Accounts Payable Vendor Invoice Payments

In this document:

Add VendorChart of Accounts SetupAdding Bank Accounts for A/P Check WritingSetting Up Values for Accounts Payable ItemsAdd Inventory ItemsBinding Cash & Income Accounts for Inventory SalesAdd new Purchase Order (PO)Receive OrderCreate Invoice Record from the Purchase OrderClosing and Posting Invoice BatchesCreate a Payment TransactionAdding & Managing Checks, or Other Printable TemplatesCreate Check TemplatesCreating Ad-Hoc Reports to MS Word and/or Excel

Add Vendor

Adding vendors to the system will create an enterprise-level relationship between the vendor, work orders, goods and services, inventory items, Purchase Orders, Invoices, and Accounts Payable.

It is important to include as much useful information about the vendor as possible, including addresses, contact names, contact and company phone numbers, fax numbers, email address, and for gates communities, vehicle information.

Expand the Data Management main menu option, expand the Vendor sub-menu items and select Add New Vendor.

The vendor details screen will appear.

Add the Company Name & Details (Primary & Billing Address, Phone, Cell, Fax, Email, etc) and click Update.

In the Contacts tab, select the Click here to add new item link.

Add the appropriate detail and click Update.

In the Work Types tab, check the boxes for the appropriate work the vendor is approved for in the community. As always, click Update.

These work types can be added and managed in the Value Lists section of the System Admin main menu option.

When the Value Lists screen grid opens, select the WO_WorkTypes.

When the Work Order Types screen grid opens, add, delete, edit, and manage the work type list.

Open the AP Settings tab.

The AP setting tab screen will open.

The Net Days is the number of days the community has to pay the vendor invoices, and 30 days is a normal timeframe.

The Discount % is the potential discount the community is offered should they pay the invoice in full sooner than the Net Days.

The Discount Days is the number of days within which the discount can be realized.

Tax ID is the vendors’ company tax ID A field for the credit limit that the community has with the vendor is provided 1099 Type will apply the 1099 tax classification that enables the administrator to submit the

1099 for year-end accounting.

When the information has been added, click Update.

When you return to the Vendor screen grid, and click the refresh icon, the new vendor will appear.

Reopening the new Vendor details screen, you will now see the rest of the details tabs.

AP Balance will display the ongoing record of AP transactions. A date filter is provided.

AR Balance will display the ongoing record of AR transactions. A date filter is provided.

The user may bill the vendor – for passes, fines, penalties, etc -- and manage invoices and payments. Click the Add New button to begin the typical A/R process, which is the same as billing a member.

Selecting the type of billing, cash or invoice, or payment, will open the appropriate New Cash Receipt, New In voice, or New payment screens where the A/R process will begin.

Please see the A/R instructional document for more info on A/R or contact your system support specialist.

Add New Payment is how you add a payment to pay for previously applied invoice, and the payment will be applied to open invoices following the priority logic set in the invoice templates.

The "cash" option in the Add Payment screen is just a simple way of collecting money from a member.

For example, a member is going away for an extended amount of time and wants to credit his/her account to cover future invoices that may be applied while away.

Add New Cash Receipt is how we add a simple cash transaction.

To make a payment against a specific invoice and bypass the priority logic, go to the specific invoice and apply the payment there.

Open the Vehicles tab to add and manage vendors’ vehicles. In some lake and ocean communities, Vendors may need their boats registered as well.

As always, click Update to save vendor details.

With the Vendors now added to the system, connecting the appropriate accounts to the A/P workflow is the next step. Most A/P processes require a payable account, an expense account, and a bank checking account.

Chart of Accounts Setup

Expand the General Ledger main menu option and select Tree of Accounts.

The entire Chart of Accounts structure will display in the resulting screen grid.

An existing structure will default to all demo systems.

Adding new accounts, editing existing accounts, or completely changing the entire structure, is possible from this screen.

Each -99 rollup account will initially display. Each can be expanded to view every sub-account structure.

Make sure all A/P, Expense accounts, and banks accounts from checking exist before proceeding.

If you are demoing this site, then you can be assured that these accounts do exist already so no set up is requires, and feel free to contact your support specialist with any questions you may have.

This screen tool enables the system administrator to drag and drop accounts to create structural layers. Parent, Child, and Sibling layers can easily be created by dragging the account to the desired location, activating the tool-tip in the grid, and dropping the account correctly. See your account manager for further instructions on the correct procedure for using this tool if you have any questions.

