Objectives
This lesson involves collecting and working with sensitive banking information. Please make sure you collect this data using secure methods and store it in a secure location.
When working with import files, make sure you store the completed files securely. You should work with your IT and security departments to understand and follow your internal policies for working with secure data.
The SAP Concur import tools use HTTPS or PGP encryption and are considered secure.
For vendors to receive payments through Invoice Provider ACH, they must provide you with their banking information. Then, you must enter this information into the Concur Invoice system.
You have two ways to enter this information:
Caution
Along with adding banking information for your vendors, you should review the value in the Pay Method Type field for each vendor. You will need to set it to ACH for those vendors that wish to be paid by bank transfer.
It is also possible to make this field modifiable on the Invoice Header Form. This gives invoice owners the ability to change the payment method for each invoice. This can be very useful if a vendor wants different invoices paid by different methods.
You may require assistance from your implementation team to make this change.
Be aware that there is currently no mechanism for vendors to enter their banking information into Concur Invoice on their own. They must provide the details to you to add it to the system.
Depending on how many of your vendors opt to receive payments electronically, you may choose to enter vendor banking information manually into the system. The ability to do this is configured by Invoice Group.
For each Invoice Policy Group, you can define if vendor banking information is Hidden, Required, or Optional for Invoice Owners and Vendor Managers.
You should analyze their Invoice processing procedures to determine which roles will be responsible for gathering and entering this information.
Please note that you may not be able to edit your groups without assistance. If you do not have the ability, you can contact SAP Concur for assistance.
Allowing Invoice Owners to enter vendor banking information decentralizes the capture of this information; allowing owners to enter banking information for the vendors they are working with directly.
Allowing Vendor Managers to enter vendor banking information centralizes the capture of this information; allowing a small group of administrators to manage the process and vet the information as it is gathered.
The Hidden option makes it impossible to view or edit vendor banking information in the user interface. This option should only be used if you are managing banking information with an import.
The Required option makes banking information required for all vendors. This option should only be used if you are certain that all of your vendors will provide banking information.
The Optional option allows for banking information to be entered or left blank. This is the most flexible option and the option recommended by SAP Concur.
Once the option has been configured, users can enter the details on bottom of the vendor details screen.
The image below shows how it looks for Vendor Managers. You can select the image for a larger view.
If you have a large number of vendors or a large percentage of your vendors wish to receive payments by ACH, importing vendor banking information may be a more efficient method than adding it manually.
The Excel import is available automatically and can be used immediately. The template for the Excel import is available to users who have been assigned the Is Payment Manager? permission. Users with this access will have a Banking Import option within the Payment Manager tool.
The following steps assume you have already accessed the Concur Invoice system as a user with Payment Manager access.
Access the Invoice Tools.
Select Invoice from the Home menu.
Access the Payment Manager Tools.
Select Payment Manager from the Payments menu at the top of the screen.
Access the Banking Import Tools.
Select Banking Import from the left side of the screen.
Download the Template.
Select the Download Template button and then open the file.
Populate the File.
Populate the file with banking information for each vendor as needed, one row per account. You can use the Vendor Banking Import Definitions tab to learn about what information goes into each column.
Once the file is completed, save it locally.
Upload the File.
Select the Browse button to select the completed file and then select the Import button to load it.
Review the Results.
Review the results as needed. You can use the tools under the Actions button to take a closer look.
Banking information has been added for the vendors included in the file. You can repeat these steps as needed to maintain your vendor banking details going forward.
Caution
Now that vendor banking information has been added, you can start configuring the vendor payment processes. We'll start by seeing how batches are created.