Smarter Purchasing: approving invoices that do not have a Purchase Order 1
Contents 1. Who should use this guide? 2. Why is this process required? 3. How will you know there is an invoice to approve? 4. How to review invoices? 5. What to do. 6. Further help required. 2
1. Who should use this guide? Any individual who has approval rights in Smarter Purchasing who does not use SAP frequently but need to approve non purchase order invoices. 2. Why is this process required? All purchases made by the University must have a purchase order raised and approved before we confirm to the supplier that they should provide a good or service Our commitment to pay for a good or service is made when we request goods/ services (subject to goods/ services being delivered and the delivered good/ service being of sufficient quality). As such, it is essential that purchase orders are raised and approved in advance of requesting goods and services. However, we have a process to approve invoices received without a purchase order as these invoices still need to be paid. Any invoice received without a purchase order will need to be approved for payment by a minimum of two people. Those approving the invoice should understand and document that the expense is valid and ensure that the individual(s) who requested the items without a purchase order is contacted to advise them to raise purchase orders in the future. The table below shows the approval steps which will occur for any invoice received without a purchase order (two reviewers/ approvers where cost is less than 25k, three where cost is above 25k): Step By Approval level Role One Department All invoices will be Understand what the purchase is for Finance reviewed by these and document this. Administer(s) individuals first Determine why a purchase order has not been raised and document this. Determine who committed to the order and document this. Code the expense correctly within the Two Three Departmental Manager or Finance Staff Grade 6 to 9 Head of Department financial system. Invoices up to 25k Review and approve invoice and/ or ask for further information prior to approval. Identify why no purchase order was raised and discuss this with the person who requested the goods/ services to ensure orders will be raised correctly going forward. Invoices over 25k Review and approve invoice and/ or ask for further information prior to approval. 3
3. How will you know there is an invoice to approve? The system used to review and approve these invoices is called Process Director You will receive an email to your Microsoft Outlook email which states there are documents for you to review/ approve (see below) By clicking on the hyperlink in the email when on the University s network you will be taken directly into Process Director to review the invoice. The Process Director Document (example 678 above) is an invoice which needs to be reviewed. o If there are Process Director Document numbers under the first sentence You have received PROCESS DIRECTOR documents for processing this means there is a new invoice to review, o If there are Process Director Document numbers under the second sentence Your PROCESS DRIECTOR documents have been recalled this means that an invoice has been removed and you do not need to review it (i.e. someone else has dealt with it). 4
4. How to review invoices Once you have clicked on the hyperlink you will be taken into Process Director and see the screen below Click on the My Workflow Inbox to see the invoices you need to action and on Workflow History to see invoices you have dealt with in the past. When you have clicked on My Workflow Inbox you will see the invoice(s) you need to action. 5
Click on the Document No. to see the details of the invoice. Header buttons Click to approve the invoice for payment * Save the document if you have changed it but do not want to approve it yet. Use to reject an invoice for payment this button will send the invoice back to Accounts Payable (use Query to send to people within your department) * Use to query in department documents you are being asked to approve if you do not have sufficient information to approve the payment* Shows the individuals who have already reviewed, amended and approved the document before you. Displays invoice Side buttons Displays the invoice and any other attachments people may have added to the document before your review Displays all notes that people have made for you to decide whether to approve the invoice for payment. Do not use Do not use Note * You must add a note to the system before these buttons will work (see below) Do not use From this screen you can also see here the invoice is being charged to (bottom line of screen) 6
5. What to do KEY POINT The first thing you should always do on receipt of an invoice is Click on the display all notes button This will show who has reviewed the invoice before you and document why the CAN BE PAID If you agree that the item is valid and charged correctly you must add a note and document why it can be paid. You are forced to add a note to approve the invoice for payment as these invoices have not followed the correct purchasing approach i.e. no Purchase Order and you need to evidence why they are ok to pay. Then press Approved. SHOULD NOT BE PAID OR NOT ENOUGH INFORMATION If you are not happy to approve for payment, add a note to explain what further information you need to be able to approve the invoice and then press Query to send it back to your department administrator to resolve Please remember, that unless you are disputing whether the good or service has been delivered and is of sufficient quality there are no grounds at this stage to not pay the invoice If you receive an invoice which you believe is not for your department or does not need to be paid (i.e. you are aware the item was not delivered or we are expecting a credit note) add a note to explain this and then press reject to return the document to Accounts Payable 7
6. Further help required If you don t understand why you have received an invoice or are unsure how to process the document when you have the information to resolve the query, you can: Press the View notes button so you can see who has received the invoice in your department and dealt with it prior to you receiving it for approval. You can speak with them in person to ask questions or use the Query button (after adding a question to the notes section) to ask the question using the system. Send the document back to Accounts Payable with a note on it to ask for further help/clarity of the problem using the Reject button Call Accounts Payable (2400/ 2474 or 2398) or Wendy Ferguson (2236) for assistance. 8