Introduction

The AP Inbox lets you centrally manage Accounts Payable. It cuts down on processing time, reduces labour costs, and minimises errors in posting supplier invoices to the system.
 

When the AP Inbox receives supplier PDF invoices via email the system automatically creates a Purchase Item Invoice in the system with an attached copy of the original. If the system can read the supplier and invoice details from the PDF, these will prepopulate the Invoice. If not, the system still creates an Invoice which you can manually update with any missing items.
 

The AP Inbox shows all draft invoices, which you can check and update. Once checked, the invoices move from the AP Inbox to the Item Invoice grid and act like any other processed item invoice in the system. If purchase approval is in use, checked invoices will trigger the workflow approval process. 

See:

AP Inbox Overview (20.0) - AIQ Academy

How to configure the AP Inbox (20.1) - AIQ Academy

Processing Invoices in the AP Inbox (20.2) - AIQ Academy

 AP Inbox now linked to PO's 
 

Managing Supplier Master Records‍ 

Configure AP Inbox

1. Go to Purchases > AP Inbox > Configure AP Inbox. If you can't see the AP Inbox menu item, contact your system administrator, and ask them to include the AP Inbox in your menu profile.

2. Follow the setup steps to configure your AP Inbox and to set up a fallback email address. The system will send a fallback email notifying you of any Invoices that have failed to load, including details of the failure and steps to take to resolve the problem.

3. You will receive a confirmation email with a verification code. Enter the verification code

4. Once the AP Inbox Setup is complete, copy the email address and either manually forward any supplier invoices to it, or set up a forwarding rule in your email client.

 Default Email Configurations

During AP Inbox configuration, the system creates the following by default:

• AP Inbox supplier (in the base currency of the company): The system uses this if the supplier information on the PDF invoice cannot be matched to a supplier record in the system. If any invoices appear in the AP Inbox using the default supplier, you can update the supplier details during invoice checking. 

• AP Inbox item: All invoices sent to the AP Inbox are created as item invoices using the default AP Inbox item code. You can update any draft invoices with your own items before processing if preferred or you can process the invoices using the AP Inbox Item. The AP Inbox item is created as a Service Item.

Processing Invoices

The system processes AP Inbox emails as follows:

1. The system scans all items sent to the AP Inbox email address and creates draft invoices in the system based on the information read from the invoice attachment. If an email has multiple PDF invoices, they will each be created as separate AP Inbox invoices.
    

If the system doesn’t find a PDF attachment, or cannot read the PDF for any reason, a fallback email will be sent to the fallback email address notifying you of the reason for the failure and suggested steps to resolve the problem.
 

2. Successfully processed Invoices will appear in the AP Inbox ready for checking.
    

3. If the supplier details match a supplier record in the system, then the system creates a draft invoice against the supplier. 

If it cannot find the supplier, the invoice will be processed against an AP Inbox default supplier (based on the currency of the invoice), in this case, a new supplier APINBOX-GBP has been created.
 

4. Click on the invoice number to check the invoice details
5. The original supplier invoice is attached and you can compare it to the version the system created.

6. Check the details against the supplier invoice and update as required, when all details are correct, tick OCR Checked and click Save.

7. The invoice(s) will then appear as Processed in the Purchase Item invoice grid, for approval, if using, and posting.

Purchase Order and Invoice Matching

The AP Inbox and Purchase Ordering modules are now connected, allowing for purchase order and invoice matching. When a PI enters the AP Inbox it will be matched, completely or partially, with its originating PO.

The Matching Process

The matching process involves comparing details from the scanned PI and the associated supplier account in the following order:

1. Email: The supplier's email is matched against the email that sent the PI to the AP Inbox.
2. Currency: If the emails match, the PI and supplier's currency must also match.
3. Name: If the email and currency matching fails, the supplier name from the PI is matched against the name on the supplier record. This is done by removing character spaces and ampersands from both sources. If there are multiple matches, the currency is used to narrow it down to one.
4. VAT Registration Number: If the preceding matching steps all fail, the Supplier VAT number is matched against the PI.
5. IBAN: If the preceding matching steps all fail, the Supplier IBAN is matched against the PI.
6. PO Ext Ref and PONumber: These will be checked for matches on the PI. 

