Troubleshoot general AP Automation issues

The following topic explains common problems that you might encounter and their solutions.

Enabling and configuring AP Automation

Contact your Sage Intacct account manager or Channel Executive to learn about enabling AP Automation.

Select the Refresh button to see draft transactions that Intacct added or finished analyzing after you loaded the AP supplier invoices list.

If you do not see your AP supplier invoices after refreshing the list, you might need to allow a little time for Intacct to finish processing.

Select the Draft AP supplier invoices standard view to filter the list for transactions that are in an analyzing or draft state.

To view the AP supplier invoice automation settings, first go to the top level. Then, go to Accounts Payable > Setup > Configuration.

AP supplier invoice automation settings appear after the Enable functionality section.

Contact your Sage Intacct account manager to request deactivation of AP Automation.

Once AP Automation is turned off, you will no longer be able to upload AP supplier invoices within Sage Intacct or create automated drafts from emailed AP supplier invoices. Incoming AP supplier invoices that did not finish the Analyzing state before deactivation may be lost.

After you deactivate AP Automation, some of your data is still used in the Sage Network, for as long as you are an Intacct customer. Information about this usage is disclosed in the Sage Network Services Addendum.

Working with draft AP supplier invoices

From the AP supplier invoices list, select the down arrow beside the View menu, then select Draft AP supplier invoices

This view filters the AP supplier invoices list to show only AP supplier invoices that are in a Draft or Analyzing state.

When AP Automation is enabled, Smart rules and Smart events do not run on draft transactions until you post them.

AP supplier invoices processed by AP Automation can be printed in the same way that you print other AP supplier invoices, except when:

  • The AP supplier invoice state is Analyzing, which means that the data extraction is not yet complete.
  • The draft AP supplier invoice does not have a supplier selected. The print option will be available after you select a supplier and save the draft.

Issues with AP supplier invoice details

After you create a new supplier, Sage Intacct updates the machine learning model with this information within 24 hours.

If you upload or email AP supplier invoices for the supplier before the daily update occurs, Intacct might not be able to match the supplier. However, when you submit new transactions on subsequent days, Intacct is much more likely to make an accurate match.

Learn how individual fields are populated in a draft AP supplier invoice.

Supplier match accuracy is impacted by two factors:

  • How long you have been using AP Automation
  • The quality of your supplier data

Time is a factor because Intacct uses machine learning to determine the most likely supplier record match for the AP supplier invoices you submit. To make predictions, machine learning observes your transactions patterns over time and uses that information to build a model.

This means that in the beginning, Intacct will not know the best predictions to make. As you continue to use the AP Automation, the predictions will improve. Given the many factors that can affect matches, such as the quality of scans and suppliers with similar names, you probably will not see 100% accuracy for supplier matching. However, you should notice a significant improvement over time.

The quality of your supplier data matters because if you have multiple supplier records with the same supplier name and the same address, Intacct does not know which supplier record to match. This, too, improves over time as machine learning determines which record you want.

Intacct's machine learning service builds a model of your patterns over time. A change that you make only one or two times might not be a change you want to make to all AP supplier invoices from that supplier. However, when you make the same change multiple times, the system learns that this is a correction you want to apply in the future.

Intacct evaluates your patterns on a daily basis, based on submitted AP supplier invoices. If you process many AP supplier invoices from the same supplier in a single day, corrections you make will not be added to the machine learning model until the following day. Also, if you make changes and but do not submit or post the AP supplier invoice, these changes are not yet added to the model.

Empty Account and dimension fields in an AP supplier invoice indicate that AI/ML is not able to offer a prediction for those fields. When you edit the line item coding and post the AP supplier invoice, your corrections are sent back to the ML system, which uses this information to improve future predictions. In the beginning, AI/ML might not know what you want, but the more you make corrections, the faster it improves the predictions.

For example, say that your most recent AP supplier invoice from PaperClips had 3 line items, and the new, incoming AP supplier invoice from PaperClips has 4 line items. Intacct applies coding details and dimension data from three line items in the original AP supplier invoice to the first three line items in the new AP supplier invoice. When reviewing the draft AP supplier invoice before posting, you enter the dimension and GL account data for the last line item.

Line item amounts are always taken from the incoming AP supplier invoice and are never overwritten with amounts from prior AP supplier invoices.

At times, even though AI/ML cannot match the supplier with confidence, the line item dimensions can be predicted based on your past patterns of corrections. In these cases, you need to select a vendor before you proceed, but you might not need to edit line items.

If Intacct does not recognize the currency on the source AP supplier invoice, or if no currency symbol is included in the AP supplier invoice amounts, then amounts in the draft AP supplier invoice are set to the base currency for the entity.

