When Candis finds a matching goods receipt for an invoice, you usually confirm the suggestion yourself. This article explains when Candis links a goods receipt to the invoice without your confirmation, when Candis deliberately does not, and how you review and unlink an automatic link.
Position in the workflow
Position: Automatic linking of goods receipts is part of the invoice review in the 3-way match.
Before: Candis extracts the invoice data and then searches the invoice for the purchase order number and the goods receipt or delivery note number.
After: You review quantity and unit price of the line items in the 3-way match, confirm the split, and submit the invoice to the approval workflow.
Effect: Automatic linking of goods receipts saves you from confirming clear-cut suggestions. In unclear cases, Candis deliberately links nothing.
Prerequisites
Your organization uses the SAP Business One integration type or the Candis API and imports purchase orders or goods receipts from your ERP system into Candis.
Candis has activated the beta of automatic goods receipt linking for your organization.
The setting “Automatic linking of goods receipts” is turned on.
You need the Admin role to change this setting.
Note: If your organization uses DATEV without importing purchase orders or goods receipts from an ERP system, automatic linking of goods receipts is not available.
Turn the setting on or off
Only users with the Admin role can change the setting “Automatic linking of goods receipts”.
Open Settings and select the section “Field suggestions”.
Turn “Automatic goods receipt linking” on or off.
When the setting is off, Candis still shows matching goods receipts as suggestions that you confirm yourself.
How automatic linking works
As soon as Candis has extracted the invoice data, automatic linking runs in three steps:
Candis searches the invoice header and the line items for the purchase order number and the goods receipt or delivery note number. For e-invoices such as XRechnung or ZUGFeRD, Candis takes the values from the structured invoice data. If Candis finds no reference on the invoice, automatic linking stops at this point.
Candis searches for matching goods receipts and checks the rules for automatic linking for each goods receipt.
If a goods receipt meets the rules, Candis links the goods receipt to the invoice and transfers the line items of the goods receipt to the invoice.
Note: If you edit the invoice at the exact moment Candis links the goods receipt, you need to reload the page. You lose any changes you have not saved by then. Wait until the status card shows that automatic linking is complete before you edit the invoice.
If Candis later imports a new goods receipt from your ERP system, Candis checks automatic linking again.
How Candis decides on automatic linking
A wrong link costs you time for reviewing and unlinking. Candis therefore only links when the invoice and the goods receipt match so clearly that a user would confirm the suggestion without hesitation. Candis uses two rules for this. Two basic conditions apply to both rules:
Contact: The invoice and the goods receipt belong to exactly the same contact. A similar or identical name is not enough.
Date: The invoice date and the goods receipt date are no more than 10 days apart.
Rule 1: Goods receipt number on the invoice
Candis extracts a goods receipt or delivery note number from the invoice. If this number exactly matches the number of a goods receipt and both basic conditions are met, Candis links the goods receipt automatically. Line items play no role in Rule 1, because the direct reference on the invoice is sufficient evidence.
Rule 2: Purchase order number on the invoice, no goods receipt number
Candis only checks Rule 2 if the invoice contains no goods receipt or delivery note number. Candis links a goods receipt automatically under Rule 2 if all of the following conditions are met:
The purchase order number on the invoice exactly matches the purchase order number of the purchase order.
At least half of the line items on the invoice and the goods receipt match. For an e-invoice without line items, Candis skips this check.
Both basic conditions are met.
Exactly one goods receipt for this purchase order meets all conditions.
Note: Candis does not check the invoice amount under either rule. With partial invoices, the invoice amount often differs from the goods receipt amount even though the assignment is correct.
When Candis does not link automatically
If the assignment is not clear, the goods receipt stays a suggestion that you can confirm yourself. This applies, for example, in the following cases:
Two goods receipts have the same goods receipt or delivery note number.
Several partial deliveries for the same purchase order could match. Without a goods receipt number, Candis cannot tell partial deliveries apart.
The contact on the invoice does not exactly match the contact on the goods receipt.
The invoice date and the goods receipt date are more than 10 days apart, or fewer than half of the line items match under Rule 2.
The invoice contains too little information for a clear assignment.
Candis has already checked the suggestion automatically once.
A user has dismissed the suggestion or rated it with thumbs up or thumbs down. Candis no longer links a rated suggestion automatically, even if the rating was positive.
Tip: Candis links a collective invoice covering several goods receipts automatically under Rule 1 if the invoice contains a separate goods receipt number for each goods receipt.
Review automatic links in the document history
Candis does not mark automatically linked goods receipts separately on the invoice. In the document history of the invoice, you recognize an automatic link because the system created the entry, not a person. Candis adds the following entries:
“Goods receipt {number} was added to the document”
“Goods receipt {number} linked via suggestion”
If a user confirms a suggestion manually, the document history shows the same text with the user’s name.
Note: Candis does not check the invoice amount when linking automatically. After every automatic link, review the status indicators for quantity and unit price in the 3-way match before you confirm the split.
Unlink an automatically linked goods receipt
You unlink an automatically linked goods receipt the same way as a manually linked goods receipt. You can only unlink while the invoice is in processing. If the invoice is no longer in processing, Candis shows the message “Unlinking is only possible during processing”.
Unlink a goods receipt via the linked documents
Open the invoice and go to the section “Linked documents”.
Click the “Unlink linked document” icon next to the goods receipt.
Confirm the prompt “Unlink” with “Yes, unlink”.
Unlink a goods receipt via the line item table
Open the line item table of the invoice.
Delete the line items of the goods receipt with the “Delete line item” icon.
When you delete the last line item of the goods receipt, Candis tells you that deleting this line item also removes the link to the goods receipt. Confirm with “Yes, continue”.
Candis adds the entry “Goods receipt {number} was removed from the document” to the document history. Candis does not link the unlinked goods receipt to the invoice automatically again. You then link the correct goods receipt manually in the 3-way match.
Use cases
Example 1: Goods receipt number on the invoice (Rule 1)
Invoice INV-889 from Muster GmbH contains the goods receipt number GR-2026-00123. Candis holds goods receipt GR-2026-00123 for the same business partner, posted 4 days before the invoice date. Candis links the goods receipt automatically. The line items play no role.
Example 2: Purchase order number on the invoice (Rule 2)
Invoice INV-902 contains no goods receipt number but the purchase order number 4500012345. Purchase order 4500012345 has exactly one goods receipt, posted 9 days before the invoice date. The business partner matches, and more than half of the line items match. Candis links the goods receipt automatically.
Example 3: Date outside the time window
As in Example 1, but the goods receipt was posted 14 days before the invoice date. Candis does not link automatically and shows the goods receipt as a suggestion. You check whether the goods receipt number really belongs to this delivery, then confirm or dismiss the suggestion.
Example 4: Partial deliveries for one purchase order
As in Example 2, but purchase order 4500012345 has two goods receipts from partial deliveries. Candis links neither goods receipt. You select the goods receipt the invoice refers to in the 3-way match.
Example 5: Correcting a wrong automatic link
Candis has linked a goods receipt automatically, but the delivery belongs to a different invoice. You unlink the goods receipt in the section “Linked documents” via “Unlink linked document” and link the correct goods receipt manually. Candis does not link the unlinked goods receipt to this invoice automatically again.