Vendor Invoice Approvals is where you run a G/L Export that summarizes the dollar value for products received in [i] Merchant. This is where you will check what you received against the vendor invoices.
To access the Vendor Invoice Approvals program:
From the [i] Merchant Desktop Main Menu, select Modules-Accounting Exports-Vendor Invoice Approvals. This will open the Find Vendor Invoice Export Batch screen. This is the jumping-off point to running your Vendor Invoice Approvals export. You can find an existing batch to export, or you can create a new batch. More often than not, you will create a new batch to export.
A G/L export batch for a Vendor Invoice Approval is essentially a listing of all products assigned to an invoice from the vendor you purchased them from. What this program does is enables you to select an invoice number and then compare your costs as tabulated in [i] Merchant against the vendor's charge on their actual invoice slip. Prior to exporting a batch, [i] Merchant will force you to get rid of any variance that might be present.
How do you create a new G/L batch? It's easy.
At the Find Vendor Invoice Export Batch screen, click on the New toolbar icon at the top of the screen. This opens the frmVendorInvoiceExportBatchProperties window, where you will create the new batch.
In the "Batch Date" field, choose the date you want to use as the invoice date for the batch. In other words, if you want to run the batch for an invoice on 7/17/07, choose that date. The "Batch Date" field will default to yesterday's date, but you can change it to whichever date you want. Either key in the desired date or click on the down arrow at the right of the field and select the date that way.
To the right of the "Batch Date" field, you will see a grayed-out field: "Batch Status." This is informational and cannot be changed. It lets you know whether the batch you are currently working on is editable, verified, or already exported.
Once you have chosen a date in the "Batch Date" field, click on the "Enter vendor invoices" button at the left side of the frmVendorInvoiceExportBatchProperties window. This opens the Vendor Invoice Properties window. Within this window, you will select the invoice you want to validate.
The top of the screen is the "Vendor Invoice" section. Let's go through the fields one by one. . .
In the Vendor to pay field, select the vendor you received the invoice from.
In the Vendor invoice number field, key in the invoice number that you assigned when you received the products on this invoice. (If you did not key in an invoice number in Receiving, you can still proceed, but this process works smoother if you had entered an invoice number.)
The Invoice Date field defaults to the date you selected in the Batch Date field back on the frmVendorInvoiceExportBatchProperties screen. You can change it as needed, either by keying in the desired date or by selecting it via the down arrow at the right.
In the Invoice Amount $ field, key in the amount the vendor is charging you for the products on this invoice. This amount is the dollar amount found on the vendor's invoice slip.
The Store field will default to the store you are in. If you need to change it for some reason, however, you can.
The Accounts Payable G/L Code field is grayed out. It is strictly informational. This is the G/L Code you assigned to Accounts Payable under the Accounting Integration tab in Tools-Options. If you did not fill that field in in Tools-Options, you will not be able to validate (and then export) the batch here
The Status and Invoice ID fields are system-generated and not alterable.
Beneath the "Vendor Invoice" portion of the screen, there are three tabs--Find PO Receipts for this invoice, Add memo items, and Approve vendor invoice. The next step is to click on the "Find PO Receipts for this invoice.
When you do this, the Find Receiving Detail screen will appear. If you had keyed in an invoice number when you received the products in question and then keyed that same invoice number into the appropriate field here in Vendor Invoice Properties, the system will automatically find all of the products on that invoice and display them in the grid at the bottom of the Find Receiving Detail window. If you did not key in an invoice, you will need to run a manual search to find the products for the invoice.
Either way, once the records are displayed in the window, select them by highlighting them (using standard Windows techniques) and then clicking on the Select icon. You are taken back to the Vendor Invoice Properties window, and the products you selected are now individually listed at the bottom of the screen.
Note:
If, for any reason, you need to alter the Receiving information for any of these products, you still can. Simply highlight a product from the list and select it by double-clicking on it or pressing Enter. This will take you to the Receiving Detail window for that product, from which you can make any necessary changes. Any changes you make will take effect immediately.
