Accounts Payable Service Level Agreement

Transcription

1 Shared Services Center Accounts Payable Service Level Agreement

2 Table of Contents 1. Introduction Agreement Duration Agreement Purpose Expectations Definitions 4 2. Service Overview 5 3. Roles and Responsibilities SSC Accounts Payable Responsibilities SSC Help Center Responsibilities Institution Responsibilities 7 4. Service Level Metrics 8 5. Cost of Service 9 6. Hours of Operation 9 7. Issue Resolution Process AP Processing Issues - Escalation Process Customer-Identified Issues 9 8. SLA Management and Periodic Reviews Reporting and Quarterly Reviews Annual Reviews Approvals and Document Control Approvals Document Change Control 11 2

3 1. Introduction This Service Level Agreement (SLA) details the Accounts Payable processing that the VCCS Shared Services Center (SSC) will provide for all VCCS institutions. 1.1 Agreement Duration Initial Effective Duration This Agreement shall commence on December 1, 2018, and shall continue through June 30, After that, this agreement shall automatically renew for additional oneyear terms. Agreement Modifications Any proposed modifications to the SLA must be received by the SSC each year by April 1. Any proposals must be received in writing and addressed to the Director of the SSC, who will then address any changes to the SLA during the Management Council meeting in the last fiscal quarter. 1.2 Agreement Purpose This SLA describes the responsibilities of the VCCS institutions involved in Accounts Payable processing. Each of these institutions agrees to operate within the specifications of the SLA. The respective Colleges, the System Office and the SSC must agree in writing to any changes to this document. 1.3 Expectations The SSC s mission is to enable the VCCS Colleges and System Office to better focus their resources on students - helping them start their educational journeys, persist, and succeed by: Developing a streamlined approach to efficiently handle transaction-based functions that all 23 Colleges and System Office must undertake in order to operate; Saving money by providing greater efficiency and reducing manual efforts; Leveraging technology not only for efficiency but also the accuracy of work; and Providing all institutions, regardless of their size, access to consistent, quality services and expertise. In order to achieve this mission, the SSC subscribes to the following principles: Ongoing partnerships with each institution to drive towards outstanding performance; Communicating with Colleges to inform them of issues and to promptly resolve them; Using Six Sigma and Lean methodologies for continuous process improvements; Processing via a single system or process for Accounts Payable; Establishing and maintaining effective internal controls;, Complying with Agency Risk Management and Internal Control Standards (ARMICS); 3

4 Identifying and deploying best practices; Operating in a cost-effective manner; and Compliance with Virginia Department of Accounts Regulations (CAPP Manual). The VCCS institutions will all take active steps to strive for continuous improvement, by identifying those tasks that are less than optimal and recommending approaches to improving them. It is expected that the VCCS institutions will perform their roles and responsibilities as defined here and as modified, as needed, based on continuous improvement recommendations by the Process Council. Process council recommendations that propose a shift of tasks/functions previously transitioned from Colleges to the SSC to return to the Colleges will be reviewed and approved by the Management Council. 1.4 Definitions The following words shall have the meanings defined below: Accounts Payable Term Agency Head or Designee AIS AP05 Business Days CAPP Cardinal Department Code DOA Description An Agency Head is an officially appointed, elected or designated individual who directs, and is ultimately responsible for, the overall operations of an agency or institution. A designee is any other person appropriately designated to act on behalf of the Agency Head. Such designation must be approved by the Agency Head in writing and retained on file within the agency. Administrative Information System (PeopleSoft) used to record accounting transactions for the VCCS system. Metric reported monthly regarding AP Failure Code Analysis. Monday through Friday excluding SSC and institution shutdown. Commonwealth Accounting Policies and Procedures (CAPP) Manual Section (Cash Disbursements Accounting) governs the rules and regulations for processing expenses incurred by agencies of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The accounting system used by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Cardinal is a PeopleSoft software product. The accounting string in the general ledger accounting system (AIS) for tracking and recording of expenses to budget. The Virginia Department of Accounts (DOA) has the mission to provide a uniform system of accounting, financial reporting, and internal control adequate to protect and account for the Commonwealth s financial resources. The DOA is responsible for establishing accounting policies and procedures as documented in the CAPP manual. 4

