Using invoice integration

Invoice integration facilitates inbound and outbound integration with third-party applications or any external systems into the ServiceNow® application.

The integration framework consists of inbound invoice and outbound invoice interface tables. Invoice integration involves the transfer of invoice and invoice line data by running transform maps through various sources or external systems. For more information on integration, see Integration Hub.

The integration framework enables the following use cases:

• Ingest invoices from external sources - The invoice data is extracted from ERP sources into ServiceNow® inbound staging tables and is referred as inbound integration.
• Post invoices into ERP- The invoice and invoice line data with Approved status is synchronized with ServiceNow® outbound invoice and invoice line tables. The integration status is set to New and is referred as outbound integration.
• Ingest invoice payment details from ERP- The ERP number received from the third-party application is updated in the invoice table with payment status as Pending Payment.

For example, You’re receiving invoice data from various sources. The invoice data is transferred to inbound invoice and invoice lines if the required fields are set on the invoice. For more information on the required fields, see Inbound Invoice table and Inbound invoice line table. The invoice status changes to Approved and the invoice data is transferred to outbound invoice tables. The outbound invoice displays the integration status as New. The ERP integrator fetches the outbound invoices with status as New, creates a record in the third-party application and sets the integration status to In progress. After the outbound data is successfully processed by the third-party application, the system auto-updates the ERP number and ERP posting date in the outbound invoice tables and sets the integration status to Processed. The ERP number and ERP posting date are synced back to the invoice table with invoice status set to Pending Payment. For more information on invoice payment details, see Inbound Invoice table.

The advantages of an integration framework are:

• Expedites the integration of the Accounts Payable Operations application with external systems and reduces the time to verify invoices. Integration framework enables bulk import of invoice and invoice line data through scheduled jobs. A scheduled job runs every 30 minutes, verifies, and auto-process the invoices. Scheduled jobs result in increased efficiency of creating invoices.
• Expedite the payment processing process and enhance the user experience by seamlessly exchanging data with external systems.

• Integration errors
  The ERP integration framework enables Accounts Payable Operations specialists to work on system-generated integration error tasks that record integration issues associated with invoices posted to the ERP system.
• Import data into invoice
  You can import bulk data through transform map using excel file.
• Work with inbound invoice
  Create invoice and invoice lines originating from different ERP sources using an integration framework.
• Work with outbound invoice
  ERP integrator validates the invoice with ERP number, processes the integration, and the moves the invoice for payment extraction.

Related concepts

• Invoice case categories and subcategories
• Using Invoice Case Management
• Using Accounts Payable Invoice Processing
• Advanced Work Assignment in Accounts Payable Operations
• Using Advanced Work Assignment for Accounts Payable Operations
• Interaction management in Accounts Payable Operations
• Composing emails with predefined content from the Source-to-Pay Workspace
• Playbooks
• Using Supplier Collaboration Portal

Related tasks

• Configure Advanced Work Assignment for Accounts Payable Operations
• Working with Advanced Work Assignment