The vendor, or payee, is essential information that must be keyed into the header first on any automatic payment invoice. The AP/CAR system will disable all other fields on the invoice until the vendor is identified.

As of late 1999, there were approximately 150,000 vendor records in the Accounts Payable vendor file, which means that selecting the correct vendor for payment is an exacting process. The AP/CAR system is designed to guide you through vendor selection with minimal chance for error.

Enter all or part of the vendor’s name. If the name is long, enter only the first two words. AP/CAR automatically condenses commonly used words, such as communication. The AP division has established a set of naming conventions for vendor records with which every AP/CAR user should be familiar.  Please refer to the vendor name guidelines listed at the bottom of this page.

To search for a vendor by tax ID or social security number, you must have this information in advance.  Enter the vendor’s 9-digit tax identification number, referred to as the “Vendor Number”, preceded by a “P” or an “E”. Use a “P” prefix for businesses and a "E" prefix for individuals who are University faculty, staff or students (for example, “P123456789”). For an individual who is a University faculty or staff member, or student, enter his or her social security number preceded by the letter “E” (for example, “E123456789”).

Note: In some cases, University faculty, staff or student may also be listed as a "P" vendor for payments they may recieve that are tax reportable (i.e. for study subject payments) or have to do with patient refunds from a CU institution.  However, ALL reimbursements to an employee for travel or business expenses must be processed on a Travel & Business Expense report and entered in AP/CAR using the employee's "E" vendor listing.  If a CU vendor has not been set up with an "E" vendor listing in the system, please contact vendormaintenance@columbia.edu with the pertinent information and ask that this vendor listing be created before proceeding with the AP/CAR transaction.

In order to better protect personal information vendor IDs are now partially masked in AP/CAR.  When selecting a vendor or performing a vendor inquiry in AP/CAR you will see:

1.      the first letter of the vendor ID
2.      the last four digits of the Tax ID or SSN, and
3.      the two digit suffix.

For example, vendor E123456789-01 appears as Exxxxx6789-01.

Click Vendor.

Note: When searching for a vendor by proper name (e.g., “Cassandra Smith”) you must enter the last name first (e.g., “Smith C” or “Smith Cassandra”).

AP/CAR will search for the vendor record using the data you entered in the Vendor field.

If more than one match is found, a Vendor Selection window will display the matching vendors’ basic information. After “name”, the next criteria is “address”.

Note: The vendor profile must have the same payment (remittance) address as the one listed on the actual invoice.

If a vendor record has the same name and same address, scroll horizontally to confirm that the vendor record’s Status and Payment Type (Invoice, Check Request, Travel and Business, etc.) are correct. To do this, point your cursor to the square in the lower left hand corner of the window. Hold down your left mouse button and drag the square to the right.

Highlight the correct vendor and press the Select button.

The Confirm Vendor Selection window will appear, asking you to confirm your choice of vendor.

Click on the OK button to confirm and continue, or click the Reselect button to return to the Vendor Selection window.

AP/CAR will then perform a series of AP rule checks regarding the selected vendor, such as determining if the vendor is on hold, if it is subject to 1099 reporting, if it is an “immediate pay” vendor, etc. Each of these circumstances is subject to special processing, which the user will be informed of by the system.

If AP/CAR is unable to find any vendor records matching the search criteria you have entered you can create a new vendor using the vendor creation module in FinSys at http://www.my.columbia.edu.   If AP/CAR finds the vendor you need but some of the vendor data needs to be modified or updated, please send a detailed email request for change of vendor profile to: vendormaintenance@columbia.edu. 

Please refer to Creating a Vendor for a complete description of the vendor assignment process.

Once you have completed the vendor selection process, the system will return you to the New Invoice window. The tax identification number and full name of the selected vendor will spill into the Vendor field. The other fields on the header portion of the invoice will be enabled.

Hitting the <Tab> key will move the cursor from field to field on the header. You are required to enter information into the following fields, titled in blue: Invoice Number, Gross Amount and Invoice Date. The Due Date field is completed for you automatically by AP/CAR and is usually the date that you are entering data.

SPECIAL VENDOR RULE PROCESSING

The vendor is the first item of information to be entered on any invoice. Once the vendor is identified, AP/CAR applies a series of AP business rules to the selected vendor record, and prompts or notifies the user if further action is required. History events will also be recorded as appropriate.

