1 Introduction
2 Procurement
3 AP Automation
4 Platform
- 4.1 Duplicate “Task aborted” messages removed from task history
- 4.2 “Select all” option added to column filter in grid

1 Introduction

This document contains descriptions of new features in Basware Purchase-to-Pay 21.9 and its maintenance releases.

2 Procurement

2.1 Audit of logins, punchins and organization switches

Module(s): Marketplace
Feature ID: ALUSTA-89124
Release: P2P 21.9
Feature Implementation: Basware consultant work is needed

Users who have the role Buyer administrator and do not have the roles Buyer info or Buyer support can now access a system audit. This feature must first be enabled for your organization.

The audit shows information about the following:

Direct user logins
Punchins to Marketplace from an external system
Users switching from another organization to the current one. The entries for switches show the organization that the user is originally from and the reason that the user provided when they switched organizations.

The audit list can be filtered by type and by date range.

2.2 Bill of Materials - Target delivery dates

Module(s): Marketplace
Feature ID: ALUSTA-89126
Release: P2P 21.9
Feature Implementation: Feature is in use automatically

Buyer organizations who use bills of materials can now set a target delivery date for the bill of materials. This field can be used in several ways to help facilitate smooth goods deliveries during projects.

Bills of materials with catalog items

When ordering bills of materials with catalog items, the target delivery date that you choose is communicated to the supplier on the purchase order. All items on the bill of materials will have the same target delivery date.

Bills of materials with free-text items

If you import bills of materials with free text items, it is possible to set a Date Offset for each item on the bill of materials. This feature can be used to spread out the delivery of the items that you have ordered. For example, if you are ordering materials for a construction project that will take 3 months, you can set it so that:

The items that you need to get started have a date offset of 0. The target delivery date for these items is the date you select.
Items that you need midway through the project have a date offset of +45. The target delivery date for these items is 45 days after the date you select.
Items that you need only at the very end have a date offset of +80. The target delivery date for these items is 80 days after the date you select.

The date offset must be set in the Bill of Materials Excel file before you upload it. It cannot be edited from the BOM Processing page.

Target delivery date with Basware Purchase-to-Pay integration

If you are using Basware Purchase-to-Pay to create and manage your purchase documents, the target delivery date you set in Marketplace will become the desired delivery date on your purchase requisition and purchase order. The desired delivery date on the header level of the purchase requisition is the earliest of the delivery dates for the entire bill of materials. However, each line of a purchase requisition also has its own desired delivery date, which is calculated from the target delivery date + the date offset for that item.

The desired delivery date can drive several other features in Basware Purchase-to-Pay:

If configured to do so, a separate purchase order will be created for items with different delivery dates. In some cases, it can be easier for the supplier to manage the items and deliveries if they are on separate orders.
If configured to do so, email notifications to receive goods will only start after the desired delivery date, instead of starting as soon as the purchase order is created.

2.3 Export items from Product Manager

Module(s): Marketplace
Feature ID: ALUSTA-89127
Release: P2P 21.9
Feature Implementation: Feature is in use automatically

It is now possible for suppliers to export their item directory to a CSV file. The Export tool exports all items, regardless of the text search or filters applied to the list.

To export the items, first click the Export icon.

Then click Export to create a new export file. The file may take some time to create, depending on the size of your item library.

When the file is created, you can click on the link to download it. If you make changes to your item library, click Export again to update the file.

The CSV file contains all of the basic item information. Additional information such as custom attributes or media attachments are not included.

2.4 Set classification code at agreement level

Module(s): Marketplace
Feature ID: ALUSTA-89128
Release: P2P 21.9
Feature Implementation: Feature is in use automatically

In Marketplace Product Manager, it is now possible to add a classification code to an agreement. When the classification code is set at the agreement level and the items in the agreement have classification codes, the agreement-level classification code is used during checkout. If no classification code is defined at the agreement level, the item-level classification is used.

The Classification field is a text field in which the user can enter the numerical code, such as “44120000.”