If the source AP supplier invoice contains negative amounts within parentheses or brackets, rather than prefaced with a minus sign, Intacct reads these as positive values.

Handling import exceptions

Import exceptions alerts you to issues found when the emailed or uploaded document was processed. For example, a duplicate AP supplier invoice or unreadable file.

In cases where Intacct cannot capture some or all of the AP supplier invoice information, you can fill in the details yourself, using the attachment as a reference. If the attachment is unreadable, submit a new file or ask the supplier to resend the AP supplier invoice.

The Import exceptions column appears in the AP supplier invoices list for standard views. If you do not see the column, select the All or Draft AP supplier invoices view. You can also add the column to a custom view.

When you edit or view a draft that has an import exception, a more detailed exception message appears. The import exception clears once you save, post, or submit the transaction.

Potential import exceptions are as follows:

Exception type Message Description

Duplicate

Duplicate of existing AP supplier invoice

The submitted AP supplier invoice duplicates an existing AP supplier invoice, so the draft was not populated. Select View the original AP supplier invoice to see the AP supplier invoice that it duplicates.

Resolve

Supplier not found

Sage Intacct could not match the supplier with confidence. Select a supplier before posting.

Resolve

File cannot be read

The system could not read the attachment. Forward or upload a new version of the file, or enter the AP supplier invoice details directly.

Resolve

File too large

The AP supplier invoice could not be processed because it exceeded the maximum file size. Submit a version of the AP supplier invoice that's smaller than 20 MB, or enter AP supplier invoice details directly, using the attachment as reference.

Resolve

Possible disconnect

A technical issue occurred during processing. Enter the AP supplier invoice details directly.

Resolve

Possible virus

A possible virus was detected in the attachment that prevented analysis. Enter AP supplier invoice details directly.

Resolve

Unsupported file format

The AP supplier invoice could not be processed for one of the following reasons:

  • The file type was not PDF, JPG, JPEG, TIFF, or PNG.
  • The file was a non-standard PDF, or the PDF version was 1.4 or earlier.
  • The file was encrypted.

Submit the AP supplier invoice again using a supported file type or enter the AP supplier invoice details directly.

Resolve

Location is outside the restriction limit for Supplier dimension.

The supplier is restricted to a different location than the location where the AP supplier invoice was submitted. Change the location for the AP supplier invoice. If the AP supplier invoice was submitted to an entity that is restricted, delete the AP supplier invoice and resubmit to the correct entity.

Resolve

Value for Allocation has been provided along with one or more Dimension Fields

The previous AP supplier invoice contained a line item with allocation. Update the allocation for the line item.

If the previous AP supplier invoice included a custom allocation, Intacct does not copy the dimension values in the new draft AP supplier invoice. Edit the allocation to add dimension values.

Resolve

Transaction total amount is required when using Inclusive tax

The previous AP supplier invoice for this supplier had more lines with inclusive tax than the submitted AP supplier invoice. This creates a AP supplier invoice with an amount of 0.

To determine if an uploaded or emailed document is a duplicate, Sage Intacct compares the file you submit to previously uploaded and emailed files, for the same entity. The following are potential scenarios where a duplicate AP supplier invoice might not be identified as a duplicate:

  • The file image is not identical to the previously submitted AP supplier invoice.

    If an AP supplier invoice was mistakenly scanned twice, and the scans are different, the system might not identify the duplicate.

  • The AP supplier invoice is a duplicate of an AP supplier invoice that you entered directly into Sage Intacct, not an AP supplier invoice that you emailed or uploaded.

    If you entered the AP supplier invoice yourself and attached the file, then mistakenly emailed or uploaded the same file, the system will not identify the duplicate because it is comparing to other emailed and uploaded files.

  • The duplicate files were submitted to different entities and not to the top level.

    If you uploaded the AP supplier invoice to 2 different entities, or emailed them to the addresses for two different entities, the system will not compare the AP supplier invoices.

  • The duplicate documents were submitted simultaneously.

    If you submit a batch of AP supplier invoices that includes duplicates, the duplicates might be processed simultaneously. If the AP supplier invoices are analyzed at the same time, Sage Intacct will not have a completed draft to use for comparison. To avoid this situation, check your attachment list for duplicate file names before forwarding a batch of AP supplier invoices.

As an optional safeguard, configure accounts payable for document sequencing to warn you if the AP supplier invoice number is a duplicate. That way, you will be alerted when you submit or post the AP supplier invoice.

  1. Close the pop-up window.

  2. Select the Attach icon to open the attachment as a split view.

    Be sure you have split view enabled in your user preferences.