Creating and Editing an Invoice

General Information

For information about Searching for an invoice, see Invoicing: Searching and Navigating

Creating an Invoice

Navigating to PO lines

You can navigate to an order when editing an invoice line. Click More Information to go to the PO line. Once there, you can edit the POL or click Back to return to the invoice line.

Navigate to: Acquisitions > Receiving and Invoicing > Create Invoice

Select either Manually or From PO
- Note: From File is an option specific to certain workflows and permissions levels
Select the Handle receiving check box if you want to proceed to receiving the material directly after the invoice is created
- Note: If you use this option, ensure that you are logged in at the proper Receiving Department in Alma.

Formatting Currency

When entering amounts larger than 999, do not use a comma. Alma will not accept commas in the Total amount or the Line item amount fields.

Do not enter 1,000
Enter 1000

Create Invoice Manually Option

Choose the Manually radio-button as Invoice Creation method
The Invoice details screen will display

Summary Tab - Invoice Details

Add values to the Invoice Details fields
Fields followed by a Red Asterisk (*) are mandatory:
- Invoice number
- Vendor
  - Search by entering a vendor code or click to see a list, which can be searched by Name, Code, Library Name, etc.
- Vendor Account
  - Search for the corresponding vendor account record, if applicable. If one does not exist (as may be the case for approval accounts) use the Default account
- Total Amount
  - Enter a positive amount for a regular (debit) invoice
  - Enter a negative amount ( with a - sign preceding the number) for a credit invoice
    - If you change an amount that was previously there, click Redistribute Lines to apply existing fund assignments to that amount
- Currency
- Invoice Date
- Payment Method
  - This will default to the value on the Vendor account record, but you can override the default and change it on the invoice.
    - Accounting Department
      - choose this for regular invoices that will be sent to Finance for approval
    - Adjustment
      - Use this method for Adjustment invoices; such as Pcard purchases
      - Was CC in Aleph
    - Bank Transfers
      - Use this for Wire transfers
Additional Charges, VAT, and Payment Information Section: These fields will most likely be left blank; consult your Finance Office if you have any questions about these sections

Changing Invoice Owner

The invoice owner field defaults to Harvard University when using manual creation. This must be changed to reflect the actual POL owner of the orders on the invoice before it is submitted or Finance will not approve the invoice.

Saving the Manual Invoice

Once the Invoice Details form is filled out, finish by clicking Save and Create Invoice Lines
A blank Invoice Lines tab will open
Creating an invoice manually will automatically create blank line items for Shipment, Discount, Overhead, and Insurance
1. To edit one, choose Edit from the row action item icon (the ellipsis)
2. If they are not needed for the invoice, you can ignore them (no need to delete)

Adding Invoice Lines

Click Add Invoice Line.
The Add Invoice Line form will open
1. Regular line items will use the default Type: Regular
2. Postage lines will be Type: Shipment
3. Other line item Types are not commonly used
Enter PO line number, or use to open a search list.
- This list may take a while to open, given the number of PO Lines in the system.
After entering the PO Line number, you will see the Add invoice line form is now populated with PO line number, Title, Price, Fund information, and Reporting Code, if applicable.

Additional Fields on Continuous POL Invoice Lines

Check subscription date overlap: If you select this option, Alma checks to see if the an overlapping subscription is detected on any other invoice on this PO. If so, an alert message appears when creating the invoice line.
- Note: Alma can check only already-saved information: invoice lines in other invoices and previously added invoice lines from this invoice if you are editing the invoice. Invoice lines you are currently adding are not checked for overlap with other invoice lines you are currently adding. Use the list of invoices lines (see Invoice / Invoice line number list, below) to check for overlaps before saving.
Additional Information: This field is required if the Subscription dates range field is empty
PO Line Subscription from date: Will auto-populate based on the value in the POL
- Suggested best practice: Use this field to enter the piece level information (i.e. issue 12 (March), etc.)
PO Line Subscription to date: Will auto-populate based on the value in the POL
Subscription dates range: Invoice / Invoice line number list: This list includes the last five regular invoice lines associated with this PO line and the dates associated with each invoice line.
- Required if Check subscription date overlap is selected
- Indicates the subscription dates covered by this line item
- Suggested best practice: Only use this field for predictable easily identifiable ranges; when in doubt, use the Additional information field instead.
Invoice line charges: Release remaining encumbrance: For continuous orders, if the payment amount of the line item is LESS than the encumbered amount, check the Release remaining encumbrance field.
Line Item Reporting code: Required, add if not present

