Invoice Approvals
- Joseph Averkamp
This document is intended to provide instruction on how to approve invoices within the Procurement Partners system. If you are a part of the invoice approval process, this document is for you.
To locate the Invoice Approvals screen, navigate to the Transactions tab, then select Invoice Approvals. You can also access this tab by clicking the blue “Invoice Approvals” link on the left side of the Home tab.
This screen will show only invoices that are awaiting your approval; if the list is empty, there are no invoices that need attention at this time.
NOTE: While there are many useful tools for managing and approving invoices, it is not possible to modify the quantities or prices of items on an invoice, nor is it possible to deny an online invoice. If you have any discrepancies on an online invoice, please contact the vendor to correct.
When you select an invoice awaiting approval, the details for the invoice will appear below the list. At the top of the section you will see a list of approvers’ names; red indicates that they have not yet approved the invoice, blue indicates that approval is not required, and blue marked with APPROVED indicates it has been approved by an authorized approval person.
If enabled by your corporate team, there is an option to Delegate Approvers which can be used to delegate the invoice approval to another person from the associated location to whom the invoice may not be currently assigned. To use this, click the checkbox next to Delegate Approvers, select the person’s name from the drop-down menu, and click the Delegate button. After the invoice has been delegated, it can be approved by the delegated approver or it can be undelegated with the UnDelegate button.
There are two spaces in which you can enter Reference Numbers. You can enter details into these fields which can be tracked with the invoice and used to search such as the vendor’s account number or other reference information requested by your corporate team.
There is also a Do Not Pay check box that can be used to indicate that the invoice is prepaid, which will exclude it from your next AP feed. Please note that this checkbox cannot be used unless you have specific privileges to do so.
Several icons appear above the invoice details. These icons, from left to right:
Add Note: Add a note to the invoice.
Attach File: Attach one or more files to the invoice from your PC.
Status History: See the history and timestamps of the invoice, including its submission, approvals, flags and other details.
GL Summary: See a summary of how much is being charged to each GL code across the invoice; also includes budget information, if budgets are being used.
Print Invoice: Download a .pdf copy of the invoice to save or print.
Hold Invoice: Put the invoice into a hold state. Note that you must have permissions to utilize this feature.
Approve Invoice: Approve the invoice with additional options based on the invoice style and your permissions:
Status Note: Enter a justification for approval actions and/or any other pertinent information in regards to the invoice’s approval.
Approve: Approve the invoice.
Deny: For Offline Invoices, send the invoice back to the person who submitted it to make any necessary corrections or adjustments. Online invoices cannot be denied; if you need any assistance with an online invoice, please contact the vendor.
Previous Approver: Send the invoice back to the previous approval person for reevaluation (available with appropriate privileges).
Split GL Editing: Split the billing for this invoice across one or more GL codes.
Go To Order: Quickly navigate to the order associated with this invoice.
Vendor Note: View a note added by the vendor, when available.
Several similar icons appear to the left of each item in the invoice. These icons, from left to right:
Add Note: Add a note to the specific item.
Status History: See the history and timestamps of the item, including any details about the item attributes as well as details about any flags or notices.
GL History: See the history of the item and how it corresponds to its GL coding.
Split GL Editing: Split an individual line item across one or more GL codes.
You can adjust the date the order was received using the Receiving Date calendar drop down. You can also modify the receiving status using the Receiving Status drop down. You can select Not Received, Partially Received, Fully Received, Received & Coded or Credit Requested to reflect the receiving status, or leave the status as N/A (Not Applicable). The receiving status drop down can be used as a reference but does not impact the invoice itself.
If your organization utilizes budgets within Procurement Partners, you can adjust the budget period to which the invoice applies using the Budget Period dropdown. Any budget that is not closed can be selected.
If you would like to change the GL code for a specific item, click the GL code and select the desired code. After any changes are made to these fields, click the Update button to save the changes.
If the feature is enabled by your organization, you have the necessary privs and you are an approval person further down the approval chain, you have the ability to override approvals to push them forward in the process by clicking the Override button.
To approve the invoice and move it along to the next step of the approval process, or to your AP system if yours is the final step of the approval process, click the Approve button. Once the invoice has received all approval, it will be marked as AP Ready – at this stage, GL codes can still be adjusted. Once your organization’s AP feed has run, all invoices marked as AP ready will be toggled to AP Sent, indicating they have been included with your organization’s feed for your AP system.