Understanding Special Line Labels in OpenEnvoy

Overview

When OpenEnvoy processes an invoice, not every line item represents a product or service that can be matched to a purchase order (PO). Invoices frequently include additional charges — taxes, freight, surcharges, and miscellaneous fees — that exist outside the PO matching process. OpenEnvoy identifies these lines automatically and applies special line labels to them so they can be handled correctly during GL coding and ERP sync.

This article explains what each special line label means, how OpenEnvoy decides when to apply it, and how GL coding works for these lines.

What Are Special Line Labels?

Special line labels are tags that OpenEnvoy applies to invoice lines that do not correspond to a PO line item. These labels tell the system three things:

1. This line should be excluded from PO matching — it is not a product or material charge that maps to a PO line.

2. This line needs its own GL account — since there is no PO line to inherit GL coding from, the GL is assigned based on the label type and your account's configured GL mapping.

3. This line may have specific approval or sync rules — for example, freight lines above a certain dollar threshold may require manual approval before syncing.

The four special line labels are:

How Labels Are Applied — Keyword-Driven Detection

OpenEnvoy uses keyword matching against the invoice line description to determine which label to apply. The keywords used for detection are provided by the customer during implementation — your team defines the terms that are relevant to your invoices, and the OpenEnvoy implementation team configures them into the system. When the system reads an invoice line, it checks the description text against these configured keywords for each label type. This matching is case-insensitive — "FREIGHT", "freight", and "Freight" are all treated the same way.

To request additions, removals, or changes to your keyword configuration after go-live, email support@openenvoy.com.

Can Users Apply Labels Manually?

Yes. If OpenEnvoy does not automatically detect a special line — for example, if the invoice description uses unusual wording — users can manually apply any of the four labels to a line from the job page. This is useful for one-off cases or descriptions in languages not yet covered by the keyword configuration.

Label Details

FreightExpense

What it means: This line represents a freight, shipping, or delivery charge that is not part of any PO line item.

Common trigger keywords: freight, shipping, delivery, delivery fee, handling, fuel charge, fuel surcharge, transport, trans charge, packaging and shipping.

GL coding: FreightExpense lines are coded to a freight-specific GL account configured for your account. This GL is separate from the GL on PO-matched item lines. For example, if your freight GL is configured as 100300, all lines tagged FreightExpense will receive that GL code.

Example invoice descriptions that trigger this label:

• "FREIGHT"

• "Delivery Fee"

• "Fuel Surcharge"

• "Transportation Charge"

• "Shipping"

BasicExpense (BasicExpenseLine)

What it means: This line is a general non-PO expense that does not require baseline matching. It is the broadest category and is used as a catch-all for lines that clearly do not belong to any PO.

How it is detected:

BasicExpense uses two detection mechanisms:

1. Negative-amount auto-tagging (pre-match): Lines with negative amounts — such as credits, returns, discounts, and rounding adjustments — are automatically tagged as BasicExpense before matching runs. This is because negative-amount lines almost never correspond to a PO line.

2. Keyword matching (post-match): After matching completes, unmatched lines whose descriptions contain configured keywords are tagged as BasicExpense. These keywords are provided by the customer during implementation and configured per company. They can include terms like discount, rounding, surcharge, advance payment, down payment, and similar terms relevant to your invoices.

Common trigger keywords: discount, rounding, surcharge, energy charge, advance payment, down payment, credit, return, and other company-specific terms provided by the customer during implementation.

GL coding: BasicExpense lines receive a GL account based on your account's configured mapping for non-PO expenses.

Example invoice descriptions that trigger this label:

• "Discount" (negative amount)

• "Item Discounts"

• "Advance Payment PO 26XXXX" (negative amount)

• "TARIFF SURCHARGE - 13.54%"

• "Energiekostenzuschlag " (German: energy surcharge)

• "Arrondi" (French: rounding)

MiscExpense

What it means: This line represents a miscellaneous charge — a non-standard fee that is neither freight, tax, nor a regular PO line.

