In previous posts and webinars we have analized how the Vendor Invoice Management (VIM) solution can help us in automating the supplier invoice management process, and in today’s post we are going to focus on the ability to manage approval flows through this tool.
One of the key functionalities in the digitization and control of our billing process is having the ability to integrate approval flows during the registration of our suppliers’ invoices.
The objective is to eliminate any type of manual validation, be it signatures on paper invoices, verifications through emails, or approval flows external to VIM that prevent us from having visibility of the life cycle of our invoice.
This approval can be defined at different points in the invoice registration process:
- During the processing of the DP document (VIM document)
- After registration of the preliminary invoice
- After posting the invoice
It is important to point out that VIM responds to 2 types of billing in a differentiated way:
- Invoices associated with purchase orders
In general, these invoices do not require an approval process, since VIM compares the invoice data with the amounts and quantities previously approved by the purchasing team when issuing the order. This implies that defining an approval flow in the billing process can be considered redundant.
However, VIM contemplates as a standard the authorization of these invoices by a single approver, who can be the applicant or the buyer defined in the purchase order.
It is worth mentioning that VIM also offers approval flows for the management of invoices blocked due to discrepancies. For this scenario, VIM has its own invoice unlocking solution, which deserves a separate post to analyze in greater depth (look out for future posts 😉). For now, we can stay with the fact that these discrepancies can also be managed through an approval flow of a single approver.
- Financial invoices
These invoices are not associated with a purchase order, so it is the usual scenario for which an approval process is required. Here we can involve the people responsible for reporting the corresponding cost objects, the applicant for the good or service, and the approvers of the specific department or area that must approve the expense.
For these documents, VIM offers a robust, flexible and widely configurable solution. It will be possible to define different levels of approval organized by different cost objects or types of expense, supporting in a standard way to distinguish between:
- Approval at invoice item/header level
- Sequential/parallel approval
At Brait, we have developed for a multitude of clients solutions to respond to more complex requirements for determining approvers.
For all the scenarios that we have reviewed, it will be possible to carry out the approval of the invoice through the VIM work area in SAP GUI, but the great value contribution is found in the flexibility that allows the management of these approvals through of the Fiori Apps developed by OpenText, which will allow us to approve invoices from anywhere, at any time and from any device.
VIM offers us the following Apps for the approval of invoices:
- Invoice approval
- My approved invoices
- Invoice approval (mass mode)
In the following video I present these applications for the approval of invoices in greater detail:
At Brait, we have extensive experience responding to the needs of our clients to integrate their approval flows in VIM, optimizing and digitizing their current processes.
If you want more information or are thinking of implementing this solution in your company, do not hesitate to contact us. We will be happy to help you. We will be happy to help you.
