Setting up Electronic invoicing with OIOUBL (EAN)

This is what happens in the video

Setting up electronic invoicing in Business Central with the OIOUBL extension from Microsoft requires you to configure several tables before you can send your first electronic invoice. You install the OIOUBL extension from Extension Management, then set up the Sales & Receivables Setup, payment terms, VAT posting setup, country/region codes, and a document sending profile.

In the Sales & Receivables Setup you define a default profile code, which determines how the electronic file is formatted, and a path where the documents are placed on your computer for output.

On each payment term you want to use for OIOUBL, you define a code as either specific or contract. Specific includes all payment term parameters in every file. Contract refers to a defined contract between you and the customer, so the details are not embedded in the file.

In the VAT Posting Setup you fill in the new Tax Category column with the correct letters. You find these codes on a public reference site.

On each customer you set the document sending profile, address with country/region code, contact name, email, a Global Location Number (GLN), and the account code provided by the customer. The customer cannot be invoiced if a required profile code is missing.

Installing the OIOUBL extension

Before you do anything else, you need the OIOUBL extension installed. Go to Extension Management and install the OIOUBL extension if it is not already there. This guide assumes the extension is installed and that you are working from that starting point.

Configuring the Sales and Receivables Setup

Open the Sales & Receivables Setup and go to the OIOUBL tab, which is added by the extension. Here you set up two things.

First, you define a default profile code. If it is not already in the database, you have to define it yourself. The profile code controls how the file you send is formatted as the electronic file. There are different profiles depending on your provider of electronic invoicing.

Second, you define the path where the document is placed on your computer. This is relevant if you have a manual output, where you create the file at a path and then send it through an electronic document provider. This is the folder where the files are placed.

Setting up payment terms for OIOUBL

For every payment term that should use OIOUBL electronic invoicing, you need to define the code on the payment term. You may notice the column has a similar name to the code field. That is a translation issue in the extension that will likely be corrected.

You can choose between specific and contract:

• Specific: The file includes all the parameters for payment terms, due dates and so on, every time. This is what we normally define for our customers.
• Contract: Use this for customers where there is a defined contract for the payment terms. The details are then not embedded in the file.

Filling in the VAT posting setup

The extension adds a new column to the VAT Posting Setup called Tax Category. You need to fill this in with the correct letters for each line.

You find the letters on a public reference site, which lists the codes for all the different categories. In most cases this is just the standard setup. The URL to the reference site is provided at the end of the video.

Entering country and region codes

The extension also adds a Country/Region Code column to the Countries/Regions table. For every country you ship to using electronic invoicing, you need to enter the correct country region code that is part of the electronic invoicing standard. Make sure the values you enter here are correct.

Creating a document sending profile

Before you can start using OIOUBL, you need a document sending profile. We have made an example called OIOUBL, and you can create as many as you need, for instance if you also send by email and want to attach the file.

In the document sending profile you decide whether the document should be sent as PDF, as electronic document, or both. For OIOUBL it should at least be electronic. You then choose the format PEPPOL and select the correct code, using the letters described earlier.

Setting up the customer card

Once the general setup is in place, you configure each customer. Several fields need to be filled in before everything works correctly.

On the General tab, define the document sending profile. Make sure it points to the OIOUBL profile you created rather than a default sales invoice profile.

On the Address tab, make sure there is an address with the correct country/region code, so the right value is fetched from the table. You also need a contact name and an email address for the customer.

On the Invoicing tab, you enter:

• Global Location Number (GLN): This is specific to the customer and provided to you by the customer.
• Account code: Also provided by the customer. This is the identifier used for receiving the electronic files.
• Profile code: This is filled in by default based on the Sales & Receivables Setup when you create the customer. You can override it per customer, so customers using different formats can each have their own profile code.

You can also mark the profile code as required. If a customer has no profile code and it is required, you cannot create an invoice until it is filled in. This is useful as an extra check. For example, if your customer template marks the profile code as required and you forget to enter it when creating a new customer, you will not be able to make invoices for that customer until the code is in place.

Finally, on the customer card, select a payment terms code that matches the setup you made in the payment terms. Unless you applied OIOUBL to all payment terms, you have to choose the one that was set up for OIOUBL.

After the setup is complete

Once all of this is in place, the setup is done and you can use OIOUBL on your sales invoices and sales orders. The reference site with all the specific letters and codes is provided at the end of the video.

Q&A