Documents – Overview & Workflow

Purpose

The Documents section in SmartVendor centralizes all AP invoice records from intake to final posting in your System of Record (SoR). It lets AP specialists, auditors, and administrators:

  • Capture invoices automatically from vendor mailboxes

  • Review, validate, and edit invoice data

  • Finalize and write documents to your ERP/accounting system

  • Dismiss and, if necessary, purge invalid or irrelevant records

  • Maintain a searchable audit trail across the entire invoice lifecycle

This article explains the overall Documents workflow and how records move between Active Data, Written to SoR, and Dismissed Documents.


1. How Document Records Are Created

1.1 Invoice Received and Document Record Created

  1. A supplier sends an invoice email to your connected vendor mailbox.

  2. Auditoria SmartVendor:

    • Extracts the invoice attachment(s) and key fields (header and line items)

    • Creates corresponding document record(s)

    • Places them in SmartVendor > Documents > Active Data

These records are now available for search, filtering, review, and further processing.

Note:
If Doc Classification = Other, SmartVendor skips invoice extraction:

  • Header and line‑item fields remain empty/blank

  • Confidence Level is not applicable

  • Write to SoR is unavailable
    These records are typically dismissed or reclassified.

1.2 Navigating to the Documents Section

  • In the vertical sidebar, select SmartVendor.

  • In the top navigation, click Documents.

Figure 1.  Navigating to the Document Section

From here you will see three sub-tabs:

  • Active Data – invoices currently under review or pending action

  • Written to SoR – finalized documents already written to your ERP/accounting system

  • Dismissed Documents – documents removed from active processing but retained for audit

Figure 3. Documents Section Layout – Active Data and Written to SoR Tabs


2. Core Documents Workflow

At a high level, the document lifecycle follows this pattern:

  1. Invoice received → record created in Active Data

  2. Review and validation in Active Data

  3. Either:

    • Write to SoR → record moves to Written to SoR, or

    • Dismiss → record moves to Dismissed Documents

  4. From Dismissed Documents, records can be:

    • Moved back to Active Data for re-processing, or

    • Purged (permanent deletion; typically admin-only)

The sections below describe each tab and its role in the workflow.


3. Active Data – Invoices Under Review

The Active Data tab lists all documents that are currently:

  • Newly ingested

  • Being reviewed/edited

  • Awaiting validation, approvals, or write to SoR

Each row represents a document record with key fields such as Vendor Name, Doc Classification, Confidence Level, Vendor Status, Invoice Number, Total Amount, Status, and more.

3.1 Typical Actions in Active Data

From Active Data, users typically:

  • Filter and search for specific invoices (by vendor, date, status, etc.)

  • Review confidence and vendor status to determine which invoices need extra attention

  • Open a document by clicking the document icon in the Doc Classification column to access the Document Information page

  • Edit header and line items to correct extraction errors or add missing data

  • Attach supporting documents, such as contracts or backup documentation

  • Write to SoR once the invoice is ready

  • Dismiss records that are invalid, duplicates, or non-invoice items

3.2 Bulk vs. Individual Actions

  • Bulk Actions (from the toolbar):

    • Select multiple records → choose ActionsWrite to SoR or Dismiss.

    • Useful for processing batches of similar invoices.

  • Individual Actions (row-level Action menu):

    • Use when a record needs unique handling or investigation.

3.3 Validation When Writing to SoR

Whenever you use Write to SoR (bulk or single), SmartVendor validates the document:

  • Soft Warnings (non-blocking):

    • Example: totals not matching line items; zero-amount lines.

    • You can Continue or Cancel to review and fix.

  • Blocking Errors (prevent write):

    • Example: vendor is not known or not enrolled.

    • No records are written; correct the issue and retry.

  • Success:

    • Record is written to SoR and moves from Active Data to Written to SoR.


