Vendor invoices are mailed directly to corporate headquarters
and entered by accounts payable personnel
when received; this often occurs before the receiving
data are transmitted from the branch offices. The final
day of the invoice term for payment is entered as
the payment due date. This due date must often be
calculated by the data entry person using information
listed on the invoice.
Once a week, invoices due the following week are
printed in chronological entry order on a payment listing,
and the corresponding checks are drawn. The
checks and the payment listing are sent to the treasurer’s
office for signature and mailing to the payee. The check
number is printed by the computer and displayed on the
check, and the payment listing is validated as the checks
are signed. After the checks are mailed, the payment
listing is returned to accounts payable for filing. When
there is insufficient cash to pay all the invoices, certain
checks and the payment listing are retained by the treasurer
until all checks can be paid. When the remaining
checks are mailed, the listing is then returned to accounts
payable. Often, weekly check mailings include a
few checks from the previous week, but rarely are there
more than two weekly listings involved.
When accounts payable receives the payment listing
back from the treasurer’s office, the expenses are
distributed, coded, and posted to the appropriate plant
or cost center accounts. Weekly summary performance
reports are processed by accounts payable for each cost
center and branch location reflecting all data entry to
that point.