Improving the quality of supplier identification

Owned by Peter Schöll
Last updated: Okt. 22, 2024
3 min read

In this article, you will learn how to improve the quality of supplier identification using specific rules.

Rules for supplier recognition: "known" vs. "specific"

To add a new rule, select Master data > Manage accounting > Invoice receipt settings > Rules and click on Add.

The rules in the invoice receipt book area take effect at two times:

  • when the invoice is received (1) or

  • during verification (2).

The selectable criteria and actions differ:

The document worklist rules, on the other hand, are triggered when the posting details are called up and managed separately, again with their own options.

Please note: Criteria with "known" check for matches between the OCR result and your respective entries in the master data. The supplier/vendor account assigned in the background on the basis of this is set with "Set found supplier/vendor". Combinations other than known -> found do not make sense.

We recommend a combination of recognizing certain suppliers based on criteria from the text (Text contains...). For the best possible assignment, load an invoice from the supplier into the invoice receipt book, open the entry screen and also "Display generated files" under "Documents". At this point, you will find the result of the OCR recognition in a text file. Unique criteria such as supplier name, address components, etc. can be used, even if no exact or correct recognition has taken place. Use several variants to create a separate rule for the specific supplier:

  • Terminating rule on invoice receipt

  • Several unique criteria linked with or, e.g.

    • Text contains "Mueller"

    • Text contains "Mueller"

    • Text contains "Möller".

If one of the criteria applies to future OCR results, a specific vendor should be set as the action, in this case 70XXX Müller AG.

Certain rules can be used more reliably through individualization than general recognition. The combination of specific rules tailored to your priority suppliers and a rule for checking for known master data in the last position will give you the best results. Suppliers that were not previously recognized using individual rules are automatically compared with the master data last.

Always pay attention to the numbering of the rules that reflect the priority.

For supplier recognition, it is important to check first according to specific criteria and then according to more general criteria.

As a rule, specific rules should also be terminating rules. The results of the recognition are otherwise replaced by the final master data recognition.

Examples

Invoice receipt: Pre-assign suppliers and release processes

Ending rule for specific suppliers:

  • Text contains "Scopevisio" OR Text contains "Rheinwerkallee"

  • Set specific supplier: 700xx Scopevisio

  • Set release process: "shortened release".

 

Ending rule for remaining suppliers:

  • Text contains known vendor VAT ID OR Text contains known vendor name

  • Setfound supplier/vendor

  • Set release process: "normal release".

Verification: Automatic approvals, set dimensions

Continuing rule for cost center assignment:

  • Supplier name is equal to 700xx Scopevisio

  • Set dimension account for dimension 2: "IT: Software".

 

Ending rule for automatic release of small amounts:

  • Amount is less than or equal to 100 EUR

  • Automatic factual check

  • Automatic payment release.

Document worklist: Account assignment

The rules, which are executed within the voucher worklist when called up, can add a G/L account to the default personal account if required. In the rules of the document worklist, which can be accessed via the posting screen, for example, the following is stored:

Ending rule for account assignment:

  • Supplier name is equal to 700xx Scopevisio

  • Set specific account: 0027 EDP Software.

You can find more information on the rules of the document worklist in the article "Voucher worklist".