Business Functionality
As an end-to-end solution for importing, OCR-processing, registering, approving, and archiving invoices and other business documents, Continia Document Capture offers considerable benefits to a wide range of businesses. It can streamline processes and reduce data-entry costs for companies in sectors as diverse as finance, healthcare, manufacturing and transportation – and the list goes on.
Built on a modular basis, Document Capture can be customized to suit your particular business needs. Each of the modules that it’s divided into represents an area of functionality, and you can choose to add any modules you want. You add these using the initial setup guide, which you can access straight from your Role Center.
Important
Not all features will be available in all versions of Document Capture. Refer to Comparison of Features by Document Capture Version to see features available by version of Document Capture.
Below you’ll find a description of each of the modules, along with an overview of their respective features.
Essential
The mandatory Essential module allows you to import purchase invoices and credit memos into Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. The imported files can be either scanned documents or PDF files processed using optical character recognition (OCR) – or they may be XML files, which you can import and process in various ways and formats, such as PEPPOL and XRechnung. The module enables you to recognize document header fields using OCR and to map the recognized data to the actual location of the textual content in the documents. This one-time mapping can then be used to automate the process for all future documents received from the same vendor.
Note
The Essential module only includes data capture at header level, and only for purchase invoices and credit memos. To be able to recognize fields at line level and process other types of business documents, you’ll have to upgrade to the Advanced Capture module.
With the Essential module, you get access to the following key features:
| Feature | Included |
|---|---|
| Built-in image viewer for verification inside Microsoft Dynamics NAV/Business Central |  |
| Ability to add attachments to invoices and credit memos | |
| Ability to drag and drop attachments from and to any record | |
| Recognition and processing of purchase invoices and credit memos | |
| Recognition of basic invoice header fields, such as date, invoice number, and total amount | |
| Ability to view document image in external window for manual resizing purposes and similar | |
| Recognition of invoice description | |
| Recognition of dimensions | |
| Recognition of job number | |
| Ability to add any custom field to be recognized, and to dynamically transfer recognized value to purchase document | |
| Recognition of multiple amounts (for example total cost amount + total freight amount) | |
| Ability to recognize multiple VAT/tax amounts and assign these to different G/L accounts | |
| Option of using fixed values for any field | |
| Easily-changeable area of recognition on scanned documents | |
| Configurable rules for fields, ensuring that the correct values are recognized (specific format, positive amount only, etc.) | |
| Vendor-specific settings for recognition and validation | |
| Multiple templates for each vendor (service invoices, item invoices, cost invoices, etc.) | |
| Caption suggestions for master template fields, including the ability to ignore such suggestions | |
| Assisted setup guide for the creation of new template fields | |
| Ability to configure whether amounts are including or excluding VAT/tax | |
| Manual splitting of PDF files inside NAV/Business Central, for example multiple invoices in one PDF file | |
| Document analysis and capture built directly in NAV/Business Central, allowing app customization | |
| Secure digital archive with free-text search capabilities | |
| Automated checking for bank account and VAT numbers to avoid fraud | |
| Ability to capture QR codes and extract data within the codes | |
| Registration of documents directly to general journal lines, using a vendor, a bank, or a G/L account as the balancing account | |
| View documents in payment journals | |
| Document viewer availability on the Vendor Ledger Entries page | |
| Amount distribution codes for determining how amounts are allocated to accounts and dimensions when purchase lines are created | |
| Ability to configure comment types and have documents automatically assigned to specific users in case of errors | |
Advanced Capture
The Advanced Capture module enables you to import and OCR-process other types of business documents than purchase invoices and credit memos, including custom documents. It also allows you to capture both header- and line-level data and to split business documents automatically during import, if necessary. The module is particularly relevant to you if you need to import complex documents, high volumes of documents, or documents from multiple different vendors.
The Advanced Capture module includes the following key features:
| Feature | Included |
|---|---|
| Ability to recognize unlimited types of documents (sales orders, purchase receipts, employee-related documents, shipping notes, etc.) and to customize fields to be recognized in these document types | |
| Line recognition | |
| Item reference for line translation | |
| Automatic splitting of PDF files inside Business Central, for example based on barcode or invoice number | |
| Recognition of job task number | |
| Automatic moving of documents to the right company based on company identification texts | |
| Automatic checking of line item prices | |
| Support for prepayments | |
| Dedicated category for creating and updating purchase orders | |
| Support for assignment of item charges during document registration | |
Order Matching
Order Matching makes it possible for you to match incoming business documents like purchase invoices and credit memos with other related documents, such as purchase orders, return orders or return shipments. The documents are basically compared to ensure that there’s consistency between them: If the documents match (for example in terms of price or number of items), they can be processed and approved automatically, whereas if they don’t, the relevant discrepancies must be handled. You can manually configure the levels of tolerance for such discrepancies.
