Purchase Order Invoice Processing

The following criteria must be met in order for Accounts Payable to process an invoice and schedule payment per the terms specified on the purchase order (e.g. Net 30 days from date of invoice):

• The supplier record must be complete and up to date (including all government forms and confidential data provided by the supplier via Stanford’s Supplier and Payee Request Portal or Supplier and Payee Registry (depending on the supplier/payee type).
• The document must be an invoice, not a quote, order acknowledgement, sales receipt or packing list.
• Invoices must be addressed to Stanford University and include a remit to address.
• There must be a Stanford Purchase Order (PO) Number referenced on the invoice and the invoiced items must match the lines on the purchase order. If the quantities differ, or if lines on a purchase order have been combined on the invoice, the school or unit must provide instructions for invoice processing.
• The PTA associated with the PO must be valid both when the invoice was dated and at the time of upload.
• The invoice amount must not exceed the available balance on the PO. Refer to How To: Release Invoice Holds for more information.
• Appropriate additional approvals or certification of certain purchases must be complete.

Certain purchases require departments to complete additional steps to process invoices. If the below actions are not taken, the invoice will be placed on hold by AP and the originator will receive an email notification with instructions to release the hold.

Once goods/services have been received/rendered respectively  in accordance with university policy, suppliers may submit invoices (indicating the appropriate Stanford purchase order number) to Stanford through one of the options below. Invoices for purchases made through Stanford's SmartMart Catalogs are electronically sent by the supplier to AP for payment processing and the invoice copies are not visible to schools and units in the Requisition and PO Query tool.

• The supplier emails invoices in individual PDF files (one invoice per PDF) and can attach multiple PDFs, if needed to: @email (PDF files containing multiple invoices will not be processed) 
• The supplier mails invoices to the following address (Refer to How To: Mail an Invoice to Accounts Payable for more information):
  Stanford University Accounts Payable
  P.O. Box 20410
  Stanford, CA 94309-0410
  United States
• The supplier provides the invoice to the school or unit department, who uploads invoice (via the Requisition Purchase Order Query Tool). Refer to How To: Upload an Invoice for more information. 

Upon receipt of an undisputed invoice, AP ensures that:

• Invoices are paid in accordance with the terms specified in the purchase agreement (e.g., net 30 days from date of invoice). Departments may also request rush and will call payments to pay suppliers. 
• Payments are in compliance with federal, state, and local tax laws and regulations. Proper taxes are also withheld as necessary, and transactions are properly reported.
• If an invoice is placed on hold, the school or unit contact is notified of required action.

At that point, unless additional approval is required (see section above), the invoice is processed. To request an invoice be placed on a department invoice hold, departments may submit a support request to the Accounts Payable (AP) team with the PO number, invoice number, and reason why the hold is being requested. To ask the AP team to release a department invoice hold for payment, departments should submit a support request with a reason why the invoice can now be released. Please note that a request to release a department invoice hold will not release other invoice holds (e.g., insufficient amount on the PO) that might currently be on the invoice. 

From the time an invoice is submitted to the time it is paid, transaction preparers and approvers may want to check the status. The payment status of an invoice can be either Paid or Pending. If the payment status is Pending it will have a hold status of either On Hold or No Hold. If status is No Hold, it will be paid automatically according to the terms, generally Net 30. If it is On Hold, the hold needs to be cleared before payment will be made.

Tools to Monitor Invoice Status:

• OBI Dashboard: Procure to Pay Dashboard and Reports (P2P): 
  • The Procure to Pay at a Glance report shows On Hold invoices in one section and Pending invoices (both On Hold and No Hold) in a different section.
  • The Purchase Order and Related AP Invoices report shows AP Invoice payment status and hold status for all invoices related to a selection of Purchase Orders.
  • Drilling on an AP Invoice Number in any P2P report displays details about status. 
• Oracle Inquiry Tools Requisition and PO Query: Images of uploaded invoices (but not electronic invoices), payment status, and hold status can be viewed using the Requisition and Purchase Orders Query tool to search by requisition number or purchase order number and then scrolling to the Invoice Payment Details section on the PO Details page. For instructions on using this tool, refer to How To: View Requisitions, Purchase Orders or Invoices.
• Pending Transactions: Powered by Incorta, provides a consolidated, integrated tool where users can obtain information in one place about all of the pending purchasing and business expense transactions related to them and in certain situations, click to take action. Learn more on the Pending Transactions reporting page.

An invoice may be placed on hold by Accounts Payable and require action to release the hold. Invoice hold notifications, which include instructions on how to release the hold, appear within Oracle Financials. They may also be sent via email if a user enables their email notifications within Oracle Financials (go to Settings/Preferences to enable or disable email notifications).

The table below describes the most common types of invoice hold notifications that require action, what they mean, and how to release the hold. For other types of holds, and any action required, please contact the Financial Support Center.