State of Minnesota Statewide Integrated Financial Tools Accounts Payable 2: Voucher Entry and Maintenance Entry Overview

Objectives  Define terms  Provide a general flow of the Accounts Payable lifecycle  Introduce statuses used during the Accounts Payable (Voucher Entry) lifecycle

Definitions  Voucher – a pay-out record, an electronic version of the invoice  Vendor -- a supplier of goods or services.  Matching* – a way of ensuring that a purchase’s invoice number, quantity and amount are exactly duplicated in:  Purchase Order  Receipt (if required)  Voucher  Inspection document (if required) * Used only when the voucher is based off of a PO

Definitions (cont’d)  Bi-lateral Netting: an inter-agency payment  Budget-check: ensures money is available to pay voucher  Tolerance range: a few cents/dollars or percentage points above or below the amounts and quantities on the PO. Allows slightly inexact quantities and amounts on vouchers to match POs and PO Receipts.

Accounts Payable Lifecycle Voucher** Creation* Manual SWIFT process AP Lifecycle Legend Submit for Approval Purchasing (POs) Payables data enters AP from: Accounts Receivable (Receipts) Agency- interfaces from subsystems Step 2 Step 3 Manual Through batch Manual Through batch **from PO or Receipt, Direct Entry, or the Voucher Build Process Matching * Matching Manual or via batch Budget Checking* Budget Checking Manual or via batch Step 4 Approved ** Step 5 Payment created and Issued Step 6 Step 1 * If errors are encountered, correction is required before the voucher moves forward in the process Voucher Posting* Posted to GL Only if PO-based Step 7 Step 8

General AP Facts  Only one voucher/payment per invoice number is allowed.  If foreign currency is required (should happen rarely), this conversion must be done at the payment level.  All vouchers must be matched (if they originate from a PO) and budget-checked.  AP clerks have access to Commitment Control to check budget amounts available.  If budget-check or matching errors exist, the voucher does not move forward in the pay cycle until errors are fixed.  All vouchers are submitted for approval.  Vouchers are not paid until after they are approved.

General AP Facts (cont’d)  After vouchers are submitted, the AP Voucher Posting Process prepares accounting entries to send to the General Ledger.  Once the voucher has been approved, accounting entries are posted to the General Ledger.

Voucher Error Checking  After saving, SWIFT performs limited error checking.  Errors may also surface after Matching or Budget-checking.  Check for errors on the Summary tab (shows only after voucher is saved).  Vouchers display different statuses according to where they are in the Voucher Lifecycle.

5 Voucher Statuses to Check for Errors  Entry Status  Match Status  Approval Status  Post Status  Budget Status

Entry Status Types and Meanings DefinitionOptionsMeanings Condition during or immediately after data input and saving OpenNot saved yet PostableSaved with no errors PostedAccounting entries created RecycleErrors exist but saved RejectErrors exist, not saved When saving a voucher, SWIFT performs several edits and validations. They are listed in the UPK. When critical validations are not correct, SWIFT does not allow the voucher to be saved until the errors are corrected. If non-essential errors exist, SWIFT allows the voucher to be saved but no accounting entries created via the Voucher Posting Process.

Match Statuses and Meanings DefinitionOptionsMeanings Whether voucher duplicates quantities and amounts listed on PO and PO Receipt (if required) No MatchNot a PO-based voucher, direct entry Ready/To Be MatchedAvailable for processing MatchedAmounts and quantities affirmed ExceptionsErrors exist; resolution required RejectedNot available for payment Manually OverriddenMakes voucher available to be paid Match DisputeAssigned via Match Workbench; holds payment ‘til issues resolved While Matching, SWIFT looks for the PO and/or PO Receipt identified. Compares PO number, quantities and amounts on voucher to existing PO and PO Receipt records; then matches if…. Voucher quantities and amounts fall within established tolerance ranges.

Approval Status and Meanings DefinitionOptionsMeanings Whether or not purchase payment is authorized PendingNot yet approved ApprovedVoucher may be paid DeniedVoucher may not be paid All vouchers must be submitted for approval. Vouchers with 3-way + matches do not require approval. They must, however, move through the same processes that follow approval, so they are submitted too. Three-way matches are made up of the PO, PO Receipt and the voucher. Approvers are dictated by your agency. There are up to 4 levels of approval possible, depending on the amount of purchase.

Post Statuses and Meanings DefinitionOptionsMeanings Whether or not accounting entries have been created for the voucher transaction and are ready to move to the GL Not PostedNo accounting entries created PostedAccounting entries are created and ready to move to the GL UnpostedOnce posted but unposted for error correction. This status pertains to the Voucher Posting Process that creates accounting entries ready to be moved to the General Ledger. Moving accounting entries to the GL occurs after the voucher has been approved.

Budget Status and Meanings DefinitionOptionsMeanings Whether or not budget associated with the identified Chartfield string contains funds to pay for the voucher Not Chk’dBudget check has not been done for the voucher ValidBudget check is complete, and funds are available to pay the voucher. Error/ Exceptions Budget check has completed showing errors. Budget Status ensures that funds are available to pay the voucher. All vouchers styles (except Template) must be budget-checked.

Voucher Styles Voucher Style is a field on the Add a New Value tab for Voucher Entry. It lists different kinds of vouchers available through SWIFT. Regular Entry is the type used for Direct Entry (non-PO) and PO-based vouchers. This is the default for the field. Regular Entry is used to create normal payments.

Other Voucher Style Choices Voucher StyleDescription/Purpose JournalError correction: use when the payment was applied to the wrong Chartfield/string. OR Inter-departmental payments within an agency. TemplateCreate a basic framework for a recurring payment like rent, utilities, etc. or for installment payments. Third PartySelect when shipping, insurance, etc. was tacked on to the original PO. Single PaymentOne-time claim or refund payments: vendor information must be input on the page prior to the Invoice Information page. These are “specialty” vouchers, used only for specific purposes listed below.

Next…  It’s time to see how to enter a voucher.