Key takeaways
- Sage 300 CRE (formerly Timberline) distributes each invoice to a job, cost code and category, and often an extra, so coding has to happen line by line.
- Vergo reads your job and cost code structure from Sage 300 CRE through ODBC access in your environment, so proposed coding matches codes that exist.
- Coding is proposed by inference from your own invoice history, with the reason shown, and approvals route by GL account, by amount or by project.
- Approved invoices are produced as entries in the import format Sage 300 CRE expects, so your team imports coded batches instead of keying invoices.
- Access is customer-provisioned: your IT team enables ODBC access once, and Vergo does the rest.
Where should you go next?
- Learn more about Vergo AP Invoice Automation
- Vergo's Sage 300 CRE integration
- How do I integrate AP automation with Sage 300 for construction?
How do you automate invoice coding and approvals in Sage 300 CRE, step by step?
- Connect to Sage 300 CRE. Your IT team enables ODBC access in your environment once. Vergo reads the jobs, extras, cost codes and categories you use, so every proposal points at a valid distribution.
- Collect invoices in one place. Suppliers and subcontractors email invoices to your AP inbox, and staff drag and drop scans. Vergo extracts the vendor, invoice number, dates, amounts and line detail, and flags likely duplicates.
- Code each distribution line. Vergo proposes job, extra, cost code and category for every line from how your team has coded similar invoices, and shows why it chose each one.
- Route for approval. Send each invoice to the project manager on the job, add a second approver above a set amount, or skip approval for recurring overhead and rely on policy flags.
- Import into Accounts Payable. Vergo produces the approved, coded invoices as entries in the import format Sage 300 CRE expects. Your AP team imports the batch, and Job Cost picks up the distributions when the invoices post.
What does a Sage 300 CRE invoice distribution need?
Sage 300 CRE ties Accounts Payable to Job Cost through the invoice distribution. For job cost reports and the WIP schedule to be right, each distribution line needs:
- Job, and the extra where your company uses extras for phases, buildings or change orders.
- Cost code from the job's cost code list.
- Category, such as labor, material, subcontract, equipment or other, as your company has set them up.
- Expense account for costs that do not belong to a job.
A subcontractor pay application may reference several cost codes on one job, and a material invoice may cover deliveries to two jobs. When those invoices are keyed as a single distribution, the job cost report is wrong until someone reclassifies the cost. Coding each line before import removes that step.
How should invoice approvals be routed for Sage 300 CRE?
Approvals work best when the person who can confirm the work sees the invoice before it is imported. Vergo routes by GL account, by amount or by project, and approvers review the invoice image, the proposed job and cost code, and the reason for the proposal from a phone. Common rules include:
- Job invoices go to the project manager assigned to that job.
- Invoices above an amount you set add the controller or an operations lead.
- Overhead invoices coded to expense accounts skip approval and rely on policy flags for anything unusual.
What syncs between Vergo and Sage 300 CRE?
Vergo reads the job and cost code structure from Sage 300 CRE through ODBC access in your environment. For invoices, card spend and employee reimbursements, Vergo produces coded entries in the import format Sage 300 CRE expects, and your team imports them. Vergo does not claim to write directly into Sage 300 CRE tables. Sage documents ODBC access to Sage 300 CRE data in its knowledge base. The connection details are on the Sage 300 CRE integration page.
A practical example
A mechanical contractor receives an equipment rental invoice covering a lift used on two jobs. Vergo reads the invoice from the AP inbox, proposes the equipment category and the rental cost code on each job from the way earlier invoices from the same rental company were coded, and routes it to the project manager on the job with the larger share. Once approved, the invoice is included in that day's import batch with two distribution lines, one per job. The AP clerk imports the batch into Sage 300 CRE, and each job's cost report carries its share of the rental.
How Vergo handles this
Vergo is an AI-native, card-agnostic spend platform for AP invoices, card spend and employee reimbursements. All three run through one coding model against your Sage 300 CRE jobs and cost codes, so a cost is coded the same way however it was paid. Coding is proposed from your own history with the reason shown, new vendors are coded on first sight, and approval flows are optional. Payment stays on the rails you already use.
Related questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Vergo post invoices directly into Sage 300 CRE?
No. Vergo reads your job and cost code structure from Sage 300 CRE and produces approved invoices as entries in the import format Sage 300 CRE expects. Your AP team imports the coded batch, which replaces keying each invoice by hand.
Can Vergo code to extras as well as cost codes in Sage 300 CRE?
Vergo reads the job and cost code structure your company uses in Sage 300 CRE and proposes coding against it. Where your jobs use extras, the extra is part of the coding on each line.
How are multi-job invoices handled for Sage 300 CRE?
Each invoice line carries its own job, cost code and category. An invoice that covers two jobs becomes one entry with two distribution lines in the import file, so each job's cost report carries its share.
What does IT need to do to connect Sage 300 CRE to Vergo?
Sage 300 CRE is usually on-premise, and the ODBC access sits in your environment. Your IT team enables it once, and Vergo handles the rest.
Do card spend and reimbursements follow the same process?
Yes. Card transactions and employee reimbursements are coded with the same model against the same Sage 300 CRE jobs and cost codes, and they are produced in the import format Sage 300 CRE expects.
