B2Brouter directory

B2Brouter has a directory of organizations (national and international public institutions and private companies) to offer a more automatic and faster search functionality. It is often difficult to find the details of a contact to whom we want to send an invoice: Which department should I send it to? Which code DIR3, DIRE, Peppol Id, etc. should I add? How do I find the correct code for the organizational unit (head office, department, delegation…)?

The B2Brouter directory consists of a large database that automatically provides you with all the necessary data for the invoice to be sent correctly. This procedure is executed when you select a contact verified by the directory and can vary depending on the contact (Spanish or European public administration or private company), since each one has specific requirements.

Thanks to the directory you will no longer have to worry about asking for specific addresses or codes, as they are permanently available and updated in B2Brouter.

Here are the steps to follow to create an invoice using the data in our directory:

1. Create a new contact

From the Contacts section, create a new customer or supplier. Once you have added the contact’s VAT number, the system looks the company up in the directory. If it finds it, it links the contact to the directory entry, copies the name, address, routing codes and invoice sending method onto it, and shows the notice “(company name) is a verified company”. Finally, all that remains is to save the changes to finish creating the contact.

The fields the directory has filled in are locked. This is not an error, and it does not mean the contact already exists in your account: it means the directory publishes this company.

The directory may show a company name that differs from the current one, for example if the company has been renamed. This does not stop you from invoicing: save the contact as it comes and, if needed, change the name afterwards from the contact record, as explained in Edit the data of a verified contact.

The contact is saved under the name held in the directory. If you later cannot find it in the contacts list by the name you typed, search for it by its VAT number.

2. Create the invoice, select the contact and add the routing codes

Create a new invoice and select the customer. If it is a contact that is in the B2Brouter directory and has associated data, the option Organizational unit is activated from where you can select the headquarters, department, delegation and related codes (DIR3, DIRE, etc.).

If the contact has only one combination of codes, these are added automatically without you having to select any option in Organizational Unit.

Finally, you can proceed to create the invoice.

What it means for a contact to be verified

A contact linked to the directory is verified as long as its data matches the directory entry. You can recognise it by the Verified company badge in the contacts list and in the header of the contact record.

On a verified contact, the directory controls this data:

• the tax identifiers (VAT number and equivalents);
• the company name and address;
• the routing codes (DIR3, DIRE, Peppol identifier…);
• the invoice sending method and the format.

That is why, on the contact record, the Fiscal data and Invoice sending method blocks are shown in read-only mode. The fields are locked (for example, the DIR3 code boxes do not accept the cursor) and, if the directory holds no value for a field, that field is simply not shown. Next to them you will see the card “(company name) is a verified company”. This is normal behaviour: it is not a fault, nor a permission you lack.

The advantage is that when the directory updates a piece of data (a new code, a change of sending method), your contact receives it automatically. The rest of the contact’s data (e-mail, language, currency, payment details…) is yours and you can always edit it.

Edit the data of a verified contact

You can change the data the directory locks. On the already saved contact record:

1. For the fiscal data, open the Fiscal data block and use the Edit fiscal data link at the bottom of the block. For the sending method, open the Invoice sending method block and use Edit sending method.
2. The fields are unlocked. Enter the data your customer gave you and save.

These links are not on the creation form. If the directory shows data you want to change, first save the contact as it comes and then edit it.

When you customise the data of a verified contact:

• You lose nothing. The routing codes and the rest of the data stay as they were until you change them.
• The contact stops receiving automatic updates from the directory. The record reminds you with the notice “By customising the details of this verified business, you have disabled automatic updates to our directory”.
• The change is reversible with Reset directory data, as explained below.

The contact’s country is chosen when the contact is created and cannot be edited afterwards, not even after unlocking the fiscal data.

Reset directory data

Once you have customised a contact, the record shows the customisation notice with the Reset directory data link. When you click it:

• the contact becomes verified again and receives automatic updates again;
• all the data the directory controls (identifiers, name and address, routing codes, sending method and format) is reloaded from the directory, and the changes you had made to it are lost;
• the rest of the contact’s data (e-mail, language, currency, payment details…) is left untouched.

The reset is per contact: there is no option to reset many contacts at once. If an external system (an integration or an ERP) keeps writing your contacts’ data, each reset will be undone at the next synchronisation. In that case, fix the source first.

The information line next to a field

On a customised contact, next to a field that differs from the directory, a line may appear with the value the directory holds for that field. It is for information only: it tells you which value a reset would load. It is not an error, not an action, and it blocks nothing.

If the directory data is not correct

The directory is updated periodically from official sources. That is why you may find entries with outdated data: an old company name, an address that has changed or a combination of codes the body no longer uses.

The data that counts is the data the receiving body gives you. If what your customer tells you does not match the directory, there is no need to wait: edit the contact as explained above and invoice with your customer’s data. Check the routing codes with them before sending the first invoice.

Keep in mind that:

• B2Brouter does not correct directory entries on request. The Request change option on the “(company name) is a verified company” card sends us the notice, but it does not modify your contact and does not replace editing it.
• If your customer is a branch, a department or a unit with the same VAT number but a different name, address or codes, you do not need to customise the contact: create an organizational unit on the contact and select it on the invoice.