Vendor Hints

Written by Uday Kumar Updated

Purpose

Vendor Hints are saved rules that help SmartVendor identify the vendor and the right entity for incoming documents (Invoices, Credit Memos, etc). A hint stores one or more identifying signals (e.g., email From address, vendor address, or currency) for a specific vendor and entity. When the saved values appear in an incoming document, the system uses them to assign the vendor and entity for that particular document.

Hints are user-set assistance to reduce repetitive manual matching. Hints apply to both PO- and non-PO-driven documents; however, when a PO is present and extracted, the entity from the PO takes precedence. This article explains how hints work, how to add them from a document, and how primary and secondary hints are evaluated.

Prerequisites

Before you use Vendor Hints, make sure the following are in place:

  • Vendor enrollment:

    • The vendor must be enrolled in AP Invoices before adding, updating, or using Vendor hints.

  • Vendor-to-entity association:

    • The vendor must be associated with at least one entity. If the vendor has no entity association, the Vendor Hints dialog will not load.

  • Permissions:

    • Any user can add hints; no special role is required.

  • Hint rules:

    • Each saved hint must include both a Vendor and an Entity.

    • Hints must be unique within the tenant and must respect vendor-to-entity restrictions.

    • The same field (e.g., the same Email From) cannot be saved for multiple entities if it would cause a conflict.

  • Entity scoping rules:

    • If a vendor is restricted to a single entity, that entity is selected by default.

    • If a vendor can transact with multiple entities, the Entity dropdown in the Hints UI must list only the allowed entities.

  • Upstream data syncs (administrators):

    • Sync vendor master data and vendor-to-entity restrictions from the ERP so the Hints UI can constrain choices correctly.

    • Keep vendor records synchronized; mismatches can prevent hints from applying.

  • Matching precedence expectations:

    • Vendor matching: Hints assist vendor identification regardless of PO vs non-PO. First-time documents may show “Unknown Vendor”; saving a hint once enables future automatic matching and can improve Vendor extraction thereafter.

    • Entity matching: PO-derived entity outranks hints. When no PO is available, primary hints are evaluated first, then secondary hints.

    • Validation rules must pass before a hint is considered during matching. T

How to use Vendor Hints

  1. Sign in and open SmartVendor.

    • Go to the Auditoria sign-in page and authenticate.

  2. Go to Documents.

    • In SmartVendor, select Documents > Active Data.

    • Open the target document to display the Document Information page.

  1. Check vendor status.

    • If Vendor Match Status is Unknown, continue with matching the vendor from the list of all available vendors.

  1. Start vendor matching.

    • Select Match with a Vendor to open the vendor selector.

  1. Select or enroll the vendor.

    • Search and select the correct vendor in the list.

    • If prompted that the vendor is not enrolled for AP Invoices, select Enroll Now to enroll, then continue.

 
 

  1. Open the Update Vendor Hints dialog.

    • In the vendor selector, select Update Vendor Hints for the chosen vendor.

    • The Update Vendor Hints dialog opens with the document preview on the left and hint fields on the right.

  1. Set the entity scope.

    • At the top-right of the dialog, use the Entity dropdown to select the entity the hints should apply to.

    • Important: Every saved hint must include both a vendor and an entity.

    • Note: For any single document you are editing, you can save hints for only one entity. To configure hints for another entity for the same vendor, reopen or resubmit another document instance and save hints for that other entity.

  1. Review the fields and understand what is shown.

    • Extracted data:

      • The value to the right of each field is taken from the open document. If nothing was extracted, the UI shows “--”.

  1. Hint control:

  • Select the Hint checkbox to save that field/value as a hint for the selected entity.

  • Use the Select… control dropdown to confirm or choose the value to store. If a control is disabled, the field cannot be selected yet.

  1. Add hints (Primary Vs Secondary hints).

    • Primary Hints: The unique identifiers that identify the vendor and the entity. The system checks primary hints first. Add at least one primary hint (recommended):

      • Email From — Select Hint, then choose the sender address the bill was received from.

        • Warning: Email From must be unique to a single vendor/entity. If it is already used for another vendor/entity, resolve the conflict before saving.

      • Vendor Name — Select Hint and confirm the extracted name (or choose the correct variant).

      • Vendor Contact Email — Select Hint and choose the contact email if it uniquely identifies the vendor.

      • Vendor Website — Select Hint and confirm the extracted URL when it is unique to the vendor.

      • Vendor Contact Phone — Select Hint and confirm the phone number if it is a reliable identifier.

      • Vendor Address — Select Hint and confirm the address when it consistently appears on this vendor’s bills.

    • Secondary Hints: After at least one primary hint is selected, add secondary hints as needed (initially disabled/greyed out; become enabled after you select at least one primary field):

      • Billing Address — Helps drive entity selection when no PO is present.

      • Currency — Select a currency.

      • Contains — Enter a keyword that commonly appears on this vendor’s bills.

    • Example: For multi-entity vendors, pair the Billing Address with the correct Entity to stabilize entity selection when no PO is present.

  2. Save the hints.

    • Select Update to save the selected hints for the chosen vendor and entity.

  3. Verify behavior on future documents.

  4. New documents use PO first (if present), then primary hints, then secondary hints to resolve vendor and entity.

    • Monitor outcomes in Documents > Active Data.

Primary vs Secondary Hints

Primary Hints

  • Definition: A primary hint is a unique, high-confidence signal that can deterministically identify the vendor/entity.

  • Primary Hints:

    • Email From (the sender address the bill was received from)

    • Vendor Name (as extracted from the document)

    • Vendor Contact Email (if unique to the vendor)

    • Vendor Website (if unique)

    • Vendor Contact Phone (if reliably unique)

    • Vendor Address (if consistently present for the vendor)

  • How Used: The system checks primary hints first when matching a document to a vendor/entity. At least one primary hint is recommended for each vendor/entity.

Secondary Hints

  • Definition: A secondary hint is a supporting signal used to confirm or break ties when a primary hint is not decisive, or to refine the entity selection for multi-entity vendors.

  • Secondary Hints:

    • Billing Address (bill-to address, useful in multi-entity scenarios)

    • Currency (document currency)

    • Contains (a keyword that commonly appears on the vendor’s bills)

  • How Used: Secondary hints are only evaluated if primary hints are not decisive or if there’s a need to further refine the match (e.g., for vendors that transact with multiple entities).

  • Note: Secondary hints are disabled until at least one primary hint is selected.

Example Scenario

  • When a bill arrives from a vendor with a unique "Email From" address, the system automatically assigns it to that particular vendor or entity.

    • Example A: If the "Email From" address is unique, it serves as a primary hint.

    • Hints provided: 

    • In this case, the vendor name is identified as: Contoso Supplies LLC.

  • If a vendor serves multiple entities within the same organization and the primary hint is insufficient to identify the correct entity, the system will utilize secondary hints, such as "Contains" (for example, country or entity name), to make an accurate assignment.

    • Example B: When Globex GmbH issues an invoice to the German entity of ABC Corporation Ltd., the primary hint alone does not provide enough information; therefore, secondary hints are employed to select the correct entity.

      • Hints set: 

        • Vendor Name: Globex GmbH 

        • Contains: “Germany”

      • Details extracted from the invoice: 

        • Vendor Name: Globex Ltd. 

        • Vendor Name resolved as: Globex GmbH 

        • Entity identified as: ABC Corporation Ltd. (Germany).