3401 PR.02 Supplier Invoice Request

Contents

1.      Overview

2.      Preparing to Create a Supplier Invoice Request

3.      Creating a Supplier Invoice Request

4.      Supporting Documentation Required

5.      Departmental Review and Approval of Supplier Invoice Requests

6.      Accounts Payable Review of Supplier Invoice Requests

7.      Requesting Expedited Disbursements

This procedure supports Policy 3401 General Payment.  It details the steps to follow to request the disbursement of University funds via Supplier Invoice Request (“SIR”).  This procedure does not cover the sourcing or purchasing of goods and services.  Policy 3201 General Purchasing covers the University’s rules on those subjects (e.g., Purchase Orders, PCard use, out-of-pocket expenditures) and their supporting procedures.

An SIR is the University’s preferred mechanism for requesting the disbursement of University funds for the following:

• Expense reimbursements (non-employees);
• Honoraria;
• Interest payments;
• License fees and subscription payments;
• Loan payments;
• Refunds;
• Royalty payments;
• Tax payments;
• Utility payments; and
• Any business case from Policy 3401 General Payment, Section 3401.1 that includes SIR as part of its business process (e.g., Procedure 3417 PR.01 Human Research Study Participant Remuneration).

Prior to creating an SIR, Requestors who have determined that an SIR is appropriate (based on the business cases in Section 1, above) should address the following items:

• Is the Supplier a non-U.S. individual or entity?
  
  • If not, proceed to the next step.
  • If the Supplier is a non-U.S. individual or entity, determine whether they are eligible to receive the disbursement and any special conditions that may apply by referencing the Payments to Non-U.S. Individuals and Entities page.
• Is the Supplier to whom the disbursement is going already established as a Supplier in the Supplier database?  To determine whether a Supplier is already established, use the Find Suppliers – Yale function in Workday.
  
  • If the Supplier is already established, proceed to the next step.
  • If the Supplier is not yet established, request to set up a new Supplier following the process detailed in Procedure 3401 PR.01 Supplier Setup and Change.
• Obtain a unique transaction control number (“TCN”) using the Transaction Control Number Generator.  The TCN is used to identify the SIR throughout the business process.  In the TCN Generator, select “Check Request” as the “Type of Form.”  Save the TCN provided for use later in the process.

Requestors who have determined that an SIR is appropriate (based on the business cases in Section 1, above) and completed the preparation steps (as detailed in Section 2, above) may create a request using the Create Supplier Invoice Request function in Workday.  The request Initiator is responsible for providing (and responsible for obtaining from the Requestor, if the Requestor is different than the Initiator) the following to complete the request:

• An accurate description of the disbursement amount, the disbursement’s details, and the reason for the disbursement (e.g., answers to the questions who?, what?, where?, when?, and why?);
• A valid business purpose for the disbursement (e.g., details supporting one or more of the business cases in Section 1, above);
• Valid charging instructions (i.e., Chart of Accounts (“COA”) string) with appropriate Spend Categories;
• A unique TCN for the disbursement (as detailed in Section 2, above);
• All required supporting documentation (as detailed in Section 4, below); and
• As appropriate, any instructions for special handling of the disbursement (default handling is to mail a check to the Supplier address in the database).  

Completed requests route electronically to the appropriate Approver(s) (as detailed in Section 5, below) for review and, as appropriate, approval.

All SIRs require the information detailed in Section 3, above, and must contain adequate supporting documentation to substantiate the appropriateness of the disbursement.  The table below is non-exhaustive, but details common circumstances under which additional documentation is required and the specific requirement(s) for those circumstances.

Departmental Approvers (lead administrators or their designee(s)) hold primary responsibility for reviewing requests for disbursement of University funds originating in the department(s) over which they have fiscal oversight.  Departmental Approvers may involve several roles and levels of approval, as follows:

• Cost Center P2P Approver - $1K: First level approval.  Responsible for reviewing and, as appropriate, approving SIRs of all dollar amounts.
• Cost Center P2P Approver - $10K: Second level approval.  Responsible for reviewing and, as appropriate, approving SIRs with amounts ≥ $1,000.
• Cost Center P2P Approver - Unlimited: Third level approval.  Responsible for reviewing and, as appropriate, approving SIRs with amounts ≥ $10,000.

Any of the above roles (particularly in larger departments) may have more than one individual assigned to them.  In that case, SIRs requiring review appear in the Workday inbox of all such individuals.  The department is responsible for establishing procedures establishing which of those individuals is responsible for reviewing and approving a transaction.  The individual who ultimately approves an SIR in any of the above roles is responsible for adhering to the Approver Responsibilities detailed in Policy 1101 Guiding Principles for University Operations and Procedure 1101 PR.06 Approval Authority.

If the SIR is incomplete or requires further or clarifying information, the Approver is responsible for requesting such additional information or documentation from the Initiator.  The Initiator is responsible for providing the additionally requested information or documentation, if possible.

If the SIR is complete and the Approver(s) can attest to the requirements of the Approver Responsibilities detailed in Policy 1101 Guiding Principles for University Operations and Procedure 1101 PR.06 Approval Authority, the Approver(s) should approve the SIR, which will route electronically to Accounts Payable (“AP”) (as detailed in Section 6, below) for further review and, as appropriate, approval.

AP is responsible for secondary review of SIRs.  AP reviews SIRs for the following:

• Is there a documented business purpose (e.g., answers to the questions who?, what?, where?, when?, and why?)?
• Does the SIR contain the required supporting documentation, if any?
• Does the information entered in the SIR match the supporting documentation, if any?
• Does the SIR request a disbursement to a third party?
• For non-employee expense reimbursements, is the SIR compliant with Policy 3301 Travel on University Business?
• Does the SIR require tax withholding, pursuant to Policy 3410 CT Income Tax Withholding for Athletes and Entertainers?
• Does the SIR require additional review by the Tax Department to determine whether tax withholding is required?  If so, AP requests review by the Tax Department.  The Tax Department provides guidance and responds to questions concerning tax withholding and reporting of payments.

If the SIR is incomplete, requires further or clarifying information, or is unsatisfactory based on the above reviews, AP is responsible for requesting such additional information or documentation from the Initiator.  The Initiator is responsible for providing the additionally requested information or documentation, if possible.

If the SIR is complete and satisfactory, AP completes the SIR submission and processes the disbursement.

AP’s service-level agreement for SIRs provides a turnaround time of five (5) business days from receipt.  For up-to-date information on AP’s current processing times, please refer to the Yale Shared Services Daily Update. 

A. Additional Approvals

Certain requests require additional review and approval prior to disbursement processing.  In such cases, AP routes the request via Workday for appropriate additional review and approval, as detailed in the table below:

Under certain circumstances, it may be justified to request expedited processing of an SIR.  If expedited processing is justified and desired, once the SIR is submitted, submit a request via email to askfinance@yale.edu and provide the following information:

• The SIR number;
• A specification that it is a request for expedited processing; and
• An explanation for the necessity of the expedited processing (i.e., impact to the University if the SIR is not expedited).

AP reviews the request to expedite disbursement and contacts the individual who submitted the email with any questions or requests for additional information.  AP notifies the individual who submitted the email whether the request is approved or denied and, if denied, the reason for denial.  If approved, AP processes the expedited disbursement.