Invoice Processing Bot - Canada and US

Summary - This Automation is able to create Vendor Bills in NetSuite by aggregating data submitted by Coders, as well as extracting information from a PDF of an invoice. By having the bot collect this data, we are able to create the Vendor Bills in NetSuite without as much manual intervention. Throughout the Process, there are certain touchpoints where Process Owner Intervention may be required. Those touchpoints are outlined below. The solution also outlines submitting a coding form in NetSuite, along with the relevant approvals. 

Coder Reference Guide

If you are a coder, please reference this attachment (Quick Reference Guide) which outlines account creation, password resets, submitting forms, and more.  QRG Coders

Note: The below invoices cannot yet be submitted into the systems. These will be part of a Phase 2 to accommodate. 

• Co-Broker Payments
• Trust Payments
• Cheque Requests
• Vendor Credit
• Statements with Multiple Invoice Numbers (Account Summary, e.g. Home Depot)
• Rent Statements

Approver Reference Guide

If you are an approver, please reference this attachment (Quick Reference Guide) which outlines account creation, password resets, approving forms, forwarding forms, and more.  QRG Approvers

Accounts Payable Reference Guide

Note: If you have a question, comment or concern around the UiPath process - please open a ticket in ZenDesk

How to Access Action Center Tasks - If Process Owner action is required, a "Task" will be created for the Process Owner to interact with. To access these tasks, begin by Logging into UiPath. 

Note: The above link should redirect you to the "Action Center" page once logged in.

Interacting with Action Center Tasks - These tasks are originally assigned to a "Team" of people, so multiple people will see these tasks being generated in their queue. The first step to interact with these tasks is to "Assign it to yourself" so somebody else doesn't mistakenly work on the task while you have it open. To do so, you can click on the task, and then select "Assign to Me" 

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What Tasks will be generated by the bot? - Below are the different reasons a Task would be generated for a user as it pertains to the Invoice Processing use-case.

New Vendor (W9 Form) - If the system receives an invoice for a new vendor, first the vendor will need to be created in NetSuite. A task will be generated that has the W9 Attachment, as well as the applicable invoice.

Actions: 

If W9 Form is correct: Log into NetSuite and create the Vendor by reviewing the W9 and invoice details. Download the W9 form from the task and upload that to NetSuite as well. Once complete, click "Done" to complete the task and allow the invoice to continue through the process.

If W9 Form is incorrect: Click "Reject" and provide a comment as to why the task is being rejected. (e.g. wrong W9 Form)

Note: This will trigger an email to the coder informing them of why the task was rejected so they can resubmit. 

Validate Document - The Bot will extract as much information as possible from the uploaded invoice. For some invoices, the Bot will not be able to extract all these fields with high confidence, as the model takes time to train and become more accurate. The fields that the bot is extracting from the document are:

• Invoice Number
  • Note: In some cases the Invoice Number isn't present on the invoice. In this case, this field can be left blank There should always be at least one or the other (Account Number or Invoice Number)
• Account Number
  • Note: In some cases the Account Number isn't present on the invoice. In this case, this field can be left blank. There should always be at least one or the other (Account Number or Invoice Number)
• Total Amount
• Date of Invoice
• Vendor Name
• Remit To Address

If the bot has determined it hasn't extracted all of these fields with high confidence, a task will be generated for a user to assist. The below shows an example of this task. 

• Review each of the extracted fields and determine if the bot extracted the data correctly, or if the bot was incorrect and the field needs to be fixed.
• If the fields were extracted correctly, click the blue "Save" button, shown above. Doing so, will allow the invoice to continue through the process.
• If any field(s) were extracted incorrectly: Highlight the correct field, then select the 3 dots within the field you want to change, and select "Change Extracted Value". Below, you can see that the "Total Amount" was not extracted. After highlighting the total amount on the invoice, the field is corrected. Please reference this article from UiPath for the functionality of Validation Station.
• In some scenarios, the text won't be captured off the document correctly. Below shows a scenario where "BrightView" is extracted as "Brigh t V i e w". To fix this, type the correct phrase "BrightView" in manually as shown below.

Note: As you correct the bot, it will continuously adapt to your input and gain accuracy in it's extractions.

Note: In some cases the Invoice Number won't be on the Invoice, and the "Invoice Number" field on the validation task will be blank. This is expected, and upon submission of the task, the Invoice Number will be automatically generated leveraging the Account Number and Invoice Date.

Vendor Matching Task - Using the "Remit To Address" and the "Vendor Name" Extracted from the Invoice, the bot will attempt to find the associated Vendor Record in NetSuite. If the extracted Vendor Name and Address don't generate a unique match in NetSuite, or if the Vendor/Address don't exist, a task will be generated for a user to assist the bot. A drop down will exist to select the correct Vendor and Address. Below, you can see that the two "Aireco Supply" addresses are shown for a user to manually select the appropriate one.

In some scenarios, the Address of the Vendor, or the Vendor itself, won't exist in NetSuite. In this case, you will need to manually create the Vendor in NetSuite, or add the applicable address to the Vendor Record in NetSuite. Once the Vendor (and/or Address) has been created in NetSuite, click the below box outlined in red and provide the ID's of the Vendor and Address, and hit "Done". 

Note: In order to find the Address ID in NetSuite, you must first enable "Show Internal ID's" in NetSuite. You can do this by going to "Preferences" per the below screenshots. 

Note: Below you can see by clicking "Address", the Internal ID of the address is displayed. It's 1338 in the below screenshot. The Internal ID of the Vendor can be found in the URL. It's 1775 in the below screenshot. This is what would be entered into the Action Center Task. 

Create Vendor Bill in NetSuite - If the bot fails to create the Vendor Bill in NetSuite for whatever reason, a task will be generated to manually create the Vendor Bill in NetSuite. Leverage the information provided, as well as the image of the Invoice to create the Bill. Once completed, mark the task as "Complete". 

Note: Once the Vendor Bill has been created - please submit a FinCR Ticket to have the Vendor Bill associated to the specific record. 

Note: Natasha to Provide

Duplicate Vendor Bill in NetSuite - If NetSuite already has an invoice for a vendor with the same Invoice Number, an error will occur to prevent duplicate entries of the same invoice. If this happens (because someone entered the bill twice, or two people entered the same bill), a task will be created to manage this scenario.

• If the invoice truly is a duplicate, click the "Reject" button, and input the reason as to why you clicked "Reject" Such as "Invoice already exists in NetSuite".  
• If the invoice is not truly a duplicate, or if this is some kind of exception scenario where the Invoice still needs to be input into NetSuite, please create the bill manually in NetSuite. Once the invoice is created in NetSuite, please enter the ID of the Vendor Bill from NetSuite into the field outlined in red below, and then click "Done". 

Accounts Payable Managers Guide

Assigning Tasks to Others - When tasks are generated, they are available to the whole A/P team, but not assigned to any individual. In order to assign a task to an individual, select "Manage Actions". 

• Select "Assign to User" and select the user from the DropDown.

Note: You have the option to select multiple tasks at one time by selecting the checkbox next to each task. 

Managing and Viewing UiPath Errors - When errors occur, the bot will automatically generate an email to the RPA Team (AY) support address. 

Common error messages that require business response:

• Netsuite record incorrect
  • This error get's sent out as an email when the record in Netsuite does not match what was pulled from the invoice. This will generate a task for manual bill creation while someone on the finance team looks into the record on Netsuite.
• Validation field blank
  • This error happens when a field is blank during a validation task. This in turn will generate a manual bill creation task.