Supplier invoices, from arrival to transfer

What happens to an invoice from the moment it arrives

• The invoice arrives and receives a row, a status and a link to its order
• The system compares what was ordered, what was received and what is being claimed
• Whatever does not match stops and waits for a decision, instead of surfacing at month end
• After approval, a payment request is created
• The accountant executes the approved payment and uploads the confirmation

Who sees what

Procurement sees the amount, the status and whether the invoice was paid, but does not run payments and sees no bank or financial reports. The accountant sees approved invoices only, with the minimum context of their order and receipt.

This is separation of duties: whoever approves is not whoever transfers, and there is no route around it, however urgent.

Credit notes and bank reconciliation

A credit note is not a document filed to one side. It is part of the same chain, and the accountant is the one who processes it and reconciles it against the bank. Procurement sees the credit note’s status in the procurement context only.

What happens to an invoice that does not match

It stops. Not deleted, not approved with a caveat, and not waiting quietly. It is marked as a mismatch and waits for a decision from whoever is authorised to take it.

The difference from ordinary working practice is timing. Without a system, a gap between the order and the invoice surfaces at month end, after the money has gone, and dealing with it means a correspondence with the supplier. With a system it surfaces before payment, and dealing with it is a decision.

Reports and export

The owner and the accountant see reports and export them. Procurement sees no financial reports and does not export — not because there is no need, but because that information is not part of the role inside the system.

The monthly export is part of the accountant’s work, alongside bank reconciliation and credit notes.

The record

Every sensitive financial action is recorded, on every plan, the free one included. A confirmation uploaded after payment stays attached to the invoice and to the order everything started from.

A record is not an addition for the annual audit. It is what makes it possible to answer “who approved this, and why” without searching somebody else’s inbox.