Here are some common questions about invoices in [me]

When can I start uploading my invoices? 

Your implementation manager can provide you with your specific date, but in general you can start uploading invoices as soon as:

1. Your POS connections are complete
2. Your accounting connections are complete
3. Your subscription payment details have been entered

If you want to upload any historical invoices, you can send us up to one week of invoices starting 7 days back from the day you entered in your subscription payment details. For example, if you entered your payment details on March 8, you can send us any invoices with dates starting on March 1. 

How long does it take for an invoice to be processed?

Once you are fully up and running with MarginEdge an invoice will typically be processed within 1-2 business days.  During your first 4 weeks of invoice processing, it takes about 7-10 business days for us to process.  In this time we are doing extra work to map all of the items you purchase from your vendors to Products you can use on inventory and in recipes.  Once that initial period is over you should have much faster processing times, often within 24 hours of uploading the invoice.  

Which types of invoices will you process for me?

In general, our team will process any restaurant invoice if, at a minimum, it has ALL THREE of these pieces of information:

1. A Vendor name
2. Line Items with prices
3. A Total (in USD$)

See the articles below for further clarification:

• What We Can Process and What We Cannot Process
• What We Process - Examples
• What We Don't Process - Examples
• File Format & Size Limits for the MarginEdge App

Regarding file types, if you do not want to take pictures of your invoices with the MarginEdge app, you can send us your invoices in JPEG, PNG, CSV and PDF format. File size limitations can be found here.

Please send one document per invoice. Please DO NOT send links to stored documents or zip files. 

What do I do if a vendor sends me a PDF or invoice image via email?

Simply forward the email, with its attachment, to your unique restaurant-specific email address. This can be found when you log in under Orders > Setup. Look for the one that ends with @meinvoices.com.

What do the different statuses mean during invoice processing?

On the Orders screen, you can view order statuses. The order status indicates the stage of processing your invoice is currently in. By default, the view filter is set to show all statuses.

Invoice Status Modes:

• Preprocessing – as soon as we receive your invoice, the invoice goes into the Preprocessing stage. At this stage, you'll see no information about the vendor, invoice number, etc...
• Initial Review - Initial Review is the first step in invoice processing where all basic data (vendor, date, invoice number, invoice total) from the invoice is added to the system.
• Reconciliation - Reconciliation is the second step in invoice processing where every single purchased line item is added to your database. 
• Needs Attention - A brief interlude between steps that you may occasionally see if our team has questions about your invoice. 
• Final Review - The third step in invoice processing is Final Review. At this stage, all information entered during Initial Review and Reconciliation must be reviewed by a supervisor.
• AM Review- Once all items have been entered from the invoices and various checks are confirmed, invoices are sent to the Account Managers (AM) team for the final approval. This is also when any new Vendor Items get matched to your Products.
•  Pending Approval- If you have the Invoice Approval feature turned on, you may see invoices in this status. These invoices have completed our process and are waiting for a user with restaurant accountant permissions to approve. To learn more about the Invoice Approval Feature, check out this article on the topic
• Closed- The invoice data is all entered, confirmed, and can be used in reporting and be sent to your accounting system. Only invoices in Closed or Pending Approval status will be included in reporting. Only invoices in Closed status are available to be exported to your accounting system or paid with MarginEdge Bill Pay.

Statuses Related to Digital Invoices

If a vendor is sending us your invoices digitally, via EDI, you may also see the following status messages. For more information on digital invoices check out this article.

• Image Pending- If we have received a digital invoice from a vendor but no corresponding invoice Image has been uploaded by your team, it will say Image Pending. (You can upload the appropriate image or you can manually approve it from within the order itself in order to push this into the processing stage.)
• EDI Pending- If we have received the invoice Image but not the EDI from your vendor, it will say EDI Pending.

Statuses Related to Outbound Orders 

• Open- Order placed with a vendor through the MarginEdge platform is open and not completed.
• Saved- Order placed with a vendor through the MarginEdge platform is saved but not yet sent.
• Sent- Order placed with a vendor through the MarginEdge platform has been sent to the vendor.

What if the invoice doesn’t match what I received?

No problem, we know this is common! Many restaurants have their own guidelines on this, but here are our preferences:

1.  Cross out the "Qty Shipped" amount and next to it write the correct quantity received, and make a clear handwritten note on the invoice next to that line item to explain the issue (for example, write "return", or "short", or "reject", etc.)   You can circle the item for further emphasis, but it isn't required. 

Example:

2.  We also suggest putting a line through the final total as an additional indicator to us that something has been changed.  

That's it.  We'll take care of the heavy lifting (you know, the math!) to make sure the total is right.

What if the order is paid with a check, ACH or credit card?

By default, all invoices will be sent to your accounting system as payables (A/P). If you want to indicate that the invoice has already been paid another way, we have you covered!

FIRST: ensure your Payment Accounts are appropriately set up in [me]: Setting up Payment Accounts

SECOND: write the appropriate information on the invoice

• For checks, clearly write Paid with Check + the check number on the invoice.  
• In the case of ACH, just write ACH on the invoice.
• For credit cards, please indicate the credit card using the description you used when setting up your Payment Accounts (possibly the last four digits, or the type or the users name). 

With most accounting systems, [me] sends the check number or notification of ACH to the accounting system along with invoice details.