2.5 Split requisition to unique purchase orders based on desired delivery date

Module(s): Purchase
Feature ID: ALUSTA-83349
Release: P2P 21.9
Feature Implementation: Feature is in use automatically

In addition to creating separate purchase orders for lines with different delivery addresses, organizations can now choose to create separate purchase orders from a purchase requisition for items with different desired delivery dates. This setting is available at Data management > Document creation settings. To change this setting, you must have the Manage purchase documents user right for at least one organization.

If you use Items have different desired delivery dates as a criteria for order creation, make the Desired delivery date visible on the Purchase orders section of the requisition in the Configuration tool. You may need to contact Basware to enable the field.

Note: By default, separate purchase orders are always created for items on a requisition with different suppliers, payment terms, or contract references.

2.6 Additional methods to define owner on openAPI purchase requisition import

Module(s): Purchase
Feature ID: ALUSTA-83465
Release: P2P 21.9
Feature Implementation: Feature is in use automatically

Previously when importing purchase requisitions using openAPI, it was only possible to define the requisition owner using the ownerLogin. Now, the requisition owner can be defined using ownerLogin, ownerEmail, or ownerExternalCode.

2.7 Comment required when closing purchase orders and purchase order lines

Module(s): Purchase
Feature ID: ALUSTA-84739
Release: P2P 21.9
Feature Implementation: Feature is in use automatically

When closing purchase orders or purchase order lines, all users are now required to enter a comment. Comments improve transparency in the purchasing process and assist with auditing tasks by making it easy to know why an order was closed.

2.8 Create and send a release order

Module(s): Purchase
Feature ID: ALUSTA-84293
Release: P2P 21.9
Feature Implementation: Basware consultant work is needed

Now, buyers can create blanket orders that require release orders. The blanket order allocates a certain sum for the supplier for a specified validity period. Then, each release order authorizes the delivery and invoicing for the released sum. Both blanket orders and release orders are sum-based orders. This feature can be used, for example, for ordering a project that is divided into milestones: The blanket order contains the maximum total for the entire project, while the release order can be used to authorize a delivery and invoicing for a milestone.

When creating the blanket purchase requisition, the users can mark that the blanket order requires releases.

When the purchase requisition is approved and the blanket order is sent to the supplier, the purchase order contains the information that release orders are required. This means that the supplier should not make any deliveries based on receiving the blanket order, but needs to wait for the release order.

The user can then create new release orders from the blanket order. It is possible to select one or many lines to be released and determine the sum to be released for each order.

When the release order is sent to the supplier, it contains a reference to the blanket order.

Release orders require no goods receiving. Invoices are matched against the release orders. Since the release orders are sum-based orders, the invoices will be matched only against the available sum on the order.

If you are interested in using blanket purchase orders and release orders, request for the new feature to be enabled through Basware customer services.

2.9 Import and export blanket orders using OpenAPI

Module(s): Purchase
Feature ID: ALUSTA-81533
Release: P2P 21.9
Feature Implementation: Customer can take into use

It is now possible to import and export purchase requisitions and purchase orders with blanket order lines using Basware OpenAPI. Users of Basware OpenAPI can:

import purchase requisitions that contain blanket order lines from external systems to P2P Purchase
export purchase requisitions that contain blanket order lines from P2P Purchase to external systems
import blanket purchase orders from external systems to P2P Purchase
export blanket purchase orders from P2P Purchase to external systems
export release orders from P2P Purchase to external systems

If you want to enable Basware OpenAPI and blanket order use for your organization, please request for the new features to be enabled through Basware customer services.

2.10 Self-approve purchase requisitions in Purchase Professional Tools

Module(s): Purchase
Feature ID: ALUSTA-79763
Release: P2P 21.9
Feature Implementation: Feature is in use automatically

Professional users can now self-approve their own purchase requisitions in Purchase Professional Tools. The user needs the “Self-approve” user right, and the limit defined in the user right must not be exceeded when self-approving. The Approve and send to process action is available in both the list and details view of a purchase requisition.