In the demo system, we are using the account number 210110-10 for the Payables account menu in the Invoice screen.

By expanding the 200000 account, you will see this account in the chart of accounts tree.

All accounts that have “Payables” selected from the “Account Type” menu will appear on the “Payable Account” menu in all screens involved in A/P payments, such as the Invoice screen.

Account Type, Balance Type, and Account Use, are managed by the authorized System Administrator in the Value Lists. Please assure the System Admin has applied the required values prior to using the

system. This structure will determine the required output reports and also determine how the accounts in the budgets are categorized. Feel free to contact your system support specialist for more information.

As an example, when creating an Invoice template for A/P, this is the Payables account that may potentially be selected in the Payables menu.

Once the Chart of Accounts has the accounts needed to manage the correct accounting workflow for Accounts Payable, all invoices added to the system can be managed correctly and paid. All A/P records require at least one Payables account.

Adding Bank Accounts for A/P Check Writing

Expand the General Ledger main menu option and select Bank Accounts.

The Bank Account screen grid will appear. Click the Add New Bank Account button.

A new bank account screen will open. Fill the appropriate fields with banking information and click Update.

The new bank accounts will appear in the Bank Account screen grid and can now be used for returning refundable deposits through A/P.

Setting Up Values for Accounts Payable Items

Expand the System Admin main menu option and select Manage Value Lists.

The Value List screen grid will open. Select the GL_AccountUse list item.

The screen grid will display where all Account Use options are managed.

The main requirements here are that all values in the Value column must be unique for each row and, as always, you click Update after work is completed in any screen.

From the Value List screen grid also select the GL_BalanceType list item.

And manage the Balance Type options.

For A/P, it will also be important to most communities to manage Purchase Order Types. To do this, select the PurchaseOrders_Type value list from the Value List screen grid.

The Purchase Orders Type screen grid will open where you can manage PO Types in order to categorize purchase orders with vendors or invoice types for reporting purposes.

For A/P, it will also be important to most communities to manage Inventory Categories.

Categories could be used to designate maintenance items used by the administration and retail items sold to members.

It can be as complex as designating items for constructions that may be depreciated, or to group items by project to help report on job costs.

Categories are a subjective grouping relative to each community, so please consult your community’s financial professional to determine is these categories are needed, and how they should be structured.

To do this, select the Inventory_Category value list from the Value List screen grid.

The Inventory Category screen grid will open and you can categorize your inventory items any way you like in the Items tab. Click Update when edits are applied.

For example, all categories will appear in the Category dropdown menu in the Inventory items details.

Add Inventory Items

Adding inventory items requires that the Vendor information already exists in the system, since the vendor will be paid for goods and/or services through A/P.

Adding vendors to the system protects the association from users adding ad hoc vendors that may not be approved, or adding duplicate records by mistake. It is important that each vendor is in the system only once so that approval and reporting details can be accurate.

Adding vendors can be a secured process to that only authorized users have access to the workflow, and this is controlled the same way all user authorization is managed. Contract your system support specialist for more information on user access.

In order to assure the vendor appears on the Vendor list in all relevant modules, such as Accounts Payable, Work Orders, Architectural Review, Gate Passes and Decals, etc, they must be added to the system prior to completing the new record in these various modules.

If you are already in the module but you do not see the intended vendor, the authorized user can add the vendor at that time using the Adding Authorized Vendor workflow.

Again, contact your system support specialist for more information on user access.

Expand the Accounts Payable main menu item, expand the Inventory sub-menu item, and select the Inventory option.

The Inventory screen will display.

On this screen, you can drill down to items or vendors by clicking on the hot links in the grid, or you may add a new inventory item by clicking the Add New Inventory Item button.

When you click the Add New Inventory Item button, a new inventory record screen will appear.

Add the SKU number, name the item, add a brief Description of the item, and select the active Vendor from the Vendor menu, and the inventory category.

Select the appropriate Expense and Payable accounts.

Manage the minimum and maximum units of these items you will want to have on-hand.

A minimum number will enable the authorized user to easily reorder low inventory items and a maximum number alerts the user if they reorder items that exceed that amount. To reorder inventory items, see the Reorder Low Inventory Items instructions.

The purchase price is also added to the screen. If the item is available for sale to a member, as in when an inventory item is used for member maintenance work orders, the sale price can also be added. This sale price will auto-fill the appropriate material cost field in any work order invoice that may be generated for the member when maintenance or handyman work is completed.

