Resolving Blocked Invoice Work

Items (Quantity Discrepancy)

How do I resolve a blocked Invoice?

Last update
May, 2010

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 New Enhancements
This job aid highlights the enhancements to the Quantity
Discrepancy Work Items that you receive in the ECC
Inbox.
The enhancements make resolving blocked Invoices
due to quantity differences much simpler and faster.
The information needed to analyze issues and actions
are all on ONE screen.
The Goods Receipt can now be entered directly in ECC
if necessary.
IMPORTANT NOTE This new process does not
replace the current Confirmation (Goods Receipt)
process. A large majority of these work items will not
appear if Confirmations are completed in SRM as the
items arrive.
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 Contents
This job aid includes:

Why invoices get blocked for quantity differences 4-7

How to access Blocked for Quantity ECC Inbox Work Items 8-12
Understanding the Blocked Invoice
Information/Resolution screen 13-20
Actions Available to Resolve the Quantity Discrepancy 21
How to enter a Goods Receipt? 22-27
How to defer a work item? 28-31
How to change a Purchase Order? 32-36
How to cancel an Invoice? 37-41
Conclusion 42

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1. Why Invoices get Blocked for Quantity
Discrepancy Differences ?

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 Invoices are blocked for payment when there is a discrepancy in the 3-
way match between the quantities of the Purchase Order, Goods
Receipt(s) (Confirmation), and the Invoice(s).

For Example, the invoice will block if:

Purchase Order Qty - 3 bookcases
Goods Receipt No GR
Invoice Qty - 3 bookcases

Purchase Order Qty - 2 lab coats

Goods Receipt Qty - 2 lab coats
Invoice Qty - 20 lab coats

Purchase Order Qty - 1 computer

Goods Receipt Qty - 1 computer
Invoice #1 Qty - 1 computer
Invoice #2 Qty - 1 computer

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 What happens in ECC after an Invoice gets blocked?

SAP creates a work item

If a Goods Receipt has been done (on the Purchase
Order), the person who did the last Goods Receipt
will receive an Invoice Blocked for Quantity
Difference in their ECC Inbox .
If NO Goods Receipt has been done (on the
Purchase Order), the person who requested the
item(s) (Shopping Cart requisitioner) will receive an
Invoice Blocked for Quantity Difference in their ECC
Inbox.
This is a work item An action must take place to
remove it.

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 Consequences of not resolving blocked Invoices:

The vendor may not get paid

Expenses may not incur against the budget You may think you
have more money to spend than you actually do
Your supervisor or the shopping cart approver may be contacted

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2. Accessing the Blocked for Quantity
ECC Inbox Work Items

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If you dont have the WIN GUI or the ECC tab, click on the ECC Inbox tab
at the top of the SAP portal screen.

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If you do have the WIN GUI or ECC tab, click on the
button on the User Menu to access your
ECC Inbox.

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The Inbox will open. Click on the arrows to the left of the Inbox and then the Workflow folder to view work items.

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Double-click on the Resolve Invoice Block for Quantity Diff work item to open it.

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3.Understanding the Blocked Invoice
Information/Resolution screen

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This section shows the basic information about the Purchase Order line item related to this Invoice.
In addition, it also shows the transactions that occurred (Goods Receipts and Invoices) related to the line
item.

Purchase
Order Item
Information

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The next section that we will look at is the Goods Receipt information. The Goods Receipt line item will be missing if no
Goods Receipt was done. As you can see, the name of the person who did the Goods Receipt is displayed.

Goods Receipt
Information

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The next item that we will look at is the Invoice line items. In this case, there is more than one Invoice posted to this
Purchase Order. The red highlighted invoice is the Invoice that is blocked and the one that relates to this work item.

Invoice
Information

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In all cases, a total quantity difference is displayed.

Quantity
Difference
Total

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There is also a new link on this screen that enables users to view the scanned image of the Invoice if it is attached. It
is located in the Attachments column. Click the Display button to view.

Link to view the Invoice.

Click Display.

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Double click on the document AP Invoices PDF format ONLY to display the document.

Link to view
the Invoice.
Double Click
on the name.

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If you use the scroll bar and scroll to the right there is information about the Invoice Type (electronic
or paper), SAP Doc number, and Vendor Invoice number.

Additional
Invoice
Information.

Scroll bar.

