SAMPLE PROCESS
Supplier Invoice
Management
All-in-one application managed by the business, for the business
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Key Challenges
Supplier Invoice Management refers to the review of supplier invoices before they are categorized as a cost in the company’s ERP system and sent for payment.
To digitize this process on Content Server, there are some key elements to consider:
- the digital distribution of incoming invoices across departments
- enabling business users to self-manage the process
- designing informational UIs to speed up decision-making
- integrating Content Server with external systems (e.g. ERPs)
Process Walkthrough
This sample solution has been developed to showcase the potential of Module Suite
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Homepage
This single template page acts as the application frame, providing the application’s main sections, the role-based menu on the left, and the notification bar on the top right
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Checking Incoming Invoices
On this page, users can inspect incoming invoices to decide on their approval route. They can preview the document on-page, view data synchronized with the ERP system (ID, supplier, etc.), or narrow the selection via the search form embedded at the top
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Analyzing Invoices
Clicking on “Export Excel”, the system will inject data into a pre-formatted Excel template. This way, users can execute custom analysis through pivot tables and charts, update data, and even add additional columns. Reuploading the file on the system will update the data set on Content Server
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Starting the Approval Workflow
With just one click, users can trigger the approval of the invoice, choosing the most suitable route from a prepopulated dropdown menu (this example involves various approval routes based on payable amounts and cost centers)
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Approval Dashboard
On this page, approvers can easily manage ongoing tasks. Whenever an action is available for the logged-in user, the “Action” button is colored in green. Custom menu items allow users to approve or reject multiple invoices in bulk
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Managing Workflow Steps
On this page, approvers can easily add comments and attachments in response to the assigned task. Complex form views are split into more simple and manageable sub-views (Comments, Attachments…) providing fully practical, neat UI design
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Requesting Advice
In addition to the “approve/reject” options, approvers can also put the task on stand-by or request specialist help from co-workers. These users will receive an email invite allowing them to participate in the process as temporary advisors
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Finalizing the Workflow
On a similar form-based UI, second approvers can review the outcome of the first check, including any attached comments or files. Upon approval, the invoice is finally sent for archiving
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Archiving invoices
The system applies a watermark and a unique QR code to the final PDF. If the invoice is printed, a scan of the QR code will give access to the invoice details and workflow history
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Contracts Archive
It’s possible to link invoices to their related contracts as a tool to facilitate the approval process
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User Settings
With just one click it’s possible to configure App users including their roles and permissions. Users identified as “Admin” will have complete visibility on the application pages and settings
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Notification Settings
Similarly, users can set up their preferred notification frequency (instant, daily, weekly). It’s also possible to define custom rules (e.g. alerting the CEO whenever 100K payables are approved)
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Workflow Configurator
Users can even manage the creation of new workflow routes autonomously thanks to a configuration wizard that doesn’t require any prior technical knowledge
Key Features
Application Sandbox at its best
For Content Suite applications, sandbox development is key. Thanks to this approach, users are naturally constrained within the perimeter of the application’s frame & functionalities and can perform tasks efficiently.
Luckily, this is what Module Suite does best: creating feature-rich containerized UIs, as well as user-customizable portions of the app. All in one space, one click away.
- Role-based UIs with responsive design
- Search Form embedded in the browse view
- Settings Page: toggle buttons, backed by custom automation, offer simplified user management
- Workflow Configurator: a multi-step wizard that allows business users to manage workflow logic
- Decluttered Menu: default menu items can be removed to create a context menu that is relevant to the app. In this example, the “delete” option was eliminated to reduce the risk of missing invoices
- Custom Menu Items: these are configurable buttons for one-click task execution (e.g. Export in Excel; Start WF)
- In-page preview: Module Suite PDF APIs can extract a document’s first page and present it as an image preview
Keep integrated data up to speed with instant two-way synchronization.
In this example, ERP data is surfaced in the browse view columns to enrich invoice details. Any changes on the ERP will be reflected in Content Server keeping your data 100% accurate
- Bulk export & update via Excel: export data in a custom formatted Excel (instead of an anonymous .csv)
- Background automation: when the workflow starts, a series of scheduled jobs will run in the background (e.g. the reassignment of document permission) not to interfere with end users
- ERP synchronization: when an invoice is approved from the app, its payment gets automatically unblocked on the ERP
- Watermarking: as part of the archival, the final PDFs are watermarked as “approved” and paired with the invoice approval history
This sample process was adopted as an accelerator to quickly set up the solution’s backbone for Banca Popolare di Sondrio (Suisse). Learn how this turned into an outstanding success story
