TSLC Frequently Asked Questions. Requestor and Approver Process & Coupa System

Transcription

1 Process Questions: Requisitioning/Ordering TSLC Frequently Asked Questions QUESTION: Can we submit new suppliers if we have a supplier that doesn t exist in the platform? Yes, when you start a requisition and the supplier is not found, a web form will display asking you to provide as much information as you have for the supplier and then the form will be sent to Accounts Payable for set-up. Once the supplier is set up in the system, it will be there the next time you get ready to use that supplier. QUESTION: Will we be able to see comparisons across different suppliers in the system or just product comparisons? If there are multiple catalogs from suppliers that carry similar types of products, you will be able to see comparisons across suppliers. QUESTION: If we need additional catalogs added to the system, how do we get those added? System Administrator, Tammy Turner, at , will work with you to get those established. QUESTION: Can I see all orders in the system or just my orders? TSLC Users will be able to see only their own orders in the system under My Spend History. You will be able to view prior orders and even copy a previous order and quickly make a new requisition for submittal. 1

2 QUESTION: When we are looking at a catalog, are we looking at a Trinity-wide catalog of items, a TSLC catalog of items, or a community specific catalog? The punchout catalogs are TSLC-specific and include pre-negotiated pricing. We also will have catalogs, such as Patterson Medical, that are TSLC-specific. As time goes by, we will identify frequently ordered items and those will likely become new catalogs for TSLC. QUESTION: Can we make the catalogs specific to the community? It is feasible to arrange with suppliers to have community-specific catalogs. Work with your TSLC Supply Chain contacts to discuss your needs. Good examples are local suppliers, local carpet or flooring vendors, and local service providers. QUESTION: How do I know if an item is out of stock? If you are leveraging a punchout, the supplier s website should indicate if an item is unavailable when you are attempting to order. For a catalog or free-form order, if the supplier notifies the Corporate Office that the item is on backorder when the PO is issued, the System Office will notify you of the backorder situation. QUESTION: What about delivery dates? How do we know when an order is coming? Most vendor punchout catalogs will have a status which provides information on in-stock, backordered, or discontinued items. If the item was not ordered through a punchout, the Corporate Office receives an Advanced Shipment Notification from the supplier and they will inform you. 2

3 QUESTION: Can we put a need-by date on the Requisition? Yes, there is a need-by date on the requisition. You can also send notes to the supplier in the comments section or text field. QUESTION: What about situations where a local provider is less expensive? You can order items in Coupa using a free-form request and ask for the items with lower pricing. If the vendor is not currently under contract, a TSLC Buyer will assist you with setting up the new vendor or provide you with a preferred vendor choice. QUESTION: Can on behalf of be denoted as a department? Must it be an individual? On behalf of can only be performed for other existing Coupa users. You must select the appropriate user for the requisition in order for it to be processed. QUESTION: Can an individual order on a regular basis for multiple areas? Or, are they limited to just their area? An individual can order items for the companies and departments to which they have access. Access is defined by your Leader and set up by your Coupa System Administrator. QUESTION: In the Maintenance Department, we need to have items delivered to multiple locations. Will we need to remember to check the ship-to address each time? Yes; it is always important to validate the ship-to address to make sure that your requisition item will be delivered where you need it. The default ship-to address makes it faster to complete an order, but you need to verify its accuracy. 3

4 QUESTION: Do we have to have quotes from a supplier if we are using a free-form requisition? This is not a requirement, but it is best practice to attach the quote from the supplier or have them send an with the pricing you discussed and attach it to the requisition for purposes of creating the PO. QUESTION: How will requisitions related to capital items be processed? Capital items will require a Capital ID Number from Strata in order to process the order in Coupa. If you require assistance with obtaining a Strata Capital ID Number, contact your Finance Department. QUESTION: For capital projects, can an overall PO be established to track all spending relative to the project, regardless of the supplier(s) or item(s) being procured? You can submit a request for a blanket PO to track spending. This is a good option when you know you will have multiple invoices coming in for payment. However, you cannot generate sub-pos underneath a blanket PO in Coupa. QUESTION: What about emergency situations (such as maintenance) where there is no time to wait on a PO to be sent to the supplier? There are several options: 1.) If it is a small dollar purchase, contact the vendor, place your order, and pay with a credit card. We will then need to leverage the P Card reports to gain visibility, but we lose the ability to ensure that the supplier and its pricing are contracted. 4