As always, click Update at the top left of the screen when edits and additions are made to the system.

To add existing stock not currently in inventory, open the “In Stock” tab and click the Click here to add new item link.

The detail fields will open in the tab grid.

Select the vendor from the Vendor menu.

Key the location where the inventory will be stored.

The Received Date will be populated with today’s date, but can be edited. If the item requires an Expiration Date, it can also be applied here.

Add the Quantity of items to be added to inventory.

Add the Purchase Price of each item. The system will auto-calculate the total Amount and display it immediately.

The Added By will be auto-populated when the record is refreshed.

Save the record by clicking the Update button.All new inventory items will display in the Inventory screen grid.

Binding Cash & Income Accounts for Inventory Sales

This workflow is provides so that the sales of any cost center can be managed independently of other cost centers by using different accounts.

For example, if the marina sales of the inventory items are managed in a different income and cash account than the camp grounds or golf course, even if they are the same item, each cost center can be assigned a different income and/or cash account.

If at least one account does not have Cash and at least one account does not have Income designated in their Account Type menu, then no option will appear in these menus.

To manage these menus, select and account from the Chart of Accounts sub-menu option under the General Ledger main menu option, and you will see Account Type, Account Use, and Balance Type menu on the account details screen grid.

Find the accounts you want to designate for managing Cash and Income for inventory sales transactions and make sure either Cash or Income has been selected from the Account Type menu, and click Update.

Expand the Department main menu option and select the Cost Center sub-menu options.

The Cost Centers will display in the screen grid.

Click on the appropriate cost center. This will navigate the user to the specific cost center details screen.

The bottom half of the screen is dedicated to two information tabs. Click the Inventory Settings tab.

The details that will appear offer Income and Cash accounts menus. Select the appropriate Income and Cash accounts from these menus.

In many instances, a more granular definition of accounts is needed so connecting different accounts is better managed in individual invoice types, such as gasoline, Service parts, etc. If that is the case, then these inventory settings should be left blank.

Always click Update when changes to record details are made.

Add new Purchase Order (PO)

Adding purchase orders and approving them is typically a process used for authorizing the expense. There are many steps along the process workflow that can require authorization, so we should keep this in mind as we move through the process. Making a quick purchase without a PO, and the purchase authorization (PA), is also possible. But system users will be required to have authorization to do this.

To add a new Purchase Order to the system, expand the Accounts Payable main menu option, expand the Invoices sub-menu item, and select Purchase Orders.

The Purchase Orders screen grid will appear. Click the Add New Purchase Order button.

When the new purchase order record screen opens, select the Vendor from the menu of authorized vendors, select the person requesting the order from the dynamic menu, use the Description text box for a short comment, use the Type menu to categorize the order (managed in the Value Lists), select the day the purchased items are needed, and select the payable account.

To complete the Purchase Order, at least one item must be added to the Items tab details.

If the item is from Inventory, check the Is Inv checkbox. The Description field will then dynamically display only items from inventory.

If an inventory item is selected from the description menu, all relevant accounts and prices will auto-fill the screen grind.

Fill the Quantity field and the screen with calculate the Amount.

When all information is correct, click the ‘Complete’ button at the top of the screen.

The option to require approval from an authorized administrator is currently the default process, and provided. Therefore, the ‘Approve’ option must also be selected before the process can continue. This button can be deactivated for workflow that does not require authorization. Approved records are ready for received items and payment of the vendor’s invoice.

There is also a Rejected option in the event that administrator decides to reject the PO. A rejected PO will be closed and any reorder attempt must begin with a new record.

A rejected PO will be closed and any reorder attempt must begin with a new record.

Receive Order

Once approved, two new tabs will appear in the top left corner of the Items tab grid when the Approved button is selected by the authorized user – Receive Order and Create Invoice.

The next step in the PO workflow is to confirm that the ordered items have been received so that payment for the items can be processed. In the New Purchase Order screen, click the Receive Order button and the Receive Purchase Order popup window will appear.

Apply the correct value to the Quantity Receiving Now field by clicking inside this field. A default value will appear there that will equal the full amount of the Purchase Order, but this value can be edited if the full PO amount was not fulfilled.

Comments can be added to the Received Purchase Order popup window.

Add the location so the system can track where the received material is located.

