On the right side of the Invoice Header are the Special Handling Functions, a group of six buttons.

These buttons perform functions (some of which are interdependent) that allow you to request various types of special handling for an invoice. Click on one of these gray buttons to activate the small square check box to the immediate left.

One-time Address & Care-of Line

When special circumstances arise, you may use the One-time Address function to direct an individual payment to a different person and/or address than the one assigned to the selected vendor. For example, if a professor requests that his Travel & Business Expense reimbursement be mailed to his summer vacation address, select the One-time Address function and enter the temporary address.

The "Optional One-time Address" entry is to be used for a one-time address change only. Requests for a permanent address changes for any vendor must be submitted to the AP Vendor Maintenance staff for processing.

The One-time Address button opens the One-time Vendor Address window. The vendor’s name and remit address are displayed for reference at the top of the window. In the lower half of the window you may enter a care of line and/or a one-time address (each may be used without the other).

In the C/O Name line, you may also enter the name of an individual, a department, or a room number.

To make sure that a check will be directed to the right person or the right place when the vendor is a large organization, use the “C/O Name” line (without the “One-time Address”). The “C/O Name” line will be printed on the check as a part of the vendor’s address.

Any time a one-time address field is selected after the Accept button is pressed, the entire address is re-checked for required fields.

Each one-time address entry requires an explanation that will be recorded and displayed in the invoice History. The reason will be audited by AP. If the user elects not to enter a reason, the one-time address will not be accepted. If a care-of line has also been entered, its acceptance is not affected by the user’s entry (or omission) of an explanation for one-time address.

Entry of a care-of line is not audited, and therefore, does not require an explanation.

Interdependencies:

Normally, all payments to a given vendor are combined and paid on a single check each business day. A separate check is produced when you use either a one-time address or care-of line. Since there are certain conditions which prevent the setting of the Separate Check flag, those conditions are reviewed before the one-time address or care-of line can be accepted. If conditions preclude either a one-time address or care-of line from being used, anything the user may have entered in the one-time address window will be deleted.

Cancellation of a previously-accepted one-time address and care-of line will not turn off the separate check flag. The user may require a separate check for other valid reasons. If this is not the case, the separate check flag can be removed by simply clicking the Separate Check button once.

The use of either a one-time address or care-of line automatically disables the Check Pickup button. Conversely, cancellation of the one-time address and care-of line enables the Check Pickup button.

Enclosure Text

Vendors return an average of forty checks per day to CU’s Accounts Payable department because they do not know why they are receiving a payment from Columbia University. Most vendors avoid these “mystery checks” by establishing an invoice number and/or an account number for each payment request. They are then able to identify a payment by the invoice number or account number printed on the stub of the check. When a vendor has not established an invoice number or account number, and when the vendor is not likely to recognize a payment, you are required to identify the check with AP/CAR’s Enclosure Text.

The types of payments requiring Enclosure Text include, but are not limited to the following: subscriptions, book orders, tuition, memberships, conference registrations, hotel bookings, taxes and payments to government agencies.

It is usually unnecessary to use Enclosure Text for honorariums and payments to visiting lecturers for expense reimbursements.

Do not use Enclosure Text when a vendor (i.e., Con Edison, Verizon, Citibank Diner’s Club) requires a paper enclosure document.

Enclosure Text allows you to enter text that will be printed on the actual check. Enclosure Text provides a much more efficient way to include payment information than with a paper document (a paper enclosure may easily get lost or detached from the check). Enclosure Text appears right on the stub of the check. This text, as a data field, also remains with the voucher in AP/CAR as an easily accessible record of the exact information provided to a vendor.

You may enter up to 12 lines of text in any of 3 ways:

1. If the check payment is for a subscription, select the Subscription Text button at the top of the display.  Enter the payment information into the subscription textbox just below it. You may also enter 9 additional lines of text in the Free Text box near the bottom of the display.

2. If the check is a tuition or registration payment, select the Tuition Text button at the top of the display and enter the course name and start date in the tuition text box in the middle of the display. Use the Free Text box to list course attendees or any other relevant information. You may enter 11 lines of free text.

Note: Employee benefit tuition payments must be processed through the Human Resources Department.

3. If the check is neither for a subscription nor for tuition, select the Free Text Only button at the top of the display. Enter your free text in the box near the bottom of the display (up to 12 lines).

When you are finished, press Accept to save your text. If you’ve entered text by mistake, press Close to discard any changes, or press Cancel Enclosure to remove the enclosure text from the check.

Interdependencies:

Normally, all payments to a given vendor are combined and paid on a single check. A separate check is required when you enter enclosure text. There are certain conditions which will prevent the use of the Separate Check button and those conditions must be reviewed before the text is accepted. If conditions preclude enclosure text from being used, all text entered in the Enclosure Text window will be deleted.

Please note that cancellation of previously-entered enclosure text will not turn off the separate check flag. The user may require a separate check for other valid reasons. (If this is not the case, the separate check flag may be removed by clicking the Separate Check button once.)

Check Pickup

The Check Pickup option allows a processor to specify that a check not be mailed to the vendor, because the processor intends to pick it up in person at the Accounts Payable office.

Note: A vendor may be coded in the AP Vendor Master file as Check Pickup meaning that the central AP division expects each check issued to that vendor to be picked up.

In this case, the processor simply selects the location where the check is to be picked up and presses the Accept button. An informational history event will be recorded and displayed in the invoice History table.

If the vendor on the invoice is not flagged as a Check Pickup vendor (meaning that central AP considers such a request to be unusual), the window displayed will contain a text box labeled Reason. In this case, the processor is required to provide an explanation for requesting a call for pick up, and an auditable history event will be recorded.

Note: When a processor selects Check Pickup, no phone call will be made. When the check is produced, it will appear in the processor’s Checks Ready for Pick up queue in the Pending Invoices window.

The person who picks up the check must present the check number and a valid Columbia University ID.

The “Pick up Location” defaults to the AP/CAR processor’s location and can only be changed by that processor. A Morningside processor is able to pick up a check at AP's Office in the Studebaker Building, Room 302, between 2:00 and 4:30 PM. A Health Sciences processor will be able to pick up a check in the P&S Business Office, Physicians & Surgeons Building, 2nd floor, Room 430 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 2-4pm.

Hold Payment

The Hold Payment option gives you the ability to delay payment of a current invoice.

Warning: This option is often used incorrectly. It is recommended that you simply keep an item in Working status should you wish to hold payment.

A request to hold payment is an auditable event requiring an explanation. When the user supplies a reason and presses Accept, an auditable history event will be recorded and displayed in the invoice History table.

This hold will only be released (and the check mailed) upon instruction from the processor to the Audit & Review area of Accounts Payable.

Separate Check

The Separate Check option gives you the ability to request a separate check for payment of an invoice. No additional window will appear when you request this option; clicking on the button will simply toggle the check box on and off.

Enclosure Doc(s)

The Enclosure Doc(s) button gives you the ability to enclose a document along with a check. If you have a compelling reason to enclose a document with a payment check, you must contact the Accounts Payable Vendor Maintenance Department at vendormaintenance@columbia.edu and request that the vendor record in the AP Vendor Master File be temporarily altered to permit the document enclosure. 

If the vendor record in the AP Vendor Master File is coded for an enclosure document (e.g., ConEd, Verizon), the Enclosure Doc(s) check box will be checked automatically when you select the vendor.

LEARN THE NEXT STEP in processing an invoice - ENTERING THE ACCOUNT DISTRIBUTION .

Need more help? 

Contact us: AP Service Center, AP Staff Directory.