Common trigger keywords: tariff fee, hazmat charge, service charge (SVC CHG), other fees, haz overpack fee, recycling deposit, and other company-specific terms provided by the customer during implementation.

GL coding: MiscExpense lines are coded to a miscellaneous expense GL account configured for your account. For some accounts, this may map to a tariff or surcharge-specific GL (for example, 100335 for tariff charges).

Approval routing: Some accounts are configured with dollar thresholds for MiscExpense lines. For example, miscellaneous charges above $200 may be routed for manual approval before syncing to the ERP.

Example invoice descriptions that trigger this label:

• "Other/Tariff Fee"

• "Haz overpack fee"

• "Misc Charges Under Min Charge"

• "Other fees"

• "Refundable Recycling Deposit"

TaxLine

What it means: This line represents a tax charge — sales tax, VAT, GST, HST, QST, or similar.

Common trigger keywords: tax, sales tax, VAT, GST, HST, QST, Mwst (German: Mehrwertsteuer / value-added tax), TVA (French: taxe sur la valeur ajoutée).

GL coding: TaxLine items are coded to a tax-specific GL account. For accounts operating in multiple regions, tax lines may be further classified into sub-groups for different GL treatment. For example, Canadian invoices may distinguish between GST/HST lines (coded to one GL) and QST lines (coded to a different GL) based on keyword detection within the tax line description.

Important note on TaxLine detection: TaxLine labels are applied only to unmatched lines. If a line description contains a tax-related keyword but the line has already been successfully matched to a PO line, the TaxLine label is not applied. This prevents PO-matched items from being incorrectly reclassified as tax charges.

Example invoice descriptions that trigger this label:

• "GST"

• "HST"

• "QST"

• "Mwst."

• "Sales Tax"

• "VAT "

How GL Coding Works for Special Lines

For regular PO-matched invoice lines, the GL code is inherited directly from the matched PO line in your ERP. Special lines work differently because there is no PO line to inherit from.

Instead, special lines are coded using a separately configured GL mapping specific to your account and entity. During onboarding, your implementation team sets up GL accounts for each special line type. The configuration includes:

• The GL account number for each line type (e.g., freight → 100300, tariff → 100350, tax → 701000)

• Additional GL string segments such as cost center and unit codes, which are also configured per entity

These GL assignments are applied automatically when a special line label is detected. If you need to change the GL mapping for any special line type, email support@openenvoy.com.

For more detail on how GL coding works across all line types, see: How GL Coding Works in OpenEnvoy

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Why was a line incorrectly tagged as a TaxLine (or FreightExpense)? This can happen if the line description contains a keyword that matches the label's detection rules but the line is actually a PO item. The recommended configuration is to run label detection after PO matching, so that already-matched lines are excluded. If you are seeing incorrect tags on matched lines, email support@openenvoy.com so we can verify your configuration.

Q: Can I see which keywords are configured for my account? The keywords configured for your account were provided by your team during implementation. If you would like to review the current keyword list, or request additions or removals, email support@openenvoy.com.

Q: A line was not tagged but it should have been. What should I do? You can manually apply the correct label from the job page. If the same type of line appears frequently, email support@openenvoy.com with the keyword you'd like added — we can update your company configuration so future invoices are tagged automatically.

Q: How do I know which GL account is assigned to each special line type? Your GL mapping for special lines was configured during onboarding. If you need to review or update it, email support@openenvoy.com. The current mapping can also be confirmed by checking a recently processed invoice that contains each line type.

Q: What happens if a special line also exists on the PO? If a freight or tax line exists on the PO and OpenEnvoy successfully matches it to the PO line, the special line label is not applied. The line is treated as a regular matched line and inherits its GL from the PO. The special line label only applies to charges that are not on the PO.

Last updated: May 2026