OpenText VIM Beyond Invoices
Your VIM can do more than invoices. Considerably more.
Sales orders, order confirmations and any custom document type — in the same SAP system, through the same capture layer, into the same archive. From ten projects with the VIM Beyond framework.
20+ projects10+ years in SAP VIMnearly 6 years at OpenText
Document types
Where most companies start
The two processes with the biggest lever are the inbound customer order and the order confirmation — OpenText ships a ready-made solution package for both, and that is the fastest route. Everything else becomes its own document scenario inside the same framework.
01
Sales orders
Capture customer purchase orders from mail and PDF, check them against customer, material and pricing master data and create the sales order in SAP — without re-keying in the sales office.
Read more →
02
Order confirmations
Check price, quantity and date of every confirmation against the purchase order, write the confirmed date back into the PO and send only genuine deviations to purchasing.
Read more →
03
Other inbound documents
Customs documents, proof-of-arrival confirmations, mill and test certificates — and any document type without a standard package, as a custom scenario in the framework.
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The framework
One toolkit, six building blocks, any number of document types.
VIM Beyond Invoices — shipped as OpenText Business Center for SAP Solutions until 2022 — is not a second product next to VIM but the same substructure for other documents. If you run VIM for invoices, half of it is already installed.
01
Capture
Intelligent Capture (IC4S) or Core Capture (CC4S) reads header and line data from PDF, mail attachment and paper. For a new document type we create the recognition application from scratch and align it with your real documents.
02
Business rules
The same mechanics as in invoice processing: rules check every document before a person sees it. Where the standard falls short, a custom rule is added — such as verifying extracted material numbers against SAP.
03
Agent determination & workflow
Who receives the item, who deputises, what happens when a deadline passes? Agent determination and workflow are what turn capture into a process — including parallel approvals where a chain would be too slow.
04
Posting logic
The checked document becomes an SAP document: a confirmation in the purchase order, a goods receipt, an inspection result. The posting logic is extensible — we implemented it anew for SAP QM, a module far outside invoice processing.
05
A front end business users know
Worklist, status and document image in an interface your business users already know from invoice processing. Where it has to fit more closely, a dedicated Fiori app is added — as we did for price, quantity and date deviations.
06
Archiving via ArchiveLink
Every document is archived against the leading object through SAP ArchiveLink — the purchase order, the material document, the batch. The same archive route your invoices already use.
Evidence, not claims
Ten projects beyond the invoice.
VIM Beyond is not a side topic for us: in ten of the projects on our list the work was entirely or largely about document types other than supplier invoices — from installation through custom solution packages to worldwide rollout.
- VIM Beyond and capture installed at several clients
- Solution packages for sales orders, order confirmations and delivery notes
- Two entirely new document scenarios built in the framework
- New posting logic for the SAP QM module
- Custom Fiori app for price, quantity and date discrepancies
- Transition from Business Center Capture (BCC) to IC4S
Why in the same system
The second document type costs a fraction of the first.
The usual route for a new document type is a dedicated tool: a portal here, a workflow product there, a network drive as the archive. That works — until somebody asks where the document belonging to the SAP transaction is.
01
One infrastructure instead of four
Installation, archive connection, capture layer and authorisations already exist. What was a project for the first document type is configuration for the second.
02
The document sits on the SAP object
The confirmation on the purchase order, the delivery note on the material document, the certificate on the batch. Anyone working in SAP finds the document where they are already looking — not in a second system.
03
Your people know the interface
Departments that already operate the invoice intake do not need training from scratch for the next document type. That lowers the effort for implementation and operations — and the number of questions.
Customer voices
What clients say about working with us
Johannes supported us during our migration from SAP R/3 to SAP S/4 HANA, including the upgrade of OpenText Vendor Invoice Management for SAP Solutions (VIM) which we are using to process sales orders. We were facing several uncertainties in the process, as well as issues with SAP Single Sign-On in the validation client.
Thanks to his clear guidance and deep technical expertise, we were able to complete the upgrade successfully and identify the root cause of the SSO issue. Johannes even uncovered a deeply rooted bug in the OpenText Intelligent Capture for SAP Solutions (IC4S) component related to restoring machine learning data, which we were able to get corrected. His ability to explain complex topics clearly and his professional, solution-oriented approach made a big difference for us.
