Tom Gulik | Portfolio > Case Studies > Invoice Manager
Invoice Manager
Problem Statement
Process of reconciliation of multiple purchase orders against invoices is very complicated and prone to errors. We need a tool that will match every line item to ensure that what we received matches with what we've ordered.
User Persona
After conducting several interviews, we've put together a pseudo persona. I have gathered my notes and observations to ensure user needs in guidance with business requirements. Notes that I pay closest attention to is points of frustrations.
Process Flow
Time between making a purchase, delivery and invoicing can span over period of multiple weeks and even months. On large orders invoices may be split and it may be very challenging to match orders to each line item on an invoice.
Business Requirements
Team has worked on getting a better understanding of complex logistics that are involved in purchase reconciliation. This process was very time consuming as it involved setting up workshops and interviews with business owners and industry experts.
Invoice Structure
Understanding the common elements and anatomy of each entity helped us to get guidance for acceptance criteria that needed to be included in each user story. This helped us to stay aligned with most common case scenarios that users could face.
User Journey
Project Planning
Invoice manager epic was part of a larger project. In order to dertermine scope of the project, we run a workshop with the team to ensure that we have captured all user stories. During these sessions we have aligned business requirements with user's needs and expectations.
Designs
User will be able to look at invoice and relevant orders side by side. They will be able to see
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original PDF attachment or they will be able to switch to a processed, line-item view of the document.

System will attempt to match purchase orders that were sent with invoice that is being reconciliated. It would also keep track if a line item of a purchase order was linked to another invoice
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and would inform user
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no items from purchase order was matched with invoice.
By default user would see items in
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list view to ensure they have a clear view of items that need to be matched with each purchase order that system has recommended.

If for some reason system was unable to recognize relevant purchase orders, user would have an option to
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find it manually.
System will allow user to conduct a search based on variety of parameters. Because of variety of circumstances, business types and methods by which transactions are conducted it will be possible for system not to associate purchase orders with any invoices that user's company has received. Having a way to add invoices manually has been requested by users and business analysts alike.
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User will be able to select each item on purchase order and assign it to corresponding line item listed on the invoice. Once they make that selection, a link will be shown to indicate that connection has been made between two entities. If they want to change assignment, they could click on link icon to break the link or make another selection to make a new assignment.
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In some cases there may be exceptions where items on purchase order do not exactly match what is on the invoice. This can be caused by various factors like items partial delivery, different item description or quantity. User would be able to
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adjust matching which would let system know that connections that user has made get input into the system. Such exceptions would have to be verified by a manager to ensure accurate resolution.
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