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Discover What's New: Ocerra's Latest Product Update for the 2023

December 18, 2023

This article originated from the Xero blog. The XU Hub is an independent news and media platform - for Xero users, by Xero users. Any content, imagery and associated links below are directly from Xero and not produced by the XU Hub.
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https://www.ocerra.com/post/discover-whats-new-our-latest-product-update

We would like to introduce our latest product update that brings several helpful enhancements to make your invoice management even more efficient and user-friendly.

In these releases, we're introducing a range of new features and improvements to help you optimise your accounts payable.

Holiday Schedule

Please note that our team will be on a break from the 22nd of December to 8th of January for the holiday season.

For any urgent queries during this period, we will keep monitoring our support portal and support email address, to assist you as promptly as possible.

Ocerra Purchase Order enhancements

In September, we introduced 'Ocerra POs', a new product feature that enables the creation, approval, and sending of Purchase Orders (POs) directly from Ocerra.

If you missed this update, here are the details of the Ocerra Purchase Order Product announcement.

New: Ocerra PO Email Sender Verification simplified

We've introduced a new functionality that eliminates the need for manual email verification. With just a click of a button, you can now verify your Purchase Order (PO) senders, ensuring that your Purchase Orders are sent and received from verified sources.

This update streamlines operations and reduces risks like email fraud and processing errors, making your PO process more secure and reliable.

Learn how to verify your email address to process Ocerra POs.

Download documents into a single ZIP file

This is a document management enhancement and bulk download capabilities. With this release, we've added a new feature to the invoice list page, making it easier to select and download multiple documents at once in a single ZIP file.

Learn how to download documents as Zip file.

Invoice list: quick filter buttons

To make your invoice management process more efficient, we've added three quick-filter access buttons to the Invoice List:

  • Received - quickly filter invoices in the Received status. Received status is a system-assigned status for all new, unprocessed invoice documents.
  • Waiting for approval - quickly filter invoices in the Submitted status. If you have other approval statuses, like, pre-approved, please use the advanced filter options on the left-hand side.
  • Ready for export - quickly filter invoices in the Approved but Un-Exported invoices.

Also, you can hover the mouse over each button to view information about each filter, e.g. a period of time.

Learn more about quick filter buttons here.

Due date filter added to Invoice and Export lists

We've added the "Due Date" filter to the invoice and export lists, providing you with a quick and efficient way to manage and organise your invoices.

Read: How to use filters on the invoice page.

Workflow builder enhancements

The Ocerra's workflow editor is a powerful tool for organising and managing your approval workflows. There are several enhancements in the workflow editor we would like to introduce in the product update.

Workflow types

With the release of Purchase Orders, the workflow builder/editor has a dual purpose now. We have added the workflow types to differentiate between the workflow builders for vouchers - invoice approval and Purchase Order workflow approvals.

Multi-step approval workflow enhancement

Ocerra allows adding multiple approvers in your workflow but with the manual assign employee option we used to allow only 3 steps ahead.

With this update, the workflow allows you to assign up to 5 approvals in a single step; providing you with greater control and efficiency in your approval process.

It's easier than ever to manage and customise your approval workflow to fit your specific needs. To set up multi-step assign employee options, please reach out to our support for assistance.

To learn more about how it works and how to use this feature, please read the support article.

Import and Export Approval Workflows

This feature allows for the seamless import and export of approval workflows between different companies or departments. This enhancement is designed to streamline the setup of approval processes across your organisation, ensuring consistency and efficiency. Now, you can easily replicate successful workflows from one part of your business to another, saving time and reducing the risk of errors in manual setup. This feature is ideal for businesses managing multiple entities or seeking to standardise approval procedures across various branches.

Import Workflow:

Export workflow:

Learn more about how to export and import workflow.

Workflow editor interface enhancements

To make your workflow editing experience better, we've increased the size of the workflow editor screen. This enhancement provides you with more room to visualise, design, and fine-tune your workflows.

Bank Details UI enhancements

Validating supplier bank details is crucial for your accounts payable process. With our new update, you can now easily identify the status of bank details for supplier accounts through colour-coded highlights:

  • Red: Bank details do not match the saved information in your system.
  • Green: Bank details match the saved information in your system.
  • Black: No bank details are set for the supplier in your system.

Learn more about the details verification assistant in Ocerra.

Data extraction enhancements

Data extraction for ABN, BSB, and Payment Accounts

With this update, we have refined the extraction process for ABN, Bank State Branch codes (BSB), and Payment Accounts, now including support for long ABNs.

