OpenText VIM for SAP Basic Process and TCodes

OpenText VIM or Vendor Invoice Management is associated with the accounts payable process. In this post, we will cover the basic end to end process of VIM for SAP and each of the transaction codes.

For now, let us focus on the keyword’s “vendor” and “invoice”. In case you need an overview on the accounts payable process, you may refer to “SAP CHEAT SHEET: Basic Accounts Payable / Procure to Pay Process”.

Overview

• What is OpenText VIM for SAP?
• Why is Invoice Management Needed?
• Basic Process
• Additional Information
• Summary

What is OpenText VIM for SAP?

From the OpenText website, VIM for SAP is formally defined below.

OpenText™ Vendor Invoice Management for SAP® Solutions (VIM) optimizes and simplifies the process of receiving, managing, routing and monitoring invoices and related documentation. Stakeholders involved in any invoice problem can quickly and efficiently access invoice information, such as relevant PO number, status of invoice payments and more.

OpenText

As such, we can expect several vendor invoices in SAP managed through VIM for further processing. Take note that in this packaged solution, you can expect features such as:

• Workflow approval functionalities
• Integration of standard SAP functionalities such as invoice verification, financial processing, etc.

Why is Invoice Management Needed?

When we talk about the capabilities and features of OpenText VIM, we consider the following:

• There are a lot or multiple people involved from different departments to process one invoice.
• Since a lot of people are involved, you can expect to distribute the said document to each person.
• One invoice can be copied and stored several times in most organizations.
• Without a proper (automated / electronic) invoice management system, the overall cycle takes too long and would require large amount of manual activity.
• Manual activities in this case may not necessarily reduce or prevent duplicate payments, postings, and even lost invoices.

Because of these considerations, we want to establish more efficient, proper, and simpler invoice management processes to ensure accuracy and minimize manual errors through an automated / electronic system.

Basic Process

The basic process will cover two kinds of end to end flows (with their corresponding transaction codes).

• Automated paper to post invoice management (with OCR) process
• E-invoicing process

In this post, we will also cover ICC or Invoice Capture Center which serves as the OCR (Optical Character Recognition) component of OpenText VIM. You may have noticed the “with OCR” indicated in the automated paper to post invoice management portion.

…Okay, so we know the acronym OCR… but what is its use?

It is through OCR that facilitates the scanning of documents, interprets the generated images, and converts them to system text – think less typing more scanning.

Automated paper to post invoice management (with OCR) process

This process involves the optical character recognition component of OpenText VIM. You will notice that in the process diagram below, the invoices need to be prepared and then scanned before it reaches SAP.

The orange dotted lines indicate that this process happens outside of SAP – specifically in the ICC or the Invoice Capture Center. You can think of this as a separate server or environment where the scanning of invoices take place.

#	Process	Transaction Code / Notes
1	Invoices are prepared as a pre-requisite for scanning.	Non-SAP (ICC)
2	Scanning proper using ICC tool to interpret the document image and convert it to system text.	Non-SAP (ICC)
2.1	Data is brought to SAP	Job for Integration to SAP (SM37)
3	Verification / duplicate checks happen for the invoices in SAP. Business rules are also considered.	/n/OPT/VIM_7AX8 (Admin Tool for Monitoring) /n/OPT/VIM_WP (VIM Workplace)
4	Workflow proper is triggered. Consider COA setup.	/n/OPT/AR_COA (Chart of Authority) /n/ORS/MAIN_SUBS (Substitution Maintenance) /n/OPT/VIM_WP (VIM Workplace)
5	Approval Process. If fully approved, SAP document will be posted.	/n/OPT/VIM_WP (VIM Workplace) /n/OPT/VIM_ANALYTICS (VIM Analytics) FB03 (View FI Document)
6	Payment proper will be triggered utilizing the posted SAP document.	F110 (Automatic Payment Program)

E-invoicing process

In comparison to the previous process flow, you will notice that the green dotted lines cover the whole e-invoicing process. This means that all steps are within SAP.

Instead of dealing with scanning and OCR, invoices can be sent electronically to SAP (thus, the concept of e-invoicing) through EDI or Electronic Data Interchange. One good example is through the use of IDocs or Intermediate Documents. Overall, invoice details will be sent to SAP by EDI which will trigger the usual process of processing data, checking for duplicates, so on and so forth.

You will notice a general transaction code for IDocs “WE10” in the process below because you are expecting an inbound IDoc. WE10 in this case, will help you search for a specific IDoc.

