Best Practices – A/P Data Entry

Summary: This article will help in explaining to the client best practices when in the ‘complete data entry’ step.

Before going over best practices when completing data entry, make sure to review and understand these two articles.

Invoice Complete Data Entry

Article on how to complete the appropriate data entry fields and what items to hard select from dropdown menus.

Invoice Processing: Possible Duplicates

Article to provide an overview of the invoice check for duplicates process.

When suggesting to clients best practices for completing data entry, the more information entered the better. However, not all invoices that come in have all the information needed. For example, most client’s monthly utility bills (Ex. Water, Sewer, Power, Trash) will typically only have an account number and no invoice number. 

Consistency in the data entry is key, especially when there are multiple people working in the A/P role. To do this, the client should establish a set list of rules for everyone completing the data entry to help stay consistent.

Some rules to consider:

1. If the invoice has no invoice number, enter the date of the invoice in as MMDDYY
   1. 1. This helps in searching for an invoice later on or when checking the Recent invoices tab by creating a unique identifier.
2. If there is no due date on an invoice, establish a set date in the future to set the due date (Ex. Net 30)
   1. 1. This assures there will always be a due date being input, which helps prioritize later on what invoices need to be paid in the 'Ready for Payment' step.
3. If someone is not sure how to input an invoice, enter the Association and Provider, then click refresh and check the Recent invoices tab. From there they can see how the invoice has been entered in the past (Unless it is a new provider)
   1. 1. This helps with keeping consistency with data entry.

Here is a sample water/sewer Bill and how keeping consistency can help:

If following the above rules, you would add the date of the bill as an invoice number (1). When reviewing the Recent Invoices tab (2), you can see the previous months that have already been entered and Paid. This can help determine duplicates or if there are any months that are missing. 

Note: These rules are only suggestions to give the client when going over A/P. Some clients may have reasons for not wanting something entered.