Ball State UniversityEducation Redefined

Changes in SciQuest/New Payables Information Effective 12/1/14

Ball State UniversityEducation Redefined

Reminder: Formal Procurement Methods• There are two formal procurement methods: the purchasing

card (‘p-card’ or ‘procurement card’) and the purchase order.– Purchasing Card:

• Benefits – eases the purchasing process (less approvals than a SciQuest payment request), University receives rebate on all p-card spend

• Drawbacks – cannot be used to make certain purchases, there are dollar thresholds per transaction and per month, not all areas (can) have purchasing cards

– Purchase Order (‘catalog’ or ‘non-catalog’ request in SciQuest):• Benefits – vendor receives the University’s terms and conditions, so no invoices will be

sent until after goods are shipped/services provided; aides in our tax-exempt purpose• Drawbacks – not feasible in many instances

• In both cases, purchases are either invoiced directly to the University or paid for directly with University funds, which is a requirement in order to make tax-exempt purchases (per the State of Indiana).

Ball State UniversityEducation Redefined

“Non-PO” Payments• There are many types of payments where a purchase order is not

feasible: utility payments, subscription renewals, payments of settlements, payments to performing artists/speakers, reimbursement requests, etc.

• There are currently three methods to submit a “non-PO” payment request: the After the Fact (SciQuest), Direct Pay (SciQuest), and the Banner Direct Pay (paper form).– After the Fact: used for non-food reimbursement requests, subscriptions/dues, and

situations where you already have an invoice; invoice is entered manually and a receipt is required if request exceeds $1,000

– Direct Pay: used for food reimbursements, 1099-reportable payments, and situations where no invoice is present; an automatic invoice is generated after the requisition is approved and there is no receipt requirement

– Banner Direct Pay: used for confidential payment requests (medical payments, settlements, etc.); currently being used for other payments which are not “confidential”

• These requests, unlike catalog/non-catalog requests, are not sent to the supplier for fulfillment, so the vendor does not receive the University’s purchase order terms and conditions.

Ball State UniversityEducation Redefined

Issues With Current Non-PO Processes• Which form do I use?• After the Fact requests returned to be put on Direct Pay request and vice versa• After the Fact requires receiving• Users are both attaching documents to SciQuest and then must send original

paperwork to the Accounting Office• Payment processing delayed due to Accounting Office’s requiring original

paperwork• Accounting Office receives no notification if something is attached to an After the

Fact request; causes open encumbrances and confusion/delay• Vendors lack of visibility-Direct Pay request does not include vendor invoice

number; confusing for vendors to know what is being paid for• Inaccurate invoices-address selected on Direct Pay request (‘PO’ address) different

than address on automatic invoice (‘AP’ address)• Inaccurate commodity reporting – Direct Pay has its own commodity code• No formal way to track invoices needing special handling (send enclosure with

check; hold for pick-up, etc.)• Banner Direct Pay form skirts formal vendor creation process

Ball State UniversityEducation Redefined

1. New SciQuest Form: Non PO Payment Request Form• Replaces the Direct Pay and the After the Fact form while retaining

Direct Pay and After the Fact workflow• Combines elements of both forms; same amount of data entry as

before• Original paperwork no longer sent to Accounting Office• Forms are not sent to the supplier to be fulfilled• Attachments visible in SciQuest only; no mechanism to pass

attachments to BDMS• Document retention – Accounting Office keeps current fiscal year and

prior fiscal year; anything prior to last fiscal year is destroyed (so long as it is scanned); Accounting Office will not visit departments to ensure the receipts are being kept

• Training materials/procedures will be available by 12/1 in the ‘Finance Module’ section of the Banner Training Materials section of the my.bsu.edu sign-on page

Ball State UniversityEducation Redefined

Issues With Current Non-PO Processes• Which form do I use? • After the Fact requests returned to be put on Direct Pay request and vice versa

• After the Fact requires receiving • Users are both attaching documents to SciQuest and then must send original paperwork to

the Accounting Office • Payment processing delayed due to Accounting Office’s requiring original paperwork

• Accounting Office receives no notification if something is attached to an After the Fact request; causes confusion/delay

• Vendors lack of visibility-Direct Pay request does not include vendor invoice number; confusing for vendors to know what is being paid for

• Inaccurate invoices-address selected on Direct Pay request (‘PO’ address) different than address on automatic invoice (‘AP’ address)

• Inaccurate commodity reporting – Direct Pay has its own commodity code

• No formal way to track invoices needing special handling (send enclosure with check; hold for pick-up, etc.)

