What is BravoTran?
BravoTran is an automation solution for your payables invoices. It reads invoices and matches them up against available accruals, then posts them to CargoWise. In cases where there are no accruals, or the accruals don't match the invoice, BravoTran has a streamlined process for resolving these exceptions with operators.
How are invoices received?
Invoices are usually received via a special email address that will look like [your account]-payables@app.bravotran.com. These invoices may be forwarded to us automatically, for instance, if your team already has an AP inbox, or manually, for instance by operators who may be receiving invoices directly.
What happens when invoices are posted?
When an invoice is posted, BravoTran will:
- Create a Payables transaction in CargoWise
- Attach the invoice to the Payables transaction eDocs
- Post the invoice
- Update all related jobs
- Attach the invoice to eDocs on the related jobs
How does BravoTran stay in sync with CargoWise?
As part of your initial setup, BravoTran builds an integration that causes CargoWise to push notifications to us whenever job details are updated, for instance when a new shipment is added, or it's attached to a consol, or billing details are updated.
What are the steps in processing an invoice?
There are four steps when BravoTran processes an invoice:
- Determine the vendor, by using both the sender's email address and by reading the invoice directly. We match this data against your org data, e.g. by using org contacts, or by matching using vendor names and addresses. BravoTran can also learn new relationships over time as invoices are processed.
- Identify the pages so that we know which pages are invoices, and which are supporting documents.
- Group the pages in case there are multiple sets of invoices and supporting documents in a single email or a single attachment--BravoTran has no problem splitting these out.
- Extract and post, by reading the invoice, looking for job references and charge descriptions, and matching these against your available accruals.
In all of these steps, BravoTran will learn and improve over time, automatically, simply by processing invoices.
What references are used to match an invoice to a job?
BravoTran uses four primary references to match to jobs. In decreasing order of priority:
- Job number, such as an S-number, C-number, B-number, or T-number.
- House bill number, either with or without SCAC code
- Master bill number, either with or without SCAC code
- Container number
BravoTran prefers to use master bill numbers and container numbers in conjunction with each other, but can use either individually as long as they are unique for a particular job (for instance, if the same container number is present on multiple jobs, this may not be sufficient to match an invoice to a job).
BravoTran can also easily accommodate other custom references if needed--just let us know what to use and where to find it in your job data.
Where does BravoTran look for these references?
BravoTran will match these references, in decreasing order of priority:
- On the invoice pages
- On the supporting document pages
- In the email subject or body that the invoiced was received from
Referring to the previous question, note that BravoTran will search through its complete list of possible references on all invoice pages before looking for any references on the supporting pages, and will search through its complete list of possible references on all supporting document pages before looking for any reference in the email subject or body.
How does BravoTran match to available accruals?
BravoTran will always match by total first, meaning that it will check whether all available accruals for the invoice vendor on the matched jobs sum up to the invoice total. Next it will check whether any combination of these accruals uniquely matches the invoice total.
If your account is configured appropriately, BravoTran can then go line-by-line on the invoice, reading the charge descriptions and matching them where possible to available accruals, and suggesting revisions to existing accruals or suggesting entirely new accruals based on the invoiced amounts.
What if I update accruals after an invoice is in BravoTran?
Because BravoTran is constantly sync'ing job data witih CargoWise, BravoTran will see these updates and will post these invoices provided they match the invoiced amount.
How does BravoTran know who to flag exceptions to?
We use the Operations Rep listed on the billing tab of the job.
When will BravoTran ignore an invoice automatically?
These settings are configurable, but by default BravoTran will only ignore an invoice if it is a duplicate. BravoTran detects duplicates by matching three criteria:
- Vendor code
- Invoice number
- Amount
If all three of these are the same on an invoice, and match an invoice that has either already been posted (either inside or outside of BravoTran) or is currently in queue, then the invoice will be ignored automatically.
Any other cases that are un-processable will become exceptions. In particular, the case where we receive an invoice with the same vendor code and invoice number, but a different amount from one processed previously, will become an exception.
How will BravoTran let me know when there's an exception?
BravoTran will send you an email asking you to approve charges, or to create an accrual in CargoWise so that your invoice can be posted. You can also review your open items by logging in to BravoTran directly, where you will see the Operator Portal. This portal summarizes all of the currently-open items that are assigned to you.
What if I have a problem with an invoice that's been sent to me?
Just reply to the email we sent, or hit the "Reply" button from the Operator Portal. The email you send will be attached to the invoice in question and reviewed by your Payables team inside of BravoTran.
How does BravoTran know which charges to suggest?
If your account is configured to suggest charges, then in cases where an accrual is missing or out of alignment, BravoTran will make a suggestion about what the charge code should be. It does this by examining your past accruals and posted invoices, and by building a model that relates how charges are described on the invoice to how you like them to be accrued and posted. This model is specific by vendor, consignee, department, branch, and operator, so it can detect very subtle differences in accrual behavior. In mature accounts, we find these suggestions are accurate well over 90% of the time.