Registering Documents

• 01/10/2024
• 15 minutes to read

When you register a document in Continia Document Capture, you essentially turn all of its recognized information into a real business entity in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. For example, by registering a purchase invoice that you’ve received from a vendor, you automatically create a Business Central purchase invoice.

Before you can register a document, all document fields must be captured and have valid values. In the document fields section (under Document Header), you can see if all fields are filled out correctly. If not, you need to make sure this is done before you can register the document.

In the document list, you can also see if the overall document is ready to be registered. This is indicated with a checkmark in the OK column. If the document isn’t ready for registration, check the Comments section at the bottom to see what needs to be done.

When you register a document, Document Capture sometimes carries out additional validation that may stop the registration. If this happens, you’ll be informed about what to do to complete the registration.

To register a document

1. Choose the icon, enter Document Categories, and then choose the related link.
2. Select the code of the relevant document category – for example, PURCHASE – to open the document journal.
3. In the document list, select the document that you want to register. Select the document line – not the number in the No. column, as this opens the document card.
4. In the document fields section (under Document Header), check that all fields in the OK column have a check mark. If so, all fields are considered valid. If not, follow the field capturing guides in the To capture fields and Training Document Capture to locate values sections of Capturing Header Fields in a Document to ensure that all fields are captured correctly, and make sure that all fields have valid values.
5. Not all field values are captured from the document – some must be added manually instead. The most important is the general ledger account number, which in most cases is mandatory. To add this value, go to Account No. and select the three dots in the Value column to open the G/L Account List. Choose a relevant account in the list by selecting its number in the No. column.
6. A dialog box appears, asking you if you want to configure the selected account as the default. Select Yes if you want Document Capture to assign this account to all documents using the same source template – otherwise select No. Your response closes the dialog box and adds the selected value to the Account No. field.
7. In the document list, ensure that there's a check mark in the OK column for the selected document. If so, it's ready to be registered. If not, check the Comments section at the bottom of the document journal, and carry out any required actions specified there.
8. When there are no more comments and there's a check mark in the OK column for the selected document in the document list, go to the action bar, select Home and then Register.

The document is then registered as an actual Business Central document, and the document page opens automatically, unless you've somehow customized the setup, for example by setting Document Capture up to register documents as general journal lines.

If the registration of a document results in an update to an existing purchase order/purchase return order, Document Capture automatically archives the latter before applying the update. This allows you to view older versions of the purchase order/purchase return order via the built-in archive functionality in Business Central (Microsoft article).

Document Capture automatically archives updated purchase orders and purchase return orders in the following scenarios:

• Purchase category: Registering a Document Capture document as an invoice or credit memo using the Match & Update Order or Match & Update Return Order registration options.
• Purchase order category: Registering a Document Capture document using the Create or Update Order, Update Order, and Update Order Receipt registration options.

Additionally, a comment is added to the archived purchase order to indicate which document triggered the archiving – along with its Document No. and/or Vendor Order No.

Registering documents as general journal lines

As an alternative to the standard registration setup, it's possible to have documents registered as general journal lines, but without vendor names and other standard details. If you set this up, Document Capture automatically creates lines directly in the general journal upon document registration – instead of creating invoices or credit memos.

This is particularly useful for businesses that don't require document approvals or detailed posting information for certain purchase documents. Some documents, often from one-time vendors, don't need to be registered in full in Document Capture, as they contain so few details that they may as well be registered directly as lines in the general journal instead.

The flow is similar to the standard registration process, but there are some notable differences:

• Following registration, the Edit - General Journals page opens instead of the document page because no document is created.

  Note

  This page does open if you've kept the default settings on the Template Card – that is, if Show Document After Register is set to Always and if Invoice Reg. Step 2 and Credit Memo Reg. Step 2 are left empty.

• In the document journal, on the action bar, when you select Document > Find Entries, one of the following happens, depending on whether you've posted the general journal (for example, by setting Invoice Reg. Step 2/Credit Memo Reg. Step 2 to Post in the setup):
  • Journal posted: The Find entries page opens, listing all related entries.
  • Journal not posted: The General Journals page opens.
• The following features aren't available when you register documents as general journal lines:
  • Document matching
  • Document approval
  • Purchase allocation

Note that you can view any registered documents in the document viewer on the General Journals page, in case you want to see them in their original form.

To register prepayment invoices

As an automated extension of the standard Business Central prepayment functionality, Document Capture can automatically post any incoming invoice as a prepayment invoice linked to a purchase order, as long as the incoming invoice has been either identified as or marked as a prepayment invoice. If Document Capture recognizes certain terms in the document that indicate it's a prepayment invoice, it automatically marks it as such.

To register an invoice as a prepayment invoice, follow these steps:

1. Choose the icon, enter Document Categories, and then choose the related link.
2. Select the PURCHASE code to open the document journal.
3. In the document list, select the invoice that you want to register as a prepayment invoice. Select the document line – not the number in the No. column.
4. In the document fields section (under Document Header), go to Our Order No. and check that an order number is displayed in the Value column. If not, select the three dots on the right to open the Purchase List, and then select the order that you want to link to the invoice.

   Note

   A purchase order number must be entered or captured for Document Capture to be able to register the invoice as a prepayment invoice.

5. Go to [I]nvoice / [C]r. Memo / [P]repayment, and check that the letter P is displayed in the Value column. If not, enter it manually, and then select Enter.
6. If something isn't correct, one or more error comments will be displayed in bold red in the Comments section at the bottom. Resolve these errors to enable document registration.
7. When no more error comments are displayed, you can go ahead and register the invoice: In the action bar, select Home > Register.

Document Capture will then post the invoice as a prepayment invoice linked to the purchase order specified in step 4 above.

Automatic validation and updating of the prepayment percentage

As mentioned above, Document Capture may block the registration of a prepayment invoice if it encounters errors when validating it. Common causes of error are that no related purchase order exists or that the amount of the prepayment invoice exceeds that of the purchase order. Such errors must be resolved for you to be able to register the prepayment invoice.

Other comments relating to prepayments don't prevent you from registering the invoice but notify you of important details that you need to be aware of. For example, this is the case for the warning No prepayments have been processed on purchase order [order number]. The current prepayment invoice will increase the prepaid percentage and amount to [percentage (amount)].

The basis of these comments is the purchase order header field Prepayment %, which is located on the Prepayment FastTab of the purchase order. For example, if this field has been set to 10% in a purchase order with a total amount of $5,000 excluding tax, and the amount of the prepayment invoice is higher than $500 (10% of $5,000), the warning mentioned above is displayed in the document journal for the prepayment invoice, and the prepayment percentage of the purchase order is automatically changed to the new, actual percentage when the invoice is registered:

Note that if the amount of the prepayment invoice is lower than $500 (10% of $5,000), the line amounts are changed accordingly, but the prepayment percentage remains unchanged at both header and line level. In such cases, a similar warning is displayed in the document journal for the prepayment invoice.

If the amount of the prepayment invoice is more than 100% of the purchase order amount, an error is displayed instead of a warning, and you won't be able to register the invoice:

See also

Working with Paper and PDF Documents