Monitoring Check Payments

You complete the following tasks using the Invoice Payment Manager tool:

Track payment flow

The Invoice Payment Manager empowers you to track cash flow and seamlessly manage payment funding requirements. Within the Monitor Payments page, you:

• Have detailed control over payment processes for vendor invoices
• Can filter data to view statuses such as Open, On Hold, Closed, Pending Release, and Sent Batches.
• Enhance flexibility and precision in monitoring payments through data filtering options based on Close and Sent dates.

What is a batch?

• Automatic Configuration

  Batches do not need to be configured. They are automatically created in Payment Manager, based on the Frequency configured in the Batch Settings tab.

• Automatic Scheduling

  All batches open and close automatically on a fixed schedule. All approved invoices are placed into batches automatically based on their payment due dates. You can see the time and the Close and Send Date displayed in your localized time zone based on the Close Time (configured in the Account tab) and the Close day frequency (configured in the Batch Settings tab).

• Batch Management

  Once the batches run, you can complete specific tasks to ensure vendors are paid on time.

Resolve exceptions

The Invoices Requiring Action page displays all invoices that could not be processed into valid payment demands for various reasons, such as:

• Undetermined funding accounts.
• Missing check configuration.
• Due dates.

The reasons for the failure are listed in red text in the payment demand row.

You have the following options to address these issues:

• Make payment outside Invoice Pay. Customers can handle payments outside the Invoice Pay system and mark them as Client Pay.
• Resolve the issue and reprocess the invoice. Alternatively, customers can take steps to address the underlying issues causing the payment failure and opt to reprocess the invoice within the system.

Resolve failed payment demands

The Failed Payments page presents all payment demands that have encountered failures. Within this interface, the Payment Demand row outlines the specific reasons for the failure in red text. For each invoice with issues, you can use the Actions button, which offers the following options:

• Make the payment outside Invoice Pay. You can manually handle the payment outside the Invoice Pay system and designate it as Client Pay.
• Resolve the issue and request reprocessing. You can address the underlying issue causing the failure and request reprocessing in the next available payment batch. You can accomplish this using the Schedule in Next Available Batch link.
• Change Payment Date. You can modify the payment date by selecting Change Payment Date if necessary.

Note

Resort to the Client Pay option when an issue cannot be resolved internally.

Provide additional comments to vendor (Notes to Supplier)

Remittance advice is the information accompanying a payment to a vendor that tells them what invoice numbers this payment covers and includes any additional remarks that explain the payment amount, date, or status.

The Notes to Supplier option allows you to add comments that show in the remittance advice.

You can add comments in the pay process, by opening the invoice through Payment Manager.

Adjust the due date for a payment

You have the flexibility to adjust the due date for payments, enabling you to pay early to receive discounts.

This adjustment is facilitated through the Change Dates functionality within the Payment Manager interface.

Once the proposed date is modified, the system considers nonbanking days to ensure that accuracy in the actual dates advised.

Change the payment amount

You can modify the payment amount at the invoice level, allowing for adjustments such as short payments for partial deliveries from vendors.

To change the payment amount, follow these steps:

1. Select the Invoice.

   When the demand is open, you must choose the invoice for which they want to adjust the amount. This activates the Change Payment Amount command.

2. Enter the new amount.

   You can then input the new payment amount. This field is required.

3. Optionally, you can provide remittance notes using the Payment Adjustment Notes field for vendor communication and audit trail purposes.

Payments made outside Invoice Pay (Client Pay)

A payment can be processed outside the Invoice Pay system. In SAP Concur, the Client Pay option lets you initiate a payment withdrawal.

Here's how it works:

• Removal from Payment Process. Selecting the Client Pay option removes the invoice from the standard payment process within SAP Concur.
• Status update. The invoice is marked with the Client Pay status, indicating that it has been handled outside the typical payment workflow.
• Record retention. SAP Concur retains a record of this action, ensuring transparency and maintaining a comprehensive payment history for auditing and tracking purposes.

Positive Pay is the best practice method of preventing check fraud, which is transmitting a list of authorized checks to your bank.

This involves incorporating the fields the customer's bank requires into a standardized Positive Pay extract. Then, the bank verifies each check number against the list provided: if a match occurs, the payment is processed; if no match is found, the payment is refused.

In the final lesson, we wrap things up.