Supplier and Supplier Invoice Workflow

Overview

This workflow covers managing supplier records and capturing supplier invoices in MyApprentice, a web-based app, for a team business. You upload a supplier invoice for AI-assisted extraction (or enter it manually), review the extracted lines, match each line to an existing material or create a new one, check unit conversions, and apply the invoice to update inventory stock and costs. The Supplier library stores supplier details used to pre-fill and match invoices. The Business Owner, Admin, or a Supervisor uploads and processes supplier invoices end to end, while Finance manages supplier details. There is no separate approval handoff before applying an invoice to inventory.

Who This Workflow Is For

Business Owners and Admins can manage suppliers fully (add, edit) and upload, review, match, and process supplier invoices. Supervisors can manage suppliers and process supplier invoices where permitted. Finance can add and edit suppliers and has view-only access to supplier invoices (no upload, no apply). Only the Business Owner can delete a supplier or a supplier invoice. Tradies and Apprentices have no access.

Before You Start

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) must be set up before you can upload supplier invoices. Keep your materials catalogue as complete as possible — the more materials you have, the more lines the AI can match automatically. To use the Inventory page, the Inventory feature must be enabled. AI consent is required the first time you use the AI supplier invoice upload service.

End-to-End Workflow

Step 1: Add and manage suppliers

Finance, an Admin, a Supervisor, or the Business Owner manages the Supplier library.

1. Open the Supplier library from the left sidebar by selecting Suppliers.
2. Select Add new supplier and enter the Supplier Name (required, used for matching), ABN, Supplier Email, Supplier Contact Number, Supplier Website, and Supplier Address.
3. Save.
4. To edit a supplier, click the supplier record, update the fields, and save.
5. To view a supplier’s invoice history, click the receipt icon on the supplier row — this opens Supplier Invoices filtered to that supplier.
6. Only the Business Owner can delete a supplier; when a supplier is deleted, the record is kept and can be restored from Document History, and supplier invoice history remains intact.

Step 2: Upload a supplier invoice

An Admin, Supervisor, or the Business Owner uploads the invoice for AI extraction.

1. Select Supplier Invoices from the left sidebar.
2. Select Choose File, pick the invoice PDF, select Open, then select Upload Invoice.
3. If this is your first upload, review and accept the AI consent prompt (the consent button is labelled I Agree) — this is a once-off consent, not repeated per upload.
4. The system reads the invoice and extracts supplier details, invoice number, dates, totals, and line items.
5. If you prefer, select Manual Entry to type the invoice details yourself.

Step 3: Allocate the invoice

1. If the parse detects a Purchase Order number, a PO allocation pop-up appears.
2. Choose an allocation mode:
   • Allocate all to one target (a job, or classify as restock/unassigned).
   • Split by PO (add multiple POs to the order).
   • Restock/unassigned (a general order to restock materials).
3. Select the target type and choose the relevant job from the dropdown where applicable.
4. If you are not ready to allocate, select Skip for now — the invoice is saved without a job link and can be allocated later from the Supplier Invoices list.

Step 4: Review the extracted invoice

The team member processing the invoice reviews the extracted detail.

1. Select Review on the uploaded invoice.
2. Check the supplier name and ABN, invoice number, order date, invoice date, document type, and the totals (total ex GST, GST, total incl GST).
3. Review any detected PO number, confirm the allocation mode and target type, then review each line item before matching.

Step 5: Match lines to materials

1. Each line shows the AI-extracted description, SKU where available, quantity, unit, unit cost, and total line amount, plus a confidence percentage that indicates how confident the read of that line is.
2. For each line:
   • If it is correctly matched to an existing material, select Mark as Reviewed.
   • If confidence is low, carefully double-check the material before confirming.
   • If the line is matched but wrong, or you need a different material, select Select Material and choose the correct one.
   • If the line is unmatched (no same-name material was found), select Add New to create a material from the invoice line.
3. Lines stay in Needs Review until marked reviewed.

Step 6: Create new materials and correct extracted details

1. For unmatched lines, Add New opens an inline material creation flow — review the proposed name, description, unit, cost, pricing, and category.
2. If any AI-extracted data is wrong, select Switch to Detailed Edits at the top of the page and correct the field (description, quantity, unit, unit cost, total amount, or material match), then save.
3. Where multiple unmatched lines are accurate, you may use Add all unmatched as new materials, but only after checking them.
4. Mark each line as reviewed, or use Mark all as reviewed after checking every line.

Step 7: Review unit conversions

If the supplier unit differs from the material’s base stock unit (for example, materials purchased by the length), confirm the conversion before applying.

1. Check the material name, description, pricing, and category.
2. Compare the invoice unit against the base stock unit, and confirm the calculated cost per base unit.
3. Enter the conversion factor and the system applies it.
4. Use detailed edits to correct any unit or quantity issue. Incorrect conversions affect both stock quantity and cost accuracy.

Step 8: Apply the invoice to inventory

1. Once every line is matched or created, unit conversions are checked, and all lines are marked reviewed, scroll to the bottom of the review screen and select Apply to Inventory.
2. The system checks whether the invoice has already been applied; if an error states it has, stop — do not apply again, to avoid double-counting stock.
3. Applying posts inventory transactions and updates material stock and costs.
4. Open the Materials page to set sell prices and markup percentages and assign storage locations where required.

If AI extraction fails

1. If the upload returns no data or obviously incorrect data, repeat the upload process — follow the same upload steps again to re-parse the invoice — or use Manual Entry to enter the invoice details.
2. Then continue through the normal review, match, and apply steps.

Common Issues & Limitations

• AI extraction errors. AI extraction can be wrong and must always be reviewed. Use Switch to Detailed Edits to correct any field before marking the line reviewed. Do not apply the invoice until every line is accurate.
• Material does not exist. Use Add New for unmatched lines to create the material inline from the invoice data.
• Already-applied invoices. The system errors if an invoice has already been applied. Do not attempt to apply again — this prevents double-counting stock.
• Unit conversion accuracy. Check the unit and conversion factor before confirming; incorrect conversions affect stock quantity and cost.
• Low-confidence reads. A low confidence percentage means the AI was less certain about that line — manually double-check it before confirming.
• Re-parsing a failed upload. If a parse fails, repeat the upload process to re-parse, or use Manual Entry.
• Finance access is view-only. Finance can manage supplier details but has view-only access to supplier invoices and cannot delete suppliers. Only the Business Owner can delete a supplier or supplier invoice.

What Happens Next

Once applied, the supplier invoice transactions appear on the Inventory → Transactions tab, and updated material stock levels and costs are available for use in quotes, jobs, and future supplier invoices. Set any remaining sell prices, markups, and storage locations from the Materials page.

Related Guides

• Materials and Inventory Workflow
• Creating a Job and Completing the Work
• Invoicing Workflow