If you haven't had this trained, you need to apply value-based annotation.

Invoice number prefix extraction

Ocerra can now extract invoice numbers including letter prefixes (e.g., AB 12345). It won't start extracting by itself if you used to manually pick it up, you need to train the system first on new invoices. Same value-based annotation will apply.

Here's a how-to video guide for invoice annotation (training) in Ocerra.

Deletion of extracted data

When extracted data is deleted, e.g. from the Other field, Ocerra used to pick it up again from the next invoice. We made the deletion on the header level smarter, if you no longer want the system to pick up the Other cost, you can delete, and the system will remember it next time.

PO Auto-Matched Lines

Purchase Order (PO) auto-matching is a critical part of your workflow, and we've improved its visibility. With this update, you'll now notice highlighted Purchase Order (PO) auto-matched lines, making it easier to identify and track automatically matched items based on Quantity and Amount.

New colour scheme for Lines with found GST

Now, Ocerra highlights the line tax field, offering you a quick and visual cue. This feature simplifies the process of identifying lines associated with GST on invoices, allowing you to promptly adjust the tax code if necessary.

Improved GL account handling

When a GL Account is intentionally removed from a line, the system will no longer automatically reinstate it from the Supplier Settings.

MYOB Advanced integration enhancements

A direct link to the exported invoices has been added

Now, when you export invoices to MYOB, they will be automatically hyperlinked. This means that with just a click, you can navigate directly from the export list to the corresponding invoice within your MYOB system.

Learn how it works here.

Enhanced MYOB PO status support

We used to allow the selection of a Closed PO on the invoice, we have now enhanced the integration with additional PO status information that we are importing to Ocerra.

Closed PO cannot be selected and additional PO statuses have been added to Ocerra for better PO invoice management.

Currently, we import POs with "On Hold," "Open," and "Complete" status. With this added support, you can now import POs in "Pending Printing" status.

MYOB API Integration with status support for Project Tasks

Our API integration has received a significant update, now with added support for statuses for project tasks. With this enhancement, Tasks not in an 'Active' status are automatically deactivated, ensuring they are not visible in AP or POs.

Learn more here.

PO links to MYOB Advanced

Enhanced deep linking with the Company ID parameter now ensures that clicking on a PO in the header level will direct you to the corresponding PO in the correct tenant in MYOB Advanced. This addition ensures a more precise and seamless PO processing.

Managing IsActive flag for item codes

We have added a new screen specifically designed for managing the IsActive flag for item codes. You can now easily remove item codes that are no longer active.

Learn how to deactivate item codes in Ocerra.

Added item code import feature

This enhancement enables you to import item codes from an Excel spreadsheet into Ocerra.  

Learn more: File-based Import.

MYOB AccountRight integration

We have added an enhanced export message to Ocerra's export process for attachments in AccountRight. A more detailed export message will now be displayed for attachments exceeding 3MB in size, ensuring a better understanding of the export status.

Read: Exporting bills to MYOB AccountRight

Handling of Duplicate PO Numbers

We've enhanced the import process for existing PO numbers. During import, we automatically append '_1,' '_2,' and so forth to existing PO numbers. This thoughtful improvement ensures seamless manual matching and brings better clarity and organisation when dealing with duplicate POs.

Managing IsActive flag for item codes

We have added a new screen specifically designed for managing the IsActive flag for item codes. You can now easily remove item codes that are no longer active.

Learn how to deactivate item codes in Ocerra.

Xero integration

Reference field enhancement

The invoice number has been added as a reference field for invoices exported to Xero.

Previously, the reference field for Xero invoices was automatically populated with the word 'Ocerra.' Now, we are exporting the actual invoice number as the reference for your invoices exported via Ocerra.

This change will allow you to accurately track your invoices in Xero, providing a more seamless experience.

New screen for managing IsActive flag for item codes

Our team has added a new screen specifically designed for managing the IsActive flag for item codes.

Learn how to deactivate item codes in Ocerra.

Release notes for more information

You can refer to our October and November release notes for more details on the enhancements and additional information about the updates our team has implemented.

These updates reflect our commitment to providing you with the best tools and features to streamline your accounts payable process. We're constantly working to enhance your experience and provide a more efficient, organised, and user-friendly platform.

We appreciate the use of the support portal and support email, so we can keep track of all your enquires including feature and enhancements requests.

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