Vendor on Hold

AP/CAR first determines whether or not a vendor is on hold. If a selected vendor is on hold, a box appears explaining the reason for the hold and providing an opportunity for the processor to override the hold. Under normal circumstances, the processor should simply press the Continue with Hold button, allowing Accounts Payable to determine whether or not to release the hold and pay the vendor. An informational history event will be recorded and the special function Hold Payment box will automatically be checked to provide an additional visual cue. (The corresponding Hold Payment button will be disabled.)

Only extreme circumstances, such as a medical emergency, warrant overriding a hold. To override a hold, follow these instructions:

Type your reason in the text entry area at the bottom of the window.

Click on the Override Hold button.

An override history event will be recorded and payment will be released.

Note: Do not override the Hold on payments to NY Presbyterian Hospital. The Vice President of the Health Sciences Division authorizes the release of payments to this vendor on a monthly basis.

Exceptions to a hold may be granted for an urgent Check Request payment, for amount less than $5,000. Processing an exception requires an enclosure when the check is being sent to the Vice President of the Health Sciences Division. If the check is not being sent to the Vice President of the Health Sciences Division, select both the Call for Pickup (enter your name and phone number) and the Separate Check buttons found in the Invoice Header. For information about exceptions, please contact an AP/CAR Supervisor, 854-3043 or 854-3420.

Vendor hold processing is distinct from the special handling instruction to Hold Payment. A Vendor Hold is imposed by the AP department and applies to all payments to a given vendor, unless a processor overrides the hold for a particular payment. A “payment hold” is set by the processor (via the Hold Payment button on the Invoice Header) and applies only to the invoice in progress. A payment hold will only be released when the processor instructs AP to do so.

Legal Vendor Confirmation

The second check AP/CAR performs determines whether or not the vendor is a legal vendor. Legal vendors are defined as those whose services are related to the practice of law. If the vendor you select is a legal vendor, a confirmation dialogue will appear.

Click OK to continue (an auditable history event will record that a legal vendor was selected).

Or,

Click Cancel Vendor to select another vendor.

“990” Vendor Reminder

If a payment to a legal vendor includes settlement fees, those fees must be recorded separately because Columbia must exclude them when reporting “990” data to the government. If you select a legal vendor, a reminder dialogue will appear.

Click on the OK button to continue.

If you select a legal vendor but the “990 Vendor” reminder does not appear, please contact AP’s Vendor Maintenance with the notation “not flagged as a 990 Vendor”: vendormaintenance@columbia.edu. 

Note: If a vendor is not flagged as 990-reportable, the Non-990 Amount field will remain disabled for entry.

“1099” Vendor Reminder

If the vendor you select is 1099-reportable, meaning that the payment includes reportable income to the vendor, the following reminder will appear:

If this reminder does not appear when you are making a 1099-reportable payment to an unincorporated vendor, please contact AP’s Vendor Maintenance staff with the notation “should be coded as a 1099 Vendor”. 

Conversely, if this reminder appears when the selected vendor is incorporated, or when the payment is not 1099-reportable, please notify AP’s Vendor Maintenance staff.

Note: If the vendor is not flagged as 1099-reportable, the Non-1099 Amount field will remain disabled for entry.

Business Reason Vendor

Certain categories of vendor (i.e., caterers, hotels, restaurants, liquor stores, etc.) require that a Business Reason be entered into AP/CAR. If a selected vendor requires such an explanation of payment, the following window appears:

Enter the required explanation (business reason) and click Accept to continue (an informational history event will record that a business reason was provided).

Or,

Click Cancel Vendor.

Other Vendor Selection Effects

The selection of a vendor on an AP/CAR invoice may trigger other responses by the system, with no notification to the processor; however, visual cues described below, are provided on the invoice entry window.

Freight Amount

If the selected vendor is an employee (denoted by a vendor number beginning with the letter “E”) the Freight Amount input field will be disabled for entry.

Due Date

If the selected vendor is coded in the AP Vendor Master File as an “immediate pay” vendor, the Due Date field will be automatically calculated and filled in as the current date.