2.11 Target delivery dates set in Marketplace are used as the desired delivery dates on the purchase requisition

Module(s): Purchase
Feature ID: ALUSTA-83706
Release: P2P 21.9
Feature Implementation: Basware consultant work is needed

When users order some items in Marketplace, such as a free-text bill of materials, they can set a target delivery date for each item in the bill of materials. When ordering those items from the shopping basket in Basware P2P, it is now possible for Basware P2P to set the desired delivery date for each item to match the target delivery date from Marketplace. If any items do not have a target delivery date, it will be set to the current date.

Additionally, the desired delivery date in the header data for the created purchase requisition is automatically set to the earliest desired delivery date for the items in the requisition.

This feature is only available when the Integrated Shopping Experience is enabled. Additional settings must be configured by a Basware consultant. Contact Basware Support at https://basware.service-now.com/bw and Request a service to get this feature enabled.

2.12 Search documents by contract number in Purchase Professional Tools

Module(s): Purchase
Feature ID: ALUSTA-86711
Release: P2P 21.9
Feature Implementation: Customer can take into use

It is now possible to search purchase requisitions and purchase orders by contract number in Purchase Professional Tools. Also, “Contract number” can be added as a column in the list view for purchase requisitions and purchase orders. To use this feature, the contract number field must first be enabled in Configuration Tool for the purchase requisition and purchase order list views.

2.13 Close purchase order lines from goods receipt task

Module(s): Purchase
Feature ID: ALUSTA-22136
Release: P2P 21.9
Feature Implementation: Feature is in use automatically

It is now possible to close purchase order lines directly from the goods receipt task if no further receipts are expected for an order. The goods receiver must have the user right “Close purchase order lines from goods receipt tasks” to perform this action.

Closing the purchase order lines when receipts are no longer expected can speed up order matching to invoices and allow invoices to be processed more quickly.

Note: The new user right “Close purchase order lines from goods receipt task” may only be given to users with the rights to receive goods. Any other configuration may result in unexpected errors.

2.14 Select contract for purchase requisitions and orders in Purchase Professional Tools

Module(s): Purchase
Feature ID: ALUSTA-82399
Release: P2P 21.9
Feature Implementation: Feature is in use automatically

Selecting a contract for purchase requisitions and purchase orders in Purchase Professional Tools is now easier using a new dialog. The dialog has a list of all valid and active imported contracts for the supplier. The most important information for each contract is shown in the dialog itself and all the contract details can be accessed by clicking the link in the Contact number column.

The contract can be selected also using a drop-down list that shows the contract number and the contact description. Users can type in the search bar to filter the results by contract name or description and quickly find the right contract.

3 AP Automation

3.1 Configuration tool introduced in Edge

Module(s): Config Tool
Feature ID: ALUSTA-86303
Release: P2P 21.9
Feature Implementation: Feature is in use automatically

The configuration tool is now available in the Basware Purchase-to-Pay Edge user interface. These important configuration pages are now available in the modern HTML5 user interface:

Invoicing schemas
Order matching categories
Spend plan configuration
Service PO coding mappings
Order matching configuration
Purchase schemas
General data maintenance

These pages have all been enhanced with better search, sorting, and filtering capabilities, compared to the Workplace user interface.

To access the configuration tool, users must have at least one system administrator permission.

About General data maintenance

Some table configurations have already been available in Data management > Table maintenance. All remaining tables are now available here in the configuration tool.

All configuration tool pages are also still available in the Workplace user interface. Changes made in one interface will also take effect in the other.

3.2 AP Pro - Retransfer many invoices at once

Module(s): Invoice Automation
Feature ID: ALUSTA-81256
Release: P2P 21.9
Feature Implementation: Feature is in use automatically

In AP Pro, it is now possible to retransfer up to 2000 invoices at one time by selecting all of the invoices and clicking Retransfer. Retransferring invoices as a batch action helps AP Pro users handle their invoices even more quickly. The user must have the “Retransfer processed invoices” user right, and the invoices must be unpaid and in “Processed” or “Archiving in progress” status. When retransferring invoices, the user must leave a comment in the dialog box.

