We occasionally have to process invoices, typically for services such as cortisol analyses. Note the standard Partners policy is to issue the check 45 days after the invoice is received. If an invoice needs to be paid more quickly, be sure that everyone involved with this invoice is aware of the time required. To check on the progress of an invoice, call SCM Client Services (617-726-2142).
This must be rewritten
First, establish a purchase order for the invoice in eBuy:
Define Requistion
Buyer, category etc: can leave this blank as will define these in 2. Add items & services
Accounting details: enter dept (should be 000000) and project (the fund #). If want to split payment up by several funds, hit “+” sign on left to add more rows and then enter “pct” (needs to add to 100)
Add Items and Services
The type of purchase will almost certainly be a ‘special request’
When paying for a service such as a scan or cortisol analysis, select ‘fixed cost service’. Otherwise, use your best judgment or contact Materials Management
Fill out the various blanks as accurately as you can, using direct language from the invoice (e.g. service description, value of service). Category for services often will be “outside service – other”. Look up vendor name and ID. Leave start/end and quote info blank.
In the additional information box, add the send to/remit to information included on the invoice. Example:
Please issue a check for the total amount cited above and payable to BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY. The check should be mailed to:
Philip T. Gnatowski
Department Administrator in Psychology
Brandeis University
415 South Street (MS-062)
Waltham, MA 02454-9110
If you don’t follow this step, the check will go to the wrong location!
Add the service or item to the purchase order
Review and Submit:
add the same send to/remit to information from the invoice to the comments area. Indicate that the invoice is attached and should be consulted for further information.
attach the invoice in the comments area
After a few days, you should receive an email from Purchasing that your purchase order has been processed. This email will include the purchase order (PO) number. If you do not receive this email within a few days and the invoice is urgent, contact Purchasing.
Send the invoice and purchase order number to Accounts Payable
Print out the original invoice
Add a sticky note to the invoice with the purchase order number. Also include your contact information
Send the invoice to Accounts Payable via interoffice mail
Diego has corporate credit cards for each of his major studies: REWARD-31, GABA, UH, ELS, and RDoC (the ELS and RDoC cards will end in May 2017). In addition there are two general purpose cards, one for LATN and one for the Center.
Dave manages the credit cards for the lab.
Specific information about each card can be found in the common\confidential folders
You should file a hardcopy record of credit card purchases in the locked file cabinet in your cubicle. Place the receipt in the appropriate month for the appropriate card.
Make sure to log all credit card spending in the Expenses.xlsm file
If a card gets declined it is usually for one of two reasons:
The mailing address for the card was entered incorrectly. Consult the Diego_Cards file, and use the address exactly as it appears
The vendor isn’t in an ‘approved’ category. This can happen unexpectedly with a new vendor, or even with a new taxi service while travelling. The Corporate Card group can enable the vendor, or the entire category, for future use. You can email mmcorporatecard@partners.org or call to get approval. Usually they are pretty reasonable, but it will take a day or two to make the change.
Some studies or projects do not have their own corporate credit card, so they will use the LATN Sundry card instead (for example, to pay for a Craig’s List ad). Whenever you use the Sundry card for a project, the expense will subsequently have to be transferred to the correct fund. Enter a note in the Expenses file identifying the study and send an email to Janice including the date, vendor, amount, purpose and any other relevant information. This will let her know that the charge needs to be moved from the Sundry fund to the correct project fund.
Ordering Supplies or Services through a Website
If something is not available through the eBuy portal, or if the vendor is not an approved Partners vendor, one option is to order the item online using one of Diego’s credit cards.
Note that many items not available from a preferred vendor on the eBuy portal can be ordered using a Special Item Request on eBuy.
Ordering through a website is usually done for psychological society memberships, conference hotel bookings when there is a conference rate that Egencia doesn’t have. Some software products and other digital products can only be purchased this way. Buying from Amazon.com can only be done with a credit card.
The Corporate Card Management department reviews all credit card spending. If you know the purchase will attract attention (i.e it’s a large expense, or not obviously related to research), it is sometimes worth emailing to alert them that you will be ordering online. Similarly, if you run into problems, you would contact them to get permissions to order the item. Email mmcorporatecard@partners.org
Remember to print the receipt and file under the appropriate grant card folder.