Adding Funds

Add Fund: Enter fund name to search (e.g. "Coolidge") or use to open a 'Funds and Ledgers' list, which can be searched by any or all of Name, Description, Code, (or, if relevant, External ID).

For funds spread across multiple orgs and activities, it may be necessary to scan the list of budgets to identify the one with the specific 33-digit budget code you require.

Completing a Manual Invoice Line

When you have filled in all of the necessary fields, you have three options on how to finish this invoice line:

Choose Add to complete the current PO line (adding it to the invoice) and open a new, blank form for the next PO line to add
Choose Close to exit the form and return to the Invoice Lines tab without saving/adding this new line (if you realize you don't need this invoice line, for instance)
Choose Add and Close to complete the current PO line, add it to the invoice, and return to the Invoice Lines tab

To create another Invoice line, click Add Invoice Line again and repeat the process of filling out the Add Invoice Line form.

Adding Postage

As noted above, creating an invoice manually will automatically create lines for Shipment, Discount, Overhead, and Insurance.

To add postage to your invoice, either:

Edit the Shipment line:
1. Enter price information
2. Choose Add Fund to assign a postage fund
Leave the automatically created Shipment line blank and add a new invoice line for the postage
1. From the Invoice Lines tab, choose Add Invoice Line
2. In the form, choose Type: Shipment
3. Enter price information
4. Choose Add Fund to assign a postage fund

Create Invoice From PO Option

Note

Users can create this invoice by looking up a POL, but note that the invoice is created based on the corresponding PO

Choose the From PO radio-button as Invoice Creation method
When you click Next, you will see the Select PO prompt
Type in a PO, or click the icon to see a drop-down list of POs from which to choose
- Note that this PO list can be searched by fields other than PO (e.g., Vendor code, PO Line, and Title) by accessing the drop-down menu
Click on a PO from the search list
Click Save
This will open the Invoice Details page
The Invoice Lines tab displays the PO-Lines associated with the chosen PO; these lines can be edited as needed.

Invoice Number From PO

Invoice Number Defaults to PO Number

At this stage, note that creating an invoice from a PO will, by default, use the PO number as the invoice number.

To change this:

Go to the Summary tab on the Invoice Details page and change the value in the Invoice number field to the invoice number from the vendor.
Click Save to update the invoice with the new number.

Summary Tab - Invoice Details

Make edits to the Summary tab that are needed such as:

- Invoice date
- currency
- total amount
- payment method

Note

The invoice owner field on the Summary tab will be the owner of the PO line(s). This cannot be changed, but should already be accurate.

Reviewing the Invoice Lines Tab

The invoice lines tab lists all the POL line items on the invoice. This is where additional POLs can be added

Each line item displays the following fields:

Line # indicates the position of the order line item in the invoice.
- Depending on how the system is configured, when an EDI invoice contains both regular and additional charges for a PO line, the additional charges appear as sub-lines of the regular line. The regular line is assigned an integer line number such as 1 and the sub-lines are assigned line numbers of the form 1.1. This keeps related invoice line charges together on the invoice.
- The number also serves as a hyperlink to the Invoice Line Details page for the invoice line in view-only mode.
PO Line # is a link to the PO Line Summary page for the PO line
Type indicates the Line item type
- Regular - Use for POL line item payments
- Shipment - Use this type to record postage and/or shipment charges
  - Note: On EDI invoices, the postage line item will load as Type: Overhead. There is no need to change this type to Shipment.
The Funds field is also a link to the Transactions tab on the Budget record.
- The Budget record will show details of a budget, including balances and transaction
- You can also see the available balance of the fund on the Invoice Lines details page

Creating an invoice from a PO will automatically create blank line items for Shipment, Discount, Overhead, and Insurance.