• Banner Direct Pay form skirts formal vendor creation process

-Only one form

-Purchasing/Accounting will not return DP for ATF and vice versa-No receipt requirement

-Attaching only

-Expedited payment requests

–Accounting included in workflow chain

–More info now sent to vendor

–User chooses remittance address

–More accurate tracking/reporting of spend by commodity code

-User chooses option which can be reported on

–All vendor creates through the ‘New Supplier Request’ form

Ball State UniversityEducation Redefined

2. Payment Submission Flow Chart• Some types of payments are allowable under one funding source

but not another• Some payment requests require the completion of certain forms

while others may require the completion of different forms• The ‘Payment Submission Flow Chart’ combines all of that

knowledge into one document; goal is to help guide users on how to submit payment requests for different payment types

• Flow chart is grouped by items with the biggest tax consequence• Chart layout:

– Diamonds are decision points, white boxes are actions, and red boxes are ‘end-of-process’ points

– Underlined items are clickable links to forms or policies– Chart should indicate what SciQuest form to use and what FOAPAL to use

(where applicable)

Ball State UniversityEducation Redefined

2. Payment Submission Flow Chart (cont.)• Highlights:

– New ‘Request for FNIS Access Form’ should be completed by foreign individuals (not foreign entities); vendor will receive an e-mailed questionnaire which can be uploaded into tax analysis software to determine if the University has a withholding obligation

– ‘Statement of Disclosure of Pecuniary Interest’ should be completed if attempting to pay an employee (non-reimbursements); Board of Trustees determines whether to pay the employee or not

– If paying for a visiting artist/performer/speaker, a contract should be completed prior to the payee’s visit; contact the Contracts Office for assistance

– Separate policies exist for paying research participants, paying for gifts/scholarships, and paying for electronic devices (if a reimbursement)

– Reimbursements of food purchases should include itemized receipts and not summary receipts

– Donations are not permitted with University funds; only University Human Resource Services may submit a donation (for a memorial only)

Ball State UniversityEducation Redefined

3. Sales Tax Procedure• The ‘Procedure for Collecting and Paying Sales Tax’ outlines

University obligations regarding sales tax when both selling or purchasing goods

• The Procedure contains specific examples to help alleviate any confusion regarding sales tax issues

Ball State UniversityEducation Redefined

4. Notes From Purchasing Services• Encumbrances:

– Departments will receive an e-mail on 11/24/14 which will contain a list of each department’s open encumbrances; the e-mails will be sent for departments to confirm which purchase orders on the list can be closed

– Going forward, departments will receive quarterly e-mails with lists of open encumbrances needing departmental review; an e-mail will also be sent prior to the fiscal year-end which will contain instructions specific to year-end.

– Responses to these e-mails should be sent to procurement@bsu.edu; Purchasing will close any unidentified encumbrances every quarter

• Standing orders:– New ‘Standing Order’ checkbox used to indicate if an order is a standing order– New ‘Standing Order End Date’ field-because not all standing orders end when

the fiscal year ends, this field will allow users to enter the end date for a given standing order; departments will know which standing orders are expiring

– Both fields are now reportable options in a ‘Document Search’ from SciQuest; can see which standing orders exist for a given department

Ball State UniversityEducation Redefined

5. Wire Request Form• Current process to pay a vendor via wire:

– One of two paper forms completed and routed manually for signatures– Payments made via wire transfer are recorded in Banner through a bank

adjustment journal voucher and not through Accounts Payable, causing inaccurate vendor reporting

– Because payments are not recorded on a vendor record in Accounts Payable, vendors paid via wire are not subject to the formal vendor creation process (‘New Supplier Request’ in SciQuest)

• New process to pay via wire:– Users complete the ‘Wire Request Form’ in SciQuest– Approvals go through same workflow routing as any other SciQuest request– When payment has been made, the Accounting Office will create an

invoice/check in Accounts Payable, so now payments via wire will appear in users’ budgets as any other invoice does

– Vendor history now viewable in Accounts Payable– Training materials/procedures will be available by 12/1 in the ‘Finance Module’

section of the Banner Training Materials section of the my.bsu.edu sign-on page