Approving a Payment Request

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Overview

Once an Initiator submits a Payment Request, it must be approved by a Spend Approver, which is typically one of a pool of approvers. There may be up to three pools of approvals at the Unit level.

A spend approver reviews the transaction to ensure that the chartstring distribution is correct and that the request meets policy requirements. The spend approver cannot modify the chartstring.

Accounts Payable reviews the request after the Spend Approver(s) approve the transaction. If it is correct, it will be approved by Accounts Payable. If it needs further information, the transaction will be returned to the Initiator.

General Guidance for Approvers:

The approval step is not a rubber stamp.

Do not approve a transaction just because the person before you has approved.
As an approver, you are confirming to the best of your knowledge, that the transaction is appropriate, accurately classified with correct chartfields, and complete with respect to substantiating documentation (attachments).
Approvers should consult with their Chief Business Officer if they have questions about performing these responsibilities.

For further questions or more general best practices consult pages 2-3 of the Financial Review and Analysis Guide.

In this article, you will learn the steps to approve a payment request in the UGA Financial Management System.

1. Step 1

Frist, log into the UGA Financial Mangement system.

On the Employee Self Service page, click the Approvals tile.

Note: The number in the bottom right corner of the tile indicates the number of documents awaiting your approval.

2. Step 2

The Pending Approvals page is displayed. Transactions awaiting your approval are listed on the right side of the screen.

If you need to filter through several transaction types, click to select the transaction type on the left side of the screen.

3. Step 3

To review a payment request, click to select the appropriate transaction in the list.

4. Step 4

The Payment Request page is displayed.

This page contains the initiator's comments in the top left corner, a summary of the transaction details, Line Details with accounting information, and any relevant attachments.

5. Step 5

The Payment Request page is a good place to ask yourself the following questions to ensure best practices are met:

1. Does the transaction comply with applicable policies?

2. Is there anything unique about the transaction that should be reviewed?

3. Do I need to ask any questions or consult with my unit’s business office on this transaction?

4. Are there comments from approvers prior to me that I need to consider?

6. Step 6

In the Line Details section, click the appropriate line(s) to view detailed information about the chartstring(s) and distributions used for the payment request.

Example shown here: Line 1 .

7. Step 7

The Distributions pop-up window is displayed.

This page shows detailed chartstring information about the payment request, such as Account, Budget Reference, Program, and Department.

Scroll right to view the entire chartstring as necessary.

8. Step 8

When viewing the chartstring, consider the following:

1. Is the combination of the ChartFields correct?

2. Are there ChartFields that should not be included on the transaction?

3. If the transaction is related to a project or grant, is the correct PC Bus Unit, Project ID and Activity code included, if applicable?

4. Should any ChartField value or Operating Unit value be included or excluded?

9. Step 9

To exit, click the Close [x] button.

10. Step 10

To view any supporting attachments for the payment request, click the View Attachments link.

11. Step 11

The View Attachments pop-up window is displayed. You can click the attached file name(s) to view the supporting item(s) in detail.

Note: If attachments are missing or cannot be read, use the Deny function to have the initiator add or correct the attachments. Also, verify that attachments and line details match.

When you are finished, click the Close [x] button.

12. Step 12

Click the Approval Chain link.

13. Step 13

The Approval Chain pop-up window is displayed. You can review the approvers at each level as well as the comments of any approvers before you in workflow.

14. Step 14

To add an ad hoc approver, click the Add Ad hoc button for the first level of approval.

15. Step 15

Use the lookup features or enter the User ID directly into the field.

Example shown here: " mr00163 " in the User ID field.

16. Step 16

Be sure that the Approver button is selected. This will route the transaction to the selected approver who must approve before it will go on to the next level of approval.

Note: The ad hoc approval won’t route to the inserted approver until the person who added the ad hoc approval approves the payment request themselves.

Click the Insert button.

17. Step 17

To exit, click the Close [x] button.

18. Step 18

There are three decision buttons at the top right of the Payment Request page.

To place a payment request on hold, you would click the More button and then select Hold. This might be used if you need to obtain additional information from the initiator about the transaction. Hold will "lock out" other approvers until you make an approval decision.

Example shown here: "Approved".

22. Step 22

Click the Submit button.