eprocurement and epayables in higher education elizabeth palian, senior systems support analyst...

eProcurement and ePayables in Higher Education

Elizabeth Palian, Senior Systems Support Analyst

Scott Brechtel, Purchasing Manager

Jerri Painter, AP Supervisor

UNC Charlotte

Session Etiquette

• Please turn off all cell phones.

• Please keep side conversations to a minimum.

• If you must leave during the presentation, please do so as quietly as possible.

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Introduction to 49er Mart

Elizabeth Palian

49er Mart System Administrator

Business Systems Analyst

Financial Data Administration

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• Projected enrollment of 35,000 by 2020• Record high of 26,234 students enrolled this Fall. • 19 PhD programs, • 3,000 Faculty & Staff

• Fiscal Year July 2011-June 2012• Average Monthly Spend = $5,516,266• Highest Single Month Spend = $12,315,091• 27,224 POs• 35,055 Invoices

• 10,282 Electronic Invoices (30%) (Current FY = 33%)

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Procurement

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Payment Process and PlatformObjectives

• Reduce Cycle Time• Eliminate Paper• Electronic visibility into supplier catalogs.• Electronic Approval Workflow• Controls for Policies• Direct Spend• Cost Savings• Consistent practices and processes across departments. • Capturing, Reporting, and Analyzing Spend Data and Behaviors• Identify process improvement opportunities. Ease of implementation of

process changes.

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Timeline of the Selection and Implementation of the Procurement Solution

• November 2009• The UNC General Administration selected SciQuest as it’s preferred

system wide (16 university campuses) eProcurement solution.• February 2010

• UNC Charlotte announced plans to implement the SciQuest eProcurement solution.

• 9 member implementation team announced.• July 2010

• 49er Mart Go-Live began with select departments .• December 2010

• Entire campus completes transition to 49er Mart for procurement needs.• January 2011

• Go-Live for Accounts Payable.

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Where We Are Now

• 70% of PRs complete the Approval Workflow Process and transmit POs to Suppliers in less than 1 day.

• Another 20% within 2 days.• 8% within 6 days.

• Suppliers as of August 2012• 23 Hosted Catalogs• 18 Punch-Out Suppliers• 4,000+ Non-Catalog Suppliers• Receiving cXML invoices from 14 Suppliers.• Transmitting cXML POs to 17 Suppliers.• On-going supplier enablements.

• Spend Analysis• Aggregating Spend• Contract Compliance

• On-going enhancements in responses to experiences , environmental changes and new opportunities.

• SciQuest Upgrades 3 times a year.

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Campus Users• User access is configurable.• All active, full time employees and university temporary

employees have access to 49er Mart.• User Id activation and profile data updates are automatic

through integration points with the ERP.• User profile data controls user Accounting Code access.

• Security access is maintained in the ERP.

• As of Feburary 2013• 2,224 Users

• 478 Approvers• Average 748 Unique Users per Month FYTD

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Training Methods, User Resources and Interaction• Moodle on-line Training/ Reference• On-Line Manual within the application • Organization Message on the home/shop screen.• User Emails (49er Mart Smart / 49er Mart Alert)• Monthly User Forums• FAQs• IT Service Desk• Periodic Support Forums that include: Purchasing, Accounts

Payable; Travel & Complex Payments; and others related to topics of discussion (example: Fixed Assets).

• Implementation training methods included:– Focus Groups Super-User Training Videos– Classroom hands-on training Classroom Assistance

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Shopping Processes

Scott Brechtel

Senior Purchasing Agent

Purchasing Department

Member of the 49er Mart Implementation Team

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Creating a Shopping Cart

• Multiple resources in SciQuest assist campus users in placing orders.

Hosted Catalogs Punch-out Catalogs

Non-catalog orders Customized Forms

• One shopping cart can be built to order all items a user needs in a single session.

• Multiple suppliers’ items can be ordered at the same time and the system will generate separate PO’s to each.

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• Shoppers build carts through the addition of items either entered as non-catalog or built through one of the available catalogs.

• Showcased suppliers display UNC Charlotte’s Hosted catalogs.

• Punch-out catalogs are grouped below the showcased suppliers.

• Customization options for the catalog layouts continue to be added.

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• Hosted catalogs are a database of all the items contained in the contract with that supplier.• Price file is maintained by the vendor and then

updated on a regular schedule.• Every new price file must be approved by the institution

before it becomes active on the site.• Pricing and other details are verified.

• Consistent and uniform look. • “Shop at the top” will search all hosted catalogs.• Simply select items and add them to the shopping

cart.

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Punch-out Catalogs

• Punch-out catalogs direct the user to the suppliers customized external website.

• The look varies from supplier to supplier.• Pricing will be the contracted pricing secured by the

institution.

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Non-Catalog Items• Users are still able to order from any vendor.• Item numbers, descriptions, and prices will be entered

directly by the user.

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Specialized Forms• Specialized forms can be utilized for specific

purchases.• Customizable.• Limitless number of form types.

• Example is UNC Charlotte’s Change Request Form.• Forms address specific institutional needs.• Can control processes.• Workflow specific processing

• Forms can have their own workflow within the master workflow based upon the type of form.

