Managing Invoices for Agencies

Roles Involved: • Invoice Approver #1

• Invoice Approver #2

Summary:

Step-by-step instructions on assigning and

approving Invoices, creating Reconciliation

Requests, and responding to Invoice

Deductions

Last Updated: January 27, 2020

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Table of Contents

Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 2

1. Invoicing Overview ................................................................................................................................................................................... 3

2. Searching for and Reviewing Invoices ................................................................................................................................................... 4

3. Assigning an Invoice to a Level 1 Approver ........................................................................................................................................... 9

4. Level 1 Invoice Review .......................................................................................................................................................................... 20

5. Creating a Reconciliation Request ....................................................................................................................................................... 25

6. Responding to an Invoice Deduction ................................................................................................................................................... 30

7. Closing a Reconciliation Request ......................................................................................................................................................... 36

8. Level 2 Invoice Review .......................................................................................................................................................................... 41

Accessing PASSPort

To access PASSPort and log in, go to http://cityshare.nycnet/passport

Note: While navigating PASSPort you are able to easily increase its font size and readability. To do this, click the “ctrl” and “+” keys

simultaneously on your keyboard. Each time you click these keys, your web browser will zoom in and PASSPort will resize

accordingly. To reduce PASSPort’s font size, simultaneously click the “ctrl” and “-“ keys.

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1. Invoicing Overview

This user manual provides you with step-by-step instructions for the management of vendor-created invoices. They are initially

submitted by the vendor digitally through PASSPort. Once a vendor submits an Invoice, it goes through a 4-Way Match where the

system checks for a dispatched Purchase Order, a completed Receipt, no open Reconciliation Requests, and no discrepancies

between the lines of the PO, Receipt, and Invoice. After the invoice passes the 4-Way Match, it is subject to two levels of review in

PASSPort by the Invoice Level 1 and Invoice Level 2 approvers. Only Level 1 Approvers can edit Invoices, as Level 2 Approvers have

read only access. The Level 1 Approver should review all invoice details as well any submitted Invoice Deductions or open

Reconciliation Requests prior to approving for final Level 2 review.

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2. Searching for and Reviewing Invoices

PASSPort allows authorized Agency users to easily view the list of Invoices and Invoice Deductions in all statuses. To find Invoices in

PASSPort, users can search by keyword, type, status, vendor and additional fields with the advance search menu.

Follow the steps below to find an Invoice in PASSPort.

1. From any page in

PASSPort, click the

“Invoicing” button at

the top of the page.

2. Select “Browse

Invoicing” from the

drop-down menu.

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Invoice Statuses:

“Draft”: The Invoice is drafted and not yet submitted for approval.

“Matching in Progress”: The Invoice is submitted and has failed some aspect of the 4-way match,

so it is going through the match reconciliation steps before it gets to Invoice approvals.

“Approval in Progress”: The Invoice is at the Financial Approver (either approver #1 or #2) steps.

“Ok-to-Pay”: The Invoice has passed approvals and the PRC2 has been sent to FMS.

“Pending FMS Approval”: The PRC2 has been sent to FMS, but has not yet been accepted or

rejected.

“FMS Action Pending”: The PRC2 has been rejected and we are awaiting reconciliation in FMS

“Payment in Progress”: The PRC2 was accepted by FMS, but payments have not yet been

disbursed successfully.

“Disbursed”: Payments have been disbursed by FMS to the vendor.

“Canceled”: The Invoice has been canceled (either before Ok-to-pay or after PRC2 rejection).

The Browse Invoices

page is displayed. From

this page, you can

search for Invoices

associated with your

Agency, regardless of

the Invoice status.

3. Once your search

terms are entered,

click the “Search”

button.

4. Once you find the

Invoice you wish to

review or edit, click

the icon to open

the Invoice.

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The Invoice’s header

information is displayed.

On this tab, you can

review its status, vendor

name, the associated

Purchase Order, the

items purchased,

allocation lines, and any

outstanding

Reconciliations

5. Navigate to the

Workflow tab.

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After the vendor submits

the Invoice for approval,

the Invoice is visible to

the Agency and the

Invoice workflow tab

emerges. The Invoice

workflow routes Invoices

to the appropriate

Invoice Approvers in

PASSPort for review and

approval.

“Invoice workflow”: The

workflow shows you the

step an object is

currently in. An orange

step indicates that it is

in-progress, green steps

indicate a completed

step.

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“Current Approvals”: The

“current approvals”

table shows an audit

trail of all users who

have received or acted

upon notifications

related to this workflow.

