How can I receive XML invoices in the Spend Cloud?

The (design) objective of XML is simplicity, uniformity and usability. In order for these invoices to be read by all computers worldwide, certain rules have been laid down on how an XML invoice must be constructed. This set of standard rules structure is called UBL. The most common form of UBL is UBL 2.0. For example, if a supplier who sends an XML invoice uses UBL 2.0, we know that the invoice date is always at the top. This has allowed us to create a standard mapping in the Spend Cloud where we say:

The first line of an XML invoice is always the invoice date, put this value in the 'invoice date' field during encoding.

Because we have this standard mapping in Spend Cloud (plus several exceptions), it will go well nine out of ten times when you receive an XML invoice from a supplier for the first time. Read more about XML mapping here. If the supplier sends an XML invoice in an unknown format, you will receive an error message when transferring it to Encoding. When this is the case, it is best to contact our Support department. They can help you set up the correct XML mapping.

Receive XML invoices in the Spend Cloud

Receiving XML invoices is the same as receiving PDF invoices. The XML invoices are sent to the Spend Cloud Mailbox. From here you can either transfer the invoices manually to Encoding or through quick processing.

We recommend asking the creditor to send both the XML invoice and the PDF invoice in the same email. We can then use the PDF to visualise the invoice. To do this the filenames of these documents must be the same, for example:

Invoice_123456.PDF
Invoice_123456.XML

The XML and PDF attachments have the exact the same. Because of this, the Spend Cloud knows that these files belong together and automatically marks the PDF as a digital reproduction from the XML invoice

When the message in the mailbox contains one XML file and one PDF file, we always classify the PDF as a 'Digital invoice display' to make processing XML invoices easier. If a message contains multiple XML and PDF files, and the PDF files do not have the same name as the XML files, it is not possible to determine which files belong together, and each file is marked as a new invoice.

There is also the possibility that the supplier has embedded the PDF invoice in the XML file as a long (Base64) code. This method is also supported by the Spend Cloud. In this case, it is no longer necessary to send the PDF invoice as an additional attachment in the email.

In this example there is a PDF file embedded in the XML file. Because of this it is not neccessary to add an extra PDF file for the invoice. If this is removed from the e-mail by the supplier, future emails can be processed automatically