Note: If the vendor is not coded as “immediate pay”, the Due Date is automatically calculated when the processor inputs the Invoice Date.

Enclosure Document

If the selected vendor is coded in the AP Vendor Master File as requiring an enclosure document (e.g., ConEd, Verizon), the Enclosure Doc(s) check box will be automatically checked and the corresponding button will be disabled.

If the selected vendor is an employee (denoted by a vendor number beginning with the letter “E”), the Enclosure Doc(s) button will be disabled.

Vendor Approval

Certain vendor types, such as Petty Cash and Legal, require the approval of a DAF signer specifically authorized to approve such payments. If a selected vendor is one of these types, a reminder will be displayed in the message area along the bottom edge of the invoice window.

VENDOR INQUIRY

Use AP/CAR’s “Vendor Inquiry” to quickly call up details about any vendor with whom the University has done business (in the previous two years). Search for a vendor by name or by vendor number.

To view information about a vendor, go to the top toolbar of the Pending Invoices screen.

Click Vendor, then Vendor Inquiry.

Enter either the entire vendor number or a vendor name. A vendor number consists of a prefix “E” (for University faculty, staff, students, prospective staff or students, post-doctoral fellows and graduate research assistants) or “P” (for those who are not members of the University community), a nine-digit tax identification (or social security) number, and a two-digit suffix.

To search for a vendor by tax ID or social security number, you must have this information in advance. 

Enter the vendor’s 9-digit tax identification number, referred to as the Vendor Number, preceded by a “P” or an “E” (for example, “P123456789” or “E123456789”).

In order to better protect personal information vendor IDs are now partially masked in AP/CAR.  When selecting a vendor or performing a vendor inquiry in AP/CAR you will see:

4.      the first letter of the vendor ID
5.      the last four digits of the Tax ID or SSN, and
6.      the two digit suffix.

For example; vendor E123456789-01 appears as Exxxxx6789-01.

Hit Enter.

Note: Names of individuals are sorted in the Vendor Master File by last name. To search by vendor name, enter the last name, a space, and then an initial.

If more than one vendor appears in the Search Results window, scroll horizontally across the window by clicking on the square box indicated below and dragging it to the right. Additional information will appear and help you identify the correct vendor. Click on the correct vendor, highlighting it. Then click the View button.

Note: It is also possible to conduct a search with only a partial name. Enter the first three characters of a name. Hit Enter.

The Detail View of the vendor record displays the vendor’s address, payment type, 1099 code, and status.

Click on the More notebook tab toward the bottom of the screen in order to display further information (such as the enclosure code and recent payment activity).

Note: The payments reflected on this screen include all of those made by the University, not just those made by an individual department.

Click on the Status Reasons notebook tab to find out why a vendor is on hold, frozen, deleted, transferred.

VENDOR PAYMENT TYPES & CORRESPONDING INVOICE NUMBER FORMATS

SPECIAL VENDOR INVOICE NUMBER FORMATS

Entering Morton Williams Supermarkets Invoice Numbers

 We have received a number of inquiries from departments, and from Morton Williams Supermarkets, regarding the inconsistency of the invoice number formats used to process these payments in AP/CAR.  We now use one invoice number format for all Morton Williams invoices entered into AP/CAR.  This University-wide format:

• Reduces departments’ frustration with the invoice format and length requirements in AP/CAR, making it much easier and quicker to enter these invoices,
• Prevents duplicate payments, and
• Allows Morton Williams to better apply payments received from various University departments.

You will not receive anything different from Morton Williams.  This simply changes the invoice number that you enter into AP/CAR to make your payment.  You will now enter an 11-digit invoice number made up of the following two components:

 First, the six-digit Morton Williams departmental account billing number (digits 1-6).  Each department that transacts with Morton Williams is assigned a 6-digit account billing number, which can be found on your Morton Williams statement.  This account number will take the form of 3 letters followed by 3 numbers (ex: COL123).  Please write this six digit departmental account number on the invoice being sent to Accounts Payable.  We are working with Morton Williams to determine whether they can provide this number directly on the invoice.

 Next, the five-digit invoice number (digits 7-11) - Each invoice received from Morton Williams for payment has a pre-printed 5-digit invoice number (ex: 12345). 

