Verification and approval – Procountor

Verifying and approving purchase invoices is possible when Purchase invoice approval circulation has been enabled in Management > Company info > Invoice circulation management. A more detailed look into approval circulation is found in here.

The difference between verification and approval is that only approved invoices are business transactions. After approval the invoice should be paid in the Payment view (Go to > Payment)

Two-step process of verifying and approving invoices

1 Invoice received

The invoice can arrive to Procountor either electronically or by entering the invoice manually to Procountor.
If approval circulation is enabled and the invoice arrives electronically, a notification message is sent to the first verifier of the invoice.
If the invoice is entered manually to the program, Send to circulation -button must be clicked in order to send the invoice to the chosen verifier.

2 Where can I find the invoice?

A notification e-mail about the invoice is sent to the verifiers and approvers either simultaneously or one at a time (more information about the approval circulation order here).
The invoice is found in the Invoices waiting for verification widget, Hello, user widget and in Receipt search by choosing Invoices to approve as the Search type. These views include all the invoices at the time that are waiting for a verification from the user.
Go to the Verification-view of the invoice through Receipt search or the widget and click Verify or Approve.
If you are not eligible to approve the invoice, you can use the Unfinished, Deny payment, Return to previous, Direct to another or Invalidate -button found under the Exception-button.

Verify and approve purchase invoices easily with Procountor Mini -mobile application!

Buttons in the Verification-view

The buttons in the upper section

Verify

The Verify button creates a verification stamp on the invoice, showing the user name, date, time and verification comment.
The system checks if similar invoices are found with corresponding information, and shows a warning message upon sending, verification and approval if a similar invoice in Procountor is detected.
When the approval circulation of purchase or travel and expense invoices is in use and all specified verifiers have checked the invoice, the invoice is set to status Verified. If the Company information Usage settings specify that the verification and approval must happen in order, an email notification will be sent automatically to the next verifier or approver. If the next verifier or approver does not have an email address specified in his or her personal info and settings, a notification is issued.
If a user, who is not the next verifier in order, verifies the invoice, he or she is notified of that.
An invoice can be verified even if the approval circulation is not in use.

Approve

The Approve button creates an approval stamp on the invoice, showing the username, date, time and approval comment.
When the approval circulation of purchase invoices is in use and all specified approvers have approved the invoice, the invoice is set to status Approved.
An invoice in the approval circulation cannot be approved before it has been verified if verifiers have been specified for the invoice.

Exception

The drop-down options within this button include Unfinished, Deny payment, Return to previous, Direct to another and Invalidate.

Unfinished-option returns the invoice from Verified or Approved -status to Unfinished-status.
Deny payment -option generates creates a payment rejection stamp on the invoice with user’s name, date, time and comment. The invoice status is set to Payment denied. An invoice with the status Payment denied cannot be paid. Payment denial can be reversed by clicking the Approve-button in the Verification-view.
Return to previous -option is used to return the invoice in approval circulation to the previous verifier or approver. The invoice must be in a status of Unfinished, Verified, Received, Payment denied or Approved.
Direct to another -option is used to direct the invoice in approval circulation to another verifier or approver. This option is accessible only when the invoice is in Unfinished-status.

Send to circulation

This button sends an e-mail notification of the invoice to the next verifier or approver.
If the Approval circulation order setting is enabled in the Usage settings, the email notification of the invoice waiting for verification is sent to the first verifier. If the setting is not selected, the notification is sent to all verifiers.
The notification is sent as many times as the button is clicked and the sending accepted. If the invoice has already been sent to circulation, a notification of that is issued.
The email addresses of the verifiers and approvers must be entered in the users’ personal info and settings.

The system displays a warning about duplicate invoices when sending to circulation, verifying or approving the invoice, if there are two invoices in Procountor with the following conditions:

Matching due dates or matching invoice dates
Matching invoice sender’s invoice numbers or matching bank reference codes
Matching invoice sender’s names or matching invoice sender’s register information
Matching total sums on invoices

This warning unfortunately does not appear on the Verification of multiple invoices page.

Update inventory

This button is visible if the Inventory management is in use.

Discussion

This button opens invoice specific discussion that can be used to write down comments and questions regarding the invoice.
The invoice specific discussion is visible to everyone who has at least viewing rights to the invoice.
The invoice specific discussion can be enabled in the Usage settings.

Go to

This button includes options Invoice, Accounting, Dimensions, Payment, Bank statement and Preview.
Invoice-option is used to go to the Invoice-view.
Accounting-option changes the view to the Accounting-view.
Dimensions-option is used to set dimensions.
Payment-option is used to go to the Payment-view.

Previous and Next

These buttons chance the invoice that is seen in the Verification-view.

X-button

This button closes the view.

The buttons in the lower section

Set the receipt dimensions

Button opens the receipt’s Domensions view where it is possible to set the dimensions for the receipt.

Set transaction dimensions

The button activates when a transaction is selected.
Button enables setting dimensions to the transaction.

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Search purchase orders

This button is used to search purchase orders matched to the invoice.

Purchase order

This button is used to go to a purchase order that has been matched with the invoice.

Remove targeting

This button removes the targeted purchase order.

Fields in the view

Invoice info

This section includes information about the invoice.
Invoice notes -field can be used to write down notes about the invoice. This field is also found in Invoice-view and Accounting-view.

Invoice approval information

This field contains a list of the verifiers and approvers of the invoice.

Invoice transaction information

This field contains information about all transactions with the invoice, including user and date information.

Dimensions

The dimensions set to the receipt can be viewed and modified in the field.

Allocated purchase orders

Field enables viewing the purchase orders allocated to the receipt.

Attachments and invoice image

Attachments and invoice image can be opened with the buttons in the right side of the view. Attachment files can be dragged into the Attachments-window. The attachments can also be inserted by clicking the Add files -button that has the options of Add from computer, Add from documents and Add from receipts.

Verifying multiple invoices

The Verifying multiple invoices -view can be used to verify multiple invoice at one.

Search the invoices in Receipt search.
Click the arrow-icon next to the Verification-button and then Verification of multiple invoices.
Choose the invoices to be verified or approved.
Click Verify or Approve.

Buttons in the view

Verify

This button marks the chosen invoices as verified by the user in question.

Approve

This button marks the invoices to Approved-status.

Unfinished

This button returns the invoices to Unfinished-status from Verified- or Approved-status.

Deny payment

This button sets the invoices to Payment denied -status.

Select

Select all -button selects all the invoices waiting for verification.
Select ones waiting for own verification -button selects only the invoices that are waiting for verification from the user in question.
Select ones waiting for own approval -button selects only the invoices that are waiting for approval from the user in question.
Clear-button removes the selections.