To edit one, follow the instructions above
If they are not needed for the invoice, you can ignore them (no need to delete)

Editing Invoice Lines

On the Invoice Lines tab, use the row action item list icon or right-click anywhere in the row and select Edit.

The invoice lines details is pre-populated with values from the POL
- Invoice line Charges/Reporting code: required, this is the field used for the Object code value in the HL budget structure
  - For orders that migrated from Aleph: this field will most likely be blank, enter the appropriate Object code for the line item
  - For orders created in Alma: this field will display the value added to the POL at creation
- Funding
  - You may alter the amount, and in some cases the currency
  - You can delete a fund from this list by right-clicking on the fund line and choosing Delete
  - You can also access editing options by clicking
  - New funds can be added using the Add Fund button

Additional fields on Continuous POL Invoice lines

- Check subscription date overlap: If you select this option, Alma checks to see if the an overlapping subscription is detected on any other invoice on this PO. If so, an alert message appears when creating the invoice line

Alert

Alma can check only already saved information - invoice lines in other invoices, and previously added invoice lines from this invoice if you are editing the invoice. Invoice lines you are currently adding are not checked for overlap with other invoice lines you are currently adding. Use the list of invoices lines (see Invoice / Invoice line number list, below) to check for overlaps before saving.

- Additional information: This field is Required if the Subscription dates range field is empty
  - Suggested best practice: use this field to enter the piece level information: i.e. issue 12 (March), etc.
- PO Line Subscription from date: will auto-populate based on the value in the POL
- PO Line Subscription to date: will auto-populate based on the value in the POL
- Subscription dates range:
  - Required if Check subscription date overlap is selected
  - indicates the subscription dates covered by this line item
  - Suggested best practice: only use this field for predictable easily identifiable ranges; when in doubt, use the Additional information field instead.
- Invoice / Invoice line number list: This list includes the last five regular invoice lines associated with this PO line and the dates associated with each invoice line.
- Invoice line charges: Release remaining encumbrance: For continuous orders, if the payment amount of the line item is LESS than the encumbered amount, check the Release remaining encumbrance field.
- Line item Reporting code: Required

Adding Postage

As noted above, creating an invoice from a PO will automatically create lines for Shipment, Discount, Overhead, and Insurance:

- Either:
  - edit the "Shipment" line; enter price information; choose "Add Fund" to assign a postage fund
    OR;
  - leave the automatically created Shipment line blank and Add an Invoice line for the postage
    - From the Invoice Lines tab, choose "Add Invoice Line"
    - In the form, for Type, choose "Shipment"
      - enter price information
      - choose "Add Fund" to assign a postage fund.

Completing / Submitting From PO, Manual, and EDI-Created Invoices

Invoice completion options, available from Invoice Details:

Save
- The invoice information you entered is saved and the invoice is moved to the Review Invoices page, where you can review and edit it.
- The invoice does not continue to the next stage of the invoicing workflow until you hit Save & Continue
Save & Continue
- The invoice information you entered is saved and the invoice continues to the next stage of the invoicing workflow, the Invoice approval phase, which is performed by the Finance offices.
Save and Go to Receiving– If you selected the 'Handle receiving' check box, you can choose 'Save and Go to Receiving'
- The invoice information you entered moves into the Invoice approval phase, which is performed by the Finance offices.
- The Receive New Material page opens, enabling you to receive the new material.