5 Institutions (VCCS Institutions) ImageNow Liaison Voucher All VCCS entities including the 23 Colleges, System Office and the SSC. The document management system where Accounts Payable invoices and images are housed and routed to Colleges for review and feedback if needed. ImageNow is also referred to as Perceptive Content and is a Hyland Software Product. An individual from a College or the System Office who has been designated as the point of contact for the SLA service offering to the SSC for their College or the System Office. Payment issuance to a vendor for goods or services provided to a VCCS entity. 2. Service Overview The Accounts Payable process reviews images, backup documentation, and invoices submitted to the SSC by vendors or VCCS entities for goods or services provided to VCCS entities. Accounts Payable submissions are validated by ensuring compliance with CAPP and VCCS policies pertaining to cash disbursement. The outcome of this process is payment issuance to vendors that comply with CAPP and VCCS policies. The Accounts Payable process begins when a good or service is provided to a VCCS entity by a vendor and payment request and/or invoice is submitted to SSC for good or service provided. The process ends when payment is received by the vendor. Accounts Payable is a system-driven workflow process initiated and completed through the ImageNow, AIS, and Cardinal platforms. This service will: Review submissions for accuracy; Ensure compliance with CAPP and VCCS policies; Promptly communicate any issues or adjustments needed to Colleges and vendors; and Ensure issuance of prompt payment to the vendor. 3. Roles and Responsibilities 3.1 SSC Accounts Payable Responsibilities Maintain a document repository. Validate submissions for compliance with CAPP and VCCS policies (e.g. three-way match, non-po voucher requests). Intake (invoice receipt queue): within three (3) business days of receipt of invoice SSC will send items to either a voucher queue for voucher creation or to a College 5

6 (no receipt, NSF) or other SSC exception queue for action/resolution so that it can then be routed to voucher queue for voucher creation. SSC will have a minimum 90% accuracy rate with regard to quality of items sent to the Colleges (e.g. If SSC designates the error as NSF, the problem should actually be NSF rather than some other issue.). Approve SSC created vendor setup. After AIS 9.2 upgrade, SSC will approve all (paid by state or local funds) vendor setup within one (1) business day. Ensure that all documents for SSC vendor setup and maintenance are obtained (e.g. COVA W9). Process payment in accordance with agreed upon payment terms and method. Provide training to end-users, including but not limited to: o Training on policies, processes, or system changes; and o Remedial training to address common errors and issues. Review payments for proper 1099 reporting and ensure that all filing requirements are met by due dates. Provide adjusted 1099 information for review by the Colleges five (5) business days prior to filing deadlines. Where PCARD reconciliation is provided by the SSC, reconcile PCard logs and provide ATV prior to the following month s statement (per DOA CAPP topic no ). Escalate any non-compliance by College or vendors to College leadership, vendors, and SSC management. Respond to metrics with appropriate action. Maintain current business process documentation and policies and procedures. Responsible for financial standards in relation to accounts payable executed by the SSC and providing a response to audits. SSC will ensure that 100% of items post to Cardinal within one (1) business day of the posting date or take appropriate action to ensure any unposted items are resolved within the next business day cycle. Colleges and SSC will take appropriate action to ensure that FPY exceeds 80%. Colleges and SSC will take appropriate action to ensure prompt pay compliance exceeds 95%. 3.2 SSC Help Center Responsibilities Communicate with vendors to provide information on the centralized Accounts Payable process. 6

7 Where SSC has the ability to affect resolution, research and resolve vendor inquiries regarding payment status and communicate the resolution to the vendor. (i.e. Where the vendor has not provided a valid invoice or W9, the vendor will have to provide resolution.) 3.3 Institution Responsibilities Upon receipt of goods or services, complete receiving process in the system within three (3) business days of the receipt of the goods or services per CAPP requirement. If an invoice failure notice requires a response or other action on the part of the purchaser, then the purchaser shall respond and take such other action within three (3) business days after the notification. Colleges will have a minimum 90% accuracy rate with regard to quality of resubmissions, e.g., if stated that an item has been received, it should be received in eva. Approve College created vendor setup. After AIS 9.2 upgrade, SSC will approve all SSC and College created vendor setup per metric requirements. Ensure that all documents for College vendor setup are obtained and maintained (e.g. COVA W9). Remit correct information to SSC for non-po voucher requests. Keep contacts up-to-date for ImageNow processing, PO management, and other necessary processing. Colleges and SSC will take appropriate action to ensure that FPY exceeds 80%. Colleges and SSC will take appropriate action to ensure prompt pay compliance exceeds 95%. Respond to metrics with appropriate action. Responsible for financial standards in relation to accounts payable executed by the institution and providing a response to audits. Where SSC provides PCard reconciliation services, provide accurate PCard logs by the required cutoff as per the business rules. Colleges will ensure 95% compliance with APSPM and business rules for purchases and PCard log completion. 7

