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Attachments and Notes

Every ERP document can carry files and notes: the supplier's own invoice beside the bill, the quote behind a purchase order, a signed proof of delivery on a delivery note. Files and notes belong to the document, so anyone who can open the document can see them, and nobody else can.

Where to find it

Admin Panel → Purchasing:

  • Purchasing — the Attachments and notes card on requisitions, orders, receipts and bills

Admin Panel → Sales:

  • Sales — the same card on quotes, orders and deliveries

Admin Panel → Receivables:

  • Receivables — the same card on invoices and credit notes

Who can see and change them

Viewing attachments and notes needs read access to the document; attaching, removing and adding notes needs write access. Access comes from the ERP role for that document type and the company grant, the same rules as the document itself, not from datastore permissions. A storeman who can read an order sees its attachments; a salesperson cannot see a supplier's bill.

Attaching a file

  1. Open the document and find the Attachments and notes card.
  2. Drop a file on the box (Drop a file here, or choose one) or click it to choose one.
  3. Choose What is it?: Supplier's invoice, Quote, Delivery note, Contract or terms, Correspondence, Proof of delivery or Other.
  4. Optionally add a note about the file, then press Attach.

Accepted files are PDF, images (PNG, JPEG, GIF, WebP), Office documents (Word and Excel), text, CSV, XML and e-mail (EML and MSG), up to 15 MB each. The file's contents must agree with its extension: a renamed program, or a web page saved as .txt, is refused. Files are stored with the document in the database, so they work whatever file store your installation uses.

Versions, previews and removal

  • Upload a new version replaces a file while keeping the old one. Earlier versions lists them.
  • Preview opens PDFs and images inline. In Purchasing, a file filed as Supplier's invoice opens beside the bill, so the reviewer compares the two side by side.
  • Remove asks Why? and then Yes, remove it. Every version comes off the document and the removal is recorded on its history; the file itself is kept, not destroyed.

Notes

Type in Add a note and press Add note. Notes are plain text, kept on the document's history with who wrote them and when, and shown to everyone who can open the document. Use them for the things a colleague will need: "Supplier confirmed delivery for 14th", "Customer disputes line 3".

Where filed invoices are used

When Payables asks a supplier for a credit note from the Invoice Match Queue, the e-mail carries the supplier's own invoice file if one is filed on the bill as Supplier's invoice, and otherwise a rendering of the bill as entered. Filing the original therefore makes the request clearer to the supplier.

What goes wrong

  • "Attach files of up to 15 MB": compress or split the file.
  • A file is refused although its name looks right: its contents do not match the extension. Save it again in the right format.
  • No Attach button: you can read the document but not change it.
  • "Attachments are not installed on this system": the hosting administrator has not applied the document output update.

Worked example

A supplier e-mails a PDF invoice. The payables clerk keys the bill, then drops the PDF on its Attachments and notes card as Supplier's invoice. When the Finance manager opens the bill to approve it, the PDF opens beside it. A week later the supplier sends a corrected invoice; the clerk uses Upload a new version, and adds the note "Corrected invoice received 12 Oct, price on line 2 reduced".

Recommendations

  • File every supplier invoice PDF on its bill, as Supplier's invoice.
  • Use versions, not new files, when a document is reissued.
  • Write notes for the next person, not as reminders to yourself.
  • Remove with a real reason; it stays on the history.