To submit a request for a subject payment, refer to the information that the subject provided at the study session. You will need their full name, mailing address, and their social security number. You also need the fund number of the study.
Login to PeopleSoft
Navigate to: Financial Production/Accounts Payable/Vouchers/Add/Update/Regular Entry (bookmark it!)
On the first form, fill in the “gross invoice amount” with the amount the subject will be paid. Click “Add”, and this advances to the second form.
Fill in the subject’s information under the “single payment vendor” tab. If the subject does not have a SSN, enter “foreign” in this field.
Click on “invoice information”. Fill in the Dept. Number with six zeroes: 000000. Then fill in the “Account” as 990000, and the “Fund” as the grant number you are paying the subject with
Click Save, then “printable view” and print the receipt
Store the receipt in file cabinet
Update the Subject Payment Log (under common/confidential/)
Issues
If a subject has a problem with a check (typically they’d say in never arrived in the mail) contact Client Services at 617-726-2142. They can tell you whether the check was mailed, and when, and to what address. And they can tell you whether it was already cashed (and even send you an image if the check, if you need to prove to the subject).
If the check is truly lost, Client Services can stop payment and issue a new check. But they won’t do this until 45 days after the check was sent.
Cathy O’Connell is the manage of Research Finance at McLean, and she is in charge of eCheck training. She is also a great resource for any questions about reimbursements, check requests, expenses or petty cash.
We have Poland Springs water available for mixing the electrolyte solution for EEG sessions (1 gallon distilled water), and small water bottles (500ml) for participants and speaker series.
The small bottles are stored in the file cabinets outside of the cubicles (#3), and the larger gallon containers are stored in the EEG room.
The products to order are: cases of distilled water (6 gallons per case), and 24-packs of ½ liter bottles
Make sure to ask for an invoice.
Here is a sample email:
Hi Scott,
I’d like to order more water for our lab at McLean Hospital. We would like:
2 cases (48 bottles) of 500ml Poland Spring water bottles and
12 Gallons (2 cases) of distilled water.
The address is:
McLean Hospital, Mailstop 331
115 Mill Street
Belmont, MA 02478
Our account number is 0438687238 and the grant fund number we would like to use is: 400619. If you could please send me the invoice or total amount, that would be great, thanks.
Ordering Books via Rittenhouse
Amazon does not accept purchase orders, so orders for books need to be made through Rittenhouse: call +1 (800) 345-6425 and use acct # 012959 – we get a 17% discount with them. For questions contact Josephine Amico.
Independent Consultants and Contractors
Out-of-date
This is a way of paying for outside services that are not Partners entities, and we don’t want to set up as a Partners vender. Note that this process is a HUGE pain, and can take months to complete. Avoid it if at all possible.
Joanne Miller is the contracts specialist for Partners, her email is JMILLER17@PARTNERS.ORG, and she can help guide you through the process.
Fund numbers are used in all billing, purchasing, payments, reimbursements and other financial transactions. Diego has two general funds (one for the lab and one for CDASR) and a handful of project funds. The project-specific funds can only be used for expenses that were explicitly in that project’s budget.
A complete and up-to-date list can be found in the Expenses spreadsheet.These are Diego’s primary fund numbers:
LATN sundry aka Diego’s sundry: 400514
Used for expenses not directly related to a project
Used for most office-supply type purchases
Pierce fund: 400619
For CDASR-wide expenses, such as EEG maintenance and supplies
Placebo R01: 401150
ELS R01 fund: 401181
RDoC R01 fund: 401182
UH Grant: 401185
REWARD-31 fund: 401206
Other fund numbers exist for grants and awards for junior faculty and postdocs, which can be found in the Expenses file.
Tax-Exempt Status
McLean Hospital is exempt from sales taxes on anything we purchase. This exemption is taken care of automatically for purchases using a standard method such as eBuy or PeopleSoft. For other purchases, including credit card spending, it is important to make sure the vendor does not add a sales tax.
The tax-exempt number is 042-697-981
A copy of the Tax exempt form (ST-5) is located on the server at common\confidential\Expense_tracking
If you are making an in-store purchase, bring the form to wherever you are buying the item and hand it to the cashier. This is especially worth remembering if you use your own money to purchase something, because McLean will not reimburse you for the sales tax.
Some online vendors will ask you to contact them by phone to place an order.