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4. Actions Available to Resolve the
Quantity Discrepancy

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 Enter a Goods Receipt
Enter a Goods Receipt
Used When: The Goods Receipt quantity is less than the
Invoice(s) quantity or there is no Goods Receipt. This is the most
common reason for the blocked Invoice.
TIP: If this is a multiple line item order, each item in which the
Invoice is blocked will receive its own work item.
It may be more efficient to copy down the Purchase Order number,
access the Shopping Cart module (SRM), and complete the
Confirmation (goods receipt) for the whole Purchase Order.

IMPORTANT NOTE This new process does not replace the current
Confirmation (Goods Receipt) process. A large majority of these
work items will not appear if Confirmations are completed in SRM as
the items arrive.

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Analyze the work item to determine the necessary action. If you determine that you HAVE received the item(s)
and want to enter a Goods Receipt for just this line, scroll down.

2. Scroll
Down to the
Enter a
Goods
Receipt
action.

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At the Enter a Goods Receipt action, enter the quantity of items that you received, and click Submit.

3. Enter the
quantity and
Click
Submit.

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Note the document number created at the bottom of the screen.

4. Note the
document
number.

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Go to the top left of the work item and click the Update Workflow button.

5. Click
Update
Workflow

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The work item will disappear from the screen and return you back to your Inbox.

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 Defer the Work Item
Defer the Work Item
Used When: The Invoice has been posted before the
goods have actually been received.
This will cause the work item to be removed from your
inbox. The item will return once the deferred days have
expired.
Not to exceed 10 days.

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Analyze the work item to determine the necessary action. If you determine that you HAVE NOT
received the item(s) or for some other reason, and want to defer the work item, scroll down.

2. Scroll
Down to the
Defer the
Work Item
action.

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Scroll down to the Defer the Work Item action, enter the number of day(s) to defer (not to exceed
10 days), and click Submit.

3. Enter the
Day(s) and
Click
Submit.

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The work item will disappear from the screen and return you back to your Inbox.

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 Changing the Purchase Order
Changing the Purchase Order
Used When: You receive more items than you
ordered and would like to keep, and pay for, the
additional items.
You must indicate in the notes section what you want
done, which will be communicated to Supply Chain
Shared Services.
After the purchase order gets changed, you should do a
Confirmation (Goods Receipt) for the additional quantity
so that the blocked Invoice gets paid.

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Analyze the work item to determine the necessary action. If you determine that you want to change the Purchase
Order, scroll down.

2. Scroll Down
to the
Change the
Purchase
Order action.

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Scroll down to the Change the Purchase Order action and click Submit. A note box will appear.

3. Click
Submit.

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Type in a note that will be sent to Supply Chain Shared Services. Then click the green checkmark in
the lower left corner to complete the transaction.

4. Type in
a note.

5. Click the
green check.

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The work item will disappear from the screen and return you to your Inbox.

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 Canceling the Invoice
Canceling the Invoice
Used When: The Invoice from the vendor is incorrect
OR has been entered incorrectly.
You must put a note in to tell Accounts Payable Shared
Services why you want the Invoice canceled.
Please contact the vendor for the action that needs to
happen with the Invoice or what the problem is. For
example, does a corrected Invoice need to be sent, are
you returning items, or did you receive a duplicate
Invoice, etc.,?
NOTE: AP Shared Services cannot alter an invoice; if an
invoice needs to be changed, the vendor has to do it and
resubmit.

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Analyze the work item to determine the necessary action. If you determine that you want to cancel the Invoice, scroll down.

2. Scroll Down
to the Cancel
the Invoice
action.

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At the Cancel the Invoice action, click Submit. A note box will appear.

3. Click
Submit.

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Type a note that will be sent to Accounts Payable Shared Services. Then click the green checkmark in the
lower left corner to complete the transaction.

4. Type in
a note.

5. Click the
green check.

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The work item will disappear from the screen and return you to your Inbox.

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 In Conclusion
In order to resolve invoices that were blocked due to a quantity
difference, you must:
Check your ECC Inbox regularly.
Double-click the blocked invoice work item to access it.
Analyze the Blocked Invoice Information/Resolution screen.
Decide on a course of action.
Take action to resolve the discrepancy:
Enter a goods receipt
Defer the work item
Change the purchase order
Cancel the invoice

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