3.3 AP Pro - Enable separate code and name columns for suppliers and organizations

Module(s): Invoice Automation
Feature ID: ALUSTA-67144
Release: P2P 21.9
Feature Implementation: Feature is in use automatically

Grid views in AP Pro have been improved by making it possible to have separate code and name columns for document data, such as organization code and name, or supplier code and name. Earlier, code and name columns were always combined into the same column, but now it has been changed so that combined data is used only when the name column is not used. This makes it easier to view and sort the data on the grids and also in exported spreadsheets. The change applies to all code and name columns in Invoices and Spend Plans grid views.

3.4 AP Pro - Reset search and remove column filters

Module(s): Invoice Automation
Feature ID: ALUSTA-64423
Release: P2P 21.9
Feature Implementation: Feature is in use automatically

Previously when using AP Pro, users had to manually clear out each of their search criteria and filters if they wanted to perform a new search on invoices or spend plans. To make AP Pro more efficient and easier to use, it now includes options to reset the search.

By clicking Reset search, users can remove all of the search criteria they have set and return to the default search criteria. Reset search does the following:

Changes the selected organization to the user’s home organization
Changes the date search to invoices with a creation date in the past two months. For spend plans, the date range is removed.
Removes any additional criteria
Removes any selected status

Additionally, if a user has column filters enabled, they can remove all of the column filters at once by clicking the X icon in the Column filters tag.

3.5 AP Pro - When changing invoice type, currency code and tax code persist

Module(s): Invoice Automation
Feature ID: ALUSTA-79521
Release: P2P 21.9
Feature Implementation: Feature is in use automatically

Previously, the payment term and currency fields on invoices were cleared if the user changed the invoice type. Now, the payment term and currency fields are not cleared. They will remain the same unless the field values are overwritten with new values from the supplier lookup list.

3.6 Enhancements for saving invoices as PDF

Module(s): Invoice Automation
Feature ID: ALUSTA-84616
Release: P2P 21.9
Feature Implementation: Feature is in use automatically

Saving an invoice as PDF has been enhanced in AP Pro. Now users can choose which information to include in the PDFs and set the order of the information. add and remove data content and change the order of content entries. Users can also select the language for the translated texts and a region that defines the date and number formats.

The PDF document’s layout is slightly changed as well. Now the invoice header data is aligned in two columns.

When necessary, the page width for the Coding Rows section is extended to fit larger tables and prevent the texts wrapping too much. Columns with no data are not printed to the table.

It can take a long time to create invoice PDFs if the invoice has a lot of data, such as 200+ coding rows. In these cases, Basware P2P creates the PDF as an asynchronous activity that runs in the background. The user can start the PDF creation, continue working on other tasks, and then download the PDF from the Activity center when it is ready.

3.7 Improve recipient selection in dialogs

Module(s): Invoice Automation
Feature ID: ALUSTA-82841
Release: P2P 21.9
Feature Implementation: Feature is in use automatically

Previously, users struggled to take some actions that required selecting a recipient, because the drop-down menu was too wide and covered up the comment box and the action buttons in the dialog. Users had to manually close the drop-down before they could continue with their task.

Now, the drop-down menu is narrower, making it possible to click an action or the comment box directly after selecting a recipient. This enhancement affects many actions, such as Approve, Review, Send to process, Forward, Start force match, Request manual approval, and more.

3.8 More preset options available when selecting a date range

Module(s): Invoice Automation
Feature ID: ALUSTA-63270
Release: P2P 21.9
Feature Implementation: Feature is in use automatically

Searching for invoices is made easier by offering more ready-made date range options in AP Pro. All date range pickers now have the options for:

Last 7 days
Last 30 days
Last 3 months
Last 6 months
Last year
Current day
Current month

Due date and Cash date range pickers also have the options for:

Next 7 days
Next 30 days

Module(s): Invoice Automation
Feature ID: ALUSTA-62488
Release: P2P 21.9
Feature Implementation: Feature is in use automatically

The notifications widget is now available in AP Pro, Professional view, and Data Management. From the widget, users can access discussions that they are participating in on any documents in Basware P2P.