5 2.) For higher dollar or more core business type items, the preferred choice is to enter a requisition into Coupa and approve the same day (via mobile device). 3.) A vendor can submit a non-po backed invoice. This method is least preferred as it does not take advantage of approved vendors or negotiated contracted pricing. Non-PO is a less efficient manual process verses Coupa s electronic methods. If you place your order with the supplier without a PO number and the invoice arrives to Accounts Payable, they will enter it into Coupa as a non-po invoice, then route it back for facility review, account coding, and approval before payment is made. QUESTION: Are the codes we see in the Coupa platform based off of PeopleSoft account codes? No; the codes in the system will be based off of Lawson account codes that are used by Trinity Health. We will provide a cross-walk of PeopleSoft codes to Lawson codes. QUESTION: How will PO distribution be handled in situations where the supplier will only take orders over the phone? Ask the vendor to set up an account and drive suppliers to electronic methods. If this is not feasible, the System Office can fax the order for fulfillment. This should be done in extreme situations only. QUESTION: If a requisition needs to be created for a supplier that doesn t show up in Coupa, can it still be processed? Who will be responsible for setting up new suppliers? If a request is made for an item or a service and a supplier or group of suppliers are presented within Coupa as the alternative for that purchase, one of those suppliers should be used. This will allow us to combine our purchasing power to a strategic number of suppliers for the sake of negotiating better pricing. 5

6 If no suppliers are presented as alternatives in Coupa or if the suppliers shown are not local to your facility, requisitions can still be submitted. The requisition will be routed to the System Office to get the new supplier set up. Then, the PO will be released. QUESTION: How are requisitions related to capital items associated with Strata IDs within the Asset Management System? TSLC will continue to use Strata for asset acquisition approval. Once approved, the user will enter the Strata Capital ID Number to the electronic requisition for submission. QUESTION: How are things that don t lend themselves well to a PO (such as utilities) handled? We are working to define a long-term approach. In the interim, utility providers will be instructed to send invoices to the System Office and if necessary, they will route them back to the RHM for review and approval. The preferred approach is to automatically approve these invoices and provide visibility through reporting for purposes of capturing the items within your budget(s). QUESTION: What about situations where items are on backorder? Will this give us better visibility? Since more suppliers will be available through online catalogs, you will have the ability to see whether the item is in stock. This will give you an opportunity to leverage a different source for that item. 6

7 Approvals QUESTION: How should approvals be handled for time-sensitive items such as nursing supplies and food when the person with the appropriate level of fiscal authority is not available to approve it? Requestors in these areas will be given a higher level of approval authority for time-sensitive situations and the supervisors/managers will be made watchers within the approval chain so they still receive notifications, have visibility, and can intervene as necessary. QUESTION: If someone codes an invoice incorrectly, can it be changed during the review process? Yes; approvers have the ability to edit the account coding/billing information on the invoice prior to approval. QUESTION: How will approval limits for each individual be defined? We are currently working with your management team to determine approval limits. While we are trying to achieve consistency across all communities, at this point, limits are decided by your management team, based on the areas you support. QUESTION: When are approval limits set? Approval limits are being defined as a part of the user profile set-up for each Coupa user. 7

8 QUESTION: Are approval limits defined based on supplier or type of item being purchased? Or, are they set at the user level? Approval limits for each Coupa user are set up at the user level. They do not vary based on the type of item being purchased. QUESTION: How quickly will an item be routed to the next person on the workflow if the current approver has not taken action? Escalation timing is a global setting within Coupa across all Trinity operations and is currently set as follows: Reminder that approval is needed within 48 hours; and Escalation to next approver within 72 hours. We realize these windows may not provide the appropriate level of urgency for TSLC. To supplement the process, a report will be developed in Coupa entitled Time With Current Approver that can be scheduled to run and automatically distributed (via ) to those who require notification. Invoicing QUESTION: How are non-po invoices handled? We will be communicating to your suppliers that going forward, invoices should be directed to the TSLC Corporate Office. Once they are received, they will be entered into the Coupa platform and routed via workflow to the appropriate area for coding and approval. 8