To determine when a

task was assigned to a

user, view the “Validated

on (your local time)”

field. To determine when

a task was completed,

view the “Created on

(your local time)” field.

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3. Assigning an Invoice to a Level 1 Approver

PASSPort allows vendors with specific user roles to create new Invoices or Invoice deductions. Vendor-created Invoices can request

Agency payment for the full amount of the Purchase Order or any partial amount. Vendors also have the option to submit Invoice

deductions to deduct existing invoice amounts. Please note that a single Invoice might request payment for multiple Purchase

Orders, as long as the Purchase Orders originated from the same vendor.

Before an Invoice is available for your Agency’s Invoice Approvers to review, PASSPort will conduct a system check called “4-Way

Match” to determine if the Invoice can be sent to the Invoice Approvers for review. After the invoice passes “4-Way Match”, the

Invoice is available within Level 1 Approver’s queue, awaiting assignment to an Invoice Approver 1. After going through the same

assignment process for the Level 2 Approval, the Invoice is sent in a nightly batch to FMS to create a PRC2 to move forward with

payment for the vendor.

The following steps below walk through the Invoice review process from initial submission from the vendor, through the 4-Way

Match system check to the steps you will take as an Invoice Approver.

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Overview: 4-Way Match

PASSPort will conduct a

“4-Way Match” where

the system will check

for a dispatched

Purchase Order, a

completed receipt, no

open Reconciliation

Requests, and no

discrepancy between

the lines of the

Purchase Order,

receipt, and Invoice.

In this Workflow, you

can see that the 4-Way

Match has passed. The

Invoice Approvers is

now within the Level 1

Approval Queue.

Note: All Agency users

with the role of Invoice

Approver 1 will be sent

a workflow task,

requesting them to

assign the task to

themselves or another

Invoice Approver 1.

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1. Click on your profile

user.

2. As an Invoice

Approver 1, find the

specific task by

clicking on the “My

Workflow Tasks”

dropdown.

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3. You can find the

task by selecting

Invoicing in the

“Workflow type”

dropdown and

“Level 1 Approver

Queue” in the

“Activity” menu.

4. Click “Search”

Note: You can also use

the other search fields.

For example, enter the

period in which the

Invoice was submitted

using the From and To

fields.

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5. Once you find the

Invoice you wish to

assign for Level 1

approval, open the

task by clicking on

the icon.

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The Invoice tab

displays the following

info:

“Invoice Header”:

Indicates the Invoice’s

status, date, vendor,

contract, and more.

“Invoice Amount”:

Displays the gross,

total, and Net Invoiced

Amount.

“Orders/

Contracts”: Displays

Purchase Order(s)

associated with this

Invoice. Click on the

hyperlinked Purchase

Order(s) to see the

Purchase Order details.

“Payment Information”:

Once the Invoice has

been approved and

submitted to FMS, this

section will display

high-level payment

information from FMS.

“Invoice Documents”:

Displays documents

received from the

vendor.

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(displayed on the

previous page)

Products/Services: This

section provides a link

to the associated

Purchase Order and

gives information (i.e.,

unit price, commodity,

total invoiced) about

the item(s) being

invoiced.

Allocations: The

allocation section of

the Invoice tab displays

the allocation line(s)

used to pay the

Invoice. This budget

structure is carried

over from the

requisition associated

with this invoice.

“Reconciliation

Request”:

Reconciliation

Requests are a formal

way for an Agency to

log issues with an

Invoice, often leading

to the creation of the

Invoice Deduction by

the vendor.

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6. Click the icon to

display the side

panel.

7. The “Alerts /

Messages” tab

should be open,

showing any

blocking/non-

blocking alerts plus

any messages

included with this

Invoice.

8. Click on the

”Notifications” tab

to see notifications

that were sent for

this Invoice.

9. Click on the

“Workflow” tab to

assign (a) user(s) to

this task from the

Level 1 Approver

Queue.

This Invoice’s workflow

is displayed. Green

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boxes indicate a

completed step, orange

boxes indicate the step

this workflow is

currently in.

10. Scroll down to find

the Level 1

Approver box where

you will select (a)

user(s) to assign

the Level 1

Approver task.

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Note: Any users

selected as the Level 1

Approver will receive a

notification and the

task to approve this

Invoice will exist in

their workflow.

Likewise, the task will

leave the workflow of

the unselected users in

the Level 1 Approver

queue,

11. Click inside the

Level 1 Approver

box OR start typing

in the user’s name

to find the user you

wish to assign the

task. Once you find

the desired user(s),

click on their

name(s).

