The IPA is used by MA staff to enter information about invoices, and to approve or query the invoice.  It is also used by auditing companies and External Directors to view the information.

 If a user is unable to use the IPA with the error 'No valid approval roles found', the user (at MA or at building admin(?) level) must have a Role and belong to the User Group (MA or building(?)) assigned as the Default Request Handling Group for the building. 

• To check the Default Request Handling Group - Impersonate Admin of building - Setup > Core data > Organisation Preferences
• To assign a role to a user - Setup > Users > Select Action > User Details > Edit...

The application screen is broken up into three areas. Invoice Details, Invoice Summary, and Document Area.

Invoice Details

An invoice is made up of some invoice level information (like the  Invoice Reference, Invoice Description, and Invoice Date) and one or more Line Items (where the detailed, financial information is kept),

Invoice Reference is usually provided by the contractor. It is usually unique but duplicates are allowed. If the Invoice Reference has been used more than once by the same contractor a note appears in the main document section of the page.  A reason for ignoring this warning has to be given when the invoice is first approved (or first time it is approve after a duplicate invoice has been added).

Invoice Description can be used to provide a description for the invoice e.g. "Internal Redecorations"

Invoice Date is the document date of the invoice (this is specified by the contractor and there are no rules applied by the application).

Invoice Notes can be added to the invoice where it says "Click to add invoice note". Note Text can be accepted or rejected by using the two buttons that appear when you begin typing.

Invoice Notes will appear in the invoice history as "User Created".  Notes are saved immediately, and do not require any further save action (v3.28).

The Line Item section begins with the "Work Order/Contract" field. Only one line items' details are shown at a time. If multiple line items exist that can be selected for editing by using the list in the Invoice Summary.

Each line item can be associated with a Work Order or a Contract. In addition, a "Retrospective Work Order" can be created using the following button:

If a work order or contract has been selected then the button will change to a "link" allowing the you to click and view the associated item.

The building field is determined by the Work Order or the Contract that has been associated with the Invoice.

The amounts fields should be all positive (for an invoice) or all negative (for a credit note).

The Vat Type is loaded via the Accounts Data Load from an organisations' accounting system. Vat Types have a name and a rate. Values entered in the Invoice Processing Application are validated using this Vat Rate.

Cost Assignment information (describing the apportionment and recoverability) 

Various Action buttons are displayed depending on the state of the invoice and the current users role with respect to that invoice.

Approve - A full validation and save takes place, errors are reported to the user and if successful the invoice moves to the next step in the invoice process. If the invoice was not assigned to the user then the Approve simply adds a message to the invoice history saying that the user approves the invoice and the invoice does not move to the next step in the process.  An invoice must be approved by an appropriate person (i.e in the correct group or the assigned user, or a super approver) before moving to the next step in the process.

Dispute - The invoice is placed in dispute and sent to a user selected target for resolution (e.g A Property Manager may dispute the invoice with a contractor and the contractor may change the details and resolve the dispute).

Resolve - The invoice is taken out of dispute and an explanation is entered as to how the dispute was resolved. (Contractors have a "Resolve" action available to them via their normal Dwellant application, they do not have access to the Invoice Processing Application).

Skip - Available when processing multiple invoices.  Exits the invoice after a save takes place but errors are not reported and erroneous sections are not saved.

Delete - Can only be performed by Accounts Payable.  The invoice is soft deleted, so the data can still be accessed.

Exit - Exits the invoice without saving.

Invoice Summary

The summary section facilitates the selection of line items for editing, and the display of the invoice notes and invoice history.

New line items can only be added when all the existing line items are valid.

Line items can only be removed before they have been approved by anyone.

Document Area

The largest portion of the application is taken up with the Document Area, this is a simple PDF viewer that allows navigation through the invoice document. Various Information boxes are sometimes displayed in the left hand side of the document area. The document selector dropdown shows the invoice, and any old versions of the invoice that have been replaced, and any additional documents.  If the additional document selected is a pdf it will be displayed in the viewer, otherwise it will be downloaded to be viewed.