I would absolutely recommend working with him.
Johannes Auer impresses across the board with his overall package as a project manager. His ability to address issues early and proactively, combined with an excellent professional background, builds trust from the very beginning. Particularly noteworthy is his clear, technically sound, and at the same time pleasantly human communication with all stakeholders, which significantly contributes to the project’s success. Even in challenging situations, he remains calm and keeps a clear overview. His structured way of working and his ability to explain even complex matters in a clear and precise manner round off his profile and make working with him not only successful but also highly enjoyable.1
What I particularly value in working with Johannes Auer is his quick grasp of complex topics and his extensive expertise – not only in the SAP VIM environment but also across the broader SAP landscape.
He finds pragmatic solutions, critically questions existing processes, and proactively provides helpful documentation. He delivers changes and adjustments reliably after conducting his own tests – significantly reducing the risk of errors only being discovered by the business users.1
Next step
Let's talk about your VIM project.
No obligation — 30 minutes, directly with the managing director.
Frequently asked questions about VIM Beyond Invoices
What is VIM Beyond Invoices?
An OpenText framework for processing inbound business documents in SAP that are not supplier invoices. Until 2022 it shipped as OpenText Business Center for SAP Solutions — anyone still saying “Business Center” means the same product. It comes with ready-made solution packages for individual document types and allows custom document scenarios alongside them.
Is SAP VIM for invoices a prerequisite?
No. VIM Beyond Invoices can be implemented on its own. If you already run VIM you save the installation, the archive connection and the capture infrastructure — and your business users know the interface. That is why the second document type is typically far cheaper than the first.
Which document types does OpenText ship as a package?
We have worked in projects with the packages for sales orders, order confirmations and delivery notes. Exactly which packages your version contains depends on the release and your licence — we check that against your system before making a statement, rather than quoting a brochure.
What about delivery notes?
There is a solution package for those too, and we have implemented and rolled it out — in the semiconductor industry, including the installation and a custom document scenario alongside it. The topic does not have its own page; we put the two document types forward where we can show the most projects. Get in touch if goods receipt is your bottleneck.
Does it run on SAP S/4HANA?
Yes — under the same conditions as VIM itself: on-premise and private cloud carry the solution, the public cloud does not. If a transformation is coming up, that question belongs before the migration decision, not in the test cycle.
Where do we start?
With a document review: look at real documents, determine the target object in SAP and define what should happen after capture. The result is either a solution package to be configured or a document scenario to be built — and you know which of the two before you commit.
Implementing OpenText VIM Beyond Invoices in SAP
VIM Beyond Invoices extends the processing familiar from invoice intake to other inbound business documents. The sections below place the product in context and describe what we use it for in projects.
From Business Center to VIM Beyond Invoices
OpenText moved the former Business Center for SAP Solutions into the VIM product family; since then it is called VIM Beyond Invoices. For existing installations that mainly means two things: the terminology in documentation and customizing has changed, and capture moved from Business Center Capture (BCC) to Intelligent Capture for SAP Solutions (IC4S). We have supported both transitions in customer projects, each including UAT.
Solution package or custom document scenario?
For the large document types OpenText ships solution packages — the faster and cheaper route, and we recommend it wherever it fits. For everything else the framework offers the same substructure for free use: capture, rules, roles, workflow, posting, archive. How such a scenario comes about is described on the page about other inbound documents.
How the document types relate to each other
More closely than it looks: a re-keyed sales order is the root cause of the complaint that returns as a credit note three weeks later, and an unchecked order confirmation becomes a price block in invoice verification. Anyone wanting to relieve the invoice intake cannot avoid the documents that come before it — more on that on the SAP VIM consulting page.
Capture, AI extraction and data quality
Every document type stands or falls with recognition. Alongside the classic capture applications we also use AI extraction with AIxVIM — particularly where layouts vary strongly or a new document type has no trained profile yet.
Implementation, rollout and operations
We accompany VIM Beyond initiatives from the document review through customizing and development to worldwide rollout and into third-level support afterwards. References are in the project list, hands-on knowledge in the SAP VIM blog. Or talk to us directly: book a 30-minute call.
- 1This testimonial was originally written in German and has been translated into English for international readers.