How to pay:
Once the small purchase, purchase requisition, or pcard action has been initiated, the bulk of the work has been completed. Paying for the item is not only the final piece of the process, it is also the easiest.
Small Purchase
After the item has been purchased and the receipt from the vendor has been turned in to the bookkeeper, we must wait for the vendor to send us the invoice. Invoices traditionally are sent to the department. Once received, the department is required to approve the invoice and forward to Accounts Payable. The approved invoice is compared to the small purchase document previously entered into the financial system, approved, and payment is made.
Purchase order
A purchase order may contain one or many items. Vendors often ship portions of an order, and as a result we receive multiple packages and multiple invoices for the same PO. To facilitate payment to vendors, we itemize purchase orders so that we can pay against those line items. Many vendors recognize this universal practice and invoice against specific line items.
As items are received the department is responsible for completing the receipt screen of the specific purchase order in the financial system. Vendors are normally instructed to send purchase order invoices to Accounts Payable. As these invoices are received, Accounts Payable will compare the invoice to the specific line item of the purchase order. If the billed amount and the purchase order match, and the department has confirmed receipt of the item in the Financial System, payment will be made to the vendor.
Purchase card (Pcard)
The Purchasing card works exactly the same way as your personal charge card. When a purchase is made, the vendor processes the charge for payment. The vendor is normally paid by its bank within a day or two. The university receives one statement each month for our charges. We compare this statement to the combined individual purchases made by cardholders, and, if correct, we pay the bank. Throughout the month we electronically receive and forward purchases to individual cardholders in an effort to allow departments to process reconciliations as they are made (minimizing month-end workload). Disputes and issues are processed with the bank in exactly the same manner an individual's charge card issues are handled.