#	Process	Transaction Code / Notes
1 + 2	Invoices are sent to SAP electronically which can be viewed as IDocs.	WE10 Search IDoc
3	Verification / duplicate checks happen for the invoices in SAP. Business rules are also considered.	/n/OPT/VIM_7AX8 (Admin Tool for Monitoring) /n/OPT/VIM_WP (VIM Workplace)
4	Workflow proper is triggered. Consider COA setup.	/n/OPT/AR_COA (Chart of Authority) /n/ORS/MAIN_SUBS (Substitution Maintenance) /n/OPT/VIM_WP (VIM Workplace)
5	Approval Process. If fully approved, SAP document will be posted.	/n/OPT/VIM_WP (VIM Workplace) /n/OPT/VIM_ANALYTICS (VIM Analytics) FB03 (View FI Document)
6	Payment proper will be triggered utilizing the posted SAP document.	F110 (Automatic Payment Program)

Additional Information

3-Way Matching Principle

The concept of 3-Way matching is covered in VIM.

…What is the 3-way or three-way match?

In general, the 3-way match is a process used in accounts payable specifically when dealing with vendor invoices.

In SAP, you can think of it as a way to control, check, and verify that the purchase order (PO), Goods Receipt (GR), and Invoice (INV) ALL match in terms of price, item, and quantity.

…Okay, so why do we have to do this 3-way match? …What is the purpose of the 3-way match anyway?

When we talk about the Accounts Payable process, recall that this process involves payment. At the end of the day, we need to pay the vendor accurately.

We also want to ensure that we do not double pay or have duplicate payments. In concept, the 3-way match prevents us from incorrect payments and (in a way) prevents transaction with fraudulent invoices. You can read more about the 3-way match in the linked reference.

Status Check in Admin Tool for Monitoring

Below are some of the statuses you can find in transaction code /n/OPT/VIM_7AX8 Admin Tool for Monitoring. This transaction code is especially helpful to monitor the status of the invoices.

Status	Definition
01	Scanned
72	Sent to OCR
73	Extraction completed
74	Ready for validation
75	Sent for validation
76	Validation completed
77	Sent to workflow

Other Transaction Codes and Tables

Processed data can be seen in standard VIM tables such as “/OPT/VIM_1HEAD” and “/OPT/VIM_1ITEM”. You can refer to my post on “OpenText VIM for SAP Solutions: TCodes and Tables for Troubleshooting” for more information.

Replication of data can be done through “/n/OPT/VIM_7AX2” for OCR scenario or “/n/OPT/VIM_7AX1” for non-OCR scenario. Take note that the 2^nd transaction code or the non-OCR scenario can be tested alternatively by WE19 where you can simulate an inbound IDoc to SAP.

Note: The WE19 approach requires you to know the function module used for processing the VIM related IDoc data. If you do not know the function module, you can refer to “Guide to Troubleshooting IDocs: SAP Functional Consultant“.

OpenText Customization

Feel free to check on the OpenText Customization through transaction code “/n/OPT/SPRO”. Some of the few configurations you check are the following:

A. Incoming Document Processing – This focuses on the settings and configurations for incoming documents. In the highlighted row below called “Maintain Channels”, this is an example where you define the different channels you expect for the incoming VIM documents.

For example, if you are expecting VIM documents as:

• EDI (IDoc)
• Email (Coming from emails – you can setup the email settings accordingly)
• ICC (Coming from the ICC Server after Scanning etc.)

B. Document Type Configuration – This focuses on the settings and configurations involved in a document type. In the highlighted row below called “Maintained Document Types”, you will notice on the next screenshot that you can specify how a document will be processed.

Assuming you have selected the DP Document Type in your system, you will notice that you can setup the processing sequence by indicating the Step ID, Process Type, and Process Description. You can also define some additional settings with the help of the checkbox settings per Step ID.

Summary

What is OpenText VIM for SAP?

• Packaged business solution for vendor invoice management provided by OpenText.

Why is Invoice Management Needed?

• We want to establish more efficient, proper, and simpler invoice management processes to ensure accuracy and minimize manual errors.

Basic Process

• Automated paper to post invoice management (with OCR) process
• eInvoicing Process

Additional Information

• 3-Way Matching Principle
  • Verify that the purchase order (PO), Goods Receipt (GR), and Invoice (INV) ALL match in terms of price, item, and quantity.
  • Prevent incorrect payments and transactions with fraudulent invoices.
• Status Check in Admin Tool for Monitoring
  • /n/OPT/VIM_7AX8
• Other Transaction Codes and Tables
  • /n/OPT/VIM_7AX2 OCR scenario
  • /n/OPT/VIM_7AX1 non-OCR scenario
  • /OPT/VIM_1HEAD VIM Table Header
  • /OPT/VIM_1ITEM VIM Table Item
• OpenText Customization (Incoming Document Processing and Document Type Configuration)
  • /n/OPT/SPRO

Please note that there is OpenText IES (Information Extraction Service) that has been launched by OpenText. Essentially, this replaces ICC (Invoice Capture Center) and BCC (Business Capture Center).

For some who have not upgraded, ICC and BCC remains. If you would like to read more about IES, you may refer to the official OpenText blog post “Information Extraction Service – An innovative approach to capture“.

I hope this helps. Good luck! 😊