The following document is intended to help departments respond to invoices that are returned from Accounts Payable. When an invoice is returned with a memo resembling this page, click on the appropriate section to view documents that will help you make the necessary corrections. Note: many of the associated documents are in PDF format you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader (click here to download.)

Accounts Payable cannot process the payment requested against the PD referenced above because of a problem with either the purchase order (PD) or with the documentation that has been submitted.  Please correct any errors and return the corrected paperwork to the sender of this document.  The payment will be processed once the corrections have been made. 

 

Please direct any questions about processing/modifying purchase orders (PDs) or receivers (RCs) to the Financial Systems Helpline at 7-3777 or stop by an EPS lab session.  More details are also available at the Financial Systems website, http://www.northwestern.edu/finsys/ .  Please direct all other questions to Accounts Payable Customer Service at 1-7339.

 

Section A: Adjust Commodity Lines- The commodity lines on the invoice do not match the commodity lines on the PD.  Please review the PD and the invoice and then modify the PD so the commodity lines match the lines on the invoice.

 

Section B: Increase Blanket- The blanket purchase order(PD) does not have enough funds to cover all of the invoices that have been received by Accounts Payable.  Please review the invoices submitted against this blanket and modify the blanket to match that dollar amount.  Please consider any other invoices that will be received in the future when increasing the blanket. 

 

Section C: Contracted Services Form- All payments to individuals for services require an invoice from the individual and a signed, completed Contracted Services Form (CSF).  Once the form has been completed and signed by the individual and the department, write the PD number on each document.  For sponsored project accounts, send the paperwork to ASRSP.  For non-sponsored project accounts, send the paperwork to Accounts Payable.

 

Section D: Multiple Invoices/One Commodity Line- Multiple invoices have been sent for the PD referenced above, but the commodity line for the PD is set-up with a quantity of one.  In many cases this prevents invoices from being paid or causes partial payments.  Please modify the PD so that there is at least one commodity line for each invoice. 

 

Section E: Not in OPPH- The purchase order (PD) referenced above has not been completely approved and accepted or does not exist in CUFS at all.  Accounts Payable has received invoices or receipts for this order, but cannot process them until the purchase order has been created, approved, and accepted.  Please review the suspense file, SUSF, correct any errors, and then apply approvals that are needed.  Contact other approvers if necessary.

 

Section F: Receipt/Proof of Payment- Reimbursements require an itemized receipt and proof of payment to be processed by Accounts Payable.  Payments with cash should indicate that on the receipt.  Payments by check should be accompanied by the cancelled check and payments by credit card should be accompanied by the signed credit card slip or a copy of the credit card statement.

 

Section G: PD Closed - The purchase order (PD) referenced on the attached paperwork has been closed or cancelled.  Please review the paperwork, create a new PD, and reference that number clearly on the paperwork.

 

Section H: PD Over Tolerance- CUFS allows for payments up to 50% over the amount of the purchase order (PD).  Accounts Payable cannot process the attached invoice because it is over the tolerance amount and/or tolerance has been set for N or no.  Please process a modification to increase the PD, and/or to change tolerance to Y or yes, to allow for the payment of the attached invoice and any others that may be received.  Also, check to see if an additional receiver is needed.

 

Section I: Vendor Doesn’t Match- The vendor on the attached invoice does not match the vendor on the purchase order (PD).  Please cancel the PD and create one with the correct vendor code.  Reference the new PD number on the invoice before returning to Accounts Payable.

 

Section J: Payroll Payment- The attached payment request cannot be processed through Accounts Payable and will need to be processed through Payroll.  The payment request is either for a person who is already on the University Payroll or is a payment for an employee type of service.  Please cancel the purchase order (PD) and submit the appropriate paperwork to Payroll.

 

______Other- ____________________________________________________________________________________

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.