When you move an invoice to clarification, Candis moves the invoice from the inbox to the Clarification tab. As soon as a person resolves the clarification, the invoice returns to the inbox with the status Clarified and is ready for processing.
Requirements
Your company is taking part in the beta for clarifications. Contact support to enable the feature.
Your company uses at least the Base package.
You have the role admin, accountant or requester. Approvers can move an invoice to clarification when rejecting it.
Move an invoice to clarification
1. Start a clarification
Open the invoice in the inbox. Select Request clarification at the top right, above the Request approval button. Candis opens the Send to clarification form. While the form is open, you can’t edit the fields in the processing form. The changes you already made in the processing form are kept.
Tip: You can move any invoice in the inbox to clarification, even if required fields are missing. Candis only checks whether the amount is valid. For an invoice with a split booking, Candis also checks whether the sum of the splits matches the amount.
Note: You can’t move an invoice to clarification while its duplicate check is still running.
2. Assign a person or team
Choose who should resolve the clarification. You can select one person, several people or a team.
If the invoice has an invoice recipient, Candis suggests this person automatically. You can change the suggestion.
If you assign several people, any of them can resolve the clarification. The first response closes the clarification.
The assigned people get read access to the invoice. They keep this read access after the clarification.
You can also assign the clarification to yourself.
Note: If an assigned person has a substitute, the substitute also receives the clarification. If you add or remove a person’s absence while the clarification is open, Candis updates the substitute automatically.
3. Choose a clarification reason
In the What needs clarifying? field, choose a clarification reason. The clarification reason determines which fields the assigned person fills in when resolving the clarification.
Missing details: for missing or unclear accounting data or a missing workflow. Select at least one detail: general ledger account, cost center, cost object or workflow. The assigned person selects the values directly when resolving the clarification.
Incorrect invoice: if something on the invoice needs to be checked or corrected, you’re unsure whether the invoice is correct, or required details are missing, for example according to Section 14 of the German VAT Act (§ 14 UStG). The assigned person can upload a corrected invoice when resolving the clarification.
Other reason: for all cases that don’t fit any other clarification reason. Describe in the comment what the assigned person should clarify.
Note: For the clarification reason Missing details, Candis only shows the details your company uses. For example, Candis only shows the Workflow detail if your company has at least one active workflow.
Note: For an invoice with a split booking, you can’t select general ledger account, cost center or cost object as a detail. You can select Workflow for a split booking too, because the workflow applies to the entire invoice.
Tip: If the document check found errors or warnings, Candis automatically selects the clarification reason Incorrect invoice. Candis also pre-fills the comment with the issues it found, for example “The following details are missing: invoice number, invoice date.” This also applies to invalid e-invoices. You can change the clarification reason and the comment.
4. Add a comment
In the comment, describe what the assigned person should clarify. Depending on the clarification reason, Candis pre-fills the comment with a template. You can edit the template.
5. Send to clarification
Click Send to clarification. Candis moves the invoice from the inbox to the Clarification tab and opens the next invoice in the inbox.
Reject an invoice during approval and send it to clarification
If you’re an approver and notice a problem with an invoice during approval, you can reject the invoice and send it to clarification in one step. This way, the invoice doesn’t have to go back through the inbox.
Open the invoice in approval.
In the Next step section, click the arrow next to the Reject button and select Reject + move to clarification.
Candis opens the Send to clarification form. Candis enters you as the assigned person and Incorrect invoice as the clarification reason. You can change both preselections.
Add a comment and click Reject + move to clarification.
Candis rejects the invoice and moves it directly to clarification. In the history, Candis shows both steps separately: the rejection with the comment “Rejected + moved to clarification”, and the clarification with its clarification reason and comment.
Note: As with any rejection, the person who requested approval receives a notification about the rejection.
Notifications
If you assign the clarification to another person or a team, Candis notifies the assigned people by email and in the desktop app.
If you assign the clarification to yourself, Candis doesn’t send an email.
When a person resolves the clarification, Candis notifies you in the desktop app. All other assigned people, members of assigned teams and substitutes of absent people receive an email and a notification in the desktop app. If the person uploaded corrected invoices, the notification lists the file names.
If someone cancels the clarification, Candis notifies you and all assigned people by email and in the desktop app. This also applies when Candis cancels the clarification automatically because the invoice was converted to an attachment.
Candis never notifies you about your own actions.
External clarification: Contact the supplier
If you have a question for the supplier, for example about an incorrect invoice, you can contact the supplier directly from Candis. To do this, select the Email link next to the Contact field. Candis opens an email dialog with a prepared template. In the email dialog, the option Move invoice to clarification is enabled by default.
If the option Move invoice to clarification is enabled, Candis sends the email and creates a clarification with the clarification reason Incorrect invoice. Candis assigns this clarification to you.
If the option Move invoice to clarification is disabled, Candis only sends the email. The invoice stays in the inbox. Candis records the contact in the invoice history.
Note: When you contact the supplier, Candis doesn’t save any changes you made to the invoice in the processing form. These changes are only kept if you use the Send to clarification button.
Reassign, cancel or resolve a clarification yourself
As long as an invoice is in clarification, you can manage the clarification in the Clarification tab. Besides the assigned people, admins, accountants and requesters can forward, cancel or resolve any clarification.
Reassign: You assign the clarification to another person. The clarification reason stays the same.
Cancel: You end the clarification without anyone resolving it. You must give a reason. The invoice returns to the status it had before the clarification.
Resolve: You resolve the clarification yourself, even if it isn’t assigned to you. This helps, for example, if the corrected invoice reaches you instead of the assigned person. The article “Resolve a clarification (Beta)” explains how to resolve a clarification.
Tip: Candis hides the History and comments panel by default. Click the History and comments icon to see all steps of the clarification. To expand the details of a clarification, click the clarification in the history.
Convert an invoice in clarification to an attachment
You can convert an invoice that’s in clarification to an attachment, for example when the new invoice arrives and you want to attach the incorrect invoice to the new invoice.
Candis cancels the clarification automatically when you convert the invoice, without asking for confirmation. Candis records this in the history: “Clarification automatically cancelled as document was converted to attachment.”
Candis notifies the assigned people and the person who requested the clarification.
If you remove the attachment again, the invoice returns to the status it had before the clarification: New, Rejected or Clarified.
Use cases
Missing invoiced coding data: An invoice is in the inbox, but the cost center is missing. You move the invoice to clarification with the clarification reason Missing details and the detail cost center, and assign the clarification to the team lead. The team lead selects the cost center and marks the clarification as done. The invoice returns to the inbox with the status Clarified.
Missing workflow: Candis doesn’t suggest a workflow for a new supplier. You move the invoice to clarification with the clarification reason Missing details and the detail Workflow. The assigned person selects the right workflow. When someone requests approval, Candis fills in the workflow automatically.
Error from the document check: The document check reports a missing invoice number. You start a clarification. Candis selects the clarification reason Incorrect invoice and mentions the missing invoice number in the comment. You assign the clarification to the responsible colleague and send it.
Corrected invoice from the supplier: An invoice has the wrong amount. You select the Email link next to the Contact field, leave the option Move invoice to clarification enabled and send your question to the supplier. When the corrected invoice arrives, you upload it in the clarification and mark the clarification as done. The corrected invoice lands in the inbox as a new document.
Error noticed during approval: During approval, you notice the wrong amount on an invoice. Instead of only rejecting the invoice, you select Reject + move to clarification. The invoice goes straight to the Clarification tab.