An invoice is a bill received from a vendor and provides a proof of purchase for the vendor item received at the restaurant. You can use ASM to capture the invoice for proper record keeping and distribution.

Using Aloha Smart Manager, it is easy to upload invoices in CBO (Cloud Back Office) and view the invoices report. Managers can upload invoices either manually or by scanning a digital invoice file.

Managers review all invoices entered into the Back Office by the entry type (manual, scan flat file import, electronic transfer by vendor, or API). When a manager selects the Optical Character Recognition (OCR)/scan type, the manager is able to compare the image to the invoice data entered into the Back Office system and validate for the proper translation. The manager can navigate from report to invoice entry to make corrections, if needed, and then return to the report to continue reviewing the report.

Invoice approval process

In ASM, an uploaded invoice must go through multiple stages before it is finalized. The stages of invoice approval are:

• The restaurant obtains the invoice from the vendor.
• An employee or mid-level manager captures the invoice in ASM. The status is set as Draft.
• A manager either accepts or finalizes the uploaded invoice. If accepted, the status changes to Accepted. If finalized, the status changes to Finalized.

Capturing invoice details

You can capture invoice details using two different methods:

• Manually adding the invoice details.
• Uploading a digital image of the invoice. If you upload a PDF, each PDF page is converted to an image file.

Manually adding an invoice

An employee or mid-level manager manually adds the invoice in ASM, which is then approved and finalized by the restaurant manager.

To manually add an invoice:

• Select Inventory > Invoices. The 'Invoice list' screen appears.

  

• Click Add invoice (blank). The 'Invoice details' screen appears.

  

• Select the invoice date.

• Select the date and time when the invoice was sent to the restaurant.

• Type the unique ID of the invoice.

• Type any additional information about the invoice in 'Invoice comments.'

  

• Click Vendor name to view a list of vendors.

• Select a vendor from the list. Alternatively, if the required vendor is not listed, enter the new vendor name in 'Vendor name.' The Add 'New vendor name' option appears. Click Add to create a new vendor.

  The invoice status is set to Draft and the options to 'Accept invoice' and 'Finalize invoice' appear.

  
  

• Click Add item to manually enter the first item in the invoice. The 'Add item' screen appears on the right side of the screen.

  

• Click Item or Service to designate the type of item to add to the invoice. Choose from:

  Item — Indicates the item is a product purchased from the vendor, such as egg or milk.

  Service — Indicates the item is for a service provided by the vendor, such as a catering service.

• Type the vendor item code, up to 50 characters.

• Type the name and description of the item, up to 250 characters.

• Select the bulk packing type from the ‘Container’ drop-down list. Select from Case (CS), Pail (PL), Bag (BG), Pound (LB), Gallon (GL), Half Gallon (HGL), Quart (QT), Liter (LT), Pint (PT), and Dozen (DZ).

• Type the total quantity of packs in vendor item container. This must be a numeric value from 1 to 999, up to two decimals.

• Type the actual size of each unit in the package. This must be a numeric value from 1 to 999, up to two decimals.

• Select the standard unit of measurement of the item. The available unit of measures are Fluid Ounce (fl. Oz), Quart (qt.), Milliliter (ml), Gram (g), Ounce (oz.), EA (ea), Pint (pt), Gallon (gal), #5 Can (#5 Can), #10 Can (#10 Can), Liter (L), Milligram (mg), Kilogram (kg), Pound (Lb), and Dozen (DZ).

• Type the quantity of vendor items.

• Type the unit price of the vendor item container. It must be a numeric value (up to two decimals). The sub-total amount is auto calculated as Quantity × Price. This is the amount excluding the tax amount.

• Type the tax amount. This is the applicable tax of all units. The total amount of items is auto calculated as Subtotal × Tax. This is the total amount including the tax amount.

• Click Save & close to save the item and close the invoice, or click Save & add another to save the current item and add another item.

• Repeat steps 9 through 20 for all items and services to be included as per the invoice. The subtotal, sales tax, and amount payable appear at the bottom.

  

• Click Accept invoice to confirm the invoice details. The status of the invoice changes to 'Accepted' and the Finalize invoice option appears. A manager can modify or delete the accepted invoice.

  

• Click Finalize invoice to approve the invoice. The status of the invoice changes to 'Finalized.'

  

  Note: Click 'Unfinalize invoice' to revert the finalized invoice status to Draft.

• Click Back to return to the invoice screen.

Deleting an invoice

• Select Inventory > Invoices. The 'Invoice list' screen appears.
  
• Select an invoice to delete. The 'Invoice details' screen appears.
  
• Click Delete invoice. A confirmation message appears allowing you to confirm the invoice deletion.
• Click Delete to confirm.

Continue with "Uploading an invoice."