When appropriate information is applied correctly, click the OK button. The popup window will then disappear and you will be returned to PO screen. Always click the Update button when new data or changes are applied to records.

The updated PO will also provide the ability to expand the order item in the Items tab to reveal more detail by clicking the + box in the far left column of the item row.

Create Invoice Record from the Purchase Order

This part of the workflow process begins when an invoice arrives from the vendor. So far, we have [1] created a purchase order for items, [2] authorized the purchase order, and [3] recorded the ordered items that have been received from the vendor.

In order to authorize the payment of an invoice that is received from that vendor, it is important to assure – within the system – that the items orders and the items received match, and correspond eth the dollar amount represented by the vendor on the invoice.

When the purchase order is updated, completed, and approved, click the Create Invoice button in the top left corner of the Items tab.

An Add Invoice popup will appear.

Select or add a new batch.

Add the Invoice Date.

And click OK.

A popup will confirm that the invoice record has been created.

Click OK and when the popup disappears, and click Update at the top of the PO record details screen.

When Update is clicked, the invoice record has now been connected to the PO and as the popup says, the new invoice will appear in the Invoices tab of the PO record.

You can also now go to the Search/Add Invoices grid, open the invoice, and see the Invoice there.

From either this screen, or the from the Invoices tab of the PO record, you can now click on the Invoice number to navigate to the Invoice detail screen to complete all the necessary fields.

From either link, the new Invoice record detail screen will appear with the appropriate information auto-filled.

You should now begin completed the record detail on this screen.

Add the invoice number from the vendor’s invoice to the Vendor Invoice # field.

Assure that the Payable Account is correct, and if any Tax or Shipping is due, fill the appropriate fields with the dollar amount.

Make sure the Due Date and the Posting Date are correct.

Vendor payment terms are defined in the AP Settings tab of the Vendor details screen. This is where Net Days, Discount %, Discount Days, and other related information should be recorded.

If no Net Days is added in the available field, 30-days will be added by default.

The Discount Date will auto-fill from the Vendor Details. The Due Date will auto-fill with the Net Date plus the Vendor’s Invoice Date Due Date and Vendor’s Invoice Date will remain editable

Posting Date will remain with the transaction through to its actual release to the General Ledger.

It will remain editable, but should remain as the date that a correct invoice was represented by the vendor, regardless of when it is fully paid and posted because this is the date that impacts the accounting period, and period closings.

Again, this completion process is all about taking the data from the vendor’s approved invoice and adding it to the invoice record, so Due Date, Vendor’s Item Total, Vendor’s Total, Balance, etc, should match the vendor’s invoice.

In the Items tab, add a description to define the accounting transaction, which may be different than the Invoice description.

If the invoice does not contain the information you expect to see, invoices are generally returned to the vendor for correction, in most cases.

When changes are made, click Update.

Click the Validate button in the top left corner. If all totals are correct, no error will display.

Validating, in this case, means that all the intended dollar amounts for the items you ordered match the vendor’s item dollar amount total. In effect, all things needed to correctly post the transaction must be correct – purchase order total, received items, and the invoice total, should match. If they do not, the system will display and error with an explanation when you click Validate.

If the first delivery of items did not satisfy the order, or if part of the delivery must be returned for some reason, the user will simply apply the number of items that are kept, click Update, and then return later to complete the PO record. This many happen several time before the order record is completed and the invoice is paid in full.

In most cases, if a partial order is received, and the association is prepared to pay for the partial order, the original invoice is typically returned to the vendor so that they can provide an updated and accurate invoice reflecting the partial number of items.

Authorization for specific system users to perform the Validate step can be set up in the system’s security access module. Please contact your system support specialist for more details.

Closing and Posting Invoice Batches

In order to process payments on invoices, the invoice batch must first be closed, so expand the Accounts Payable main menu option, expand the Batches sub-menu and select Invoice Batches.

The AP Invoice Batches screen grid will open and all batches will appear.

Open the appropriate batch by clicking on the batch number.

The Batch details screen will open with all the invoice transaction listed in the Invoices tab.

The invoice grid row will appear in red if the invoice is not ready for posting and the batch will not post if at least one invoice record is not completed correctly. If this is the case, click the invoice number and complete the invoice record.

When all invoices are correct and updated, close the batch by clicking Close.

Closed batches can then be approved, so click Approve. The Approve workflow can be an action reserved by system administrators with the specific task assigned.

Approved batches will refresh displaying the Post button.