With the Order Matching module, you get the following key features:
| Feature | Included |
|---|---|
| Built-in image viewer as part of the matching process | |
| Manual matching to purchase receipts and return shipments | |
| Matching to unposted purchase orders and unposted return orders | |
| Automatic matching to purchase orders, receipts, return orders, and return shipments | |
| Matching based on vendor shipment number and vendor order number | |
| Configurable and automatic line-by-line matching1 | |
| Automated, rule-defined tolerance of differences between order and invoice amounts, as well as subsequent posting | |
| Ability to copy header dimensions from order to invoice automatically | |
| Ability to update existing purchase order or return order instead of creating invoice or credit memo | |
| Support for serial and lot numbers in the matching process | |
| Support for package tracking in order and receipt matching | |
| Application of tolerance amounts/percentages at line level | |
| Ability to add missing order lines for matching purposes | |
| Automatic matching via job queues | |
- Note that this feature also requires the Advanced Capture module to be installed.
Document Approval
With Document Approval, you get a full approval workflow that allows you to approve business documents, assign approvers, and set approval limits. You can force the approval of documents, put them on hold, or have them approved automatically, and it’s also possible to forward documents and delegate approvals if, for example, you’re out of office for a period of time.
The Document Approval module gives you access to the following key features:
| Feature | Included |
|---|---|
| Enhancement on a range of common workflow and approval scenarios not supported by standard NAV | |
| Built-in image viewer as part of the approval process | |
| Ability to view document image in external window for manual resizing purposes and similar | |
| Automatic approval and posting within predefined limits | |
| Ability to send out one combined email with all invoices for approval | |
| Support for approval sharing when Out-of-Office is on (for holiday, leave, etc.) | |
| Approval sharing that allows one or multiple users to manage approvals for other users | |
| Ability to forward invoices and credit memos for approval to a specific person | |
| Support for four-eyes approval (a minimum of two users checking all invoices) | |
| Dimension and amount validation during approval | |
| Amount validation on posting in order to check posted amounts against actual document amounts | |
| Ability to request predefined reason codes when invoice or credit memo is put on hold or rejected | |
| Ability to pre-post purchases to G/L before documents are approved | |
| Approval flows that allows document approval based on preconfigured approvers | |
| Advanced approval that allows document approval based on dimension codes | |
| Free online hosting with Continia Software1 | |
| Direct connection to NAV/Business Central using Web Services (full data consistency)1 | |
| An intuitive UI for users to approve purchase invoices, credit memos, and other business documents1 | |
| Functionality that enables users to easily change lines, approve and reject documents, put documents on hold, forward documents to other users, and add attachments and comments | |
| Configurable account and dimension limitations to simplify selections1 | |
| Ability to have approvals carried out by NAV/Business Central limited users | |
| Searchable, secure archive1 | |
| Easy use of predefined templates to automatically create lines in invoices and credit memos | |
| Approval of purchase orders and return orders using Continia approval workflow functionality, including the Web Approval Portal | |
| User-specific list of approvers when forwarding approval requests | |
- Note that you also need the Continia Web Approval Portal in order to use this feature.
Purchase Contracts
The Purchase Contracts module makes it easy for you to manage your purchase contracts and have them reviewed regularly to ensure timely action. It provides you with an excellent overview of your contracts and subscriptions, streamlines the contract review process, and enables you to have purchase documents approved automatically upon registration if their amounts relate to contract amounts within a specified variance.
With the Purchase Contracts module, you get access to the following key features:
| Feature | Included |
|---|---|
| Centralized management and storage of all purchase contracts, subscriptions, and other recurring costs | |
| Creation of contracts with all relevant information, such as vendor, pricing, contract start and end dates, and detailed contract lines | |
| Comprehensive archive containing all contract-related documents and files from the contract card | |
| Ability to create contracts directly from a recurring invoice | |
| Autofilling of contract details when invoices are processed in the document journal | |
| A straightforward and structured periodic review process, ensuring that you only pay for what you need | |
| Option to have the review process started automatically at regular intervals based on company policies | |
| Ability to review all contracts before the beginning of a new fiscal year | |
| Easy overview of contracts that need to be sent for review | |
| Email notifications to contract reviewers when contracts are due for review | |
| An intuitive user interface that makes it easy to review contracts from either Business Central or the Continia Web Approval Portal | |
| Functionality that enables contract reviewers to easily change lines, review and cancel contracts, and add attachments and comments | |
| Automatic approval of recurring invoices within allowed tolerances, based on reviewed contracts | |