Notice the fields in the "Summary of offsets" portion of the screen, at the top right, have now been filled in. The "Approved items $" field fills in with the total cost for the invoice, as recorded by the values entered in [i] Merchant Receiving.
The "Memo items $" is, for the time being, still blank. This field reflects any additional charges the vendor has charged you--for example, shipping fee. But for the time being, this field is zero.
The "Total offset items $" fields adds up the "Approved items $" and "Memo items $" fields and lists the total.
The "Variance to Invoice $" field looks at the value in the "Total offset items $" field and compares it to the figure you keyed in in the "Invoice Amount $" field. Any variance is listed here.
It is likely that there will be a variance, assuming the vendor charged you for shipping, etc.
To account for these additional vendor charges, click on the "Add memo items" tab. This calls up the Add Vendor Invoice Memo Item window. This is where you account for the additional charges by filling in the fields for the memo item. . .
Select a G/L Code for the memo item in the General Ledger Code field.
The Store field defaults to the store you are in, but it can be changed.
In the Item Description field, manually key in the memo item's description (for example, "shipping charges")>
In the $ Amount of Adjustment field, key in the dollar amount the vendor has charged you for this memo item.
When you are through, click on Save to save the changes or Cancel to back out without the system doing anything. You will be returned to the Vendor Invoice Properties screen, and if you Saved the memo item changes, you will see that the "Memo items $" field has now filled in with the dollar amount you assigned to the memo item.
Repeat this process for each memo item.
Once you have finished with the memo items, hopefully the "Variance to Invoice $" is now zero. If it's not, you may need to select some of the products at the bottom of the Vendor Invoice Properties screen and alter some of the receiving costs.
Reminder:
One way or another, you need to get the "Variance to Invoice $" field to zero. [i] Merchant will not allow you to validate a batch with a variance.
At this point, you are ready to approve the invoice.
Click on the Approve vendor invoice tab. A dialogue box appears asking if you are ready to approve the invoice. If you select No, you are returned to the Vendor Invoice Properties window. If you are indeed ready (i.e., the variance is zero), click on Yes. If any errors occur, the system will tell you what they are, and you will need to correct them before approval can occur.
Assuming the approval went through, the system will display a quick message announcing this. You are still at the Vendor Invoice Properties screen, but notice the "Approve vendor invoice" tab has been renamed. It is now the "Revoke invoice approval" tab. If you click on this tab, the approval will be revoked and then need to be approved again.
Once you have approved the invoice, close out of the Vendor Invoice Properties screen. You are returned to the frmVendorInvoiceExportBatchProperties screen.
If you need to return to the Vendor Invoice Properties screen, simply click on the "Enter vendor invoices" button at the left.
More likely, you are now ready to validate the batch.
Click on the Validate batch icon at the right of the screen. The system will generate a message letting you know that the batch is validated and ready for export. Notice the Validate batch icon is now renamed "Remove validation." If for whatever reason, you wish to remove validation, you can click on this button. (You can then validate it later.)
Notice that the "Created by" field has been filled in with the user's name who just validated this batch. The field to the right lists the date and time the batch was validated.
Now, finally, how do you export the batch? With the click of a button . . .
But, prior to exporting the batch, be sure which file format you plan to use. In the "Export File format" field, click on the down arrow at the right of it and choose either: .csv or Quick Books.
Once that has been done, simply click on the "Create Export file" tab. The standard Windows Save dialogue box appears, and you can rename the file and then save it to the appropriate place on your PC. Once that is done, a message displays letting you know the file has been exported successfully. Notice, too, the "Last exported by" field has been automatically filled in, along with the date and time and Version to the right of it.
You are done. You have created a Vendor Invoice Approvals G/L batch and exported it.
If you need to select an existing Vendor Invoice Approvals G/L batch (perhaps you need to review the information again or run the export again for some reason), you can do that:
Back at the Find Vendor Invoice Export Batch window, use standard Find techniques to select the G/L batch you wish to access. When the batch appears in the grid at the bottom of the Find screen, highlight it and click on the Properties toolbar button, or simply double-click on it. This will take you to the Accounting Export Batch window, from where you can do what you need.