Invoices and Credit Notes
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      Invoice Flags Explained

      This article explains the logic behind Invoice Flagging in PurchasePlus.

      What are Invoice Flags?

      PurchasePlus constantly analyzes all Invoices in the 'Open' and 'Flagged' state, and raises Flags on the Invoice, and on each Invoice Line, according to the settings applied to your Organization. A Flag is a concern that is raised on the Invoice, to indicate to your team, any issues with the Invoice that will require review, and Operational and Financial Approval. Flags ensure that only Invoices that meet your Organization's specific criteria are able to progress to a Reconciled state in PurchasePlus, without manual intervention.

      When an Invoice is manually created in PurchasePlus, it begins life in the 'Open' state. Then Open state indicates that the Invoice is a Draft, and it is still being worked on, or may still need information added to it. For convenience, PurchasePlus will show Flags on any Invoice in the 'Open' state, to help show concerns that will need to be addressed, as the Invoice is being worked on. Once work has finished on the 'Open' Invoice, and it is ready to progress to the next state, you will find a primary action in the header of the 'Open' Invoice:

      • If there are zero Flags raised on the Invoice, the primary action available will be [Mark as Reconciled]. Clicking Mark as Reconciled will progress the Invoice to the state of 'Reconciled', and no Operational or Financial Approval will be required. This is because according to the settings applied to your Organisation, this Invoice has met all criteria, and there are no Flags raised.
      • If there are one or more Flags raised on the Invoice, the primary action available will be [Mark as Flagged]. Clicking Mark as Flagged will progress the Invoice to the state of 'Flagged', and Operational and Financial Approval will now be required. This is because according to the settings applied to your Organisation, this Invoice has not met all criteria, as there are Flags raised, and these Flags need to be considered by a Financial and Operational Approver user at your Organization who has the permission to decide if the Invoice should be approved despite the Flags, or if the Flags should indeed be resolved. Once Operational and Financial Approval have both been granted on the Invoice, the Invoice will progress to the state of 'Reconciled'.

      In PurchasePlus, the objective with all Invoices is to progress them to the 'Reconciled' state. Once in the Reconciled state, they are ready to be exported to your external accounting platform. See our Export an Invoice or Credit Note or our Create a Batch Invoice and Credit Note Export File article to learn more about exporting Reconciled Invoices.

      IMPORTANT: Invoice Flags can be customized to meet the unique requirements of each Organization. If you are finding that Invoices are Flagging for nonsense reasons, please speak with an Administrator at your Organization, or contact our friendly customer support team for assistance in reviewing your Organization's Flagging preferences.

      Configurable Invoice Flag Settings

      Invoice Flag settings are very important and will be established during your PurchasePlus Implementation in consultation with your Organization. These settings are specific to each Organization and Department level, and do not cascade down an Organization hierarchy.

      The following Invoice Flagging settings can be configured, there are 5 Invoice Line-level flags that apply to every Line of the Invoice, and there are 10 Invoice header-level flags, that apply to the entire Invoice.

      Invoice Flags

      Each Invoice Flag, explained below, can be set to Off, Regular or Important, based on your Organization's requirements. 

      • [Off]: The Invoice Flag will not apply to your Organization.

      • [Regular]: The Invoice can still be approved by an Approver, if the only Flags raised on the Invoice are Regular Flags. 

      • [Important]: An Invoice cannot be approved by an Approver, if one or more Important Flags are raised on the Invoice. All Important Flags must be resolved before an Approver can approve the Invoice.

      Invoice Line Flags

      Line Unit Price Flag

      This Flag is raised if the difference between the Invoice Line Unit Price and the Purchase Order Line Unit Price exceeds the Organization's threshold for Line Unit Price.

      Invoice Threshold can be set for this Flag.
      Line Ordered Quantity Flag

      This Flag is raised if the difference between the Total Invoice Quantity of the Invoice Line and the Ordered Quantity of the Purchase Order Line exceeds the Organization's threshold for Line Quantity.

      Invoice Threshold can be set for this Flag.
      Line Received Quantity Flag

      This Flag is raised if the difference between the Total Invoice Quantity of the Invoice Line and the Received Quantity of the Purchase Order Line exceeds the Organization's threshold for Line Quantity.

      Invoice Threshold can be set for this Flag.
      Line Not Linked Flag This Flag is raised if the Invoice Line is not yet linked to a Purchase Order Line.
      Original Line Total Flag This Flag is raised if the difference between the current Calculated Total of the Invoice Line and the Original Total of the Invoice Line exceeds 0.00. This Flag is only applicable to Invoices that are created via PurchasePlus Paperless Invoicing. The Original Line Total is stored when the Invoice is scanned and created by Paperless Invoicing.

       

      Invoice Header Flags

      Flagged Line Flag This Flag is raised if there are one or more Flagged Lines on the Invoice.
      Purchase Order Flag This Flag is raised if the Invoice is not yet matched to a Purchase Order.
      Receiving Notes Flag This Flag is raised if there are no Goods Receiving Notes have been recorded against the Purchase Order matched to the Invoice.
      Invoice Out of Balance Flag

      This Flag is raised if the difference between the Invoice Total and the sum of the Invoice Parts exceeds the Organization's threshold for Invoice Total.

      Invoice Threshold can be set for this Flag.
      Reference Flag This Flag is raised if there is no Reference set on the Invoice.
      Supplier Number Flag This Flag is raised if there is no Supplier Number set on the Supplier that sent the Invoice.
      Department Flag This Flag is raised if there is no Department set on the Invoice.
      Account Code Flag This Flag is raised if there is no Account Code set on the Invoice.
      Currency Flag This Flag is raised if the Invoice Currency does not match the Currency of the Purchase Order.
      Approval Required Flag This Flag is raised if the Invoice has not been granted approval. This Flag will cause all Invoices to be Flagged, and require approval, even if the Invoice would otherwise be auto-reconciled. This Flag cannot be set to Important.

      Invoice Thresholds

      Some of the Flags listed above are customizable further using Thresholds. Thresholds allow Invoices with minor discrepancies to not raise the Flag, assisting to progress Invoices to the Reconciled state with less human intervention. 

        For further details on setting Invoice Thresholds, please see our Guide to Invoice Thresholds article.