Managing Accounts Payable Substitution

This guide explains how to manage the purchase invoice substitution feature in Netvisor, allowing users to set substitutes for the circulation of purchase invoices during absences. Substitutes can review or approve purchase invoices on behalf of the original handler without changes to the company's circulation lists or purchase invoice automation rules. You can access the view: Purchases > Purchase invoices > Manage substitution feature

Contents

• Service activation
• Adding user absence
• Visibility of substitutions in accounts payable
• Service deactivation

The purchase invoice substitution feature allows users to set substitutes for the circulation of invoices in accounts payable. The feature enables users to define substitutes who review and/or approve purchase invoices while the original handler is absent. The purchase invoice substitution does not affect the original review or approval circulation of the invoice. When a user is a substitute, they can review or approve a purchase invoice as if they were in the absentee's place in the invoice circulation. The substitution feature is always valid according to the current time and invoice dates do not affect this. 

Absences do not change the individuals set in the circulation of purchase invoices, the company's circulation lists, or purchase invoice automation rules. In other words, the original handlers set in the circulation of purchase invoices do not change based on absences. Purchase invoice automation sets a person in circulation despite their absence. The individuals in the company's circulation lists do not change.

If you define yourself as absent, you can still receive messages about invoices through email communication. In this case, a message about the same invoice is sent to both the absentee and their substitute. If you do not want messages about purchase invoices during your absence, you should disable communication for this period. 

Service activation

The service is activated from Purchases > Purchase invoices > Manage substitution feature. Click the Not in use button, which then turns green and reads In use. The company must activate the substitution feature once. The substitution feature allows the substitute to review or approve an invoice even if they are not themselves involved in the purchase invoice circulation.

The service can be activated by:

• Company's main user (must also have editing rights to basic functions of accounts payable)
• Accounting firm's main user (must also have editing rights to basic functions of accounts payable)
• Person with User administrator rights (must also have editing rights to basic functions)
• User with All rights profile on the Accounting side
• User with Company user profile on the Accounting side

The view also includes an event log that shows, among other things, the activation, removal, and absences and substitutes added by users during a person's absence. 

Adding user absence

Own name and Own basic settings > Absences and substitutions tab

From your own basic information, you can define your own absence period. The start date is mandatory information. Substitutions automatically end after the absence end date. If the absence end date is left blank, the absence and substitutions are valid indefinitely. The KH role can set absences for other users. The KH user can manage user absence from: Company menu > Users and roles (> click user's name) > Edit user's personal information > Absences and substitutions tab.

Substitutions

Substitutes can be defined for the review and approval of purchase invoices. You can provide up to five substitutes for both review and approval. These are used in the order they appear in the substitutions view. Only one substitute can substitute for the absentee at a time. For example, if the first substitute is also absent, the next defined substitute is chosen. 

When a person is given a substitute, the substitute takes the absentee's place in the circulation of purchase invoices. The substitute receives messages about purchase invoices where they are a substitute.

You can only choose individuals as substitutes who have the rights to review or approve invoices. These rights are defined in Sales and Accounts Payable rights.

Company to be handled

Settings can also be defined to apply to other possible companies. Substitutions are given per company in the view. 

A user who is set as a substitute can then review/approve those invoices for whom they are substituting. Even if the substitute has an approval limit of, for example, €1000 and the person going on vacation has no review or approval limits, the substitute can review those invoices where they are set as a substitute, even if these invoices exceed €1000 in amount. 

Visibility of substitutions in accounts payable

Purchase invoice list and open purchase invoices views

It is possible to display the original reviewer and original approver fields in the views. These fields can be selected from the show columns button. If the original handler of the invoice has a substitute, the original handler is shown in these columns.

If you want to search by the invoice reviewer or approver, the invoice will appear by searching with the substitute's information. 

Invoice processing history

The invoice processing history will show in the future if the invoice has been processed by a substitute.

Question: 

Person B substitutes for person A. Does person A see the purchase invoices reviewed by person B upon returning from vacation if they (person A) have a checkmark "only invoices targeted to the user" in the accounts payable rights in the purchase invoice reviewer section? 

Answer:

Yes. Because person A is in the purchase invoice circulation and it does not change even if they are absent and someone reviews the invoice on their behalf. They will see their own invoices upon returning. 

Service deactivation

Purchases > Purchase invoices > Manage substitution feature

When the substitution feature is deactivated, the invoices of absent users no longer direct to their substitutes. However, users' substitution settings are retained if the substitution feature is later desired to be used. The feature does not need to be deactivated. If individuals do not have absences, the substitution feature does not affect the company's invoice handlers.

 Keywords: substitution, absence

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