Some online vendors (PhD Posters, for example) allow you to enter the number into the comments section when ordering.
The application you use to file expense reports is called Expenses. All travel-related spending must be reported via e-Expenses, even if it was paid for using a corporate card or Egencia. This application is also used to obtain a reimbursement when someone spends their own money for something such as parking at the Martinos Center or printing a poster.
Diego will name an RA as his delegate within the system so they can submit expenses for him
Diego should log into his PeopleSoft, navigate to financials production->employee self-service->travel and expense center-> Delegate
Then he should add you as a delegate by entering in your Partner’s ID
To submit an expense report:
Update is required: some of these instructions are obsolete, because of the new eWallet application. Refer to the training material on the Supply Chain website for the latest procedures.
First, tape each receipt to plain paper. You can have multiple receipts on a page, but make sure they are all readable. It is good practice to write next to each receipt what it is for, and whether it was paid with the corporate card, personal card, or cash. Labeling isn’t necessary, but it makes things easier for AP, and also for you if you have to look back at old expenses.
Login to PeopleSoft
Navigate to Financial Production/Employee Self-Service/ Travel and Expense Center/ Create an Expense Report
You will need to click the magnifying glass to indicate who you are creating this for (i.e you or Diego)
Select “blank report”
The approver is usually Janice, but for the MIC speaker series reimbursements, it is David Olson. Make sure to select the appropriate person. This is done on the top-right of the form.
Write a description of the event
Fill out the Expense type, date, amount, payment type, etc (usually local expenses).
Business purpose is usually general expense
Fill out location (Boston)
Click on “*Detail” and provide a more in depth description of the expense. Diego likes to list who he went to dinner with and why for example.
From “Detail”, select “Accounting Detail” and fill out the appropriate billing information, putting the cost center as the “Project” and “1600” for the GL Unit, and if necessary put “000000” under “Dept”
Click check expense for errors. If they come up, write a reason in the appropriate box (if the dinner is coming up as too expensive, but it was for 2 people, indicate “dinner was for two people” in the Amount Exceeded row)
Click submit
Now upload the pdfs if you have them, or it is okay to fax the receipts with the coverpage of the expense report
Print the expense report in NON-printable view. This will give you an itemized printout of the expense report which will make it much easier if you have to reference the report in the future.
Click, printable view and print a copy, make sure the barcode prints properly
If you are submitting an expense report for a trip Diego took, you keep all of the receipts for the trip in one expense report. You will also have to track down the hotel reservation and the flight booking to include in the faxed documents (even though these are booked through Egencia using a fund number and therefore don’t need to be officially added to the expense report). I usually write on the bottom of the reservations not included in the report, “Booked through Egencia using a Fund number, no reimbursement needed”. Finally, you will need to include a print out of the conference schedule, which can usually be found online. This is also included in the fax.
File the expense report in the appropriate folder for the grant that was used to pay for the travel under the month that the expense report was submitted
For some of Diego’s behavioral experiments, it is more effective if subjects can receive immediate cash for their performance as opposed to waiting weeks to get a check in the mail. Petty cash can only be used for payments under $50 and only for one payment per subject.
Each study keeps its own petty cash in the cash safe. Cathy O’Connell (x2637) can answer any questions you have about the petty cash process
Requesting a Petty Cash set-up
Pre-Approval from the IRB Office
Memo from the PI to research director (email both Cathy and Raquel Espinosa) requesting a petty cash set-up that should include the following information:
PI Name
Study title
Protocol #
Project period
Person responsible for the cash and contact information (address, email & phone number)
Petty cash amount
Amount to be paid total per subject
Amount to be paid per subject visit
Once the letter is returned, you can fill out a check request for the petty cash
Check Request
We have usually requested a larger check with enough money to last six months
Use the Expenses system to fill out the check request, as you would a subject payment
Under Single Payment Vendor: Name: “Petty Cash”
Under address: put the cash custodian’s (your) name here, then fill out McLean’s address
Under Invoice Information: Account 919700, Project: your fund number
Under comments put “Handling code ML”, and the contact name and phone number of the cash custodian.
Also include how the petty cash will be broken up ex:“$300 to pay 30 subjects $10 each”
Attach a scanned copy of the approval letter, and submit.
