Accounts Payable & Travel

  News and Updates--Accounts Payable

By now, you've likely heard the news--we are experiencing a backlog due to a variety of temporary circumstances and, during this time, you may experience a delay in the processing of Accounts Payable transactions, as well as replies to e-mails and telephone calls. This is primarily due to temporary staff shortages, the implementation phase of the new travel module, Concur, as well as testing for the upgrade to Banner 9.  

We greatly appreciate your patience and assistance with mitigating delays during this time.  Please accept our apologies in advance for any inconvenience as we move through some of these big campus-wide changes this spring and summer. Good things are coming!

Below are tips for you that will allow us to process your AP requests/transactions in the most efficient and timely manner (see the Travel section below for Travel tips):

EMPLOYEE REIMBURSEMENTS/DIRECT PAYMENTS:

• We are now electronic! Visit our Forms page for information on this! We are pleased to report that the introduction of electronic submission of employee reimbursements and direct pay requests has gone very well.  While we are still experiencing some occasional minor hiccups with this new innovative process, we are excited about the efficiencies being gained.
  
  
• Please note that Employee Reimbursements are meant to be a last resort—please utilize your department’s ProCard, petty cash, or a purchase order whenever applicable.
  
  
• Before you personally pay for anything software related, run it by Mary Beth in Procurement for approval as this is the process for software—at the same time, initiate a PO for the purchase.
  
  
• If you must put in for an Employee Reimbursement, please expect a delay in the processing of your request. While we strive to get everyone paid timely, it is just simply not possible at this time to do so.
  
  
• Please do not send your Direct Payment Requests to us until they are approved and ready to be paid—we will not process unapproved requests.  Documents (employee reimbursements, direct payment requests, etc.) submitted to Accounts Payable should be ready to be paid when we receive them.
  
  
• Please feel free to look up where your document is in the queue—the easiest way for you to check the status, if you don’t have a DocuSign account, is to go to the original email from DocuSign and click Review Documents. If you find that they are sitting in the AP/Travel Manager's queue, rest assured, they are processed in date order and as time permits.
  
  
• Create your very own DocuSign account for free by visiting the OIT website: http://www.alaska.edu/oit/servicecatalog/#id=206. This is the easiest way to check the status of your documents; while it’s not necessary, it is highly recommended.
  
  
• E-mail status questions to uaa_accountspayable@alaska.edu.
  
  

VENDOR INVOICES:

• We are now electronic! Visit our Forms page for information on this! We are pleased to report that the introduction of electronic submission of invoices has gone well.  While we are still experiencing some hiccups with this new innovative process, we are excited about the efficiencies being gained here as well.
  
  
• Accounts Payable has revised the invoice approval form and made it very simple to use, based on your comments and suggestions—click here to view the links!
  
  
• Using our DocuSign PowerForms allows us to process invoices faster, and also allows us to decline it right away and provide reasoning on what is stopping us from processing the invoice.
• Please do not send your invoices to us until they are approved and ready to be paid—please submit them after the PO is created and the approved invoice is ready to be paid. We will not process unapproved requests--documents submitted to Accounts Payable should be ready to be paid when we receive them.
  
  
• Please do not send us email approvals stating, “The attached invoice is approved for payment”. This does not give us proper authorization to pay the invoice. The quickest method is to submit your invoice through DocuSign via the link on our website, which allows for approval right on the form.
  
  
  • If you are unable to submit your invoice through DocuSign, list the vendor name, purchase order number and invoice number in your email approval.

  NEWS AND UPDATES--TRAVEL

Travel is also experiencing a backlog due to a variety of temporary circumstances and, during this time, you may experience a delay in the processing of Travel Dept. transactions, as well as replies to e-mails and telephone calls. This is primarily due to temporary staff shortages and the implementation phase of the new travel module, Concur. 

We greatly appreciate your patience and assistance with mitigating delays during this time.  Please accept our apologies in advance for any inconvenience as we move through some of these big campus-wide changes this spring and summer. Good things are coming!

As noted above, we will be short staffed through July, utilizing temporary staff to assist with travel submissions.   Your patience is appreciated as we work to stay on top of the incoming Travel Authorizations and Travel Expense Reimbursements. Response times on these will likely go down again for a few months, but this will be temporary.

A couple tips for you that will allow us to process your travel requests/transactions in the most efficient and timely manner:

• Continue to submit your travel requests the same way you always have--you don't need to do anything differently while we are short staffed.
  
  
• Please ensure you have all your paperwork in order before you submit your Travel Authorization or your Travel Expense Reimbursement.
  
  
• If you have questions, please email uaa_traveldept@alaska.edu and include the Traveler’s name and ID number along with your questions.

NEWS AND UPDATES--MISC

Single-Use Account Payments: The University of Alaska Single Use Accounts (SUA) payment solution is a strategic initiative aimed at replacing check payments with card payments. By enabling vendors to receive payment from the University of Alaska on outstanding invoices via credit card, vendors will see faster payments, improved cash flow and reduced paperwork. To learn more about how SUA works, the many benefits of accepting payments by credit card, and answers to frequently asked questions about Single-Use Accounts, please visit this informational page.

  Useful Links and Resources

• Log in to TEM
• Log in to Workflow
• Log in to UAOnline

  Accounts Payable

  Travel

 

  Contact US

Accounts Payable Email: uaa_accountspayable@alaska.edu

Travel Email: uaa_traveldept@alaska.edu

Phone: (907) 786-1445