SECTION OVERVIEW AND POLICIES

Business Units must use the Invoice Lines section of the voucher in the Statewide Financial System (SFS) to record as much information as possible about the goods or services being paid.

Process and Document Preparation:

Online Business Units

Business Units should use the functionality available in the SFS, including:

• using individual invoice lines for individual invoice items.
• copying purchase order and/or receiving information into the voucher’s invoice lines (see Section 5.E – Processing Payments Against a Purchase Order of this Chapter).
• using the invoice description field to describe the goods and services being paid for and being as descriptive as possible.
• using the Quantity, Unit of Measure and Unit Price fields to record that respective information.

Using this functionality provides the most complete information the Office of the State Comptroller needs to audit the voucher and may eliminate the need for Business Units to provide additional documentation to verify the payment.

Bulkload Business Units

A Bulkload Business Unit voucher has one Invoice Line, which only contains the invoice amount. Business Units will use the Description field and multiple distribution lines (which are referred to as charge lines in Legacy Systems) to provide as much information as possible about the payment. The following sections provide more information on Invoice Description and Distribution Lines.

Invoice Description Field

SECTION OVERVIEW AND POLICIES

Business Units should ensure the Invoice Description field is correct and appropriate based on the goods or services it is paying for.

Process and Document Preparation:

Online Business Units

Business Units should use the individual invoice lines on the voucher to record details of the goods or services it is paying. Business Units can use the Comments field of the voucher to capture additional and/or more general information related to the invoice.

For example, if a Business Unit is purchasing 10 Pens and 10 Pencils, the Business Unit must not detail the items purchased in the Comments field or use a general description of “Office Supplies” in the Invoice Description field. Instead, the Business Unit should use two individual Invoice Lines to enter two Invoice Descriptions (i.e., “pens” in the first Invoice Line, “pencils” in the second) with the Comments field left blank.

Bulkload Business Units

Bulkload Business Units should use the Description field to adequately describe the goods and services received. This information will appear in the Comments field in the SFS and is limited to 140 characters.

Distribution Line Field

SECTION OVERVIEW AND POLICIES

Business Units should ensure the ChartField String (charge line) is correct and appropriate based on the goods or services it is paying for.

Process and Document Preparation:

Online Business Units

Business Units should use Distribution Lines in combination with Invoice Lines to provide as much information as possible about the goods or services being paid. For example, if a Business Unit is paying for both desktop and notebook computers, a separate distribution line referencing the respective account codes would be used for each type of purchase.

Before entering a distribution line (for Legacy users, these are referred to as charge lines) on a voucher, the Business Unit must obtain Statewide Financial System Program’s approval of the ChartField string, which includes the Department, Program, Fund, and Account (for Legacy users, the charge line would include Object Code and Cost Center, etc.).

Bulkload Business Units

Since a Bulkload Business Unit voucher has one invoice line per voucher, Business Units should use multiple distribution (charge) lines to allocate the payment across various account (object) codes. For Legacy System users, the charge line would include Object Code and Cost Center, etc.

For example, if a Business Unit is paying a travel voucher, the Description field might say “Travel Reimbursement.” The Business Unit should use multiple distribution (charge) lines to allocate the payment across various account (object) codes such as meals, lodging, rental car, etc.

Guide to Financial Operations

REV. 03/19/2012