Introduction

The Multi Proc screen allows you to "process" multiple invoices at once. To process an invoice means to:

• Authorize
• Mark the cost distribution (fiscal coding) as complete
• Approve - You will not be able to approve invoices (check boxes will not be available) if your Payment Services administrator has assigned detail line approval to the approval level. Use the Approval screen instead.

Processes can also be "undone", that is, you can unauthorize an invoice, mark distribution as incomplete, or unapprove an invoice.

Batch Numbers

When invoice payments are approved and released from Payment Services, they will be automatically assigned to a batch (this applies to all invoice payments released on the same day). If your agency records or tracks batch numbers, the “Today’s Batch Number” is displayed at the top of the Payment Services page. This number is assigned to all Payment Services transactions released that day.

Figure 1 - Batch number

Find and Select an Invoice

1. From the Payment Services main menu, click Invoice, and then click the Multi Proc tab.

2. The default view of invoices are those that have a Payment Date that fall within the "Next 30 Days". If you don't see an invoice you expect to:

a. Click the Range drop down menu to select a date range. Or you can enter a specific date range in the text boxes. Click None to show as many as possible.

b. If your agency uses Groups, and the invoice has been assigned to a group, select a Group from the Group drop down menu. (If a group has no active invoices associated with it, that group will not be available from the Group drop down menu.)

c. Click Find.

Figure 2 - Find an Invoice

2. Click Select next to an invoice number.

Figure 3 - Invoice details

3. Review the invoice details, which includes the invoice dates, vendor information, the status of the invoice, and any fiscal coding on the invoice.

4. A scanned attachments icon in the Atch column will be displayed if there are scanned documents attached to an invoice.

• Click the icon to open the Attachments screen, and on that screen
• Click View to inspect the scanned invoice or related documents.

5. To see descriptions of some of the fiscal coding fields, select a ‘title check box’ for the fiscal code to display its title. For example, select PCA Title to display the title of the PCA code. Uncheck the ‘title check box’ to hide the title.

6. To see the previous or next invoice in the list of invoices, click the up or down arrow next to Invoice # or click Select next to an invoice in the main list.

Select and Complete a Process

Authorize Invoices

1. From the Process Column drop down menu, select Authorize.

• Invoices that have already been authorized on the Invoice screen are checked.
• Invoices that have not been authorized are unchecked.
• Check boxes that appear unavailable to select indicate that the invoice has been through the final approval level.

2. To authorize or unauthorize invoices:

a. Check the check boxes of invoices to be authorized.

b. Uncheck the check boxes of invoices that you do not authorize.

c. Click Save & Continue or Save & Clear. (Either option will save the changes and leave them displayed on the Multi Proc screen.)

If e-mail notification has been enabled by your Payment Services administrator, an e-mail dialogue box will appear after saving any changes.

Figure 4 - Authorize process

Mark Invoices as "Distribute Cost Complete"

1. From the Process Column drop down menu, select Distribute. If a check box is not available, the invoice is “Awaiting Distribution” and the fiscal coder needs to enter and save the invoice's fiscal coding on the Distribute screen. If the invoice has a fiscal coding error, you may see the message that an invoice is not updated, or there is an error on the Distribute screen.

3. Check the check boxes next to the desired invoices. (Uncheck invoices to undo previous ‘cost distribution completed’ actions - this will not clear the distribution or fiscal coding, but the invoice must be completed on the Distribute screen.)

4. Click Save & Continue or Save & Clear.

If e-mail notification has been enabled by your Payment Services administrator, an e-mail dialogue box will appear after saving any changes.

Figure 5 - Distribute column

Approve or Disapprove Invoices

You will not be able to approve invoices (check boxes will not be available) if your Payment Services administrator has assigned detail line approval to the approval level. Use the Approval screen instead.

1. Select your assigned approval level(s) from the Process Column menu. If approving more than one level, you must select each approval level in order in the Process Column and complete the approval steps.

2. Check the check box to in the approval level column approve invoices.

3. Uncheck the check box to disapprove invoices.

4. Click Save & Continue or Save & Clear. (Either option will save the approval changes and leave them displayed on the Multi Proc screen.)

