In KSeF, cost invoices do not “land in your inbox”. They show up where they should have been from the start — under your tax ID. If you are still catching them by hand like confetti after a party, it is time to change the choreography. Below is a plan that turns “where the hell is that invoice?!” into a calm, boringly beautiful “it’s there, described, booked, and paid”.
Entering the game: where cost invoices actually land
One place. One source of truth. Define a central intake point for costs: your KSeF “inbox” assigned to your tax ID as the default source. Everything else — emails, scans, paper — is fallback, not the standard.
Three decisions you need to make at the start
(skip them, and chaos is back on the menu)
– Who looks first? Assign an Intake Coordinator — one person who checks new KSeF invoices every day and moves them into the “To be described” queue.
– Who gives them meaning? Assign a Verifier for each department or project (procurement, marketing, IT) who confirms whether the invoice matches the contract or purchase order and adds the initial description.
– Who has the “GO / STOP” button? The Approver makes the decision based on value limits. After approval, the Payments Specialist creates the payment batch and checks the white list.
Responsibility matrix for cost invoices
(simple, clear, no corporate poetry)
– Receives: Intake Coordinator
Checks basic completeness and routes the document for description.
– Executes: Verifier
Adds the substantive description: expense type, VAT rate, cost centre / project.
– Approves: Approver
Approves the invoice for payment within the assigned limit.
– Pays: Payments Specialist
Creates payment batches and verifies bank accounts against the white list.
– Consults: Budget or Project Owner
Gets involved when something does not match the assumptions.
– Informs: Accounting
Gets the status update: “ready to be posted”.
Deadlines
(because without deadlines, everything turns into fog)
– 24 hours for description
– 24–48 hours for approval
– Payments according to policy, for example in batches twice a week
No more “it’s sitting there because nobody clicked”.
Rules that save money and nerves
The four-eyes rule. Always.
The person describing the invoice does not approve it. The person approving it does not execute the payment. A simple filter for mistakes and “mistakes”.
Limits and exceptions with some actual logic
Up to a certain amount, approval sits with the area manager. Above that, it goes to the CFO or management board. Exceptions, such as emergency purchases, must be documented in writing and automatically routed to the higher approval level.
Proof before invoice
No purchase order, no contract, no confirmation of receipt? Then the invoice goes into a waiting room. First confirmation, then payment.
Supplier and bank account verification
New supplier? Mark it with a “new” flag and check the company details and tax ID. Every payment? Verify the bank account against the white list — ideally in bulk, in one action.
Full audit trail
Who described it, who changed the cost centre, who approved it, why it was rejected. Today that is a standard. Tomorrow it is your peace-of-mind insurance policy.
From KSeF to the books: a workflow that runs properly
Receipt and completeness
How it often works today: a PDF arrives by email to whoever happens to get it, someone “forwards it”, someone else “forgets”, and accounting ends up collecting breadcrumbs.
How it should work: a cost invoice assigned to your tax ID automatically lands in the “To be described” queue. The system automatically reads the invoice data and fills the relevant fields, matches it to the supplier, suggests the cost centre or project, and shows you the status in real time.
Cost description and classification
(without turning it into a philosophy seminar)
Add the tags and context you actually use: project / cost centre, cost category, cost centre owner, and required attachments such as the purchase order or acceptance protocol. Keep the category list short — 10 to 15 categories is enough. A 200-item list is basically a written invitation to errors.
Suggestion rules, such as “Meta Ads → Marketing / Online”, help the system gradually learn how your company works.
Approval and payments
(calm instead of chaos)
Once the description is ready, the document moves through the approval path according to the relevant limits. After the required number of “GO” decisions, it lands in the payment batch for the next payment window.
Before exporting to the bank, run a quick bulk check of the bank accounts against the white list and verify due dates, so you do not lose early-payment discounts or grow interest for no good reason.
Posting to the ledger and the KSeF number
How it often works today: manual retyping, corrections made later, and searching for “the correct version”.
How it should work: in the ledger, you see the KSeF identification number as the main reference point, while technical updates do not mess with tax settlement. The data stays consistent across the whole workflow.
How this works in practice in Altera
Cost invoice receipt from KSeF in one view, automatic description suggestions, approval paths with value limits, payment batches with white list verification, and a complete audit trail. You make the decisions — we make sure nothing falls off the track.
Summary
A cost invoice should move through the business quickly and quietly: received → described → approved → paid → posted.
KSeF gives you a very solid track for that. A well-designed process makes sure you stop chasing PDFs and start managing data instead.
Want cost invoices to move through that route almost on their own while you get your peace back? Let’s build it in Altera. We will show you the workflow live and shape it around your rules.
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