Scheduling Vendor Invoice Payments

Overview

By scheduling payments, a tentative schedule of invoices and/or invoice items to be paid can be created.  Once the scheduled payments have been verified, checks can be printed for each vendor.

There are two ways to schedule tentative payments:

1. Select a group of invoices to be scheduled for payment that you will include in a payment Scheduling Batch. Use this method when there are multiple invoices to schedule and you there are selection criteria that do not include many of the invoices that should not be fully paid. After the invoices are scheduled, if individual invoices are in the batch that you do not want to fully pay, remove or reduce the tentative amount by updating the information on the individual invoice (see below).

2. Schedule the payments for individual invoices. Use this method when the selection criteria are not useful in identifying the invoice items you want to pay. You may also do this when you are only partially paying most of the invoices.

Invoices must be posted before they can be scheduled.

Scheduling a Group of Invoices for Payment

To schedule payments, navigate to the Accounts Payable homepage and click Schedule Payments.

Schedule a group of invoices by Payment Category, Vendor Category, dates, etc. Choose an individual invoice by specifying the Vendor and Invoice Number, or the Voucher Number.

Optionally, enter a Scheduling Batch number to identify items that you scheduled. You can use this number to print and post the checks. Click Add Schedule AP Payments  when done.

Click the Results tab to verify the information.

Reviewing Invoices Scheduled for Payment

After you schedule a group of invoices, run a query of invoices scheduled for payments. To do this, navigate to the Accounts Payable homepage and click Schedule Payments Reports.

Review the invoices listed on the results page. If you see an invoice with scheduled payments that is incorrect, click the Invoice Number (or Voucher Number) to view the invoice detail screen.

On the invoice detail screen, click the Sched. Payment tab. This shows the amount tentatively scheduled for the invoice. You can update the tentative gross amount and/or tentative discount for each item. To keep the invoice from being paid with the batch, zero the tentative gross and tentative discount amounts for each item. If you zero the amount of the payment, then zero the scheduling batch number as well.

If the check is not for the full amount, but the invoice is considered paid in full, then enter the full amount of the unpaid amount as the tentative gross amount, and the amount that you do not want to pay as the tentative discount. When the payment is posted, the account designated in the system parameters for vendor discounts is charged for the amount of the discount.

When all changes are made, click Update .

Scheduling Payments for Individual Invoices

If you want to schedule a small group of invoices, or their criteria cannot be defined using the method we just discussed, schedule invoices individually by updating the data directly on the invoice items. To do this, navigate to the Accounts Payable homepage and click Find an AP Invoice. Enter the desired search criteria and click Run Query. Select the desired invoice from the query results screen.

On the invoice detail screen, navigate to the Sched. Payment tab and update the invoice as needed. At the header level, you may optionally enter a scheduling batch number to include this invoice in an existing batch. If all the items in the invoice are to be paid in full, check the Pay In Full? option. This will set the tentative gross and net payment amounts to each item’s unpaid amount, and set its “Pay In Full” (PIF) flag. If only certain items are to be paid in full, add Pay in Full? on the grid next to the item(s). Otherwise, enter the tentative gross payment and gross discount, if any, for each item.

When all changes are made, click Update . If the check will be printed as part of a batch, do not enter the check date and/or number. This information should only be entered for manual payments.