9 QUESTION: If we receive invoices here, how should they be handled? If invoices are received directly by the RHM, we ask that you take the following actions: 1. Ensure the invoices are sent to TSLC Accounts Payable as soon as possible for processing. Two options are available: a. Access the check request web form within Coupa and enter the supplier s invoice information. Then, scan the invoice and attach it to the check request form and submit it with the attached invoice. b. Write the account coding on the invoices as you would today if the invoice does not reference a PO number and mail the invoices to: Trinity Senior Living Communities Attn: Accounts Payable College Parkway, Suite 200 Livonia, MI Once the invoice is submitted you may, provide feedback through TSLCCoupaFeedback@trinity-health.org about the suppliers from which you received direct invoices so that AP can ensure that they use the proper process going forward. 3. If you prefer to reach out to the supplier directly, please remind them of the new address to which the invoice should be submitted and ask them to adhere to this process going forward. QUESTION: What about invoices for things (such as oxygen or advertising) where additional work is required in order to support other business processes before the invoice is paid? If the invoice needs to come to the RHM first, we ask that you identify those suppliers on the supplier list provided so that we can request that they continue to send invoices directly to you. 9

10 QUESTION: How are suppliers which require a pull/retrieve from their portal for their invoice or those that their invoices handled? Inform the vendor that a new system has been put into place and that electronic invoice submission options are now available. Request that they contact Tammy Turner at to begin transitioning to an electronic process through either an electronic feed or through . QUESTION: If we receive invoices at our facility, what should we do in order to get them processed and paid? Inform the vendors that moving forward, they should send all invoices to the following address: Trinity Senior Living Communities Attn: Accounts Payable College Parkway, Suite 200 Livonia, MI For invoices in hand, send to the same address. QUESTION: Who will communicate to suppliers that their invoices need to be sent to the System Office? This has been outlined as a part of the overall communication framework for the project and will be handled by System Office. 10

11 QUESTION: How will individuals get visibility to the supplier invoices that are processed by the System Office in order to record them as a part of their spend down sheets? Purchase history reports can be viewed in Coupa. QUESTION: Will this help us improve the timely receipt of invoices from suppliers? While we can t control the timing of when the supplier invoices us, processing the requisition and PO in Coupa will allow us to view purchases that have an outstanding invoice. We can do an exact accrual for those that specify a dollar amount and items where services that are performed periodically against a blanket PO. Check Requests QUESTION: Sometimes we need to have the checks returned to the community. Will that be possible? We are still working on the process around check requests; more information will be distributed as it becomes available. QUESTION: Can we submit employee expense-related items through Coupa? No; employee reimbursements will not be handled through Coupa. They will be processed through Payroll. Follow existing protocol and submit check requisition form to Nihad Mulaibisevic or John Dannen. 11

12 QUESTION: How long will it take check requests to be processed in Coupa? Check requests are submitted with zero day terms, which means as soon as the check request is processed, it will be scheduled to pay. Checks are cut every day except Wednesdays, so the check will be mailed within hours of processing. QUESTION: Will a check request be delayed if a supporting attachment is not included? Possibly. Accounts Payable will be looking for supporting documentation and may have to reach out to you to obtain it. QUESTION: For services by those including musicians, entertainers, beauticians, and priests, can we pay the provider for that service while they are here? We are still working through the process. More information relative to that process will be distributed as it becomes available. Payment QUESTION: How do I know if the supplier was paid? Once all the integrations are completed, this information will be reflected in the status field for that PO/invoice. QUESTION: Can we fulfill requests for electronic payment? Yes. Please let us know by ing TSLCCoupaFeedback@trinity-health.org. We will get them set up for electronic payment. 12

