Configuring the AP Route and AP Batch Delivery Settings
Legal Tracker features the ability to exchange data with your accounts payable (AP) department to process payment of invoices. System administrators can customize the AP data exchange to work with your company's systems and processes.
Before you start setting up the features in Tracker, you must work with your AP department to determine the processes you must follow for invoices to be paid:
- Identify all the AP centers and payment systems that pay legal invoices. It may be necessary to create an AP route for each system.
- Decide if you want to manually control when AP batches are run or if you want Legal Tracker to run them automatically. Automatic batches can be set up to run on different schedules for different AP routes.
- For each AP department, determine their requirements for the type of information they need, such as the remittance address, the vendor number, etc., and the delivery format (for example, the invoice spreadsheet, a .zip file of invoice summaries, or a .zip file that includes the actual invoices). You should also find out if single-row format or multi-row format will be used for the invoice spreadsheet. Multi-row format is preferred for situations where there are more accounting code types and many accounting code allocation rows because it makes it easier to specify the format and more efficient to produce the desired output.
- For each AP system, determine how the AP batch information should be delivered. There are four options.
To navigate to the page to configure the AP route and AP batch delivery settings:
- SelectSettingsin the left navigation.
- In theAccounting and A/P Settingssection, selectAP Route Configuration.
Step 1: Automation
Select whether you want Tracker to run AP batches automatically using the schedule for each AP route. By default, Tracker is set to run AP batches manually.
To turn on AP batch automation:
The options in the
Step 1: Automation
section let you select whether to run the AP batches manually or schedule Legal Tracker to run them automatically.- UnderStep 1 - Automation, selectEdit.
- Select whether you want Tracker to run AP batches automatically according to a schedule you set in each AP route. By default, Tracker is set to run AP batches manually. If you turn on the automation feature, batches will be run for all AP routes automatically, but different AP routes can run batches on different schedules. To turn on batch automation, selectYes (automated - schedule set in each AP Route).
Step 2: Formatting
You can format the invoice spreadsheet and invoice summary pages to specify which fields are included. In addition, for the invoice spreadsheet, you can configure whether there are column headers and other information to make the file easier to read. It is important to work with your AP department to determine what files need to be delivered and what information must be contained in the files in order for the AP system to pay the invoices.
note
Invoice Summaries are sometimes included in the .zip file of approved invoices. If a vendor submits a non-LEDES invoice but does not include an attachment, Tracker creates an invoice summary for that invoice and includes it in the .zip file of approved invoices. For this reason, it is important that you are familiar with the invoice summary format even if you do not intend to include invoice summaries in your AP batches.
Creating Invoice Spreadsheet Formats
Because companies may have multiple AP centers, each with different requirements, Legal Tracker lets you specify different spreadsheet formats. Each AP route can use a different invoice spreadsheet format. It is important to include all of the information your AP center needs to pay invoices.
Step 3: Routing
AP routes designate where and how approved invoice information is sent, and specifies rules regarding how approved invoice information is handled. After the invoice spreadsheet formats have been created, you can assign them to individual AP routes. If you do not create any custom formats, you can assign the Tracker default format to your routes.
- Select the hyperlinked name of the route you want to configure.
- In theStep 3B: Scheduling Optionscollapsible section, select the day and time you want to schedule the route to run. The default schedule for running the batch is weekly, every Friday at 5:00 PM Pacific Time. You can set up a schedule for each batch.
AP Batch Delivery Options
There are four options for delivering the AP batch to your AP center:
- Manual download: Tracker sends an email to AP route managers notifying them that the AP batch has been run and the files are available for download. Users can use Legal Tracker to download the AP batch files. Only Legal Tracker users can retrieve the AP batch files.
- Email Tracker sends an email with attached AP batch files. The email can be sent to people other than Legal Tracker users.
- SFTP If Report Scheduler is enabled and SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol) connections have been configured, Tracker can deliver the files to a secure location on your company's servers. This option is only available if Report Scheduler is enabled and SFTP connections have been configured.
- Web Services The Web Services account can sign in to the Tracker AP Data Exchange Web Service and retrieve the AP batch. Companies specify which of the batch files will be downloaded and can opt to have Tracker send email notifying AP Batch managers that the batch has been run and the files are available for download.
Regardless of which delivery option you choose, the related emails will be sent out shortly after the AP batch is run, whether the AP batch is run automatically or manually.
Manual Download
If you select the option to download manually, the AP route managers receive an email when an AP batch is run. They then sign in to Tracker and download the AP batch files.
note
AP route managers and company system administrators can download AP batch files at any time. However, only Legal Tracker users can retrieve the AP batch using the manual download method.
Email Delivery
If you select email delivery, you must select recipients. The message can be sent to a maximum of five designated AP route managers. You can also select a maximum of three additional recipients that are not Tracker users.
In addition, you must decide which files will be attached to the email: the invoice spreadsheet or a .zip file of invoice summaries. Optionally, the supporting documents can be included in the .zip file.
note
You must include either the invoice spreadsheet or a .zip file of invoice summaries in your email delivery because these are the files that contain the final approved amount to be paid. If you try to include only a .zip file of invoices, you will receive an error message.
Because of file format and file size issues, you should work with your IT department and your AP department to determine whether email is a good delivery option for your company.
SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol)
If Report Scheduler is enabled and SFTP connections have been configured, you can deliver AP information to a secure location on your company's servers via SFTP.
Automated Transfer (Web Services)
Web Services is a technology that companies can employ to create an automated process for transferring information between Tracker and your AP system. You should work with your Client Success Manager (or Tracker Support if you don't have a CSM) and your IT department to determine whether Web Services is the correct delivery method for any of your AP routes. If you use Web Services, you can send an email to the AP route managers notifying them when the AP batch has been run and is available for download.