Case One: Full PO PI Match

A full match occurs when OCR recognises the supplier, Purchase Order Reference, and amount.

In the case of a complete match:

• The PO will be removed from the Deliveries listing grid and matched to the PI. 
• It will skip the AP Inbox and go directly to the Purchase Invoice listing grid.
• The PO will be marked as fully delivered and invoiced. 
• The resulting PI will have all the line details of the originating PO, including any Gl and BI coding.

Case Two: Partial PO PI Match

A partial match occurs when details such as the supplier match but not the Purchase Order reference. The PO needs to be matched to a PI in the AP Inbox. 

1. Go to Purchases > AP Inbox and open the relevant AP Inbox invoice.

2.  Select the relevant PO from the Match to Order dropdown. This will automatically complete the PI line details with those from the PO, including the original PO GL and BI coding. 
   
   

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   The automated matching process matches invoices with POs that have a ‘Fully Delivered’ or ‘Partially Delivered’ status. 
   
   In the case of your POs containing services, invoices can be matched to POs with the status of ‘Reserved’ as long as the PO has been approved, and you are using the workflow approval process.   

   
   

3. The PI can still be edited if necessary. If a PO covers services for the whole year, and you receive corresponding invoices monthly, the PO total will exceed each monthly invoice total. Therefore, adjust the quantities accordingly and ensure the PO line details match the invoice. This way the system will only invoice and deliver the amounts specified.  
4. When ready, click Save. Once the PI is saved:
   • The PI will be created and linked to the PO. If the PO was linked in error, the PI needs to be cancelled to unlink them.
   • The PI be removed from the AP Inbox and appear in the Purchase Invoice listing grid.
   • The PO will be removed from the Deliveries listing grid and be marked as invoiced. 

Using Approval with PO PI Matching 

• For Auto Approval: Enable the Order Required flag in the supplier account. See Managing Supplier Master Records‍ 
• For Auto/Manual Approval: The PO should be delivered, or approved and delivered, but not invoiced.
• The PO will go back for approval if the invoiced net amount is outside the PO matching tolerance set within the Approval settings.

FAQs

How does supplier recognition work?

The system scans the supplier email for the following fields and attempts to match these to supplier records in the system (in order):

• Email address
• Currency
• Name
• VAT registration number
• Bank details (IBAN or Bank Account/Sort Code)

How can I improve supplier recognition?

Check unrecognised invoices and make sure that if any of the following data is contained in the invoice, it matches the data saved against the supplier record in the system:

• Email address
• Name
• VAT registration number
• Bank details (IBAN or Bank Account/Sort Code)

What happens if the user who configured the AP Inbox becomes inactive or unassigned from an entity?

If the user that originally set up/configured the AP Inbox is marked as inactive or un-assigned from the entity, the connection for AP Inbox will drop. To resolve this, please ensure any invoices sitting in AP Inbox are processed and raise a ticket to support to unlink the AP Inbox from the inactive/un-assigned user, and then another user can re-configure the AP Inbox.

What happens if the same invoice is sent to the AP Inbox more than once?

The system checks for duplicate invoices by checking the Invoice Number against those already processed for the supplier.

• If the system automatically recognises the supplier and sends a duplicate invoice, a fallback email will be generated.
• If the system does not automatically recognise the supplier, then when you update the supplier in the system, you receive a warning that the invoice number already exists.

How does the AP Inbox work if I use Workflow Approval?

AP Inbox works seamlessly with Workflow Approval as Invoices get sent for approval when you save invoices as OCR checked.

We recommend going to Setup > Company Details & Settings > Approval Settings and unchecking "Push Orders/Invoices received from integrated systems for approval automatically". If this is checked, invoices will automatically go to approval before you have checked them and could be approved with mistakes.

Can I send Credit Notes to the AP Inbox?

The AP Inbox can only create invoices, not credit notes, so you should process credit notes directly in the system.

What invoice formats does the AP Inbox support?

The AP Inbox only supports PDF invoices. Any other attachment types will generate a fallback email and you should process them directly in the system.