Here's the whole picture. Every invoice and claim lands in the same Invoice Inbox, where KAI reads it and finds what it belongs to. Then it splits. In the Invoice Register, the record type decides the path: Supplier Invoice follows the purchase order, Subcontractor Claim follows the subcontract. Both end as a bill in Xero.Each step has an owner. The PM or QS sets up the commitment. Accounts look after the inbox. Accounts and the QS work in the register, approvers sign off, and finance pays in Xero.
Commitments first
It all starts with a commitment. An approved purchase order or subcontract counts as Committed against the cost code, so the budget already knows the cost is coming. Without one, KAI has nothing to match an invoice to.
The Invoice Inbox
Documents come in through one shared mailbox for the whole workspace, connected under Email Integration. Or drop a PDF straight in with Upload PDF in the Invoice Register.Each email shows where it is in the chain: KAI Processed, In Register, then its approval status. The inbox is triage. Accounts route anything KAI couldn't place, and clear out the rest.KAI reads the document, finds the project, and matches the commitment with a confidence score. Here it's a subbie claim, matched to its subcontract at ninety nine percent.
The Invoice Register
Matched documents move to the Invoice Register, where the work happens. Confirm the record type first. Supplier Invoice goes against a purchase order. Subcontractor Claim goes against a subcontract.If KAI picked the wrong one, click Change match. Choose the record type, then the right purchase order or subcontract.
Path A: supplier invoice
For a supplier invoice, each line carries its cost code from the purchase order. Check the GST on each line, then click Complete Review.Send for Authorisation runs your invoice approval workflow. Once the final approver signs off, the bill goes to Xero.
Path B: subbie claim
A subbie claim takes the other path. Subbies often send a plain invoice, and that's fine. Deep Space treats it as their claim. When it's matched, it's pushed to schedule.Pushing creates two records at once: the subcontract claim, as Submitted, and a draft payment schedule. The linked bar shows the whole chain, so you can jump to any of them.Each claim line maps to a line on the schedule of values. If the subbie claims a variation you haven't approved yet, it has no line to map to. That's the QS's call: approve the variation, or leave it out of this claim. Fix an amount or untick a line, then Save Claim Changes. The claim and the schedule update together.
Certify and serve
Open the draft schedule. It's already filled in: the claimed amount, retention and net payable, and a link back to the source invoice.Certify each line. Where you pay less than claimed, a reason is required, and it prints on the schedule.Serve the schedule before the statutory due date. Once it's approved, the bill goes to Xero, with the payment due date from your payment terms.
Checks along the way
Deep Space checks every document on the way through. The supplier identity check compares the tax number and bank details with your Company Directory, so a changed bank account doesn't slip through. Possible duplicates are flagged before anything is paid.Admins set how sure KAI must be before it links an invoice by itself, under Admin, Company Settings, Commercial. Anything below the threshold is a suggestion for someone to review.Payment readiness checks a subbie's payment conditions and that the subcontract is approved, before the schedule is approved or pushed to Xero. Choose whether a failed check just reports, warns, or blocks.
Where to look
At month end, switch the Invoice Register to the Xero Sync view. You see every invoice's status and whether it's in Xero. Anything not yet authorised hasn't gone.
Common questions
Inbox or Register: where do I work?
The Invoice Inbox is for triage, usually accounts only. Checking, coding, certifying and approving all happen in the Invoice Register.
The Invoice Inbox is for triage, usually accounts only. Checking, coding, certifying and approving all happen in the Invoice Register.
A subbie sent an invoice, not a claim.
Process it as a Subcontractor Claim. Deep Space creates the claim and the draft payment schedule for you.
Process it as a Subcontractor Claim. Deep Space creates the claim and the draft payment schedule for you.
KAI matched the wrong commitment.
Click Change match in the Invoice Register, choose the record type, and pick the right purchase order or subcontract.
Click Change match in the Invoice Register, choose the record type, and pick the right purchase order or subcontract.
The subbie claimed a variation that isn't on the subcontract.
Approve the subcontract variation first, then map the line. Or leave it out of this claim and tell the subbie why on the schedule.
Approve the subcontract variation first, then map the line. Or leave it out of this claim and tell the subbie why on the schedule.
The bill isn't in Xero.
It only goes once the final approver signs off. Bills arrive in Xero as drafts, so check Purchases, Bills, Draft. If a push failed, use the Push to Xero button on the record.
It only goes once the final approver signs off. Bills arrive in Xero as drafts, so check Purchases, Bills, Draft. If a push failed, use the Push to Xero button on the record.
Where is the payment schedule for this claim?
Open the claim in the Invoice Register and use the linked bar. Or find it in Payment Schedules Issued, under the subcontract.
Open the claim in the Invoice Register and use the linked bar. Or find it in Payment Schedules Issued, under the subcontract.