When the batch is posted, you can create a payment.

Create a Payment Transaction

Expand the Accounts Payable main menu option, expand the Payments sub-menu option, and select the Create Payments button.

The Create Payments screen will open displaying display Batch, Payment Date, Banks Account, Payment Type, the Start Check #, and a Create Payment button.

If a payment batch is open, it will appear at the top of the screen by default, but If a batch is not open, open a new batch by clicking the green plus icon.

Select the Payment Data. Select the Bank Account. Select the Payment Type. Enter the first check number to be used.

At the bottom of the screen, you will see all invoices that are ready to be paid from all modules in the system. The A/P administrator can print checks for all invoices at once, or select individual invoices to be paid.

The plus (+) symbol at the far left of the screen grid will expand the invoice record so that more detail can be seen by the A/P administrator. It will change to a negative (-) symbol when expanded.

If more than one invoice is selected, the system will concatenate all checks into one PDF file with check breaks and prepare it for printing.

When all the information is filled correctly, and the correct record(s) are selected from the payment grid at the bottom of the screen, click the Create Payment button.

When the Create Payment button is clicked, the selected payments at the bottom of the screen will disappear since they have now been processes as paid. Only the unchecked/unpaid payments will remain.

You will also notice the Start Check# field will auto-adjust to the next check number.

The payment is now visible in the Payments screen. In the Accounts Payable main menu option, expand the Payments sub-menu option and select Search Payments.

The Payments screen will appear with the payment in the screen grid.

To close, approve, and post, the payment batch, you can navigate to the batch record by clicking on the Batch number in the screen grid or going to Invoice Batches.

The AP Credit Batches screen grid will appear.

Click on the batch number in the screen grid and the batch details screen will open.

Close, Approve, and Post the batch.

You can now verify the payment in many ways, but checking the General Ledger for the completed transaction is something you may want to always do.

When you click on Transactions, sort the screen grid accordingly to display the completed transaction.

Note: The Create Payments button will launch a new tab that will display all the selected payments, concatenated into one PDF with the check formatting that will be ready to go to the printer.

The correct formatting will require that Ithikon has the correct check format from you, and has applied the formatting to the check printing process.

Review the payments document and follow the printing instructions as they may be different from client to client, and their individual printer software. Make sure your computer is connected to the intended printer either individually or through your network.

See your IT technician if you are having a problem getting your printer to print, but if you can normally print something from your workstation, then you should be able to print checks.

When the payment batch has been posted, the payment details should appear in the Payments tab and the payment is ready to be printed to a blank check template.

You can manage check templates in Manage Template sub-menu section of the System Admin main menu item.

Please refer to the Building Templates instructional document for details on creating a template or contact your system support specialist.

Adding & Managing Checks, or Other Printable Templates

Expand the System Admin main menu options and select Manage Templates

Click Add New Template.

Create a Deposit Receipt template that can be printed for the member/vendor, if needed.

Name the template so that it can be selected and printed as a Deposit record receipt and select the Usage as “Print On Events”.

Select the template file from your hard drive that was prepared using the correct placeholders

Create Check Templates

To create a Check template, build the template in MS Word. Find the placeholders in the Template Field menu by going to Payments and selecting the Create Payments sub menu item.

Copy the placeholder simply by clicking on the appropriate menu item.

Then go to the Word documents and paste the placeholder in the appropriate position.

When the template is completed, save it to a folder on your hard drive.

Then go to the Manage Templates menu item under System Admin.

Click the Add New Template link.

The new Template screen will open where you can fill the template details.

Fill the subject field and select the appropriate Usage menu option.

Find the Check Template Word Doc you built and save it to the system.

Click Update when you are finished.

Bind the Word Doc template to the Template record by selecting the Print Setup sub-menu option from the System Admin main menu.

Select the print event and activate the dynamic Template menu.

The grid will look like this when you are done binding the Word Doc template to the AP Check Print Event.

See the Building Templates instructional document for full details on how to set up printable templates, or feel free to contact your support specialist for in-depth training and instructions.

Creating Ad-Hoc Reports to MS Word and/or Excel

You can also create reports for the payments section of this system by using the placeholders from the menu in the Create Payments screen.

Expand the menu, find the placeholder you will need, click on the placeholder’s name, and paste it in either a Word document or an Excel spreadsheet cell.

For more information on report writing, see the Building Templates instructional document or contact your system support specialist.