Invoice per shipment
The electronic invoice is created for an acknowledged shipment, from the shipment's data.
INVOICSupplier Finance · Invoicing
Invoice Processing
Supplier invoice processing from invoice creation and submission to posting in the ERP and accounts payable.
Suppliers can work with invoice information through ESS Hub while relevant processing and payment information can be returned from the connected backend systems for supplier visibility.
This allows the supplier-facing process to remain connected from purchasing and delivery through invoicing and payment status.
Business process
From purchase to invoice
The wider business process: the requirement becomes a delivery, the delivery an invoice, and the invoice's status comes back from the customer's finance process. In ESS Hub the invoice is created from the acknowledged shipment; whether every document is linked end to end in a given implementation depends on the enabled modules and integration scope.
01Purchase order / requirementCall-offs against the scheduling agreement
02Delivery / ASNShipment dispatched and acknowledged
03Supplier invoiceElectronic invoice for the shipment
04ESS HubCreated and transmitted from the portal
05ERP / finance processProcessing and posting on the customer side
06Invoice statusReceived → matched → posted → paid
07Payment statusExpected and paid
Wider business process · each step is its own recordESS Hub in navy
Capabilities
Supplier invoicing in ESS Hub
The invoice functionality in ESS Hub today, as the supplier sees it. Attachments, free-text line entry and separate currency or tax configuration screens are not part of the current product.
Send and copy
Send the electronic invoice; a PDF copy of the electronic original is available afterwards; the EDI message can be viewed from the document.
Send · PDF copy · view EDIInvoice overview
My Invoices: invoice number, purchase order, delivery note, amount, received date, status, payment terms, expected payment.
ListInvoice details
Net amount, VAT, paid-on date; the remittance advice for download when paid.
DetailsStatus
Supplier side: not invoiced or EDI sent; customer side: Received, In matching, Matched, Posted, Parked, Paid, Rejected.
Two status levelsSupport
A support ticket can be opened from the invoice.
TicketProcess
Invoice creation
Suppliers do not type invoices in ESS Hub and do not upload them: the invoice is created from the shipment. The Invoicing area lists the supplier's shipments; once the customer has acknowledged a shipment's despatch advice, the supplier sends the electronic invoice for it — the amounts (net, VAT, total) follow from the shipped lines — and the invoice is transmitted to the customer's ERP through the integration. A shipment that is not yet acknowledged is shown as not yet invoiceable. In the standard ESS Hub process the electronic invoice follows the VDA 4938 Global INVOIC recommendation.
01SupplierInvoicing area of the workspace
02Acknowledged shipmentInvoicing follows the acknowledged despatch advice
03Send electronic invoiceINVOIC generated from the shipment data
04TransmittedTo the customer's ERP through the integration
05PDF copyCopy of the electronic original, afterwards
Invoice created from the shipment, not typed inESS Hub in navy
Context
Connecting invoice information with procurement and logistics
Invoicing does not exist as an isolated supplier interaction. In ESS Hub the invoice is created from the shipment, the shipment from confirmed call-offs; the supplier's invoice list shows the purchase order and the delivery note each invoice refers to, and the supplier, plant and parts are those of the shipment. Matching of invoice, order and receipt is not performed in ESS Hub — it belongs to the customer's accounts-payable process. Procurement in ESS Hub · Logistics in ESS Hub · ASN & DESADV · Scheduling agreements
01Purchase orderScheduling agreement and call-offs
02Shipment / ASNCreated from confirmed call-offs
03Receipt / delivery processDespatch advice acknowledged by the customer
04InvoiceCreated from the acknowledged shipment
Document relationships as they exist in ESS Hub
Integration
ERP and Accounts Payable integration
ESS Hub can act as the supplier-facing layer while the customer's ERP and Accounts Payable processes remain responsible for the underlying financial processing. The exact data exchange depends on the implemented ERP and integration architecture; no specific SAP finance interface, IDoc, BAPI or table is implied. SAP Integration · ESS Hub technical architecture
Invoice to the customer
01SupplierSends the electronic invoice
02ESS HubSupplier-facing layer
03Integration layerPer implementation
04SAP / ERPFinance / accounts payable
Status back to the supplier
01Finance / accounts payableReceived, matched, posted, paid
02Status informationInvoice and payment status
03Integration layerPer implementation
04ESS HubMy Invoices · Payments
05Supplier
Structured invoice out · status backESS Hub in navy
Status
Invoice status
ESS Hub distinguishes two levels of status. The supplier submission status on the shipment: not invoiced, or EDI sent with the invoice number. The backend processing status in My Invoices, as provided by the connected finance process: Received, In matching, Matched, Posted, Parked, Paid and Rejected, with a progress view of the stages Received → Matched → Posted → Paid. The first tells the supplier what it has sent; the second what the customer's process has done with it.
