Scan and attach contractor invoices

Zenya Allen
Zenya Allen
  • Updated

The steps below outline how you can scan and attach a Contractor invoice to the corresponding expense.

In User Defaults, you can set a default for all scanned invoices to be either emailed or printed, then sent along with the Landlord Payment statement.

At the time of producing the Landlord Payment, you can choose if you want to send the attached invoices with the Landlord Payment, or not.

This article includes: 

User Defaults

 Note

You will need access to User Defaults, to edit your default settings. These can be accessed by those who have the correct permissions

In User Defaults, you can select whether all Landlord statements should be accompanied by Contractor invoices. This option will apply to every Landlord who has an attached Contractor invoice to an expense.

  1. Click Defaults from the main toolbar
  2. Click User Defaults from the dropdown menu
  3. Click Preferences
    1. A header Landlord Statements is on the top right of the screen
    2. Tick Print/Email Linked Contractor Invoices
    3. Click Close
  4. Click Close again

Contractor invoices 

First, you will need to enter your expense.
For more information on How do I add a contractor expense, click here

 Note

When entering the expense, always enter the invoice number in the Ref column as this is used and requested when linking the invoice to the expense in the steps below. Never use these characters when entering this information  \ / : * ? " < > |

There are four separate areas where the Scan Invoices can be attached:

  • Contractor Information - Scan Invoice
  • Works Order - Scan Invoices
  • Postings Expenses - Scan Inv.
  • Deposit Refund - Scan Invoice
  1. In the location where you have entered the expense, click Scan Invoice
  2. Contractor Invoices will display with any previous scanned invoice for that Contractor
    1. Contractor - The code and company name of your Contractor 
    2. Search using ... if you have selected the incorrect Contractor
    3. Avail - Leave ticked unless you don't want it to attach to the Landlord Payment
    4. Reference - The same Ref you added when posting the invoice, often the invoice number
    5. Scanned - The date which the scan was attached to the invoice
    6. User - The users initials
    7. PDF ... - Click to view a copy of the attached invoice as a .pdf
    8. Exp - Click to view a copy of the expense item
    9. Use the blank line at the top of each column to quickly find the desired invoice
    10. Scan New Invoice - To scan and attach a new invoice, see Technical guidance below
    11. Link New Invoice - Select an invoice already scanned and saved in your computer
    12. Delete Invoice - If you attach the incorrect invoice

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Link new invoice

If your invoice has already been scanned and saved to your computer:

  1. Click Link New Invoice
  2. Select the invoice saved on your computer, then double click on the invoice or click Open 
  3. Enter a reference for this invoice -
    1. Enter the same Ref you added when posting the invoice, often the invoice number
    2. If a reference number was not entered when the invoice was posted, enter any number 
  4. Click OK
  5. Click Yes to confirm - Would you like to link this document... 
  6. If the expense appears in the grid, select the correct expense
    1. If the expense doesn't appear in the grid, click Show expenses with a different reference
    2. Click to select the correct expense
  7. Double click to allocate the expense to your selected invoice
  8. The invoice will appear in the list of Contractor Invoices

Delete invoice 

If you have incorrectly attached an invoice to an expense, it can easily be removed and the process repeated to attach the correct invoice.

  1. Click Delete Invoice
  2. Click on the black arrow of the entry you want to remove
  3. The row will be highlighted in blue, click Delete Invoice

Scan new invoice

If you would like to scan and attach your invoice, using Scan New Invoice, you will need a TWAIN compatible scanner. In Technical guidance below, are instructions on how to configure the scanner in order to obtain good quality output and manageable file sizes. 

Landlord payment

When a Landlord has an expense linked to a Contractor invoice, depending on the Send Option selected, a copy of the scanned invoice(s) together with the statement will either be sent by email or printed.  

In order for this to happen, the Print/email linked contractor invoices tick box should be selected before the Landlord is updated.
For more information on How do I pay a Landlord, click here

Currently, statements saved to the History Log will not include scanned invoices.

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Technical guidance

This technical guidance only relates to if you click Scan New Invoice as a scanning option which will open when you need to select your scanner from the first dropdown list. A TWAIN compatible scanner is required for documents and images to be scanned and attached to expenses.

The next step offers the user a choice:

  1. Either instruct CFPwinMan to undertake the scanning of the document (recommended), or;
  2. Allow this task to be carried out by the software supplied with the scanner. If this option is chosen, CFPwinMan cannot support the user in operating the scanner software

Scanning - Third Party software 

If the user wishes to use the software supplied with the scanner to retrieve images:

  1. Tick Use Scanner's Own Software... 
  2. Select Acquire Image to launch the software
  3. The user must then refer to the instructions supplied with the scanner in order to scan any required documents or images

Scanning - Using CFPwinMan

If the user wishes to use the CFPwinMan scanning utility to retrieve images from the scanner:

  1. Do not tick Use Scanner's Own Software... 
  2. Choose a scan type and resolution
  3. It's important to ensure these settings are chosen wisely as they can affect the quality and file size of each scanned image

Scan Types 

The Black/White scan type should be used wherever possible as this can dramatically reduce the file size of the scanned image.

  • Black/White - Use only when text is to be scanned
  • Greyscale - Use when images are to be scanned that do not contain colour 
  • RGB Colour - Use for colour scans

Resolution 

72 dpi is a good resolution for most tasks and should keep the file size small. The image quality at this resolution is comparable to a faxed image.  

The higher the setting, the better the quality and the larger the file size.  

It's recommended you try out sample scans using various settings in order to obtain the smallest acceptable file size.  

Layout - Centimetres

If an image is significantly smaller than the scanners window, values can be entered to instruct the scanner to start its scan where the document begins.  

The values in centimetres can be entered on to the Layout section. 

Select Get Current Values to communicate with the scanner to automatically obtain the measurements required for the layout settings.  

The Scan Type, Resolution and Layout settings will be remembered for the next time this form is loaded and the Acquire Image can be selected to instruct the scanner to start the scan.  

Previewing and attaching the scanned image

Once selecting the Acquire Image and either the scanning software or CFPwinMan has instructed the scanner to scan the image, the main window will show the scanned results.

If the image is not satisfactory, the Scan Type, Resolution and Layout settings can be changed and the Acquire Image selected again. This process can be repeated until the required image is displayed.  

Once satisfied with the image quality, you must enter the contractor invoice reference in the Inv Reference box. The reference will be used later in an attempt to automatically link the scanned image to an expense.

Once satisfied, you can select Use This Image to log the scanned invoice against the contractor.

Once the invoice is submitted, confirm Would you like to link this document to a specific expense?