In other topics, the concept and operation of the Purchase Ledger Invoice Register are covered, including the initial registration of the documents and the subsequent passing of them by the appropriate Purchase Ledger staff.
To assist document authorization by other staff within the company, such as sales, service and parts management, the Authorize invoices option allows staff entitled to use it to view details of all documents awaiting their sign-off, and to approve them or Stop them, as required. Not all Autoline installations have to authorize invoices; therefore, this option is not mandatory unless the system parameter Force Authorization is selected.
As such, this program is set to priority level one as standard, together with Display accounts. It is necessary, therefore, to give personnel required to approve documents for payment, access to the relevant Purchase Ledger(s) at priority level one.
It is also necessary to allocate each member of staff required to use this facility a PIN number, as part of their user details. If document scanning is being utilized in the registration process, you can also view an on-screen copy of the document.
To authorize invoices:
From the Autoline Master Menu, select the Purchase Ledger option and the Company you require.
The PURCHASE LEDGER menu is displayed.
Select the Authorize invoices option.
The Authorize Invoices form is displayed. You are prompted to enter your Personal Identification (PIN) Number. This authorization number is set up in your details record as defined in the User details option in the Management Menu of the System Utilities module. It is numeric only.
Enter your Personal Identification number.
If your PIN entry does not match the value held in your details record, the following message is displayed:
Incorrect PIN
Assuming a correct PIN is input, any documents requiring authorization are displayed in the grid: the account name; whether the document has been authorized or not; the reference; the document date; the value of the document, and the VAT value of the document. You can choose to Exit back to the PURCHASE LEDGER menu.
Select a document, and either click Process or double click the document.
The Refresh grid button is enabled. The Invoice Details Form is displayed showing more details of the document you selected.
Click Authorise on the document details form.
The fields Additional text and Suggested NL code become editable. These fields are optional. They give more audit trail information and give the user who eventually passes the documents for payment, more information as to where the invoice should be charged.
Click Save to update the transaction details of the document.
The Authorize Invoices grid is re-displayed, and the document that you have just authorized for payment is highlighted in grey. See Grid colour key on the Authorize Invoices Form for an explanation of colour coding.
When all documents have been authorized or stopped, you are returned to the PURCHASE LEDGER Menu.
The Authorize Invoices form is displayed when you select the Purchase Ledger option From the Autoline Master Menu and the Company you require, then select the Authorize invoices option from the PURCHASE LEDGER Menu.
Account name: Supplier account
Pass: Whether or not the invoice has been authorized
Reference: Supplier's reference
Date: Document date
Value: Value of the document including VAT
VAT: VAT value of the document
PUSH BUTTONS:
Refresh Grid: Removes any transactions from the grid that have just been authorized.
Process: Displays the Invoice Details Form
[Black]: Awaiting authorisation. The invoice has yet to be authorized.
[Red]: Last person to authorise. Denotes that the user who is about to authorize the documents is the last person in the circulation list.
[Blue]: Referred invoice line. The invoice has been referred to another user.
[Grey]: Invoice authorised. The line that has just been authorized is highlighted in grey to identify that you have authorized the document for payment.
The Invoice Details form is displayed when a document on the Authorize Invoices Form is double clicked, or the Process button is clicked after document selection. It enables you to view the details of the selected invoice. Non-editable details are displayed on this form: account; document date; document number; name of the supplier account; value of invoice; signatories to whom the invoice has been circulated, and so on.
Document details:
Account: Supplier Account
Date: Document date
Document: Document number
Name: Supplier account name
Supplier ref.: Supplier reference on the document
IR [text]: Text for, for example, Referral, Pass, Stop, or Hold
Suggested NL Code: Suggested Nominal Ledger code to assist the user that eventually passes this document for payment
Document value:
This is the value of the document:
Net: Base value of the document
VAT: VAT value of the document
Total: Total document value
Invoice register:
How the document has been split:
Stock: Assets
Other: Expenses
Authorised signatories grid:
Displays a list of authorised, circulation list signatories required to sign before documents can be passed for payment, and to whom the invoice has been circulated. This grid is enabled when you click Refer, enabling you to refer an invoice to someone else.
Tip: Clicking the Ellipsis
button enables you to search all valid, Autoline users, so that the invoice in question can be referred to another user. You must click Save to effect this change.
Num: Allowed signatories [1-10]
User ID: User id of authorised signatory
Authorised: Status of the document - for example: N for Not authorized, H for Hold, Y for Yes
Date: Date of document authorization
PUSH BUTTONS:
Close: Click this button to leave the details of the document as they are, without any further action.
Authorize: When you click this button, the fields Additional text and Suggested NL code become editable. These fields are optional. They give more audit trail information and give the user who eventually passes the documents for payment, more information as to where the invoice should be charged. After you have clicked Save, to update the transaction details, the line that has just been authorized is highlighted in grey in the Authorize Invoices grid. This identifies that you have authorized the document for payment.
Transactions: Usually unavailable, unless the system parameter Register on Batch Input in the Batch Input Tab, is switched on
Stop invoice: Allows you to enter a reason for withholding payment. The Withheld text field becomes editable. After entering this reason, the transaction details of the document concerned are updated, setting the file WR or Withheld reason code to BS for Stop and writing the reason description into the field Withhold text. That document is not re-displayed to any designated authorizing user until those two fields have been cleared.
View...[document]: If the document has been scanned into the system as part of the invoice registration process, you are able to display the document on-screen at this point.
Quick mail: Enables you to send a mail to other users, maybe to chase or query an invoice
Administrator:Allows you to access your own diary or other users' diaries on the Autoline system, and to access the internal telephone book, and so on. It is also an alternative method of sending, or viewing, internal electronic mail.
Refer...:When this button is clicked, the Authorised signatories grid is enabled, and an Ellipsis button
Hold...: This effectively sets the selected invoice back to Awaiting authorization status. The document is set to H status and, when the Save button is clicked, the grid displays the transaction in black.
Undo: If document status has been changed and saved incorrectly, this re-sets the document status.
