matches to make it easier to identify the correct one, especially if your organization receives large numbers of documents. You can easily do this using a number of predefined filters, as described below.
To filter the list of matches
The filtering is carried out from either the Invoice Matching page or the Credit Memo Matching page, depending on what type of document you choose to match against in the document journal.
To open one of these pages and apply filters to the lists of matching document lines, follow these steps:
Choose the icon, enter Document Categories, and then choose the related link.
Select the PURCHASE code to open the document journal.
In the document list, select the document that you want to match against other documents.
In the action bar, select Process > Match Lines.
In the Match Overview, a number of relevant lines from potentially related documents are listed in two overall line sections, depending on what type of document you selected in step 3 above. To filter these lists, select Process in the action bar, and then select the filter(s) that you want to apply:
FilterDescriptionFilter on Order No.Filters the lists to display only lines with the order number that's referenced in the invoice or credit memo and recognized by Document Capture.Filter on Unmatched OnlyFilters the lists to display only lines that haven't yet been matched.Filter on Match DifferencesFilters the lists to display only lines in which the direct unit costs differ. For example, if you selected an invoice in step 3 above, lines that have different values in the fields Direct Unit Cost (Order) and Direct Unit Cost (Invoice) will be displayed in the lists when this filter is applied.
To clear a selected filter, simply select Process in the action bar, and then select the relevant filter again.