Vendor invoices overview [in-depth guide]
Guide contents: New vendor invoice | Add invoice lines | Prior to approval/posting | Applying credits to invoices | Vendor credits | Schedule vendor invoice | Payments
The vendor invoice system integrates tightly with the purchase/media order system so that order details can be easily pulled onto a vendor invoice. It helps the accounts payable processing system for recording expenses for projects as well as administrative invoices.
Each vendor invoice has an approval status on it. Only approved vendor invoices can be paid using the check or credit card processing system. It is possible to set up your system to bypass the approval process if desired. In the System Setup screen, Transaction preferences options, you're able to set your approver options which allow you to approve vendor invoices when they are created automatically. In order to use this functionality, you must also have the ability to edit accounting transactions after they have been approved. Once a vendor invoice has been approved, you may select it for payment and add individual line items to client invoices.
Vendor credits are also entered as vendor invoices into the system. To create a vendor credit, you only need to make the vendor invoice amount negative. If the total amount of the vendor invoice is negative, you'll be able to apply this vendor invoice to other vendor invoices as a credit or add the vendor credit onto payments to reduce the overall amount of payment.
If you are posting WIP and creating vouchers that are not connected to orders, please be aware that you are able to select 'purchase items', 'expense report items' & 'media items' from the drop-down menu. Even if contained on the same voucher, the amounts will be sorted according to specific categories based on where the items are set up in Workamajig.
New vendor invoice
Menu > Purchasing > Today purchasing > + > Vendor invoice
Top right corner: + > Purchasing > Vendor invoice
The initial entry screen for a vendor invoice is to enter the header information of the vendor invoice:
Vendor: select 'vendor' from the drop-down list
Order number: (optional) after selecting a vendor, the drop-down list will contain open orders for the vendor. This will restrict the next screen to open order lines for the select order. If left blank, the order line select will contain all open orders for the vendor
Invoice number: enter the number provided by the vendor
Invoice date: enter the invoice date on the vendor invoice. This will also be used to set the posting date of the vendor invoice.
Overhead: (optional) this defines the invoice as overhead, thus eliminating the requirement to have a project associated with the line
Project: (optional) select 'project' from the drop-down list. Typically the order will define the project connection. This is used for vendor invoices that will be created in connection to an order. Each line added to the invoice will use the selected project.
Click NEXT to move to the line entry or order line selection.
Depending on what was selected in the initial step, the next screen will either be blank for you to begin manually adding invoice lines or selecting order lines
Add invoice lines
Manual
Click Insert line: this will allow you to enter the fields related to project, task, item, etc.
Click SAVE or click outside of the line to save the line.
NOTE: when in grid entry mode, you can tab to the next field. When you tab past the last field the system will auto-add a new line.
Admin NOTE: click on ...More > System settings to define the column/column order of the grid.
Select orders
If an order was not selected on the initial screen, click the LINES: + icon to select Add Insertion Order/Add Broadcast Order/Add Purchase Order/Add Labor (for contractor labor)
If an order was selected the "Next" screen will display the open orders lines as seen below
Selecting orders
The Select "xx" order screen will allow you to select a specific open order line to add to the vendor invoice. There are a number of fields that are editable, but there are 4 main fields that should really be of concern
1) Checkbox (far left): select the order line that you wish to connect to the vendor invoice.
2) Close: if this is the final invoice for the open order line, check the box. NOTE: If the open net entered is equal to or more than what is displayed in the open net field, the system will auto-close the order line.
3) Open net: enter the value sent on the vendor invoice.
4) Amount to bill: enter an amount to bill. NOTE: The system will auto-calculate this field based on if the order line was prebilled or not, and the commission/markup defined on the order.
Other fields to consider
Quantity: enter the quantity found on the sent vendor invoice. The system will use this number to calculate the 'open net' & 'amount to bill' fields.]
SAVE: after selecting and editing the lines as needed, click SAVE
Prior to approval/posting
Before the vendor invoice is approved/posted, in the top right corner under Summary, any available unapplied payments and/or credits will be available to apply towards the invoice.
Click on the blue 0.00 value to see a list that can be selected and applied
Once selected, from the main vendor invoice page, click on Approve or Submit.
Applying credits to invoices
Restrictions
Only credits from the same company are visible in the list.
Validations
The total amount applied to the vendor invoice must be less than or equal to the total of the credits and the applied payments.
The amount available to apply is the total amount of the credit less the amount applied to other invoices. The total applied to other invoices cannot exceed the total amount of the credit.
Vendor credits
Vendor credits are input into the system as negative invoices. The system allows you to select purchase orders onto a vendor invoice and still put in a large negative line item to create an overall vendor credit. When the total amount of a vendor invoice is negative, you'll be able to apply the open amount of the credit to other invoices. You can also use a vendor credit as a payment to a vendor. This will reduce the overall amount due to the vendor. The system allows you to apply a part of the credit directly to another invoice and another part of the invoice to be taken on a payment to a vendor.
Schedule vendor invoice
From the main vendor invoice page, click ...More > Schedule
This will allow you to set up a time interval, etc. for the invoice to be replicated in the system.
The invoice date of the current invoice is used as the starting point for generating future invoices.
After the invoices have been generated, the system will show all invoices and will allow you to perform several actions, and give you quick access to all related recurring invoices.
Initially, all invoices are created with the same status as the initial invoice. You only need to submit the first invoice for approval and all other invoices will be approved with it. You can then go to any other invoice in the list, unapprove it, and change it if needed. There is no difference between a recurring invoice and a normal invoice. Once changes have been made, that invoice will need to be approved separately.
If you change one invoice, you can select to apply these changes to selected invoices if they have not been posted or have been modified to be linked to purchase orders applied to them. Select 'update using this invoice' from the drop-down list, check the invoices you want to update and click on the GO command button. The system will update these selected invoices with the details from the current invoice.
You can also delete selected invoices by clicking the checkbox next to each invoice, selecting 'delete' from the drop-down box, and clicking on GO.
Payments
The Payments tab has two sections, the Applied prepayments section & Applied payments. The applied prepayments show up when there are any payments for the vendor with unapplied open amounts but have been posted to the GL to an unapplied payment account.
To apply a prepayment or cash advance to an invoice, you can select the Payments tab. Any posted payments will appear in this list. To post a payment without applying it to an invoice, the user will have to select an unapplied payment account. The users can then select payments and apply them to the invoice to reduce the open amount.
Restrictions
- Only posted payments are visible.
- Only payments for the same company are visible.
- You can only select prepayments before the vendor invoice is posted.
Validations
- The total amount applied to the vendor invoice must be less than or equal to the total amount of credits applied and the total amount of payments applied (either as prepayments or as payments).
- The total amount applied from a particular payment must be less than or equal to the total amount of the payment less the amount already applied to vendor invoices.
The applied Payments section will show any payments that have been applied to this vendor invoice.