Select and Approve Bills for Payment

Access

Tabs:  Bill Selection, Bill Approval, Check Review, EFT Review

Use this process to create payments for AP bills. The process covers all aspects of check-run processing including inquiries on printed or pending check runs, and also allows for Electronic Funds Transfers (EFT). For payments with a status of Pending (that is, voided or not printed), you can specify an existing check run or EFT, and you can continue processing from the point at which it was saved.

 Only one pending payment can exist for a bank at a time. That is, for each bank, you must complete the current check run or EFT (if any) before starting another.

Use this area to specify a check run record or EFT batch and display its status.  

BankEnter the bank for which you want to create a payment.  If you click on the Arrow, a list of valid banks appears from which you can choose.  Once you select a bank, the Date field activates.

DateIf you select a bank for which a pending payment exists, the date and time from the existing payment displays and you cannot edit the field. If you select a bank for which no pending payment exists, the Date for New Check Run window appears, into which you enter the date for the new payment.

TimeIf you select a bank for which a pending payment exists, the date and time from the existing payment displays and you cannot edit the field. If you select a bank for which no pending payment exists, after you select a date the current time of day displays and you cannot edit the field. For payments using the same bank and payment date, unique times of day allow you to distinguish the payments.

Type

Status

Bill Selection

Use this tab to specify AP bill selection criteria for approval and payment generation.  

VendorSpecify one or more vendors for whom to create a payment. If you click on the Search button, the Vendor Cross Reference window appears from which you can choose. If you click on the Action button, the Multiple Vendor Selection Window appears from which you can choose. If you leave the field blank, you select all vendors.  If you select all vendors, all vendors are eligible for selection regardless of their Check Print Bank.  This field is inactive if you specify one or more Vendor Classes.

Vendor ClassSpecify one or more vendor classes for which you want to create a payment.  If you click on the Search button, a list of vendor classes appears from which you can choose.  If you click on the Action button, the Multiple Vendor Class Selection Window appears from which you can choose. If you leave the field blank, you select all classes.  If you select one or more vendors at the Vendor field, this field inactivates.

Include Payments

Select the bill types you want to include in the payment. You have the following options:

• Merchandise

• Pending

• Expense

• Freight

• Direct Ship

• Customer's Own Material  

• Special order Non-inventory

• Customer Refund

 For customer refund payments, if no invoice number exists for an AP bill on the payment, the program includes the customer number instead.

Include Credits

Select the credit types you want to include in the payment. You have the following options:

• Merchandise

• Expense

• Freight

• Vendor Receivable

• Service Warranty

• Adjusted Inventory

Exclude Credits

Resulting in Negative Checks

Payment Date

Select the payment dates you want to include in the payment. You have the following options:

Select with Date Type as

Start  Select the start date of the range of payment dates for the payment.  Based on payment date type defined at the Type field, the program selects all AP bills with a date on or after the specified date.  If you leave this field blank, the program assumes the earliest possible date.

CutoffSelect the cutoff date of the range of payment dates for the payment.  Based on payment date type defined at the Type field, the program selects all AP bills with a date on or before the specified date.  

Bills With Terms OnlyTo include only bills with terms discounts specified, check the box. Otherwise, leave the box blank.

Always Take TermsTo accept the terms discount on all selected bills regardless of whether the payment date falls within the terms period, check the box. Otherwise, leave the box blank.

You can click on the Save button anytime after the initial selection of AP bills.  The program saves the payment record with a Pending status.  You can re-access at any time to continue the payment.

Bill Approval

This tab displays a grid of all AP bills selected based on the criteria specified on the Bill Selection tab.  Bills sort by vendor class, vendor remit-to, bill type, invoice number, and either due date, discount date, or anticipated pay date. The information in the grid is sorted according to the Sort Detail Lines on Stub by on the Advanced tab of Payables Control Settings. The grid contains the following columns:

• Bill - AP bill key

• Invoice - Vendor invoice. Note that if the AP bill associated with the invoice has been purged, "Unknown" displays in this column.

• Remit-To - Remit-To name

• Bill Type – Short description

• Due/Pay Date - Either the due date or the anticipated pay date appears based on your selection at the Type field on the Bill Selection tab.

• Terms Date - selects bills based on terms date.

• Amount Due - Signed, credits are negative

• Discount – Signed, always negative

• Approved - Signed, credits are negative

• Edit - To edit or review bill information, click on this button. The Enter/Update Individual Vendor Invoice appears.

• Remove - To remove a selected bill from the grid, click on this button.

If you click on a cell in the Approved column, you can update the Approved amount with any value including zero.  Entering zero effectively deletes the bill from the grid.  

 Any changes you make reflect in the Check Run/Payment process. If you edit a current bill, the program re-qualifies the bill using the current selection criteria specified on the Bill Selection tab. If for any reason the bill has changed so that it no longer matches the selection criteria, a warning message appears. If you say Yes, the program includes the bill in the payment batch. If you say No, the program removes the bill from the payment batch.

Changes to remit-to information can result in new payments and/or the consolidation of existing payments.  For example, if you change the check print bank for an AP bill, the program removes the AP bill from the process.

Check Review

This tab displays a grid of AP checks for printing based on approved bills from the Bill Approval tab.  The program consolidates AP bills with the same vendor and vendor remit-to into single checks (except Customer Refund AP Bills, which are never consolidated).  To create separate checks, use the Payment Register Maintenance Screen.  Checks sort by vendor remit-to, vendor, and payment register key.  The grid contains the following columns:

• Reference - the payment register key displays.  For pending check runs where an AP payment register key has not yet been assigned, the program assigns a temporary reference.

• Remit-To – Remit-to Name

• Vendor – Vendor Name

• Amount - Check Amount

• Status

o Pending – in process, not yet printed.

o Printed

o Reconciled

o Voided

• Check – Check Number (Printed status only)

 If you double-click on a grid item, the Payment Register Maintenance Screen appears.  

This tab is active only if you disable the Process Using Electronic Funds Transfer field on the Date For New Batch Window.  When this tab is active, the EFT Review tab is inactive.

To report on a check run, use the Report Payables Disbursement option on the Actions button below.

If an approved bill results in a negative payment for any vendor remit-to, the grid highlights the payment and the Print Checks button inactivates.  To proceed, you must first address all negative payments.  

The Sort Detail Lines on Stub by field in Payables Control Settings determines the sequence in which the AP checks in the grid are displayed.

EFT Review

This tab displays a grid of electronic funds transfer (EFT) batches for printing based on approved bills from the Bill Approval tab.  The program consolidates AP bills with the same vendor and vendor remit-to into single batches (except Customer Refund AP Bills, which are never consolidated).  To create separate batches, use the Payment Register Maintenance Screen.  Batches sort by vendor remit-to, vendor, and payment register key.  The grid contains the following columns:

• Reference - the payment register key displays.  For pending EFT batches where an AP payment register key has not yet been assigned, the program assigns a temporary reference.

• Remit-To – Remit-to Name

• Vendor – Vendor Name

• Amount - Payment Amount

• Status

o Pending – in process, not yet printed.

o Printed

o Reconciled

o Voided

• EFT – Batch Number

 If you double-click on a grid item, the Payment Register Maintenance Screen appears.  

This tab is active only you enable the Process Using Electronic Funds Transfer field on the Date For New Batch Window.  When this tab is active, the Check Review tab is inactive.

To report on a payment batch, use the Report Payables Disbursement option on the Actions button below.

If an approved bill results in a negative payment for any vendor remit-to, the grid highlights the payments and the Create EFT File button inactivates.  To proceed, you must first address all negative payments.