13 General Information TSLC Frequently Asked Questions QUESTION: How will our current P Card information be captured/recorded in Coupa? Company credit card/p Card data will not be captured or recorded in Coupa; it will continue to be captured through the P Card reporting. Over the next several months, we will be converting to a Bank of America P Card program that will provide better reporting and greater visibility at the department level. QUESTION: If we need to go to a specific store, will we continue to use our P Card for those purchases? Yes; P Cards should still be used in these situations. QUESTION: Will these charges hit our budget when they are ordered or when we pay the invoice? Accounting practices require expenses be recognized against the budget at the time of the purchase commitment. The expense is incurred regardless of when the actual payment is made. When the requisition is processed and the PO is distributed to the supplier, the expense will be captured. Systems QUESTION: Who is responsible for user set-up? Initially, the Implementation Team is responsible. Moving forward, the System Administrator within your organization will be responsible. 13

14 QUESTION: Will unapproved suppliers be flagged by the system? No. Unfortunately, this feature is not offered through Coupa. However, preferred suppliers are highlighted by the platform. This can assist in directing you to the right supplier. QUESTION: How will we access Coupa from our desktops? Your IT team will add Coupa to your web browser s Favorites list. QUESTION: What type of reporting is available? Will we be able to do variance reports or see total costs for the sake of budget reporting? Purchase history reports are available within the system and various reporting views of My Spend History can be achieved by searching different criteria. All information in Coupa may be exported into Excel spreadsheets for further analysis. QUESTION: For PO numbers assigned automatically by Coupa, are they sequential by community or across all TSLC purchases? These will be across all TSLC purchases. QUESTION: When I return to the home screen after completing an action on an invoice or receipt, I am stuck on the free-form requisition screen. How do I place another order that is not free-form? Options to search or browse are to the left of the empty text field. Click on either to find another item. 14

15 QUESTION: How can I delete a single line item from a requisition without deleting the entire request? While in Edit mode, there is an option to select a single check box to the left of each item. Click the box next to the item you wish to delete and the select Delete just above the requisition line. QUESTION: How do I edit a single line of a requisition? When in Edit mode, float the mouse over the line you wish to edit. You will see the line highlight, and the pencil icon appear. By clicking on that line, you may change the contents of that requisition line as long as it has not been sent on to the next approver. QUESTION: Do I need to save a requisition before sending? No; you can submit a requisition for approval and it will automatically save, but it is always a good idea to save it in case there is an issue with the internet connection. QUESTION: Can I edit the billing code while making changes to a requisition? Yes, but you must save and exit Edit mode. You cannot make changes to the billing code while making changes to the line item. 15

16 QUESTION: How many ways are there to request that Coupa send a comment or file to the supplier? There are two ways: Tell the supplier to send your text or file attachment upon its creation by clicking Send to Supplier; In Edit mode, float the mouse over the attachment and click the appropriate box; or Delete the attachment by clicking the X next to that checked box. QUESTION: What does it mean to add a watcher to the approval chain? This means that someone will be made aware that the requisition is being made, but they do not need to approve the purchase in order for it to be processed. QUESTION: What is the difference between the Comments field at the bottom of the requisition and the text comments I make in the header of the requisition? The Comments field can be used to make notes for others in the approval chain during the requisition process, but they will not appear on the PO, once it is complete. The text comments made in the header will appear on the PO and can be sent to the supplier. QUESTION: Why does Buyer Action appear in my approval chain? Anytime you initiate a free-form requisition, the Buyer Approval is automatically added to ensure that the the products or goods you are buying are from the approved sources. This helps to ensure that we are getting the best possible deal. 16

17 QUESTION: If there are actions within Coupa that I need to take, how will I be notified? For any items requiring action within Coupa, you will receive an notification. You can approve the item(s) through your or mobile device, as well as access the portal to review the requisition s details and approve/reject it. If you are responsible for providing the coding, you will need to access the invoice through the Coupa portal once you receive an notifying you of required action(s). 17