New Invoicing Features that Will Save You Time and Money

By Marsha Ma, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Ariba

If you enter invoices on the Ariba® Supplier Network™, you'll be glad to learn that AN48 includes a completely revamped invoice entry process designed to enhance efficiency and save you time and money. Intuitive and easy to use, the new process lets you create invoices from a single screen and greatly reduces the amount of data entry, clicks, and scrolling required even for complex invoices.

The changes and improvements were developed in collaboration with a diverse team of suppliers from various industries as part of an ongoing Ariba initiative to deliver the usability and functionality you really want.

What Are the Key Enhancements to the New Process?
The invoice entry process now offers the simplicity, efficiency, and flexibility you need to create invoices based on your unique business processes. You can enter simple invoices on just one page rather than three; add tax, shipping, and handling to all lines at once or make individual adjustments at the line item level; and include attachments, comments, or other items in just a few clicks. Multiple ways to complete the same tasks let you complete each action in the way that best suits your habits and preferences.




PO-Based Invoices To create a PO-based invoice, go to your inbox on supplier.ariba.com, select the appropriate PO, then click "Create Invoice." This takes you to the invoice creation screen, where you'll see PO and summary information listed at the top of the page. After entering the invoice number and checking to be sure the invoice total and other information is correct, you can submit the invoice right from this screen.

Making adjustments and additions for more complex invoices is easy as well:

• A series of drop-down boxes allows you to specify special handling, discounts, comments, ship-to details, and more at the header or line-item level in just a few clicks. (Note that what appears in the drop-down boxes on your screen will depend on your customer's configuration.)
• With one click you can apply tax, shipping, handling, or other additional costs to all lines at once or to individual line items that you select.
• To change the default tax configuration, simply click on the drop-down button to select from a list of various tax types; alternatively, you can select "Configure Tax" and choose from the available options or click "Create" to add a new tax type.
• Yellow alerts pop up when specific fields are filled out improperly, enabling virtually any user to manage the process correctly.

You can also create partial invoices by either deselecting specific line items from the "included" list of PO items or by choosing certain line items for inclusion. Later on, when you’re ready to invoice the remaining line items for that PO, previously invoiced items are clearly labeled so you can quickly discern what still needs to be billed.

Non-PO-Based Invoices To create invoices without a PO, go to supplier.ariba.com and click on "Create Non-PO Invoice." Select your customer (either from an Ariba Network trading relationship or a new trading relationship), choose the type of invoice, enter the invoice number, and include line item information such as the part number, quantity, unit, and so on. Then complete the remaining fields as you would for a PO-based invoice.

Where Can I Find Out More?
To read detailed, step-by-step information about how the new invoice entry process works, go to the "Creating Invoices and Credit Memos" chapter of the Transactions Guide in the Help section of supplier.ariba.com.

You can also join Ariba's new community site, Exchange, to learn more about new Ariba Network features. Please register at http://exchange.ariba.com and join the Ariba Network Supplier Group.