Construction Invoice Review Inbox: Enabling Your First OceanFlow Workflow Pack

This tutorial walks through enabling the Construction AP workflow pack in OceanFlow — the invoice review inbox that flags supplier invoices needing project assignment before posting to Xero. Documents must land in the correct OceanDMS folder first; this guide assumes your project folder structure is already in place.

Prerequisites

Before enabling the Construction AP pack, confirm:

Enable the Construction AP Workflow Pack

1. Open OceanFlow desktop → Automation tab.
2. Click Browse Workflow Packs → select Construction AP (or Construction — Invoice Review).
3. Click Enable Pack → the setup wizard launches.

Wizard steps

Step 1 — DMS folder binding

• Select the OceanDMS folder that receives supplier invoices (e.g. Suppliers/Invoices/).
• Choose trigger: New document uploaded (recommended) or Scheduled scan (hourly).

Step 2 — Xero connection

• Confirm Xero organisation is connected (green status indicator).
• Select default expense account for unmatched invoices (review queue only — matched invoices use project-specific accounts).

Step 3 — Matching rules

• Auto-match criteria: invoice contains project address or job code in reference field, PO number, or vendor history.
• Tolerance: amount within ±5% of expected PO value (optional; disable for first deployment).
• Enable Create draft bill in Xero on auto-match (recommended) vs Create approved bill (only if matching rules are proven).

Step 4 — Notification recipients

• Add email addresses for PM notifications (new invoice flagged) and daily overdue summary.
• Set business hours for notifications (e.g. 7 AM – 6 PM weekdays).

4. Click Activate → pack status changes to Enabled. First scan runs within 15 minutes.

Configure Project List & Notification Recipients

After activation, refine project matching:

1. Automation → Construction AP → Settings → Project List.
2. Import active projects from CSV or sync from project management integration:

project_code,address,pm_email,cost_code
JOB-1042,123 Main St Red Hill,pm.sarah@builder.com.au,4100
JOB-1043,456 Oak Ave Paddington,pm.mike@builder.com.au,4100
JOB-1044,789 Pine Rd New Farm,pm.sarah@builder.com.au,4100

3. Enable Fuzzy address matching if supplier invoices use abbreviated addresses (e.g. "123 Main" matches "123 Main St Red Hill").
4. Add Vendor aliases for frequent suppliers whose invoice format differs (e.g. "ABC Electrical" vs "ABC Electrical Supply Pty Ltd").

Using the Automation Inbox

Open Automation → Inbox to see pending items.

Summary strip (top of inbox)

Flagged reasons

Each card in Needs Review shows a reason badge:

Auto-processed items

The Processed section (collapsed by default) lists invoices that matched automatically — vendor, amount, project, status Posted to Xero with green checkmark. No action required unless audit spot-check flags an error.

Human-in-the-Loop Actions

For each Needs Review card:

flowchart TD
    Flagged["Invoice flagged\nin inbox"]
    Review["Admin reviews\ncard details"]
    Assign["Select project\nfrom dropdown"]
    Approve["Approve & Post\nto Xero"]
    Skip["Skip / Reassign\nto PM"]
    Posted["Draft or approved\nbill in Xero"]

    Flagged --> Review
    Review --> Assign --> Approve --> Posted
    Review --> Skip

1. Review — open card; verify vendor, amount, date, and attached PDF in preview pane.
2. Assign project — select from dropdown (sorted by active projects; "Unassigned" keeps in queue).
3. Approve & Post to Xero — creates bill in Xero with project cost code; card moves to Processed.
4. Skip / Reassign — routes to PM email with link back to inbox item; card stays in queue until PM resolves.
5. Flag for finance — escalates to senior admin for amount disputes or new vendor setup.

Target resolution time for exception cards: under 2 minutes. Auto-matched invoices require zero touch.

Monitoring Processed vs Needs-Review Metrics

Weekly review (Automation → Construction AP → Reports):

• Auto-match rate — target ≥50% after first month; ≥70% after vendor alias tuning
• Average exception resolution time — target <3 minutes
• Overdue in queue — items in Needs Review >48 hours (investigate PM responsiveness)
• Xero sync errors — failed posts requiring manual intervention

Export CSV for finance manager review or connect to OceanFlow Daily Business Health Report pack for consolidated visibility.

Troubleshooting Common Exceptions

Once the Construction AP pack is stable, consider enabling Daily Overdue Invoice Summary for PM visibility and Daily Business Health Report for owner-level financial snapshots. See our Brisbane builder case study for deployment outcomes.

Contact us for OceanFlow setup assistance.