Accounts Payable (AP)

 Accounting for AP invoices

Please ensure that all supplier invoices received after 31 July are accounted for in the correct period.

Cut off Example:

From 12 August, the AP Team will be issuing daily reports listing:

• August invoices posted in July; and
• July or earlier invoices posted in August (if applicable).

This enables users to check invoices have been accounted for in the correct period. In all cases please ensure that invoices are only processed in July if the goods were received in July. If an invoice was processed in the wrong period, this must be corrected before AP closes on 15 August. Reports will be sent to relevant users. Please notify UFS_AP@admin.cam.ac.uk if you have not received these and believe you should.

The Accounts Payable module will close at 5pm on 15 August. Invoices relating to 2023/24 processed after this date should be accrued if material in value. This does not apply to invoices charged to grants. (Refer to General Ledger, Accruals).

Enter and approve purchase (AP) invoices for 2023/24

Invoices processed after 31 July should be classified between:

•  July 2024 or earlier purchases i.e. ONLY goods or services received on or before 31 July should be recorded in July accounts. The purchase order date is irrelevant
• August 2024 purchases (for the new accounting year): For invoices dated July that relate to August purchases (e.g. equipment rental payable in advance), the GL date should be changed from July to August.

Goods or services ordered in July or earlier but delivered or received in August are August purchases and must be recorded in August.

For invoices dated August that relate to July purchases (where the goods or services were delivered or received prior to the end of July):

• Ensure that the GL date on the invoice header screen and the invoice line screen is amended to 31 July 2024 prior to approval of the invoice.
• Do NOT change the GL date shown against the VAT line.

For invoices dated August that relate to August purchases:

• Retain the August GL default date.

NB: The AP module will continue to accept July and prior purchase invoices until 15 August. Thereafter, all invoices will have to be processed in the new accounting year 2024/25. Invoices relating to the 2023/24 year received after 15 August should be accrued as creditors. Refer to the guidance issued within General Ledger, Accruals section.

Review of outstanding invoices

All outstanding invoices must be reviewed and all holds or queries dealt with appropriately.

Check the volumes of invoices in various states at a glance using the Cognos AP Dashboard. For guidance refer to the AP training webpage. There is a video and documentation. The dashboard numbers include:

• Incomplete Invoices, which are invoices that have never been validated, or need revalidation
• Invoices on all other types of Hold (excluding SIA and Payment holds)
• Unprocessed Internal Invoices are those Internal Invoices with remaining balances on the AZZY source of funds that need to be recoded.  There is also a separate report with balances netted off where applicable
• Invoices Due for Payment are approved invoices with payment due dates within the next 7 days
• Invoices Paid Last Week might be useful to you if you’re looking to see if a particular invoice has been paid recently
• Invoices on Secondary Approval Hold
• Invoices on Payment Hold
• E-Invoices on Hold

Validate and Secondary Invoice Approve (SIA) OR cancel as appropriate.

Remove the holds or receipt any delivered goods or services as appropriate.

The CUFS reports, Invoice Register (UFS) and Invoices on Hold Report (UFS), are still available and may be useful if you require an immediate view as the Cognos AP dashboard numbers are only updated overnight.

NB Invoices on hold (other than those only awaiting SIA) at period end will NOT be accrued or charged in General Ledger. The AP team will regularly distribute the AP Holds and Unaccounted Transaction Report (UFS) to institutions.

Review Internal AP invoices for 2023/24

To be processed by 15 August with a GL date of July 2024 or before.

For invoices in dispute: as all outstanding internal invoices will be automatically validated, institutions must place an internal dispute hold on relevant invoices. All invoices in dispute which cannot be resolved should be referred to the AP Helpdesk as soon as possible for advice. Disputes resolved by the Finance Division will be notified to institutions by 15 August. Any necessary accounting entries for disputed invoices will be agreed with both institutions and posted by the Finance Division. Internal order disputes can still be resolved and corrections posted by Central Finance up until 30 August when the General Ledger closes.

Concur: Barclaycard and out of pocket claims

We recommend running these reports on Concur before the year end:

Details of how to run these reports can be found on the expenses site (you must be logged into Raven):

https://www.expenses.admin.cam.ac.uk/accessing-reports

https://www.expenses.admin.cam.ac.uk/guides-running-specific-reports

Please ensure all Concur claims (Barclaycard and out of pocket) relating to 2023/24 have a Claim Date of 31 July 2024 or earlier. From 1 August, any claims going into CUFS with a claim date later than 31 July 2024 will go into the August GL period. Finance approvers can check and change the claim date by going to Details/Claim Header when reviewing a claim. This is likely to be important for any claims submitted in the first two weeks of August with 2023/24 spend on.

Please ensure all claims relating to 2023/24 are fully authorised at least two days before the AP closure date (preferably more) and ensure that any advances are fully recovered. If possible don’t mix 2023/24 out-of-pocket expenses with items relating to 2024/25 (August) on the same claim.

Expense claims that are dated before the 31 July 2024 that haven’t been transferred to CUFS will be accrued by the Finance Division on AZZY.FJAQ. The Finance Division will do this by Friday 30 August 2024.
 

Visitors and students expense claims

Expenses need to be processed in the appropriate financial year. As expenses are paid in arrears, please ensure July (or earlier) expenses have a July 2024 GL date and an appropriate Expenditure Item Date if charged against a grant. For Visitor claims in Concur, please ensure the claim date for 2023/24 spend is July 2024 or earlier (see Concur: Barclaycard and out of pocket claims).

Confirmation of petty cash, till floats and advance balances

All institutions need to confirm their petty cash, float balances and any advance balances as at 30 June 2024 by completing the Cash holding confirmation form.

Location: Go to Finance Division website > Staff & Department Services > Forms > Accounts Payable. The form is available in PDF or word format.

Completed forms (including NIL returns) should be emailed to the Cashiers by 18 July.