Settlement
Payment status
ESS Hub also provides supplier-facing payment-status visibility based on the information made available through the connected customer finance or ERP process: the expected payment date per invoice, upcoming payments and the paid history, the paid date and, where provided, the remittance advice.
Exceptions
Invoice exceptions
What the supplier sees in ESS Hub when an invoice does not go through: the status Parked or Rejected on the invoice, and the count of blocked invoices on the overview. The reason behind a parked or rejected invoice is handled in the customer's accounts-payable process and is not shown as a separate field in ESS Hub today. A supplier can open a support ticket directly from the invoice. Correcting and resubmitting an invoice inside ESS Hub is not a workflow function of the current product; the PDF copy can only be produced after the electronic original has been transmitted.
Data
Structured invoice data
Structured invoice information is what makes status visibility possible: the invoice refers to the purchase order and the delivery note, its items are the shipped lines, and its amounts are net, VAT and total. The data structure follows the shipment the invoice was created from; EDI message specifications are not reproduced here.
01Invoice headerInvoice number, date, supplier, customer
02Invoice itemsThe shipped lines of the acknowledged shipment
03Purchase / delivery referencesPurchase order · delivery note · shipment
04Financial informationNet amount, VAT, total, payment terms
Data structure as available in ESS Hub
Channels
EDI and portal invoicing
ESS Hub can extend structured invoice collaboration to portal suppliers while existing EDI-capable suppliers continue using established B2B channels. Both channels deliver a structured electronic invoice into the same accounts-payable process. EDI & B2B Integration · Automotive WebEDI
EDI supplier
01EDI supplierOwn EDI system
02Structured invoice / EDISupplier's own INVOIC
03Integration layerCustomer's B2B landscape
04SAP / ERP
Portal supplier
01Portal supplierWeb portal
02ESS HubInvoice created from the shipment
03Structured invoice informationINVOIC generated and transmitted
04Integration layerCustomer's B2B landscape
05SAP / ERP
Two supplier channels, one AP processESS Hub in navy
Automotive
Automotive supplier finance
In an automotive supplier relationship the invoice is the last document of a chain that starts with the call-off. Supplier collaboration spans both logistics and finance: the supplier that confirms call-offs and creates ASNs in ESS Hub also creates its invoices there and sees what happened to them, instead of asking accounts payable by e-mail.
01DemandCall-offs against the scheduling agreement
02DeliveryShipment prepared and dispatched
03ASNDespatch advice acknowledged
04InvoiceCreated from the acknowledged shipment
05PaymentStatus visible to the supplier
One supplier process from demand to paymentESS Hub in navy
Role
What ESS Hub is — and is not — doing
ESS Hub provides the supplier-facing collaboration and visibility layer for invoicing. The customer's ERP and finance systems can remain responsible for accounting, posting and payment execution.
ESS Hub should not be interpreted as replacing the customer's ERP or Accounts Payable system.
ESS Hub invoice functionality is separate from other ESS products that may provide additional invoice automation capabilities; this page describes ESS Hub only.
