How do I start using Accounts Payable?
What can I view on the Accounts Payable dashboard?
How do I chase missing documents needed from my supplier?
Can I contact my customer directly using Accounts Payable?
What is Accounts Payable?
The Accounts Payable (AP) module within SmartPay enables members to access all invoices for loads completed on the platform in a single view. Users can search for all invoices, apply different filters to narrow search results, and easily keep track of the invoice cycle from invoice approval to payment.
It’s a straightforward and efficient system designed to help you keep track of all bookings completed on the platform and have invoices and PODs automatically paired for faster approval.
How do I start using Accounts Payable?
SmartPay comes readily equipped with Accounts Payable. You can manage received invoices and process your payments for all loads completed on the TEG platform.
You can find Accounts Payable under SmartPay in the navigation menu to the left of your desktop screen.
What can I view on the Accounts Payable dashboard?
The summary section shows all recent invoices and their statuses:
- Pending Approval: The total value of all invoices received that need approval for payment. It’s a vital step to review and approve invoices, as this leads you to schedule and process the payment. When you’ve approved the invoice, the status of the invoice will change to “Approved”.
- Approved: The total value and the number of invoices that have been approved by yourself or other finance/admin users within your company. After the invoice has been approved, the next stage is to schedule it for payment.
- Scheduled to Pay: This is the final status of your invoices; it displays the number of files (a combination of single and batch invoices) that are scheduled to be paid. These invoices were previously approved and are ready to be paid.
You can filter to view by the cut-off date which is the date when the invoice was received. You can filter as far back as 1 month, 2 months or 3 months. After selecting the desired cut-off date, all the widgets will show invoices received since the cut-off date displayed at the top right-hand corner.
The Requiring Attention section shows any required tasks that need urgent attention and must be completed:
- Payment overdue: The number of invoices that are overdue and have not been paid on time sorted by the due date. The date since the oldest invoice is displayed at the bottom right of the widget.
- Payment due: The number of invoices to be paid. The date on this widget displays the payment date for the oldest invoice.
If you don’t have any urgent tasks pending, the following message will be displayed:
The Shortcuts section shows updates regarding the loads you’ve sold and allocated on the Exchange. Keep an eye on these tasks as they may require urgent attention to complete your payments:
- Missing invoices: View how many carriers have not sent you an invoice for their completed load(s). Click on the link to see a list of completed loads and contact the carrier directly to request an invoice for payment.
- Opened query: View open queries related to a particular load. The load status will change to “Opened query” until it’s resolved directly.
- Credit notes and supplementary invoices received: View any additional charges or credit requests sent from your suppliers.
- A Credit note is raised when the amount displayed on the invoice is incorrect, or any changes need to be made to the original invoice.
- A Supplementary invoice is an additional invoice where any forgotten services or items are added to the original invoice.
How do I chase missing documents needed from my supplier?
If you're wanting to approve a completed booking but notice that an invoice or POD is missing, you can easily remind your supplier by using the one-click reminder feature for one invoice or more.
Here's how:
Step 1) Click on the 'Awaiting Approval' tab and find the record(s) that says ‘Awaiting docs’.
Step 2) You can then select one invoice to send a reminder;
Or select multiple invoices;
And send a batch invoice reminder by clicking on “Send reminder”.
Step 4) It is also possible to send a reminder when opening the record, then click on “Send reminder”
Can I contact my customer directly using Accounts Payable?
You can contact your customer directly via our built-in messenger and by submitting a query. The built-in messenger allows you to start a conversation about the completed booking, whilst submitting a query will allow you to highlight a specific issue. The status of your invoice will then change to “Open query” so that your customer can view this and respond accordingly.
Here's how:
Step 1) Click on the 'Awaiting Approval' tab and find the record(s) that says ‘Awaiting docs’.
Step 2) Find and open the record.
Step 3) To start a conversation on the built-in messenger click on “Messages”.
Step 4) You can now enter your message, afterwards click on “Send”.
Step 5) To submit a query, enable the “Query status”.
Step 6) Then select a reason from the drop-down in the pop-up.
Step 7) If you would like to send a copy of your query via email, you can tick the “Email supplier” box, then click on “Open query” to submit it.
How do I approve records?
Step 1) Click on the “Pending approval” widget located in the Summary section on the Dashboard tab.
Step 2) Find the record.
Step 3) Open the record to review the documents and approve them one-by-one;
Or click on the “Approve all” button at the top right.
Is there an option to batch approve invoices?
Batch invoice approval, known as "Smart approve" allows you to approve multiple invoices received by the same supplier at once rather than approving each invoice individually.
Step 1) Click on the “Pending approval” widget located in the Summary section on the Dashboard tab.
Step 2) Find the supplier.
Step 3) Tick the box.
Step 4) Finally, click on “Smart approve”.
How do I schedule one invoice or more for payment?
Step 1) Click the “Approved” widget displayed in the Summary section on the Dashboard tab.
Step 2) Find the record(s) and tick the box(es).
Step 3) Then click on “Schedule & Pay”.
Step 4) Select a date from the calendar.
Step 5) Finally, click on the “Schedule” button.
An overview of the tabs in Accounts Payable
SmartPay Accounts Payable is where you’ll find all the information you need about current and past loads and their associated invoices split across seven tabs:
- Overview - a summary of all completed bookings and their statuses
- All - a list of all invoices from awaiting approval to paid
- Awaiting approval - invoices received from completed loads that are awaiting your approval
- Ready to pay - invoices you have approved and are awaiting to be scheduled for payment
- Payment schedule - invoices that have been scheduled for payment. The status of these invoices will either be: due later, overdue or paid.
- Suppliers - details of your current and past suppliers
- Archive - details of any archived invoices
How do I integrate with existing accounting software?
- Navigate to the 'Settings' area in AP.
- Click on the 'Integrations' tab.
- Choose the accounting software you'd like to connect with and click 'Login'.
- Log in with your credentials and grant access to the app for data sharing.
- You'll see a confirmation message prompting you to map the items in the lists provided.
- Click on 'Login' to continue. If you need to edit any of the items you've mapped, you can do so in the 'Settings' area of your AP integration.
- Click on the 'Customers' tab to start connecting your customers with your chosen accounting software. If their name doesn't appear when you search for them, that means you need to create that customer in your accounting software for the integration to work.
- You can start sending invoices and credit notes across to your accounting software.
You'll know the integration was successful by seeing the logo of your accounting software in the 'Settings' area of AP.