8 4. Service Level Metrics The service level metrics are organized into performance dimensions, such as efficiency, effectiveness, productivity, quality, value, schedule, etc. The service level metrics used will follow the SSC s metrics framework to ensure alignment among service delivery performance, management metrics, and how the SSC captures and measures the data for these metrics. Accounts Payable will be measured on the following levels, as ImageNow and AIS functionality becomes available. Details are provided in the Responsibilities section. Efficiency o Cycle Time (Measured by percent of submissions that meet established time criteria for DOA prompt pay requirements from the start of system process until the end of system process.) Time from receipt of submission to the resolution of submission (approved for payment or rejected), when applicable; SSC time to process (receipt to SSC completion, receipt to reject, approval to AIS and Cardinal posting, when applicable); and College time to process (return to resubmission). Effectiveness/Quality (Measured by First Pass Yield and communication between Colleges and SSC.) Compliance o Percent of submissions that meet prompt pay criteria o Breakdown of issues that delay payment or processing SSC provides analysis in the metric of AP05. Colleges and SSC will need to show month over month improvement in reducing the number of issues that delay payment or processing. o Documentation for vendor maintenance Colleges and SSC will ensure that proper documentation for vendor setup is obtained. o PCARD Reconciliations Colleges will ensure compliance with APSPM and business rules for purchases and PCard log completion. The overriding goal in developing these metrics is to support the VCCS institutions by monitoring and measuring the performance of service delivery and the execution of mutual responsibilities of the VCCS institutions in relation to the desired business outcomes. Where performance does not align to business needs, the analysis will be performed to understand additional investments necessary to bring performance in-line with business needs. It is expected that the performance of the VCCS institutions will improve over time from continual improvement and that metrics may be added/updated/removed over time to reflect changing or new business requirements. These metrics will be reviewed as documented in Section 8, SLA Management and Periodic Reviews. 8

9 5. Cost of Service There is a lump sum allocation cost for the service provided to the Colleges or the System Office for FY Hours of Operation Service Support Hours Extended Hours of Operation Closures / State of Emergency Normal Business Days Holidays, Weekends and Other Published Extended Hours Critical Support Staff Availability Only Monday - Friday 8:00 AM ET - 5:30 PM ET Holidays Closed In an event of closure due to an emergency or inclement weather, the processes will resume when the SSC reopens. 7. Issue Resolution Process 7.1 AP Processing Issues - Escalation Process (e.g. COVA W9, eva Registration) The SSC Accounts Payable Specialists will open a Salesforce (help desk ticket software) case for any issues encountered in the Accounts Payable process. Once a case is opened, it is automatically routed to the individual who will be working on the issue, which depends on the type of issue being reported. The College Business Manager or specified agency contact will be provided with an update from the SSC regarding any issue(s) affecting his/her institution that requires escalation for resolution. The Salesforce case will contain any tasks that are assigned to other individuals who need(s) to work on any given case. If a step/task requires institution-level approval, a task will be created requesting the approval of the Authorized Approver and the Business Manager or specified agency contact will be notified at the time the approval step is added. When a case is completed, the individual who opened the case and any other parties involved will be notified. 7.2 Customer-Identified Issues Customers (VCCS institution employees) who identify issues will contact the SSC Help Center as defined by the Help Center Escalation Matrix (Exhibit 1). Based on the nature of the call/ , the Help Center agent will follow an SSCdefined process to respond to the inquiry; route the call/ to the appropriate 9

10 specialist or manager; escalate the issue to management, and open a case for tracking the request and its resolution. If there is an issue that cannot be resolved as a result of the process mentioned above, the SSC Finance Operations Manager, SSC Director and Senior Management at the College or System Office (depending on where the issue was generated) will work together to determine a resolution. It is expected that due diligence will be applied by the SSC, the Colleges and the System Office to work through routine and complex issues before evoking escalation to the Governance structure. 8. SLA Management and Periodic Reviews 8.1 Reporting and Quarterly Reviews The delivery of the services provided under this SLA will be subject to regular quarterly and annual reviews by its Governance Council(s) and its customers at the VCCS institutions. The Management Council will review SSC performance at its quarterly meetings. These reviews will include a review of monthly business activities and status; a review of the issues log; performance metrics; and service improvement plan reviews where applicable. The Executive Council will review high-level SSC performance at its meetings. (Note that the responsibilities and the membership of these Governance Councils are described in the SSC Charter.) 8.2 Annual Reviews A full SLA review will be held annually by a designated subgroup of the Management Council. The purpose of the review is to assess the service provided by the SSC and consider any changes needed to the SLA. The review will also assess the SSC, the Colleges, and the System Office, and their roles and responsibilities to determine if changes need to be made. The SLA document will be maintained under change control, and changes will require full agreement from the SSC and the respective Colleges or the System Office. If an agreement is not reached, the issue will be escalated to the SSC Management Council. 10

11 9. Approvals and Document Control 9.1 Approvals Entity: Process Owner Name and Signature: SSC Director Name and Signature: 9.2 Document Change Control Version No. Date Changes Description Changed By Authorized By 1 09/13/2018 Draft T. Ogonek K. Metts 2 11/06/2018 Final T. Sweat K. Metts

12 Exhibit 1 - Escalation Process 12