Best Practices for Suppliers

Please share these guidelines with your suppliers as part of your supplier onboarding materials. You can share the URL, or you can download this article as a PDF at any time using your browser’s print feature.

• Sending invoices
• Key details to include
• Invoice format and layout

Sending invoices

Email invoices directly to a designated Ascend inbox and include a subject line.

• • Ascend can identify suppliers based on the sender’s email address(es), which streamlines invoice processing and expedites payment.

  • If invoices are sent as forwarded attachments, Ascend can’t create or take advantage of sender-supplier relationships.

  • Asian language invoices are sent to a separate email inbox, so make sure you’re sending them to the right inbox.

Original PDF files with selectable text are preferred, but PNG, JPG/JPEG, and TIF/TIFF files are also acceptable. View all file requirements and recommendations.

General Best Practices

These are the general best practices that suppliers should consider when creating invoices. Documents that follow these guidelines are more likely to be automatically entered through Touchless Processing:

• Supplier name and address should show as text separate from the logo. 
  
  
  Learn how logos and images can help improve recognition.

• The Remit To name and address are in clear text on the invoice.

• Clearly label all invoice & PO fields: Invoice Number, PO Number, Invoice Date, VAT/Tax Total, Invoice Total, Freight/Shipping Amount, and/or Total Amount Due.

• Use a colon after a field label (i.e., “Invoice Number:” or “PO:”).

• Limit the space between a field label and its value.

• Include details such as Bank Account, IBAN/ABN, VAT number/Tax ID, and Workday Supplier ID (the supplier’s unique identifier in your Workday instance).

• Use unique terms for key fields. For example, “Total Amount Due” should only appear once on the invoice.

• Avoid phrases like “Total excluding tax” or “tax included.” List “Total Tax” separately and avoid using the word “tax” in multiple places.

• List the total amount due in the bottom right-hand corner
  
  

Invoice Format and Layout

Invoices must follow Ascend's invoice file requirements and recommendations. They should also:

• Use the date format MM/DD/YYYY or DD/MM/YYYY, always separated by “/”.
• Use simple sans-serif fonts.
• Use black text on a white background.
• Values should be on the same line as their label. “Invoice Number: 123456” instead of “Invoice Number: [line break] 123456”
• Ideally, place Invoice Total in the bottom-right corner or top-right corner. For multi-page invoices, have the Invoice total on the first page, top-right corner.

• Make sure there is enough space between values and other lines, field labels, or borders.

• Avoid underlining values.

• Avoid placing text between a field label and its value.

   

• Include a space between a currency symbol and an amount, or place the currency abbreviation after the amount – for example, £ 150.00 or 150.00 GBP.
• Include key line-item fields such as Item number (if applicable), Quantity, Description, Unit Price, and Extended Price, with one line for each item.