12. Once you see the

user’s name

populate below the

Level 1 approver

field click “Assign”.

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13. After the Invoice

has been assigned,

the Level 1

Approver Queue

workflow step will

turn green and the

Level 1 Approver

step will turn

orange to reflect

the change in

status.

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4. Level 1 Invoice Review

Once an Invoice has been assigned to an (multiple) Invoice Approver(s) #1, at least one of the selected user(s) will need to review,

edit, and approve the information in the Invoice to move it forward or return to the vendor for revision.

From the PASSPort homepage, navigate to the Invoice requiring level 1 follow the steps outlined above. Follow the steps below to

respond to an Invoice sent from a vendor to your Agency for approval. The Invoice tab is displayed. (Review page 15 for a detailed

breakdown of the information found in this tab).

Note: If you believe

this Invoice was

assigned to you by

mistake or need to

have another

conduct the review

for this invoice,

click the “Forward”

button to send the

Invoice to another

user within the

Level 1 Approval

queue.

Navigate to review

information in the

Invoice Header,

Invoice Amount,

Orders/Contracts,

Payment

Information,

Invoice Documents,

and Products/

Services sections.

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Note: If you see a

linked Invoice

Deduction with a

status of Approval

in Progress, you

must review prior

approving the

invoice. To review

this task, click on

the icon to either

assign it to yourself

(in order to review

and approve), or

forward it to a

colleague for

review.

Note: Only Level 1

Approvers can

return Invoices to

vendors as Level 2

approvers have

read-only access.

Level 2 Approvers

can only reject

Invoices to the

Level 1 approver.

As a result, Level 1

Approvers should

pay special

attention to all

invoice details and

return the invoice

to the vendor if any

modifications are

necessary.

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Note: Click on the

“Return to Vendor”

button if changes

are necessary. A

text box will appear

where you can add

comments for your

vendor to view

upon receipt of the

returned invoice.

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1. After you

complete your

review, you may

apply your Level 1

Approval when you

are ready by

clicking the

“Approve” button at

the top of the page.

Note: If you need

an adjustment

such as a discount

or reduction to be

applied to this

invoice, you must

complete the

Invoice Deduction

process or return

the invoice to the

vendor to modify

before granting

your approval to

ensure your agency

pays the correct

amount.

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2. Once the Invoice

has received Level

1 Approval, the

Level 1 Approver

workflow step will

turn green and the

Level 2 Approver

Queue step will

turn orange.

Note: Jump to the

last section labeled

“Level 2 Invoice

Review” to learn

how a Level 2

Approver reviews

and provides the

final approval for

an Invoice.”

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5. Creating a Reconciliation Request

Reconciliation Requests are a formal way for an Agency to log issues with their deliveries, often leading to the creation of the Invoice

Deduction by the vendor. Any open Reconciliation Requests will block payment from occurring; thus, Agencies can ensure that only

correct payment amounts get sent to FMS. There are two types of Reconciliation Requests, BQA and non-BQA. Only after the

outcome section of the Reconciliation Request has been completed and the Reconciliation Request closed can an Invoice be given

final approval by Invoice Approver #2. Reconciliation Requests can be created from within either a Receipt or Invoice, but can only

be linked to one or the other.

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Navigate to the

reconciliation

request by following

the same steps

outlined in the

Invoice assignment

overview.

The Invoice header

is displayed. Scroll

down on this page

to find the Create a

Reconciliation

Request button.

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1. Click the

“Create a

Reconciliation

Request”

button.

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2. Enter a

description for

the

Reconciliation

Request.

3. Click the drop-

down to select

a

“Reconciliation

Request Type”.

4. Enter summary

information in

the “Summary”

field.

5. Click “Save”.

Now that you’ve

clicked “Save”, the

Reconciliation

Request is in Draft

status.

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Note: Under

Products/Services

section, you have

the option to

specify the items

that are referenced

in the

Reconciliation

Request. To

proceed with this

option, click on the

Add items from

receipt button. A

menu will be

displayed from

which you can

select the

appropriate item(s).

6. Click “Submit to

Vendor”.

The Reconciliation

Request may result

in an Invoice

Deduction, which

your Agency will

need to approve to

apply to the

associated Invoice.

The next section

outlines this

process.

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6. Responding to an Invoice Deduction

Invoice deductions are negative invoices created by the Vendor to deduct the amount of the original invoice. Invoice deductions may

be required due to any of the following most common reasons:

1) The Receiver conducts a return or exchange of goods received;

2) The BQA recommends quality deductions or rejects the items received;

3) The Receiver requests deductions for broken/damaged items;

4) The Vendor over-invoiced against the PO.

