How an invoice moves from your inbox to Xero

The invoice arrives

Suppliers email the inboxes you've connected, or someone uploads a PDF. AP Maestro picks up every attachment and splits a PDF that holds several invoices.

Statements and remittances are recognised and kept separately.

AP Maestro reads it

AP Maestro reads the supplier, the invoice number, the dates, every line, the GST and the totals. An invoice that runs over several pages is read as one invoice.

It's placed with a company

AP Maestro checks the address the invoice arrived on and the name or ABN it's billed to. It also uses what it has learned about the supplier, such as which company that supplier usually bills.

When none of those settle it, the invoice waits for a person to choose the company.

Each line is coded

Your rules come first, such as a stock code to account table or a supplier's default account. Next come your bookkeeper's earlier decisions for the same supplier and item.

When neither covers a line, AP Maestro suggests an account from your chart, and a person accepts or changes it.

It's checked

The GST on every line is checked against what the supplier charged, and AP Maestro looks for the same invoice across all your companies. It also flags suppliers it hasn't seen before.

AP Maestro never changes a supplier's figures. It flags the difference and says why.

Coming: a check that the supplier's bank details match what Xero holds.

A person approves it

Your approver sees the PDF next to the coded lines and can edit any line, approve, hold the invoice or send it back. Anything flagged sits in its own list, called "Needs a look".

You can limit each approver to their own companies or suppliers.

Coming: routing by amount or company.

The bill goes to Xero

AP Maestro posts the bill to the right Xero organisation, coded line by line or grouped by account, with the PDF attached and a short description you can search for.

It goes in as an approved bill, or as a draft if you'd rather finish it in Xero. If someone changes the bill in Xero later, AP Maestro sees the change.