 Using this example, the invoice number to be entered into AP/CAR for this payment is COL12312345.

Entering Diner’s Club Credit Card Invoice Numbers

Citibank Diners Club is an Account Number Billing Vendor which means that the account number is used, along with the billing date, to enter an invoice number into AP/CAR when creating a voucher. 

In 2005 they changed their account numbers.  The new account numbers are now too long to enter fully into AP/CAR as part of the invoice number format. 

Following the guide below; use enclosure text to record the full length of the Diner’s Club account number.

If your department opened a Diners Club account before they changed the account numbers in 2005:

Use the old Diners Club account number(s) when entering (payment invoice numbers) into AP/CAR for all Citibank Diners Club payments.  Reference the complete new account number using enclosure text.

If your department opened a Diners Club account after they changed the account numbers in 2005:

Use the new Diners Club account number(s) when entering (payment invoice numbers) into AP/CAR as much as the space will allow, following the account number billing format.  The account number will have to be truncated by one or two digits.  Reference the complete account number using enclosure text.

VENDOR NAME GUIDELINES

Please familiarize yourself with the standard guidelines followed in Accounts Payable when creating vendor names in FinSys. There are four categories of guidelines:

Commonly Used Word Abbreviations
Standard Abbreviations for States
Corporate Name Conventions
Individual Name Conventions

Commonly Used Word Abbreviations

Use the following list to determine abbreviations for standard words used in the vendor name. For plural forms use the same abbreviation as the singular form.

Standard Abbreviations for States

Corporate Name Conventions

In general, vendor names appear in the Vendor Master File as they are written.

EXAMPLE: “Johnson Drug Store” appears in the file as “JOHNSON DRUG STORE”

Note: the article “the” is dropped when it appears as the first word in vendor names.

EXAMPLE: “The First National Corporation” appears in the file as “FIRST NATL CORP”

Also, hyphens in vendor names are dropped; hyphenated words are treated as one. Apostrophes and all other non-alphanumeric characters, with the exception of the ampersand, are dropped as well.

EXAMPLES: “Ex-Cello Corporation” appears in the file as “EXCELLO CORP”
“Mary’s International Corporation” appears in the file as “MARYS INTL CORP”
The conjunction “AND” is replaced with the ampersand, “&”.

EXAMPLE: “Tom and Mary’s Incorporated” appears in the file as “TOM & MARYS INC”

Numbers in a vendor name are treated as alphabetic characters.

EXAMPLE: “1180 Corporation” appears in the file as “1180 CORP”

Single letters in a business name are considered a separate sorting unit. A single space is used between the last single letter and the first word of the company.

EXAMPLE: “D Wayne Corporation” appears in the file as “D WAYNE CORP”

For acronyms, no spaces are skipped between letters. A single space will be used between the last letter and the first word of the company.

EXAMPLES: “A B C Incorporated” appears in the file as “ABC INC”
“I B M Corporation” appears in the file as “IBM CORP”
Spaces are used on both sides of an ampersand, “&”, when it joins single letters.

EXAMPLES: “A & B company” or “A and B Company” appears in the file as “A & B CO”
“AT&T” appears in the file as “AT & T”

Individual Name Conventions

The Vendor Master File sorts individuals’ names by last name. In all cases, the abbreviated titles “Mr.”, “Mrs.”, and “Ms.” are dropped; however, abbreviated professional titles, such as “Dr” and “Prof”, are included. First names of individuals are also included.

EXAMPLES: “Mr. John Smith” is sorted as “SMITH JOHN”
“Professor Mary Thomas” is sorted as “THOMAS PROF MARY”
“Doctor John Tellado” is sorted as “TELLADO DR JOHN”

Prefixes in a surname are not considered a separate unit for alphabetization (i.e. Mc, Mac).

EXAMPLE: “John McManus” is sorted as “MCMANUS JOHN”

In names with an apostrophe (‘), the apostrophe is dropped and the letters before and after the apostrophe are joined together.

EXAMPLE: “John D’Agostino” is sorted as “DAGOSTINO JOHN”

LEARN THE NEXT STEP in invoice processing:  ENTERING INVOICE DETAILS.

Need more help? 

Contact us: AP Service Center, AP Staff Directory.