Figure 6 - Approval columns

5. If e-mail notification has been enabled by your Payment Services administrator, an e-mail dialogue box will appear after saving any changes.

Final Approval Processes

Select the final approval level to approve/release invoices for payment. (The approval level name is defined by your Payment Services administrator.) Invoices approved at the final level by 6:30 PM MST of the business day will be sent to STARS of the Payment Request Date. Invoices approved after that time will be sent at the end of the next business day.

1. Select the final approval level from the Process Column.

2. Check the check box in the approval level column to approve invoices.

3. Uncheck the check box to disapprove invoices.

4. Click Save & Continue or Save & Clear. Either option will save the approval changes and leave them displayed on the Multi Proc screen.

With the final approval process, three additional items are displayed:

• A PmtReqDate column - The Payment Request Date releases a payment to STARS on a specified date. See Change the Payment Request Date.
• An EffectDate column - The Effective Date processes the payment in STARS by a specified date. See Change the Effective Date.
• A Totals by Pmt Req Date table (Totals by Payment Request Date) - Shows dates of invoices and their total amounts that could be sent to STARS.

Figure 7 - Payment Dates and Effective Date

Totals by Payment Request Date

The Totals by Pmt Req Date table shows you invoice amounts waiting for release and amounts that will be released to STARS for a given date. This is shown in two columns:

• TotAmt - invoice amounts waiting for release (at any process), sorted by date
• RlsdAmt - invoice amounts that have been approved for release to STARS, sorted by date.

Figure 8 - Totals by Payment Request Date

 
1. Click a date in the Totals by Pmt Req Date table.

2. Another table will display the funds those amounts will be paid from. The balances show Encumbrance funds for encumbered invoices or the Cash Control file for cash balances. This will help you determine the final approval action to be taken for invoices.

Figure 9 - Funds shown for invoices from a specific date

 
2. Click the icon next to a particular fund to see how many other invoices are coded with that fund.

Figure 10 - Invoice(s) paid from a specific fund highlighted

Change the Payment Request Date

The payment request date of an invoice can be changed. You may want to change the date if you will not have enough funds to pay all of the invoices.

NOTE: Any final Approver can see the Payment Request Date even if the invoice is still unapproved. If the Approver is restricted from approving transactions, he/she cannot change the payment date.

1. Note the Recalculate button under Totals by Pmt Req Date section.

2. If you need to postpone payment for an invoice, locate the invoice in the invoice list.

3. Change the date in the PmtReqDate column accordingly.

4. Click Recalculate. Payment dates will be sorted in ascending order so you can see the impact of the payments over time.You can then prioritize payments.

Figure 11 - Recalculate by payment request date

Change the Effective Date

When the Payment Services transactions are uploaded to STARS, STARS uses the Effective Date to determine the month in which the transaction will process, as long as that month is open.

1. Change the date in the EffectDate column as needed to post to STARS. Note: An invoice that has not been approved will have a blank EffectDate field.

2. Make any other changes as needed, and then click Save & Continue or Save & Clear. Either option will save the approval changes and leave them displayed on the Multi Proc screen.

Figure 12- Payment Request Date and Effective Date columns

E-Mail Notification

If e-mail notification has been enabled by your Payment Services administrator, an e-mail dialogue box will appear after saving any changes. The e-mail dialogue box should indicate the list of recipients for the next approval level.

Figure 13 - E-mail notification

To send an e-mail notification

1. Highlight the recipient’s name. Hold down CTRL and click the left mouse button to highlight multiple names.

2. Type a comment if needed. Do not use special characters or symbols, including &,',“,<,and \.

3. Click Send or Queue.

• Click Send to send the e-mail immediately.
• Click Queue to save e-mail messages in a queue which will be automatically sent at the end of the day (midnight). Queue will store multiple e-mail messages for the same recipients, but only send one e-mail for each recipient with multiple invoice messages in the one e-mail.

4. After sending or queuing, a verification message will appear. Click OK, and then click X in the corner of the e-mail dialog box to close.