Invoice deductions will often be triggered by a formal Reconciliation Request submitted by the Agency.

Invoice Deductions submitted by Vendors must go through one level of approval from an Invoice Approver #1. Once approved, the

Invoice Deduction is applied to the original Invoice, subtracting the amount of the deduction from the gross invoiced amount. The

new, net amount, is what is communicated to FMS in the PRC2.

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Follow the below steps

to approve an Invoice

Deduction as an Invoice

Approver #1

1. As an Invoice

Approver 1, find the

specific task by

clicking on the “My

Workflow Tasks”

dropdown.

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2. You can find the task

by choosing Invoice

Deduction Workflow

in the “Workflow

type” dropdown and

“Invoice Deduction

Approver Queue” in

the “Activity”

dropdown.

3. Then click “Search”.

4. Once you find the

Invoice Deduction

you wish to respond

to, click on the

icon.

Note: You can also

navigate to the invoice

deduction from the

Invoice Deduction tile

within the main linked

invoice.

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The Invoice Deduction tab

is displayed.

Before -

assigning this Invoice Deduction to a user(s), review any outstanding alerts or notifications associated with this Invoice by clicking the

icon.

5. Click on the

“Workflow” tab to

assign (a) user(s) to

this task from the

Invoice Deduction

Approver Queue.

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This Invoice Deduction’s

workflow is displayed.

Green boxes indicate a

completed step, boxes in

orange indicate the step

this workflow is currently

in.

Scroll down to assign a

specific user.

6. Use the Approval box

to select (a) user(s)

to assign an Invoice

Approver #1 to this

task.

Note: Any users selected

as the Approver will

receive a notification and

the task to approve this

Invoice Deduction will

exist in their workflow.

Likewise, the task will

leave the workflow of the

unselected users in the

Approver queue.

7. Click “Assign”.

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8. Click “Approve”.

The Invoice Deduction

has now been approved

and will be applied to the

Invoice.

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7. Closing a Reconciliation Request

A Reconciliation Request can – and should – be closed by its creator once the issue has been resolved. In order to close the

Reconciliation Request, find the associated Invoice and close the Reconciliation Request to allow the Invoice to be approved.

From the PASSPort homepage, navigate to the Browse Invoices page to find the associated Invoice following the same steps

outlined in the Level 1 Assignment section.

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The Invoice

header is

displayed. Scroll

down on this

page to find the

Reconciliation

Request you wish

to close out.

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1. Click the

icon to open

the

Reconciliation

Request

associated

with this

Invoice.

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2. Enter a

summary of

the outcome

in the

“Outcome”

field.

3. Click “Close

Reconciliation

Request”.

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4. Click “OK”

when the

pop-up

prompts you.

After clicking

“OK”, the screen

will show the

closed

Reconciliation

Request. With the

Reconciliation

Request closed,

the associated

Invoice can now

be approved.

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8. Level 2 Invoice Review

Once an Invoice has been assigned to an or multiple Invoice Approver(s) 2, the selected user(s) will need to review and approve the

information in the Invoice to complete the Invoice review process in PASSPort.

Follow the steps below to respond to an Invoice sent from a vendor to your Agency for approval.

Navigate to your

invoice following the

steps outlined in Level

1 assignment, with the

exception of selecting

“Level 2 Invoice

Approval Queue” from

the Workflow step

menu.

The Invoice tab is

displayed. Review page

14 for a detailed

breakdown of the

information found in

this tab.

Review information in

the Invoice Header,

Invoice Amount,

Orders/Contracts,

Payment Information,

Invoice Documents,

and Products/Services

sections.

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As a reminder, only

Level 1 Approvers can

edit Invoices, Level 2

Approvers only have

read-only access.

Payment

information/allocations

must be consistent

between the DO1 and

the Invoice to pass

FMS Acceptance. If the

allocation lines on the

Invoice are different

from the lines on the

Purchase Order, users

should adjust the lines

manually in FMS so

that the Accept

message can go

through, or reject the

Invoice and send it

back to the Level 1

Approver for edits.

1. When you are

ready to provide

the Level 2

Approval for this

Invoice. Click the

“Approve” button

at the top of the

page.

Note: If you need the

Invoice amount to be

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deducted, you must

communicate this to

the vendor through the

Reconciliation Request

process. Read how to

do that on the next

page of this User

Manual.

2. Once the Invoice

has received Level

2 Approval, the

Level 2 Approver

workflow step will

turn green.

Note: The Invoice will

now be sent to FMS to

proceed with payment

for the vendor.

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