Cash Handling
The check will come to Cathy O’Connell about 2 weeks after the request was made. She will call you when it is ready for pickup, but if you don’t hear from her it is worth calling to ask if it is available.
Once a check is received by the person responsible, it can be cashed at a bank. (?? at petty cash office??)
The cash should be stored in the petty cash safe. Each study should be keep its cash separated in an envelope or pouch of its own.
The subject must sign a receipt when they receive cash. You should find preprinted receipt forms in the safe.
Payments and Records
The receipts should stay in records for a period of 3 years after the close out of the study.
Update the Subject Payment spreadsheet with the subject’s name, social security number, date, amount dispersed, and the name of the RA who dispensed the money to the subject
When requesting more money, you must attach a copy of the subject payment record so far, complete with an indication of when the previous petty cash check was received, and the number of subjects who receive money from the previous check.
Submitting an expense report (the Expenses module in PeopleSoft)
Using a credit card
Paying an invoice (a Special Item in eBuy)
Booking travel (on Egencia)
Sending a compensation check to a subject (eCheck)
Incurring an expense from any internal department such as catering or the pharmacy
Calling a taxi for a subject
Obtaining and disbursing petty cash
If you spend any departmental money, you are responsible for keeping track of that expense and making sure that the correct amount and fund gets charged. It is especially important to use the right fund number or right credit card in every transaction. If you aren’t sure which fund to use, ask Diego. If you ever use the wrong number—including times when you do it on purpose—tell Janice right away so the charge can be transferred quickly and correctly.
The Expense log files
When you spend money, you must record it in the Expenses spreadsheet, at common\confidential\expense_tracking\Expenses.xlsm, or in one of the specific log files for subject payments, petty cash, or taxi payments.
Receipts
You also need to keep a copy of the receipts. Each RA needs to file the receipts for each expense in his/her filing cabinet. Here are some tips
Keep all receipts. If receipts are small, tape them to a piece of printer paper or scan as pdf and print a copy
Keep the funds separate, and within each fund file the purchases by month.
If multiple confirmations/receipts come for the same purchase, staple them together to avoid double counting
Clearly distinguish between credit card expenses, purchases made through eBuy, and internal spending charged directly to the fund (e.g. pharmacy or catering charges)
Keep track of every subject payment in your study’s Subject_Payments log file. These payments don’t need to be entered in the Expenses file, however you will need to reconcile them with the monthly spending report. Subject payments are PHI and any hardcopy records must be filed in a LOCKED cabinet the with other PHI.
Expense Reports
An expense report must be submitted for all travel costs, or whenever an employee is reimbursed for a personal expense. A receipt for every expense has to be included. The Expenses system is in PeopleSoft Finance, under the menu for “Employee Self-Service > Travel and Expense Center”. All the related policies and procedures are on the Supply Chain intranet at http://supplychain.partners.org/resources/travel-central.aspx.
Each month, Janice will circulate a report listing all the expense charges that have hit Diego’s funds in the past month. Each RA reviews it to make sure all of their spending is listed correctly. Here are the things to check for:
Are there any expenses that we don’t recognize? When you are the primary RA for a project, review every charge against that project to make sure they make sense because some other group might have charged our funds by mistake.
Did any expenses get charged to the wrong project within our lab? We might have charged something incorrectly.
Are there any expenses that didn’t show up when you expected them? Maybe it was charged to another lab by mistake and we need to find out quickly. Or, maybe the finance group didn’t send the check yet and the vendor will call us to complain.
Are the amounts correct?
It’s very important that any corrections or transfers are completed by the end of the month, so let Janice know if you see any.
Transferring between Funds
Janice is able to transfer a charge between funds within a certain time frame, so it’s critical to let her know as soon as possible when you notice a mistake. It’s extremely difficult to make a correction to a Federally funded grant such as an R01 or K23 if it’s not done right away.
Sometimes you will use a different fund on purpose. For example, not every project has its own credit card, so a Craig’s List ad for those studies would use the Sundry card. A second example would be when you want to split the cost between two projects (e.g. 50% to RDoC and 50% to ELS). A third example is for a new project that doesn’t have a fund number yet.
In these cases, let Janice know in advance that the charge will need to be transferred. Always use a sundry fund as the temporary source, because it is much harder to transfer an expense if it was made to an NIH grant. because these changes are audited by the NIH and extra documentation may be needed.