Glossary
The terms VendOrca uses in the app and in these docs, in alphabetical order.
On this page
A
Access key. What lets an AI assistant or other software read your program data. The Agent access page calls it a token. Each person creates their own, and it reads only what that person can see. It is shown once, always has an expiry date and can be turned off at any time. See Access keys for AI assistants.
Agent access. Read-only access to your program data for AI assistants and other software. A Program Admin turns it on for the workspace, and each person creates their own access keys. Included on the Team and Business plans. See Connect an AI assistant.
Approval chain. The ordered approval steps a timesheet goes through. A chain applies to the whole workspace or to one org unit, and is divided into spend bands. Program Admins and Hiring Managers approve or reject timesheets. Keep a workspace-wide chain in place so timesheets can be submitted.
Ask VendOrca. The question bar that appears throughout the app. It answers questions about your program within what you can already see, and it never changes anything.
Assignment. The binding of one onboarded worker to a rate card for a date range. Time is recorded against an assignment, and invoices are built from approved time. Every change adds a new version with the date it takes effect.
Assisted setup. The path a self-serve worker import takes when the file has more than 150 rows. The job stops at Routed to assisted setup. A Program Admin can email info@vendorca.com to arrange a larger import, or split it into files of 150 rows or fewer. See Import your data.
B
Billing entity. The supplier or agency an invoice is addressed to, also called a supplier. A billing entity that signs in reaches the supplier portal and sees only its own invoices.
C
Can't price. See Unpriceable.
Config Studio. The Config page, where a Program Admin describes changes to the program rules in plain language or makes them with forms, then reviews and applies them.
Credit note. An invoice type that counts as a negative amount in totals. For how corrections work, see Changes add records.
D
Dry run. The test step in an import, started with Run dry-run. VendOrca reads your file and checks it against the number of records you expect, without saving anything. You can save the records only once the counts match.
E
Emergency stop. A Program Admin control that pauses all AI assistant access in the workspace at once, without deleting anyone's access keys. Releasing it restores access.
Entry mode. How a timesheet records quantity: Hourly, Daily or Monthly.
I
Invoice rules. The part of the program rules that sets how invoices are grouped (per worker, per org unit or consolidated) and numbered.
O
Onboarding template. The checklist in the program rules that each worker's onboarding follows. A worker's checklist keeps the template version it started with.
Org unit. A node in your department or cost-center hierarchy. Assignments and approval chains can be attached to one. Each move records the date it takes effect, and earlier placements are kept.
P
Pay code. The kind of time an entry records. Workers choose Worked, Holiday or PTO. Holiday and PTO need your timesheet rules to include the pay codes HOL and PTO.
Program configuration. The set of rules your program runs on: rate cards, approval chains, timesheet rules, onboarding templates, invoice rules and the report library. Applying a change saves a new version. Earlier versions stay as they were, and work already under way keeps the rules it started with.
Proposal. A drafted change to your program rules, waiting for review. It shows what will change, whether it passes VendOrca's checks and how it would play out, and it takes effect only when a Program Admin applies it.
Push to AP. The action on Invoices that sends an invoice to your accounts payable system. VendOrca creates the bill there for the invoice's exact total, and the invoice shows Pushed to AP. VendOrca sets up the integration with your AP system for your workspace. To arrange it, a Program Admin contacts info@vendorca.com. See Push invoices to AP.
R
Rate card. A job code, site, currency and rate held in the program rules, optionally tied to a supplier. The amount is set when an assignment is created, from the rules in effect at that time.
Report library. The part of the program rules that sets which figures and breakdowns people can ask about in Reports and Ask VendOrca.
S
Scope. The developer pages' word for a kind of data an access key may read: Program, Workforce, Financial or Personal data. You pick them under What may it read? when you create the key. Personal data is off unless you choose it. See Access keys for AI assistants.
Spend band. An amount range inside an approval chain. The lowest band starts at 0, each band runs up to the next band's floor, and the highest band has no upper limit. The band a timesheet's amount falls in decides which approval steps it goes through.
Supplier code. The stable reference for a billing entity, used by rate cards and invoices.
Supplier portal. The part of VendOrca a billing entity signs in to. It lists that supplier's own invoices and net totals per currency. Its invoice views are read-only.
T
Tie-out. The check that what you invoiced for a period equals what was approved, to the cent. The tie-out panel lists every difference by kind, and you can record a snapshot of the result.
Timesheet. One worker's recorded time for one period. The worker submits it, and an approver approves it or rejects it with a comment.
Token. The name the Agent access page uses for an access key. See Access key.
U
Unpriceable. Time that VendOrca can't price under the program rules its timesheet follows. The amount shows as a dash with a Can't price reason. Invoicing and tie-out snapshots for that period wait until it's resolved. See Timesheets that can't be priced.
V
Version. A saved state of the program rules or of an assignment's terms. Changes add versions and never edit earlier ones.
W
Worker. A person doing work in your program, usually through a supplier. Workers move through the states Invited, Onboarding, Active and Offboarded.
Workspace. One customer's VendOrca program, with its own program rules, users, records and subscription. Data never crosses between workspaces.