Editing Invoice Lines After Submission - While In Approval

After you have saved an Invoice and it is In Approval status, you can still edit a line item:

Go to Acquisitions >> Receiving and Invoicing >> Review
Use the internal search box (under the Assigned to Me / Unassigned tabs) and search by PO Line for the POL #
When the invoice comes up, click on the invoice number or choose Edit from the row action item list
On the Invoice Line Details page, edit the invoice summary or invoice lines as needed
Click Save

You can also get to the Invoice Lines Details page from the POL:

Go to Acquisitions >> Receiving and Invoicing >> Review
Use the internal search box (under the Assigned to Me / Unassigned tabs) and search by PO Line for the POL #
Use the Order Lines for the title connected to the Line Item that needs editing
Click on EDIT to the right (the button or from your drop down Ellipsis)
You will now be on the POL Details page
Click on the Invoice Lines tab
Click on the Ellipsis associated with invoice
Select Edit from the Ellipsis
You will now be on the Invoice Line Details page
Edit and click Save for both the changes to the line item and to the POL.

Invoices In Review

Periodically check for invoices that remain In Review due to unresolved issues:

Go to Acquisitions > Receiving and Invoicing > Review
On the Assigned to me tab, look for an invoice that needs attention
Choose Edit under the ellipsis Action icon
Correct any of the Red alerts listed on the Alerts tab
Save and Continue to complete the invoice

EDI Invoices

Alert

There is no option to "Handle receiving" with EDI invoices.

Search for the EDI invoice, by vendor code and/or invoice number; EDI invoices will load into the In review status

Use the persistent search and the search type Invoices, criteria Invoice Number, and the invoice number that you're looking for
Choose Go to task list from the row action item list icon to go to the In review invoices list, under the the Unassigned tab
Choose Edit from row action item list icon on the appropriate line. This will open up the Invoice Details page, and change the invoice review assignment from Unassigned to Assigned to Me
The Invoice details page > Summary tab > Creation From field should indicate this is an EDI invoice with this note: EDIteur Invoice Message.
Verify that all the information on the Invoice details screen is accurate
1. Note: If an invoice loads correctly and is linked to the POLs in Alma the invoice owner is pulled from the POL owner. If an invoice loads but does not find the POLs (probably because there is a timing error with the MARC and EDI files) the invoice owner is Harvard University because there are no POLs for it to pull from. This field cannot be edited in an EDI invoice, so if none of the line items on your EDI invoice linked to POLs, submit a ticket to the LTS Support center (Category: Acquisitions)
Review the Invoice Lines tab and edit and or add invoice lines as necessary.
The EDI invoice line items will each display a Note field that includes a summary of information from the vendor: do not delete this. In the case of Continuous EDI invoices this note will include vital information - Do not delete it. The note can be edited to make it shorter or easier to read if someone feels the need to do so, but do not delete.
Notes about the Shipment/Postage line:
1. For some EDI invoices, this line may load into the Overhead type. This does not need to be changed to Shipment.
2. For some invoices, this line may load with a "dummy" fund called Faux Postage Fund for EDI. This fund should be replaced with the appropriate shipping fund for the holding library.
Some EDI invoices may have an Adjustment line item, associated with no price and the status of Ready. There is no need to delete or edit this line, leave it as is.
Choose Save and Continue to finish the invoice; though you must first address any error messages that arise (e.g. invoice line not assigned a fund, invoice total doesn't match line items total, etc.).

Invoice Lifecycle

Invoice Creation – status “In Review”;
- EDI
- Created from PO,
- Created Manually
- Submitted for approval but sent back to unit for correction.
Invoice processing – system checks to ensure all required data is present. An alert will pop up if not all data has been entered. Note that the “Reporting Code” does not generate an alert so it is important that this is manually checked before proceeding. - status “In Review”
Invoice approval – once the invoice is complete and the processor hits “save and continue” it moves into status “waiting for approval”. The invoice is then reviewed and either sent back to the processor for corrections or approved.

If the invoice is approved it moves into the status “Ready to be Paid”
Payment - Invoices in the status ready to be paid are sent to Oracle AP nightly. Once the invoice is sent it moves into payment status Paid and the invoice status is “Closed”

Adapted from Invoice Approval Training Materials