Dynamics AX 2012

Because Dynamics AX is approaching its end of life, new features are no longer developed for this integration. Only critical fixes are provided.

AP Essentials Connect and its corresponding documentation is no longer maintained for Dynamics AX 2012. For Dynamics AX 2012, use the embedded target system service instead.

Kofax AP Essentials is an automated document-processing system that utilizes remote cloud computing. This means you no longer have to maintain large, expensive server systems and complex software installations in order to process documents. Instead we handle all of that for you, and all you need is a web browser to access a state-of-the-art document-processing system on the cloud.

Kofax AP Essentials accepts documents in various formats—such as paper, image files, email—and automatically interprets and validates them. All you have to do is log in using a web browser to upload invoices and check interpreted data for correctness using an intuitive, state-of-the-art interface. Likewise, administrative tasks can be easily performed in a web browser.

Cloud Interaction Diagram

After an invoice is processed, Kofax AP Essentials automatically sends the output (document data and images) to a target system. The target system can be one of many popular financial systems, accounting programs, ERP systems, or even a file system. The possibilities are endless.

Kofax AP Essentials can do more than send output to a target system; it can also perform seamless, two-way communication with the target system, providing additional features and interaction. We call this an integration. Integrations are flexible, easy to configure, and come complete with all the features you need in order to connect Kofax AP Essentials with your target system. This saves you time and money, since there is no need for extensive customization.

An integration usually consists of three components:

  • Kofax AP Essentials.
  • A target system, such as Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.
  • Kofax AP Essentials Connect, a lightweight program that you install locally to enable communication between the systems and synchronize master data. Kofax AP Essentials Connect also provides an alternative method to upload documents to Kofax AP Essentials.

Integration features

The Dynamics AX integration enables cooperation between Kofax AP Essentials and Microsoft Dynamics AX. It leverages more power and adds value to your current accounts-payable system by extracting data from supplier invoices without any tedious projects or expensive hardware investments.

The Dynamics AX 2012 integrations support these features.

  • Invoice registration – Purchase order (PO) and non-PO invoices are supported. Invoices are registered as vouchers within a journal in Dynamics AX. A journal can contain multiple vouchers, but the integration only registers one voucher per journal.

  • Invoice posting – Invoice posting requires correct coding. If posting is not possible, a Kofax AP Essentials user must correct the coding for an invoice before reposting. An alternative to managing corrections is to place invoice vouchers on hold and process those vouchers in Dynamics AX.

  • Purchase order validation – Kofax AP Essentials automatically checks to make sure that the PO number on the invoice is valid for the current company and supplier.

  • Credit note registration – Kofax AP Essentials can identify credit notes via a field on the invoice that is set during verification. Negative amounts can also be used do specify a credit note.

  • Sales-tax handling – Tax codes for sales tax group and item sales tax group are supported.

  • Organization mapping – Dynamics AX companies and legal entities are easily mapped to customers within Kofax AP Essentials.

  • Master-data synchronization – The integration synchronizes master between Dynamics AX and Kofax AP Essentials. For example, Dynamics AX dimensions are imported, so they are available for selection when performing account coding. Kofax AP Essentials also imports currency and exchange-rate master data from Dynamics AX.

    To reduce network traffic, Kofax AP Essentials synchronizes master data selectively, and only downloads master data that is needed. For example, if the Extraction service does not specify an approver field, approver master data is not synchronized.

    Kofax AP Essentials also automatically synchronizes master data of companies that use master data from virtual companies in Dynamics AX. For virtual companies, master data is supported for suppliers, GL accounts and coding dimensions.

  • Account coding – Ledger coding can be performed.

  • Multiple account types – When posting is being made, each coding line has an account type, such as ledger, project, fixed asset, bank, customer and vendor. Users doing coding need to know which account type to use. While in most cases the type ledger is “good enough”, we can foresee situations where more types should be supported.

  • Document parking – You can enter and store (park) incomplete documents in the target system. Parking does not update accounts in the target system; it merely stores the document, and the document remains open for editing until it is posted.

  • Invoice journal registration – Invoice journal registration is supported for non-PO invoices that are used with Workflow services.

  • Multiple purchase orders – The Dynamics AX 2012 integration supports invoices with multiple purchase-order numbers.

  • Three-way item matching – The Dynamics AX 2012 integration supports three-way item matching, if line-item rows are flagged for three-way item matching.

AP Essentials Connect is not required to configure the Dynamics AX 2012 integration settings. You configure the Dynamics AX 2012 integration by configuring settings in the embedded target system service.