4. Written to SoR – Finalized and Posted Documents

The Written to SoR tab contains documents that have been successfully written to your System of Record (ERP/accounting). This tab acts as:

  • A confirmation list of all posted invoices/credit memos

  • A reporting and audit view of completed transactions

4.1 Characteristics of Written to SoR Records

Typical fields include:

  • Vendor Name, Doc Classification, Invoice Number, Date

  • Financial fields (e.g., Total Amount, Net Total, Currency)

  • Status (e.g., Record Updated)

  • Written By – who performed the write

  • Written Date – when the record was written to SoR

Only documents classified as Invoice (not Other) can appear here.

4.2 Typical Uses of Written to SoR

From this tab, users usually:

  • Confirm that invoices were successfully written to SoR

  • Export data for reconciliation, reporting, or audit

  • Filter by date, vendor, or status to answer questions like:

    • “Which invoices did we post last week?”

    • “Who wrote this invoice to the system, and when?”


5. Dismissed Documents – Exceptions and Non‑Processable Items

The Dismissed Documents tab lists records that were intentionally removed from active processing. Common reasons include:

  • Duplicate invoices

  • Spam or non-invoice attachments

  • Misrouted documents

  • Non-extractable files or documents classified as Other

5.1 Why Dismissed Documents Are Kept

Dismissed documents remain visible to:

  • Preserve an audit trail of decisions and reasons

  • Avoid repeated processing of the same invalid document

  • Support investigations into disputes or compliance reviews

Typical fields include Dismissed Reason, original Status, and all standard invoice fields.

5.2 Actions in Dismissed Documents

Users (often with admin-level permissions) can:

  • Move to Active Data – restore mistakenly dismissed records for re-processing, including potential Write to SoR.

  • Purge – permanently delete selected records from the system.

Purging is irreversible and typically reserved for records that:

  • Are confirmed non-invoices/non-relevant, and

  • Are no longer required for audit or retention purposes.

A confirmation dialog warns:

“Once purged, the data will be deleted from the system. Are you sure you want to continue?”


6. Document Information Page – Working on a Single Record

At any point in the workflow, clicking the document icon in the Doc Classification column opens the Document Information page for that record.

From this page you can:

  • Review and edit document header fields

  • Verify and adjust line items

  • View and upload attachments

  • Review Vendor Inbox email threads and documents created

  • Perform key actions:

    • Create New Invoice

    • Edit

    • Attach

    • Write to SoR

    • Dismiss

You can also use Previous/Next buttons at the top right to move between documents in your current filtered set, supporting efficient high-volume review.


7. Confidence, Vendor Status, and Document Status in the Workflow

Three key columns in the Documents tables help drive decisions through the workflow:

  • Confidence Level – How certain the system is about extracted data (High/Medium/Low).

    • Low or Medium confidence typically requires manual review before write.

  • Vendor Status – Whether the vendor is Known, Unknown, or Unenrolled.

    • Only known/enrolled vendors can be written to SoR.

  • Status – Where the document is in the process (e.g., New, Record Needs Review By User, Manual Vendor Bill, Record Updated, Dismissed, etc.).

    • Use the Status filter to find documents that need a specific action.

These indicators help AP teams prioritize work, maintain data quality, and ensure only fully validated invoices reach the SoR.


8. High-Level Workflow Summary

  1. Capture & Creation

    • Vendor sends invoice → SmartVendor ingests email → creates document record in Active Data.

  2. Review & Edit

    • AP team reviews header, line items, attachments, confidence level, vendor status.

  3. Decision Point

    • If valid and complete → Write to SoR → moves to Written to SoR.

    • If invalid/irrelevant → Dismiss → moves to Dismissed Documents.

  4. Exception Handling

    • From Dismissed Documents:

      • Move to Active Data if dismissed in error.

      • Purge when certain the document is not needed.

  5. Audit & Reporting

    • Use Written to SoR and Dismissed Documents tabs, plus exports and audit trails, to support compliance, reconciliations, and investigations.