Data Extraction
Autonomous AP uses advanced AI technology to check/validate invoices, extract header and line-level details, and create an extraction result output to provide a complete autonomous experience.
Each field has a confidence level with which the extraction has occurred. Field extractions are obtained at an invoice's header and line level.
GL Coding Prediction for Non-PO Invoices
Automatically predict and assign accounting and cost center segments. AI models predict the segments based on historical coding data and extracted data from invoices. GL Coding, i.e., Segment Coding, can be done to emulate how the customer would typically code their invoices. Examples include mapping suppliers or legal entities to a particular spend category or region.
PO Matching
PO policy match process involves comparing the details on an invoice to the corresponding purchase order and company policies to verify that they match.
This matching method helps streamline the process for accounts payable teams to adhere to company policies and easily keep track of outgoing payments to suppliers.
- 2-way match - A PO policy that involves a 2-way match typically means that when a company receives an invoice from a vendor, it will compare the details on the invoice with the corresponding information on the PO.
- 3-way match - A PO policy that involves a 3-way match typically means that when a company receives an invoice from a vendor, it will compare the details on the invoice with the corresponding details on the PO and the quantity of goods received (with the Goods Receipt Note).
- PO-Line Driven - A PO Policy that enables PO Match rules on every line of the Invoice. Instead of having one policy that will rule for the invoice, the customers can say what the match type for a particular line type should be. This feature allows customers to decide different PO match rules for each line in an invoice, like a 2-way match for services and a 3-way match for goods.
PO Match Basis
PO Matching Basis allows to maintain control by identifying and resolving any matching exceptions before paying suppliers, such as limiting payment to the quoted price, amount, and quantity ordered.
- Quantity - During the PO match process, the quantity listed on the PO is compared to the quantity received (as indicated in the receiving document) and the quantity listed on the invoice. Any discrepancies in quantity could indicate issues such as partial shipments, over-delivery, or under-delivery.
- Unit Price - This refers to the price agreed upon for each unit of the product or service specified in the purchase order. During the PO match process, the unit price listed on the PO is compared to the unit price on the invoice. Any discrepancies in unit price could indicate pricing errors, such as incorrect pricing, discounts, or surcharges.
- Amount - The total amount is calculated by multiplying the unit price by the quantity ordered. During the PO match process, the total amount listed on the PO is compared to the total amount on the invoice. Any discrepancies in the total amount could indicate errors in quantity, unit price, or additional charges not specified in the PO.
- AppZen Infer—Autonomous AP would try to consider an invoice line mapping to either of the standard match types (2-way match, 3-way match). For example, if the ordered quantity does not exist or is 0, the system will infer the AMOUNT match basis; otherwise, it will infer the QUANTITY match basis. If the requested quantity or unit price does not exist or is 0, infer the AMOUNT match basis; otherwise, infer the QUANTITY match basis.
PO Exceptions
PO exceptions can be configured in Autonomous AP to automatically recheck and search for an open PO (matching the entity and supplier on the invoice) periodically (4 hours by default). Moreover, all the below exceptions (except Invalid PO/PO Not Found) can be configured as either Override or Hold & Notify.
- PO Closed & PO Line Closed—This refers to the status when the system raises two separate exceptions. One is “PO Closed” when the PO at the Header Level gets closed/complete. The second is the “PO Line Closed” exception, which arises when the PO line is closed/complete at the line level. These are treated as two separate exceptions to give the AP staff a more granular view while processing the invoices.
- PO out of funds—When a PO is labeled as "out of funds," it indicates that the budget associated with that particular PO has reached its limit and that there is no remaining balance to complete the purchase. To be straightforward, when the uninvoiced amount is less than the amount mentioned in the Invoice line. This applies to all PO Match Basis - 2-way match, 3-way match, 3-way match with GR.
- Insufficient received quantity/amount for a 3-way match - The exception "Insufficient received quantity/amount for a 3-way match" is raised when the invoiceable (means received minus invoiced) quantity or amount (as per the receipt of the goods) falls short of what was specified in the PO.
Two separate line-level exceptions will be thrown when there is a mismatch with quantity amount or both:
- Line Quantity Mismatch - Specific exception whether is invoiceable quantity mismatch
- Line Amount Mismatch - Specific exception whether is invoiceable amount mismatch
- Line Unit Price Mismatch - Specific exception whether is invoiceable unit price mismatch
- Invalid PO/PO Not found - The reasons for an "Invalid PO" or "PO not found" error can include:
- Incorrect PO number: The PO number provided on the invoice may contain errors, such as typos, missing digits, or transposed characters, making it impossible to locate the corresponding PO.
- Non-existent PO: The PO number mentioned on the invoice may not exist in the records. It could be due to various factors, such as the PO being canceled, expired, or yet to be generated.
- PO not in the system: The PO might exist, but it has yet to be entered into the accounts payable or procurement system, which makes it impossible to locate it during the matching process.
- Different systems or databases: There may be a discrepancy between the system or database used for invoice processing and the one where the POs are stored. This misalignment can result in the inability to find or match the PO.
- Goods Receipt Not Found - When the extracted Receipt ID from the Invoice document is not found in the master data.
- Non-PO Spend Threshold Exception—An exception will be thrown when the total spend of all non-PO lines exceeds the configured threshold. At such stages, AP staff would like to take action and stop that invoice from being processed so customers can configure this exception to suit their business requirements.
Exception Handling Automation
Use the pre-canned automations templates for exception-handling configuration tasks. These templates allow you to customize and configure every exception to automate invoice processing to the next level. Users can automate standard PO exceptions by configuring the following:
- Define how to define standard Exception logic and set PO Policy config
- Assign PO exceptions tasks to various assignees
Custom Exceptions
Custom Exceptions can be configured in AppZen based on the Event, Trigger and Action framework where the “Event” is the invoice needing any validation based on various conditions. The “condition” is nothing but the set of criteria on which the validation needs to trigger. For example, if the invoice belongs to US entity, and the supplier is Supplier A and so on.
Based on this set of criteria, you can set the application to trigger one or multiple actions. For example, if the PO type on an invoice is “direct”, then assign the task to person A but if the PO type is “indirect”, then assign the task to person B.
Invoice Line Allocations
Autonomous AP allows allocating a single invoice line to multiple GL accounts for Non-PO-backed invoices. The allocations functionality ensures that the cost is distributed accurately across GL accounts. The invoice line can be allocated by creating and applying allocation templates or manually entering the allocations.
Allocation Templates
The Invoice Line Allocation feature allows the creation and application of allocation templates to the invoice line. Each template is associated with a specific entity. AP Staff can enter the allocation percentages for GL accounts using a template. There is also an option to distribute allocations evenly.
For example, while creating a template, users can allocate 70% of the invoice line amount to one GL account and 30% to another.
Active Field Validation
Autonomous AP supports validating the values in the master data set. AP Staff see whether the master data fields are active or inactive. This ensures that any invoices processed contain only the active values for those particular fields.
AP Staff can view the active and inactive records for the above-mentioned fields on the Advanced Search page by accessing the fields from the invoice details screen.
When Active Field Validation is enabled for any of the fields mentioned above, the inactive values are grayed out and cannot be selected.
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