Boundaries
Invoice automation boundaries
For clarity about what ESS Hub does not do with invoices:
- no OCR, PDF recognition or e-mail invoice ingestion — ESS Hub creates structured invoices from shipment data
- no AI field extraction or AI validation
- no automatic three-way matching, automatic posting or autonomous approval — these belong to the customer's accounts-payable process
- no fraud detection
- no payment execution
ESS Hub's contribution is the structured electronic invoice created from the shipment and the supplier-facing visibility of its status.
Record
Traceability
A structured invoice process leaves a record that fragmented e-mail communication does not: the shipment the invoice was created from, the invoice number, the date it was received, the status it reached and when it was paid; the EDI message behind the invoice can be opened from the document. Platform-wide, enterprise administrators have an audit trail of actions in the portal, and business records carry their status and dates instead of being reconstructed from mailboxes. Infrastructure-level logging and compliance topics are covered in the vendor assessment. No accounting or financial-compliance statement is made here.
Product evidence
Supplier invoicing in ESS Hub
Positioning
One supplier process from order to payment
ESS Hub brings these supplier-facing interactions into the same collaboration environment while the customer's enterprise systems continue to manage the underlying business processes.
01Purchase orderScheduling agreement
02Schedule / requirementCall-offs confirmed
03ASN / deliveryShipment dispatched and acknowledged
04InvoiceCreated from the shipment
05Invoice processingIn the customer's accounts-payable process
06Payment statusVisible to the supplier in ESS Hub
Supplier-facing steps in navy · backend steps in white
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Does ESS Hub support supplier invoicing?
Yes. In ESS Hub the supplier creates the electronic invoice for an acknowledged shipment from the shipment itself, the invoice is transmitted to the customer's ERP through the integration, and the supplier follows its status in My Invoices.
Can suppliers create invoices in ESS Hub?
Yes — from the shipment, not typed in. Once the customer has acknowledged the shipment's despatch advice, the supplier sends the electronic invoice (INVOIC) for that shipment; a PDF copy is available after the electronic original has been transmitted.
Can invoices be connected to purchase orders?
Yes. The invoice is created from the shipment, which is itself created from confirmed call-offs; the supplier's invoice list shows the purchase order and the delivery note each invoice refers to. Automatic matching is not performed in ESS Hub — it belongs to the customer's accounts-payable process.
Can invoice information be integrated with SAP?
Yes, through the implemented integration architecture: the electronic invoice generated in ESS Hub is transmitted to the customer's ERP, and invoice and payment status come back the same way. The specific SAP finance interface is defined per implementation; no particular interface, IDoc or table is implied on this page.
Does ESS Hub replace Accounts Payable?
No. Invoice processing, posting and payment remain in the customer's ERP and accounts-payable process; ESS Hub is the supplier-facing collaboration and visibility layer.
Can suppliers see invoice status?
Yes. The invoice list shows the status provided by the connected process — Received, In matching, Matched, Posted, Parked, Paid, Rejected — with a progress view Received → Matched → Posted → Paid.
Can suppliers see payment status?
Yes. Suppliers see the expected payment date per invoice, upcoming payments and the paid history, the paid date and, where provided, the remittance advice.
Can suppliers see why an invoice was rejected or blocked?
Suppliers see the status Parked or Rejected and the count of blocked invoices. The reason is handled in the customer's accounts-payable process and is not a separate field in ESS Hub today; a supplier can open a support ticket from the invoice. Correcting and resubmitting an invoice inside ESS Hub is not a workflow function of the current product.
Can EDI suppliers continue submitting invoices through EDI?
Yes. EDI-capable suppliers keep sending their electronic invoices through the customer's existing B2B integration; ESS Hub adds the portal path for suppliers without EDI, and both end in the same accounts-payable process.
Does ESS Hub perform OCR or AI invoice extraction?
No. ESS Hub creates structured electronic invoices from shipment data and shows their status; OCR, AI extraction, PDF ingestion and automated matching are not ESS Hub functions. Document intelligence and AP automation are the domain of a separate ESS product.
Is ESS Hub invoice processing connected with logistics and procurement?
Yes. The invoice is created from the acknowledged shipment, which refers to the confirmed call-offs and the purchase order; invoicing is one step of the same supplier process from order to payment.