Master data integrates INVOICES with supplier and buyer information from a financial system, opening the door to greater classification and identification possibilities. To use master data, you must import master data and specify that master data is to be used.
You have three main options when it comes to using master data in combination with definitions in INVOICES:
Only master data (recommended if master data is available)
Invoice definition names come from the supplier registry that was created by importing master data. When INVOICES sees an invoice from a certain supplier the first time, it tries to find supplier data on the invoice and match it against the supplier database. If a match is found, the definition for that invoice receives the name and ID of the matched supplier. When you approve the invoice using Verify, the definition is created by INVOICES.
If an unknown invoice shows up in Verify, you can only select suppliers from the supplier registry. Likewise, if an unknown invoice definition shows up in Optimize, you can only select suppliers from the supplier registry.
If the same supplier has several invoice layouts, you can in Verify or Optimize create a definition for each layout. (The supplier description must differ slightly.) The definitions are linked to the same supplier record and have the same ID.
This scenario simplifies the creation of definitions, because minimal manual data entry is required to name them.
For this scenario, select both of the options in the dialog.
No master data (the only option if master data is unavailable)
You create the supplier names and IDs manually. Those become the basis of a layout for that supplier. If the same supplier has several invoice layouts, a definition is created for each layout. The name or the supplier description must differ slightly. In Optimize you must then specify appropriate, unique identifier fields that can be used to identify the definition.
In Verify you can, of course, create new definitions by writing new names. However, you cannot specify the identifiers; those can only be set in Optimize.
This scenario is appropriate when master data is not available, or when supplier data is captured as normal fields on the invoice and passed to the target system, where the supplier identity is determined.
For this scenario, do not select any of the options in the dialog.
Master data and manually created definition names (not recommended)
This is like the first scenario, except that in Optimize and Verify you can also enter new supplier names. These names are not added to the master data but are only found in the definition name list.
This means you can choose the supplier name from the supplier list of the master data, or from the list of definitions, or create a new one.
This scenario is not well suited for any practical process. The distinction between a supplier and a definition can become unclear, and the output to the target system relies on a clear strategy for naming definitions and providing unique IDs.
If possible, avoid using this scenario.
For this scenario, select only the first setting in the dialog.