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UNC Charlotte Change Request Form

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Requisition Workflow• After the addition of all items is complete the user will

enter the rest of the required requisition data.• Shipping • Accounting Codes• Notes• Attachments

• Once complete, the user places the requisition into workflow for approval.

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Approval Workflow• Approval workflow is determined by the institution.• Configurable to any standards and requirements that must be

enforced. Examples of Approval Step triggers:

Accounting Codes Dollar Values

Forms (and fields on forms) Line item flags (ie. Hazmat) • At UNC Charlotte, all requests must have at least one

approver.• A user cannot approve his own request.

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eProcure to ePayables Workflow Process

• Once all workflow approvals are complete the PO is generated and communicated to the ERP system at UNC Charlotte, Banner.

• The ERP system returns a UNC Charlotte PO number to 49er Mart

• 49er Mart distributes the PO to the supplier.• System can distribute via CXML; fax; email.

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Receipt Process• End users must enter a receipt document onto the

system as proof of receiving the goods or services.• Partial receipts are possible and users enter information

only for the actual items that have arrived.• Simple process to revise quantities for items not

received in full and complete the document.• Receiving is one component of the three-way match

required at UNC Charlotte.• Missing receipt information will prevent invoice payment.

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3- Way Match

• Vendors invoice for the goods/services.• The system checks for a three-way match between the

PO, Receiving, and the Invoice.

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Accounts Payable

Jerri Painter

Accounts Payable Supervisor

Member of the 49er Mart Implementation Team

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Accounts Payable• Accounts Payable is divided into two areas.

• Invoice Processing • Purchase order payments – 49er Mart• Capital Payments –functionality has been added to

facilitate these in 49er Mart, that transition is under development.

• Student Accounts • The Library Payments• Payroll invoices

• Travel and Complex Payments processes (Non-PO Payments)• Payments to individuals (non-incorporated) require tax

considerations and are currently processed outside of 49er Mart.

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ePayables Has Improved Efficiencies

• FY2010 – Accounts Payable touched all invoices.• FY2011 – 3,968 were not touched. (Settlement was live

for 5 months.)• FY2012 – 10,342 invoices were not touched.• Meeting the 5-7 day turn-around goal.

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Invoice Workflow, Invoice Tolerances, and Matching are Configurable

• Workflow• Customized steps and rules can be applied to the invoice workflow.• Completed and transmitted to the ERP for payment or routed to the

Shared Exception (unmatched) Folder.• Invoice Tolerance options are applied at the line item level.

• UNC Charlotte tolerance settings include:• unit and extended prices must be no more than the lesser of

10% or $50.00 more than the PO price.• Additional S&H charges are allowed up to $50.00.

• Matching • UNC Charlotte requires 3 way matching (PO, Receipt & Invoice).

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Electronic Invoices

• Invoices are currently received electronically from 14 vendors.

• These vendors were selected as our highest invoice volume vendors. These invoices flow directly into 49er Mart, link to the associated PO and begin the invoice workflow process.

• If there are no problems with this invoice and it meets all of the workflow criteria, it will integrate directly to the ERP without any AP staff member intervention.

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Flipping POs into Invoices• To enter an invoice we simply flip the purchase order into

an invoice. • This populates the PO fields and leaves only a few fields

(Supplier Invoice No., any discounts…) to be completed.

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Completing the PO Flip• Select the line items to process for payment for this

invoice.

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Automated eMail Notifications Improve User Receiving Compliance

• Notification that an invoice requires a receipt.• Reminder that their order currently has one or more

unmatched invoices because of missing receipts. Options to: • begin sending daily reminder emails after x days; • stop sending receipt reminder emails after y days.

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• We have created Exception Folders in the AP workflow. • The folders are designed to catch problems with invoices

after they are processed but before going to the ERP system.

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Exception Folder Item Detail• Unmatched items are easily identifiable with highlights

and details.

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Comment Section• The invoices will stay in the exception folders until all

issues are resolved.• This allows us to keep all unmatched invoices in one

central area.

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Invoice Error Queue• Integrating a matched and approved invoice to the ERP is an

automatic process (this is configurable) and may result in transmission errors.

• Examples of transmission errors:• PO Closed; Line item Closed; duplicate invoice #.

• These errors are returned from the ERP and require research and changes to the invoice or possibly the PO in one or both of the systems before resending the invoice.

• Invoice integration errors also sometimes require escalation to SciQuest or ERP support.

• University Incident logs were created as a useful tool for tracking errors and recording resolutions.

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Collaboration

• Improving processes requires the cooperation, communication and creativity of the people

• that are most directly involved, impacted and knowledgeable.

• Campus Users• Purchasing • Accounts Payable• System Administration• Campus IT• Application Support – SciQuest and ellucian• Supplier IT and Account Contacts• Campus Decision Makers

eprocurement and epayables in higher education elizabeth palian, senior systems support analyst...

Documents

higher education procurement

higher education introduction

higher education timeline

sciquest eprocurement

campus users user access

punchout suppliers

user resources

electronic invoices