3401 PR.04 Submitting Invoices for Payment

Contents

1.      Overview

2.      Instructing Suppliers to Submit Invoices Directly to Accounts Payable

3.      Invoices Received by a Department

4.      Accounts Payable Initial Review and Processing of Invoices

5.      Automatic Approval of Certain Invoice Payments

6.      Departmental Review and Approval of Invoice Payments

7.      Accounts Payable Final Review and Processing of Invoice Payments

This procedure supports Policy 3401 General Payment.  It details the steps to follow to request the disbursement of University funds via an Invoice.  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 Invoice is the University’s preferred mechanism for requesting a disbursement of University funds.  An Invoice is required for all disbursements except those specifically enumerated in Policy 3401 General Payment, Section 3401.1.

Invoices should be submitted for processing directly from the Supplier to Accounts Payable (“AP”) (process detailed in Section 2, below).  In instances when this does not occur, departments are responsible for following the process detailed in Section 3, below. 

Requestors purchasing goods and/or services for which disbursement of University funds will be requested via Invoice should instruct Suppliers to submit their Invoices directly to AP via email (for sponsored award subrecipients – yss.subcontracts@yale.edu; for all other Suppliers –  ap.vendorinvoices@yale.edu).  Requestors should also inform Suppliers of the following:

• An email may contain multiple Invoices, but each Invoice should be a separate attachment;
• Invoice attachments should be in PDF or TIF format;
• Invoices should contain the following related to the individual who ordered the goods and/or services: name of individual; individual’s department; and individual’s contact phone number; and
• For each email received, the Supplier will receive an email confirming receipt.

Suppliers may also submit Invoices directly to AP via mail.  Requestors should inform Suppliers who elect this option of the following:

• Invoices sent via mail should be addressed as follows:

Yale University

Accounts Payable Dept.

PO Box 208228

New Haven, CT 06520

• Invoices sent via mail may take longer to be received and processed than those sent via email; and
• Invoices sent via mail cannot be tracked until they are received by AP and scanned into the processing system.

Under certain circumstances (e.g., high-volume Suppliers), Suppliers may submit Invoices directly to AP via an electronic invoicing system.  Requestors should inform Suppliers who wish to submit Invoices electronically to contact AP (askfinance@yale.edu) directly to request authorization. 

Once AP receives an Invoice from a Supplier, it reviews and processes the Invoice according to Section 4, below.

In instances when a Supplier submits an Invoice to a department, the department is responsible for taking the actions detailed in this section.

A. Determine if the Invoice is from a Subrecipient

Invoices from sponsored award subrecipients must be submitted directly from the subrecipient to AP in order to ensure compliance with federal regulations (2 CFR Part 200).  If a department receives an Invoice from a subrecipient, the department is responsible for returning the Invoice to the subrecipient and instructing them to submit the Invoice directly to Accounts Payable (as detailed in Section 2, above).

Invoices from all other Suppliers may be submitted by the department to AP via email (yss.invoices@yale.edu).  Prior to submitting an Invoice to AP, however, the department is responsible for taking the actions detailed below.

B. Determine if the Documentation Received is an Actual, Complete Invoice

Documentation received by a department may be something other than an original Invoice (e.g., billing statement, copy of an Invoice) or may be an incomplete Invoice (e.g., missing or incorrect information).  If that is the case, the department should not submit the Invoice to AP.  Instead, the department should take the following action:

• If the documentation received is something other than an original Invoice (e.g., billing statement, copy of an Invoice), the department should verify that the corresponding original Invoice has been received and processed (see step C., below);
• If the documentation received is an incomplete Invoice (e.g., missing or incorrect information), the department should return the Invoice to the Supplier and request a corrected Invoice (see Section 5, below, for further details on required information).  The department should also instruct the Supplier to submit the Invoice directly to Accounts Payable (as detailed in Section 2, above); or
• If the documentation received is an actual, complete Invoice, the department should proceed to step C., below.

C. Determine if AP has Already Received and Processed the Invoice

Prior to submitting an Invoice to AP, the department should determine whether AP has already received and processed the Invoice.  Please allow at least five business from receipt of the Invoice before proceeding, as AP processes Invoices in order of date received.  After allowing at least five business days, the department should use the Find Supplier Invoices – Yale Workday report and take the following action:

• If the Invoice has already been received and processed by AP, no further action is required.  Do not submit a duplicate Invoice; or
• If the Invoice has not yet been received and/or processed by AP and five business days have elapsed since the department’s receipt of the Invoice, proceed to step D., below.

Note: AP publishes a YSS Daily Update that indicates, among other details, the Invoice receipt date(s) it is currently processing.  Departments should use this resource for further information on determining whether any Invoices in question have yet come due for processing.

D. Determine if the Supplier Exists in Workday and if the Supplier Information is Correct

Prior to submitting an Invoice to AP, the department should determine whether the Supplier to be paid already exists in the Workday database.  To do so, run the Find Suppliers – Yale report in Workday and look for the Supplier.  Proceed as follows:

• If the Supplier does not already exist or, if the Supplier exists but the Supplier’s information is not correct (e.g., the existing address does not match the address you have been given), follow the processes detailed in Procedure 3401 PR.01 Supplier Setup and Change to either establish a new Supplier or correct the existing Supplier’s information; or
• If the Supplier exists and the Supplier’s information is correct, proceed to step E., below.

E. Determine if the Invoice Matches a Purchase Order (“PO”)

Prior to submitting an Invoice to AP, the department should determine whether the Invoice matches a PO from the department or whether the Invoice is for a non-PO purchase.  If the Invoice matches a PO and is otherwise complete and accurate, proceed to step F., below.  If the Invoice does not match a PO, but is otherwise complete and accurate, the department is responsible for providing the following additional information when it completes step F., below:

• Complete charging instructions for the disbursement, including an appropriate spend category;
  
  • Note: if split-charging, indicate all applicable charging instructions and the specific amount to be allocated to each.  The sum of all split charging instructions must equal the total Invoice amount.