3.10 Save to PDF for many invoices at once

Module(s): Invoice Automation
Feature ID: ALUSTA-80111
Release: P2P 21.9
Feature Implementation: Feature is in use automatically

In AP Pro, it is now possible to save up to 100 invoices as PDFs at a time. Select the PDFs from the invoice list and click Save as PDF from the actions menu. Basware P2P creates the PDFs as an asynchronous activity that runs in the background. The user can start the PDF creation, then continue working on other tasks or log out of Basware P2P.

If needed, users can stop the activity at any time and relaunch the activity for invoices that were not yet saved as PDF.

When the Save as PDF activity is complete, the user can download the results from the Activity Center.

The system creates a PDF file for each selected invoice and packages the files in a ZIP folder. The PDF file name consist of company code, supplier code, invoice number and a random key value (to avoid duplicate file names). The naming system helps users recognize and navigate the invoices in the file.

The ZIP folder also contains an index.html file. After extracting all of the contents of the ZIP folder to their computer, the user can use this index file to view the invoice details and easily open invoices by clicking the invoice number. The index file also gives additional details about the created invoice, such as if the invoice did not have any image to include in the PDF.

3.11 Start time for activities shown in the Activity center

Module(s): Invoice Automation
Feature ID: ALUSTA-88310
Release: P2P 21.9
Feature Implementation: Feature is in use automatically

In AP Pro, it is now possible to see the time that an activity was started. This helps users identify an individual activity when there are several activities that started on the same day.

When viewing the activities list, if the activity was started on the current date, only the start time is visible. If the activity was started on a previous day, then the date and time are both visible. By default, the list is sorted with the most recently started activity listed first.

3.12 Professional invoice task list for personal users

Module(s): Invoice Automation
Feature ID: ALUSTA-34664
Release: P2P 21.9
Feature Implementation: Feature is in use automatically

We have improved the user experience for personal users who perform many complex invoice tasks on a daily basis. These power users now have a desktop-optimized view of the task list where they will see more information about their documents, for example the invoice number and document type. We introduce three new views for invoice task list which look very similar to our AP Pro invoice list pages. Users can select the views with the icons:

Users can perform all the actions that are available in the detailed page from the list page itself, thus saving time that was earlier spent on opening the invoices to edit them. Review and approval of invoices can be done more efficiently because of the easily accessible information. Some of the actions that can be done without opening the invoices:

Add, delete, and edit coding rows, along with all actions available in the detailed view like Smart coding, coding templates, and export to Excel.
View and download images.
View and update header data.
View and participate in discussions.
Maintain attachments.
View and edit invoice lines.

New functionalities available for the users:

The columns of the list page can be configured in Configuration Tool. Users can select which columns they want on list page and in which order. These selections are saved between sessions.
Export invoices to Excel.
Quick filter will let the users select which invoices are shown on the list page.
Users can sort and filter their list in each column.

The notices and discussions on each invoice can be viewed from the list page itself.

Users can select multiple invoices and view their total grouped by different currencies.

The feature can be activated for all users with the tenant setting “ProfessionalInvoiceDetailViewForPersonalUsers”. Users can activate this feature themselves in User settings by selecting Professional view under Invoice and spend plan views in desktop mode.

3.13 Update organization and invoice type in AP Pro

Module(s): Invoice Automation
Feature ID: ALUSTA-34788
Release: P2P 21.9
Feature Implementation: Feature is in use automatically

Previously AP Pro supported changing the organization or invoice type only for a single invoice. Now, with the Change organization or invoice type action, users can work more efficiently and change the organization and invoice type of up to 500 invoices at once. Users can select invoices from several organizations and with different invoice types and move them all to the same new organization. Invoice types can be updated individually within the original organization or within the new organization. It is also possible to change invoices already in process after the received phase, but this may cause the process to start over similarly as when updating a single invoice.

3.14 AP Pro Manual Matching - PO search to support also custom criteria

Module(s): Match Orders
Feature ID: ALUSTA-86157
Release: P2P 21.9
Feature Implementation: Consultant & Customer

Manual order matching view in AP Pro has been enhanced. Now the number of fields that are available in the search for matching purchase orders can be extended. It is possible to add fields like Order type from the matching order data and UNSPSC from matching order line details that were missing earlier. Also customer specific own field can be added for e.g. Text fields.

Contact Basware Support if you would like to use this feature.

3.15 AP Pro Manual Matching - Purchase order lines shown in goods receipt-based invoicing

Module(s): Match Orders
Feature ID: ALUSTA-82535
Release: P2P 21.9
Feature Implementation: Consultant & Customer

You can now configure AP Pro to show a two-level hierarchy with purchase order line level and goods receipt level. Before in goods receipt based invoicing, only goods receipts were shown. The new configuration will help in association if there are a lot of good receipts in one purchase order line.

3.16 Professional spend plan task list for personal users

Module(s): Spend Plans
Feature ID: ALUSTA-81881
Release: P2P 21.9
Feature Implementation: Feature is in use automatically

A desktop-optimized task list view is now available where users can see more information about their documents and take action on them without leaving the page. With the new view where users can experience the same powerful interface as AP Pro users.

Users can choose from three different Spend plan task list layouts:

A list with the spend plan information shown in columns
A split view with the list to the left, the selected spend plan’s details to the right, and the coding for the selected spend plan shown at full width across the bottom of the page
A second split view where the coding is only shown on the right side of the page, below the spend plan details

The second layout option is shown below:

Users can perform all the actions that are typically available in the spend plan’s detail page from the list page itself, which means users don’t waste time opening each spend plan individually.

Review and approval of Spend plans can now be done more efficiently because of the easily accessible information. Few of the actions that can be performed without opening the Spend plan are listed below:

Copy coding rows as template
Export coding to Excel
View header data and payment schedule
Manage attachments
Participate in discussions

Along with easily accessible information and actions, some new functionalities are now available for the users.

Configure the list view by selecting which columns you want to see and dragging them to the order that is best for you
Export spend plans to Excel
Use the quick filter to quickly search all of the spend plans shown on the page
Click any column header to sort the spend plans by that column
Filter the spend plans by any column
Easily see which spend plans have errors, warnings, or discussions from the list view itself

Users can begin using this new view by going to User settings > Other settings > Invoice and spend plan views in desktop mode and selecting Professional view.

To enable this view for all users in the organization, contact Basware Support at https://basware.service-now.com/bw and Request a service.

4 Platform

4.1 Duplicate “Task aborted” messages removed from task history

Module(s): P2P Admin
Feature ID: ALUSTA-81472
Release: P2P 21.9
Feature Implementation: Feature is in use automatically

In Basware P2P Administration > Scheduler > History, there were previously some misleading entries with the status “Aborted, task already running”. These entries were unnecessary and caused confusion for P2P administrators. Now, the unnecessary entries are no longer logged in the History.

4.2 “Select all” option added to column filter in grid

Module(s): Platform
Feature ID: ALUSTA-83705
Release: P2P 21.9
Feature Implementation: Feature is in use automatically

When searching for documents and other data in grids, users can now choose “Select all” to select all available options. With this, users can easily select or deselect all values in the list to efficiently filter the data. “Select all” can be used in combination with the text filter. For example, if a user wants to see invoices with any approval sub-status, they can open the filter for the Sub-status column, enter “approval” in the search bar, and click “Select all”. Previously the user had to select each desired option one by one.

“Select all” is available for the following search grids:

Accounts Payable:

Invoices - AP Pro and Professional view
Spend plans
Accrual reports

Data Management:

Additional cost settings
Coding templates
External webshops
Budgets
Table maintenance

Also, the performance of this filter has been improved for a faster user experience.

Basware Purchase-to-Pay 21.9 New Features

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