Handling discrepancies, including partial matching
Vendors sometimes ship fewer – or perhaps 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.
Note
For the sake of simplicity, the handling of all kinds of quantity discrepancies is referred to as partial matching in this article, although the term primarily covers scenarios in which customers are invoiced for fewer items than ordered/received – rather than more.
Partial matching (quantity discrepancies)
When two documents are matched against each other, Continia Document Capture assumes that the full outstanding quantity of each relevant line should be matched against the related document. If the delivered quantity differs from the invoiced quantity, it's necessary to carry out partial matching. 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.
Partial matching can be carried out manually or automatically, depending on your overall approach to document matching. The way it's handled differs between these two methods.
Manual partial matching
If your organization generally matches documents manually:
- Search (
) for and select Document Categories. - Click 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.
- On the action bar, click Home > 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 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 automatically manages quantity discrepancies in one of the following ways, depending on whether line matching has been enabled in the setup:
If line matching has been enabled, Document Capture uses the line data recognized in the invoice or credit memo to set the matched quantity on the related document lines. The matched quantity equals the recognized quantity of the related invoice/credit memo line. 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 handles any discrepancy in the total amount (which could be the result of a quantity discrepancy) by creating 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 equals 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:
Search (
) for and select Document Categories.Click 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.
On the action bar, click Home > 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 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 typically reflects the price listed in the invoice or credit memo.
In the Line Discount % field, enter the correct line discount percentage, if necessary.
Note
The Line Discount % field may have to be added first in order to be visible. To do this, personalize the page as follows: Click the
icon > Personalize > + Field to open the Add Field to Page pane, select the relevant line section, and then drag the Line Discount % field from the pane to the table in the selected line section. Click Done to close the Personalizing banner.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 automatically manages price discrepancies in one of the following ways, depending on whether line matching has been enabled in the setup:
If line matching has been enabled, Document Capture uses 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 be the same – otherwise, 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 adds a 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 is 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 match as they should.
Tip
To use the variance functionality, you must select a value for the Variance Posting Account under the Purchase Documents FastTab on the template card. Then, two additional fields are shown: Max. Variance Amount Allowed (LCY) and Max. Variance % Allowed. If both fields are configured, the lowest value is used.
Note
If header matching is used and no variance has been defined in the setup, Document Capture is unable to handle the price discrepancy – and the match is unsuccessful.