An invoice submitted by a vendor appears in Unity eBilling for review and approval. Invoices can be found and opened in several ways, including using the Invoices List page or going to the Invoices tab in vendor records and/or matter records. This article covers the details page for individual invoice records and the actions that can be taken by reviewers or admins, including how to make adjustments and assign reviewers.
Note: These User Guides will be updated as more features are added and revised. Check in frequently for more information.
Each invoice details page is separated into the following tabs/menus:
If your organization is using Onit's Spend Agent for initial invoice validation against billing guidelines, the top of the invoice displays the AI Spend Agent label. When automatic mode is enabled, invoices will be reviewed and flagged for any verification failures. Click View details at the top of the invoice to see more information. This information allows users to decide whether approval, adjustment, or rejection is required.
NOTE: Spend Agent is an add-on feature available for purchase. Contact your Onit representative for pricing details. For additional information about the feature and its benefits, click here.
Overview
The Overview tab stores the core details about an invoice, such as the associated matter and the activity log.
Details
The Details section shows key information about the invoice, such as the associated matter ID, practice area, and legal entity. Click on the hyperlinked names to see more details about the matter or the vendor that submitted the invoice.
Activity Log
A preview of activity on an invoice can be viewed at the bottom of the Overview tab. Click View all to see the full list, including reviewer assignment/updates, status changes, line item adjustments, and comments. For each recorded activity, the log displays the date/time, user name, category (i.e., the type of action), and a description of the activity.
Invoice Total & Proposed Adjustments
The Invoice Total section shows the amount submitted by the vendor. If any adjustments have been made to the invoice, the proposed adjusted total and the percentage change appear under Proposed Adjustments.
Click View Details to see the adjustment amount(s) and selected adjustment reason(s). You can view the individual line item details by switching to the Lines tab from the invoice.
Reviewers
Reviewers are internal users assigned to approve, adjust, and/or reject invoices submitted by vendors. Depending on system settings, default reviewers may already be assigned to some pending invoices. Go to the Reviewers section on the right side of the page to view and update assigned reviewers.
Click + Add Reviewers, select one or more user names from the list, and click Apply.
TIP: Start typing a user's name into the search field to quickly filter the dropdown list.
Confirm the selected reviewers and then click Apply in the bottom-right corner of the window.
The Reviewers section shows a preview of the assigned users. Click on the caret icon to expand the the list.
Reviewer Action
If it is your turn to review an invoice to which you are assigned, you can click Approve or Reject from the Reviewers section of the invoice once you have verified the information and/or made any necessary line item adjustments.
If there are other assigned reviewers, the invoice will appear in their review queue once you complete your approval. Rejecting an invoice ends the review cycle.
Lines
Go to the Lines tab to view line item details or make necessary adjustments. The line items table displays key information, such as the associated timekeeper name (if applicable), the description, the submitted cost/rate, and the line item type. Use the scroll at the bottom of the table to move to the right and see the additional columns.
To adjust a line item, click the ... (more) option under the Actions column and select Edit Line Item.
Enter adjusted amounts and other information for the line item as described below.
- Hours: Update the number of hours billed for the specific line item.
- Cost/Rate: Update the hourly rate or flat fee billed for the specific line.
- Addl Adjustment: Enter an additional dollar value adjustment (if applicable). To deduct an amount from the line item total, you must enter a negative value. To increase the amount, you must enter a positive value.
- Fee Type: If applicable, change the line item type (e.g., Fee, Expense, FeeDiscount, ExpenseDiscount, etc.).
REMINDER: If you need to deduct an additional amount from the line item amount, you must enter a negative value in the Addl Adjustment field. To increase the line amount, enter a positive value in this field.
Select the adjustment reason from the dropdown, enter any relevant comments for reference by the vendor, and click Save.
If you are ready to approve or reject the invoice, go back to the Overview tab and click the button from the Reviewers section.
Comments
To review any internal comments or add your own, switch to the Comments tab. Click Add Comment from the top-right corner of the tab, enter your notes, and click Save.
Insights
Use the Insights tab to see the distribution of certain datapoints associated with the invoice, such as how much of the invoice total makes up the total spend for the associated matter, task codes, activity codes, and more.
Allocations
Allocations is a system of dividing funds among various attributes assigned to an invoice to help categorize and track spend. Unity eBilling has two out-of-the-box allocatable attributes: Legal Entities and Cost Codes. On invoices, a specific percentage of costs can be assigned to one, both, or none of these attributes. For example, 50% of an invoice's amount can be allocated to Cost Code 1 and the other 50% to Cost Code 2. How and if allocations are used depend on you organization's needs and system settings.
To allocate some of all invoice spend to a specific Cost Code or Legal Entity, click +Add Allocation from the Allocations tab of the invoice.
Enter the allocation percentage value (i.e., 1-100) and choose the relevant Legal Entity and/or Cost Code. The allocation percentage must equal 100. Click +Add Allocation if splitting the allocations among multiple attributes. Click Save when finished.
Some invoices may automatically inherit allocations if they have been set on the associated matter. Allocations on an invoice can be updated by clicking Edit Allocations in the top-right corner.
Invoice Actions
Click the Invoice Actions button in the top-right corner of an invoice's details page to do one of the following:
- Export as Excel: Download an invoice in any status as an Excel file.
- Unapprove: Only appears for invoices in Approved status.
- Unreject: Only appears for invoices in Rejected status.
- Refresh Approvers: Only applies if Invoice Review Rules are active and have recently been updated.
