As part of Quest Experience Week—JD Edwards Day, Lisa Tran from Stoner, Inc. presented on the built-programming that JD Edwards has to do automated voucher matching. The presentation covered how the voucher automation works, what the limitations are, and how Stoner, Inc. leverages a third-party tool to enhance the process in their own organization.

The voucher match automation (VMA) process enables the full automation of three-way voucher matching. The process suggests matches for invoice and receipt lines prior to approving/matching. It also supports logged vouchers.

How Voucher Match Automation Processing Works

Within Supplier Master, there is an option to set up a single voucher for an invoice. It can also be set as an option on the VMA Driver program (R4304010). The processing option on R4304010 can stop at the first invoice line with an error or attempt all lines. The report will indicate errors by line attempted. The single voucher is created regardless of the number of lines on the invoice. This is required to do VMA processing and use the Workbench. Some other important notes to remember about VMA processing include:

• Only records with a pay status of A, P, or # can use VMA.
• When lines in F0411Z1(T) are successfully processed, the line status is set to 4.
• Records are created in F0411 and F0911 tables with standard functionality.
• A batch number is created for each matched record.
• Any unprocessed line remains at a status of 1.

P4314WB is the interactive Workbench where you can review the results of each batch process. By using the Workbench, you can approve, reject, clear and process suggested matches and errors. Changes made on the Workbench will change the status of lines in the F0411Z1 and F0411Z1T tables.

However, records might not create suggestions. When this happens, you have to manually create a suggestion before you can approve. All records with suggestions should then be approved, and approved records can be completed and matched. You can process multiple lines at a time, but the lines suggested should all be at the same status.

The statuses in VMA processing include either “blank” or a number of 1-6.

• Blank: Unprocessed or cleared.
• 1: Suggested.
• 2: Rejected.
• 3: Approved.
• 4: Successfully matched after suggestion.
• 5: Successfully matched without suggestion.
• 6: Manually matched.

Standard Process vs. Automated Process

To get a better understanding of how the automated process works, here’s a breakdown comparison of the standard process and the automated process.

The steps of the standard process are as follows:

1. Enter a Purchase Order that is sent to a vendor (F4301 and F4311 records)
2. Receive a PO when you receive goods from the vendor (F43121 records)
3. Receive an invoice from the vendor
4. Input data from the invoice into JD Edwards (speed voucher or manual voucher match)
5. Create a JDE accounting voucher

In comparison, the steps in the automated process look like this:

1. Enter a Purchase Order that is sent to a vendor (F4301 and F4311 records)
2. Receive a PO when you receive goods from the vendor (F43121 records)
3. Receive an invoice from the vendor
4. Input data from the invoice into JD Edwards through one of these options:
   1. Scan invoice with third-party software to get the data
   2. Receive the data via EDI
   3. Hand type or batch upload the data into P0411Z1
5. Run R4304010 to process the details and either review or auto-create a voucher

Here’s a flowchart that will give you a better understanding of how R4304010 runs during the process:

When leveraging the VMA automation process, you’ll need to establish an automation rule within Supplier Master. There are six different automation rules for you to choose between.

Automation Rule 01

This rule requires an exact match of the invoice line to the Purchase Order line to the receipt line. The invoice gets matched to a single PO line and single receipt line. The amounts must match exactly between the invoice, PO and receipt. In addition, the entire PO line must be received and invoiced in total. There is no tolerance or rounding with this rule.

Automation Rule 02

This rule requires a match of the invoice line to the Purchase Order line to multiple receipt lines. Standard tolerance is applied. The invoice is matched to a single receipt. Amounts between the PO and the multiple receipt lines can be different based on standard tolerance. The PO line can be received and invoiced in several shipments. If using this rule, you’ll need to check the box for “Partial Receipt Allowed.” This is the rule that Stoner, Inc. uses in their system.

Automation Rule 03

This rule requires a match of the invoice line to the Purchase Order line to multiple receipt lines. Standard tolerance is applied. The invoice is matched to a single receipt. The amounts between the PO and the multiple receipt lines can be different based on standard tolerance. The difference between Rule 02 and Rule 03 is that, with Rule 03, the PO line can have multiple receipts but must be invoiced in total.

Automation Rule 04

This rule requires the exact match of the invoice line to the receipt line. The invoice line is matched to a single receipt line, and the amounts between the invoice line and receipt line must match exactly. The PO line can be received in several shipments. With this rule, there is no tolerance and no rounding.

Automation Rule 05

This rule requires the match of the invoice line to the Purchase Order line to multiple receipt lines. Rounding tolerance is applied. The invoice line is matched to a single PO line and the total of multiple receipt lines. The PO line can be received in several shipments. The invoice line must be for the total of the PO line (not receipt lines), and it must also match the PO line with rounding applied. Tolerance does not apply—only rounding.

Automation Rule 06

This rule requires the exact match of the invoice to multiple receipt lines across multiple Purchase Orders. The invoice line is matched to multiple receipts lines, and the receipt lines can be from multiple Purchase Orders. The invoice and receipt lines must match exactly. There is no tolerance and no rounding.