F. Submit the Invoice to AP

Once the department has completed the steps above, the department may submit the Invoice to AP via email (yss.invoices@yale.edu).  Once AP receives an Invoice from a department, it reviews and processes the Invoice according to Section 4, below.

Upon receipt of an Invoice, whether from a Supplier or a department, AP reviews the Invoice for completeness.  If an Invoice is missing any required information (e.g., Supplier name, total Invoice amount), AP attempts to obtain the required information from the submitter (i.e., Supplier or department) for correction.  If an Invoice is complete, AP enters the Invoice information into Workday and, via the electronic business process, routes the Invoice for either automatic approval (Section 5, below) or to the corresponding department for review and approval (Section 6, below).

Certain Invoice payments do not route to the department for review and approval once processed by AP.  Rather, the department representative approves these Invoice payments upon submission.  This occurs for the following:

• Invoices less than $5,000 matched to a PO generated with a Workday Requisition Type of 1 or 3 (Note: if the system identifies a match exception, these Invoice payments are routed according to Section 6, below).

Note: departments have the option to review all Invoice payments prior to processing and may opt out of automatic approval.   

AP processes these Invoice payments and issues payment to the Supplier in accordance with the payment terms on file for that Supplier.  

Invoice payments other than those identified in Section 5, above, are routed to the department for review and approval.

P2P Invoice Specialists are responsible for the initial review of requests for disbursement of University funds via Invoice originating in their respective department(s).  They are responsible for confirming the following:

• Supplier name entered in Workday matches the Invoice and is the correct Supplier name;
• Invoice number entered in Workday matches the Invoice and is the correct Invoice number;
• Invoice date entered in Workday matches the Invoice and is the correct Invoice date;
• Total Invoice amount entered in Workday matches the Invoice and is the correct total Invoice amount;
• Charging instructions entered in Workday are correct and still appropriate;
• Described goods and/or services entered in Workday match the Invoice and are the correct goods and/or services;
• Invoiced goods and/or services were received and/or performed (unless the payment is a down payment, prepayment, or deposit – in which case, P2P Invoice Specialist is responsible for subsequently confirming receipt/performance); and
• For Invoices matched to POs – If the system identified a match exception (e.g., an Invoice amount that does not match the PO amount), that the department wishes to proceed with payment (see Supplier Accounts Match Exception and Override Training Guide for details on the match exception process).

After reviewing the Invoice payment details, the P2P Invoice Specialist (or other designated department representative) is responsible for taking one of the following actions, as appropriate:

• If any of the above information is incorrect or missing and appears to be the result of a data entry error (i.e., the Invoice itself is correct, but the information entered into Workday does not match), send the Invoice back to AP for correction using the Sending Invoices Back to Accounts Payable process.  Note: should the department prefer, the P2P Invoice Specialist may correct this information on their end before approving the Invoice payment and routing it back to AP for processing;
• If any of the above information is incorrect or missing and appears to be the result of an error on the Supplier’s part (e.g., the Invoice itself contains an amount different than the agreed-upon price), contact the Supplier directly to obtain a corrected Invoice or a credit memo for the existing Invoice; or
• If the above information is complete and correct, the P2P Invoice Specialist should route the Invoice payment to the departmental Approver.

Departmental Approvers (lead administrators or their designee(s)) hold ultimate 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 Invoice payments of all dollar amounts.
• Cost Center P2P Approver - $10K: Second level approval.  Responsible for reviewing and, as appropriate, approving Invoice payments with amounts ≥ $1,000.
• Cost Center P2P Approver - Unlimited: Third level approval.  Responsible for reviewing and, as appropriate, approving Invoice payments 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, Invoice payments 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 Invoice payment 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 Invoice payment request is incomplete or requires further or clarifying information, the Approver is responsible for requesting such additional information or documentation.  If the Invoice payment request 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 Invoice payment request, which will route electronically to AP (as detailed in Section 7, below) for further review and, as appropriate, approval.

Upon receipt of an approved Invoice payment (excluding those automatically approved pursuant to Section 5, above), AP reviews the Invoice payment to determine whether additional review by the Tax Department is needed.  AP also reviews any changes made to the submission and, as applicable, whether any match exceptions have been approved.

If an Invoice payment is for the provision of services and is being disbursed to a non-U.S. Supplier, AP forwards the Invoice payment to the Tax Department for additional review.  The Tax Department reviews the invoice payment, determines whether any taxes must be withheld, and relays this information to AP for processing.

AP reviews approved Invoice payments and takes one of the following actions:

• If the department made no changes, there are no change requests pending with AP, and any match exceptions have been approved, AP processes the approved Invoice payment and issues payment to the Supplier in accordance with the payment terms on file for that Supplier;
• If the department did not approve any match exceptions, AP follows the instructions provided by the department; or
• If the department made changes to the submission (in particular, to Supplier name, Invoice number, Invoice date, or Invoice amount), the AP Team Lead reviews the changes for reasonableness and takes one of the following actions, as appropriate:
  
  • If the AP Team Lead deems the changes to be unreasonable or incorrect, AP sends the Invoice payment back to the departmental Approver with a comment about the changes.  The departmental Approver is responsible for either making any requested changes or explaining why the original change is necessary; or
  • If the AP Team Lead deems the changes to be reasonable, AP processes the approved Invoice payment and issues payment to the Supplier in accordance with the payment terms on file for that Supplier.

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: