AP Portal Automation
The Collections Agent can submit invoices directly into a customer’s AP portal and track what happens to them. Some customers only accept invoices that way, and for those customers the agent handles submission alongside the collections work it already does over email.
How it works
- Add a portal to each customer that requires one.
- Invite Tabs to each portal as a user.
- The Collections Agent submits invoices for the customers that have a portal requirement.
- The agent tracks each submission and updates its status as the portal moves it along.
- If a submission is rejected, the reason appears as a note on the AP portal automation page.
Onboarding
- Send your CSM the list of customers that require a portal and which portal each one uses.
- Tabs creates a group address for you, in the form
billing-yourcompany@tabs.com. - Invite that address as a user on every portal your customers use.
- Tabs logs in and confirms it can see every customer you listed.
- Tabs adds the required portal to each customer in the app.
Step 5 is what makes submission possible for that customer. An invoice for a customer with no portal set is never submitted.
Where you see it
Invoicing → AP portal automation lists every submission: invoice number, customer, portal, amount submitted, submission date, status, and the AP portal note. Filter by customer, portal, status, or submission date. Search by invoice number or customer name.
The invoice page shows an AP Portal section on invoices whose customer has a portal set. It carries the portal, the current status, when Tabs last checked, and a link to the submission.
Customer → Business Information shows the portal that customer submits through. One portal per customer.
Statuses
Every status change is written to the appropriate activity logs.
Rejections
A rejected or disputed invoice moves to Needs Attention with the reason in the note — a PO mismatch, a missing field, a buyer question.
The Collections Agent does not currently remediate rejections or negotiate with your buyer. Someone on your team needs to correct the underlying issue, such as fixing a PO mismatch or filling in a missing field. Tabs resubmits automatically once it is corrected.
New customers
On a portal Tabs already has access to: set the portal on the customer. Nothing else is required.
On a portal Tabs has never used: invite billing-yourcompany@tabs.com to that portal, tell your CSM, and Tabs verifies access before the first submission. Do this as soon as a buyer names a portal rather than waiting for the first rejection.
FAQ
Which portals are supported? Over 600, including Coupa, SAP Ariba, Tungsten, Taulia, Oracle, Zip, Ivalua, Jaggaer, Basware, Tradeshift, and Bill.com. To authenticate Tabs into a portal it is not already on, invite Tabs as a user with full permissions. The portal is then selectable on the customer.
Can one customer submit through two portals? No. One portal per customer.
Does this change how invoices are sent? No. Invoices are generated and emailed exactly as they are today. Submission happens in addition.
Does portal status change the invoice status in Tabs? No. An invoice marked paid in a portal is still open in Tabs until the payment lands and cash application matches it.
Where does a person need to step in? Three places. During onboarding, you invite the Tabs group address to each portal and tell your CSM which customers use which portal. On a rejection, someone on your team corrects the underlying issue and Tabs resubmits. On a submission that stalls everywhere, the Tabs service team finishes it by hand. Everything between those points is the agent.
What if the portal requires MFA or SSO? Raise it during onboarding. The Collections Agent can manage these sign-on methods, but they require additional setup.
What happens if the agent cannot complete a submission? Submission runs through the portal’s API wherever Tabs has an integration — Coupa and SAP Ariba today. A portal without an API is worked through its interface, the same way a person would, and the agent saves the path it took so later submissions repeat it directly. When a submission stalls on every automated path, the Tabs service team picks it up and completes it by hand. Every escalation is turned into a fix in how the agent handles that portal, so the same stall does not repeat.
Can I submit an invoice myself? Yes, nothing stops you from working in the portal directly.