Read Vendor Invoice (A.I.): The Vendor’s Invoice, Typed Into the Bill for You

▶ Watch the video Read Vendor Invoice (A.I.): WJewel Types the Vendor's Invoice Into the Bill 1 minute · with captions

Every vendor’s invoice looks different, so typing one into a bill means hunting for the same facts in a different place each time: the invoice number, the date, the terms, each style number, its quantity and its cost. New in WJewel for jewelry stores, Read Vendor Invoice (A.I.) finds them on the invoice, whatever its layout, checks them, and puts each one in the right box of the bill. You still choose the vendor, look over what was filled in and save. The typing is done for you.

How It Works

1. Start the bill as usual and enter the vendor. (WJewel checks that the invoice really comes from that vendor.)
2. Click Read Vendor Invoice (A.I.).
3. Choose the invoice. If it is already attached to the bill, tick it. If not, click Attach PDF or Picture, or on a phone or tablet, Take a Photo of the paper invoice. The file is attached to the bill at the same time, so it stays with the bill.
4. Read. A normal invoice takes 10 to 30 seconds.
5. Look over what was read: the checks at the top, the invoice header and every line. For a line whose style is new to you, pick the Group its new style goes in.
6. Click Fill the bill. The bill is filled in, and every box the A.I. typed is highlighted yellow until you touch it.
7. Check the bill against the invoice and Save, as always. Nothing is saved before you do.

What Goes Where

From the top of the invoice:

• the invoice number, the invoice date and the invoice total;
• the terms (“Net 30”) or due date, and installment terms such as “30/60/90 days”, which fill in the number of payments and the days between them;
• shipping, insurance, other charges such as tariffs and duties, and any discount;
• your PO number on the vendor’s invoice, which goes into the bill’s note.

Each line of the invoice becomes a line of the bill, starting from the vendor style number:

• A vendor style you already carry brings in your style, the same as when you type it.
• A new vendor style gets a new style in the Group you picked, with the description, category, metal and stone weights the invoice gives.
• If you wrote your own style number beside a line on the paper invoice, that style is used.
• Quantity and cost come from the invoice. A line priced by weight (“$90.00 per gram”) goes in as a by-weight line, with its weight and price per gram.
• When the invoice prints a suggested retail, tag or MSRP price, it becomes the line’s retail price. Otherwise your usual markup sets it.
• Category, metal, center shape, brand and the other codes are picked only from your own lists. If the invoice names a brand that is not on your list, the box is left blank and the review says so. The A.I. never makes up a code.

Checked Before Anything Is Filled In

A.I. reads the invoice; plain arithmetic checks it. Before the review opens, WJewel checks:

• Is it from this vendor? The company name, phone number or email address on the invoice is compared with the vendor on the bill, so the wrong vendor’s invoice is caught.
• Is the invoice number already on another bill from this vendor?
• Does each line add up? Quantity times cost, or weight times price per gram, must equal the line amount.
• Do the lines add up to the total? Lines plus shipping and other charges, less any discount, must equal the invoice total. If they are more than a dollar apart, a line may have been missed or misread.
• Is it an invoice? A statement, packing list or quote is refused. A vendor’s memo is right for a consignment, and on a bill you are reminded that goods on memo belong on Add A Consignment.

Green means the check passed, amber means something to look at, and red means something is probably wrong. You can still fill the bill when a check fails; the red text tells you which values to correct before you save. A returned piece credited on the invoice (a minus quantity) is named in the review and left off the bill, for you to enter as a return to the vendor or a vendor credit.

On Every Bill Screen

The button is on the six screens where you enter what a vendor bills you for:

• Add A Bill and Add A Consignment: the invoice’s lines become bill lines, with styles as described above.
• Add A Bill Without Styles: each line goes into the bill’s list, and the total matches the invoice.
• Add A Bill Based On Vendor PO and Add A Bill For Vendor PO WO Styles: the invoice’s lines are matched to that vendor’s open PO lines and get the invoice’s quantity and cost, never more than the PO still has open. Lines that are on no open PO are listed for you.
• Add A Bill for Job Bags: each line that names one of your job bags becomes a job bag line.

It works in the web version and in the desktop program. Taking a photo from the screen is in the web version, on a phone or tablet; on the desktop, attach a scan or a photo file.

Tips for the Best Results

• A PDF from the vendor reads best. Scans and photos work too: the whole page, flat, in good light, not at an angle. Paper invoices on colored paper or with handwriting on them read well.
• A multi-page invoice: attach each page, or one PDF, and tick them all. A page photographed twice is read only once.
• Fine print counts. “All diamonds are laboratory-grown” at the bottom of the invoice applies to every line.
• Look at the yellow boxes first. They are what the A.I. typed.

Quick Answers

Does WJewel save the bill by itself?
No. Read Vendor Invoice fills in the bill on your screen and nothing else. You check it against the invoice and press Save, as always. Cancel leaves the bill as it was.

What kinds of invoices can it read?
The vendor's PDF, a scan of the paper invoice, or a photo taken with a phone or tablet, in whatever layout the vendor uses. A PDF from the vendor reads best. A statement, packing list or quote is refused, because it is not an invoice.

What if the A.I. reads something wrong?
Before anything is filled in, WJewel checks what was read: that the invoice is from the vendor on the bill, that it is not already on another bill, that each line adds up and that the lines add up to the invoice total. Anything that does not is shown in amber or red. Every box it fills is highlighted yellow, so you know what to look over before you save.

Does it make new styles for items I have never bought before?
Yes, the same way as when you type a new vendor style number: a new style in the Group you pick in the review, with the description, category, metal and stone weights the invoice gives. Category, metal, brand and the other codes are picked only from your own lists; if the invoice names something that is not on your list, the box is left blank and the review says so.

Can it fill a consignment or a bill from a vendor PO?
Yes. It is on Add A Bill, Add A Consignment, Add A Bill Without Styles, the two vendor PO bill screens and Add A Bill for Job Bags. On the vendor PO screens it matches the invoice lines to the open PO lines instead of adding new ones.

Is it in the desktop program too?
Yes. The web version and the desktop program use the same reader and the same checks. Taking a photo from the screen is in the web version, on a phone or tablet.

I already use WJewel. How do I start?
Call us at (646) 578-8300 or email [email protected], and we will turn on A.I. for your store.

More new features for jewelry stores this month: A.I. model photos, side-by-side comparison and Shopify sync.

See It With Your Own Invoices

The quickest way to judge it is to watch it read one of your own vendors’ invoices. Book a demo, or start a 30-day free trial.

Request a Free WJewel Demo →