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Irregular Invoice Resolution

Overview

If you’re familiar with the legacy BruinBuy system, irregular invoices are the BruinBuy Plus equivalent of hold & incomplete (H&I) invoices. These invoices require department or vendor action before they can be processed. 

Irregular invoices are broken into three (3) categories:

  • Matching Exceptions: automatic hold(s) applied to invoices with purchase order price / quantity discrepancies.
  • Hold for Receiving: automatic hold applied to invoices pending receiving.
  • Other Holds: manual holds for invoice irregularities not captured by another category.

Identifying an Invoice’s Hold

Invoices in the Matching Exceptions and Hold for Receiving categories appear in the corresponding BruinBuy Plus workflows. Other Holds invoices remain in the AP Review workflow. An invoice’s “Other Holds” hold reason can be seen on the Invoice Details page. 

NOTE: Access the Irregular Invoice Reporting web page to learn how to view all your unit’s irregular invoices.

Resolution Instructions

Easily jump to your hold or matching exception by using the buttons below.

IMPORTANT: When actioning an irregular invoice, ensure you’re adding progress updates to the invoice’s BruinBuy Plus comments. This ensures AP knows you’re actively working on the invoice even if it’s not yet ready for processing.

Hold for Receiving

The invoice cannot be paid because receiving has not been completed.  

Complete receiving against the PO.

Insufficient PO Funds

The invoice’s PO does not have enough funds to pay the invoice.  

PO ScenarioInvoice ScenarioResolution steps
PO was migrated from legacy BruinBuyInvoice still requires payment
  1. Create a new PO and override the distribution to prevent it from being emailed to the vendor. Enable the declining balance option if the PO will be used to pay multiple invoices.

    NOTE:  If this is a PO that will have future invoices applied to it, ensure you send the new PO number to the vendor. 
  2. Add a comment to the invoice, alerting AP that the new PO has been submitted for approval. 
  3. Once the PO has completed approval workflow, add the new PO number as an invoice comment. AP will then process the invoice.
  4. Close the old PO. The timing of this step is at the discretion of your department.

REMINDER: When adding a comment, select the assigned AP representative from the “Email Notification(s)” checkboxes – this ensures they are notified of your update.

PO was migrated from legacy BruinBuyInvoice no longer requires payment
  1. Add the following comment to the BruinBuy Plus invoice: “Hold for processing – vendor is submitting a corresponding credit memo”.
  2. Submit the credit memo through the standard electronic invoicing process. Ensure the memo clearly lists the PO number and original invoice number.
  3. Add a comment to the invoice, alerting AP that the credit memo has been submitted.

REMINDER: When adding a comment, select the assigned AP representative from the “Email Notification(s)” checkboxes – this ensures they are notified of your update.  

PO was created in BruinBuy PlusInvoice still requires payment
  1. Submit a change request to add more funds to the PO.

    NOTE: If the desired FAU does not have enough funds, work with your fund manager to add more.  
  2. Add a comment to the invoice, alerting AP that a change request has been submitted for approval. Include the change request number in your comment. 
  3. Once the change request has been approved and the PO reflects the updates, notify AP via invoice comments. AP will then process the invoice.

REMINDER: When adding a comment, select the assigned AP representative from the “Email Notification(s)” checkboxes – this ensures they are notified of your update.

PO was created in BruinBuy PlusInvoice no longer requires payment
  1. Add the following comment to the BruinBuy Plus invoice: “Hold for processing – vendor is submitting a corresponding credit memo”.   
  2. Submit the credit memo through the standard electronic invoicing process. Ensure the memo clearly lists the PO number and original invoice number.
  3. Add a comment to the invoice, alerting AP that the credit memo has been submitted.

REMINDER: When adding a comment, select the assigned AP representative from the “Email Notification(s)” checkboxes – this ensures they are notified of your update.

 

Invalid FAU

The PO’s FAU is receiving a BruinBuy Plus validation error: 

BRUINBUY PLUS VALIDATION ERROR CAUSE
Account requires Cost Center The FAU’s Account requires a Cost Center (CC). 
Account Fund combination is not linked The FAU’s Account and Fund are not linked in the general ledger. 
Effective date invalid; accounting period closed 

The FAU’s Account Effective Date is in the past or future.  

NOTE: It’s best practice to leave the Account Effective Date blank.  

Fund must be defined in table of funds 

The FAU’s Fund number is not valid in BruinBuy Plus.

NOTE: This error only occurs when an invoice’s PO was originally created in legacy BruinBuy.

This object code is not allowed for contracts and grants funds 

The FAU’s current Object Code cannot be used with a contract and grant Fund.

NOTE: This error is often associated with honorarium transactions. Contract and grant funds do not support honorarium object code 7900.

IMPORTANT: This is not an exhaustive list of FAU validation errors. If your error is not listed, create a support ticket for assistance.

Identify the reason for the invalid FAU by referencing the How to Determine the Cause of an Invalid FAU Irregular Invoice guide. Then follow the applicable steps in the below table: 

FAU VALIDATION ERROR PO SCENARIO RESOLUTION STEPS
Account requires Cost Center PO was migrated from legacy BruinBuy 
  1. Create a new PO with the Cost Center listed and override the distribution to prevent it from being emailed to the vendor.

    NOTE: If this is a PO that will have future invoices applied to it, ensure you send the new PO number to the vendor. 
  2. Add a comment to the invoice, alerting AP that the new PO has been submitted for approval.
  3. Once the PO has completed approval workflow, add the new PO number as an invoice comment. AP will then process the invoice.
  4. Close the old PO. The timing of this step is at the discretion of your department. 

REMINDER: When adding a comment, select the assigned AP representative from the “Email Notification(s)” checkboxes – this ensures they are notified of your update. 

Account requires Cost Center PO was created in BruinBuy Plus 
  1. Submit a change request to add the Cost Center
  2. Add a comment to the invoice, alerting AP that a change request has been submitted for approval. Include the change request number in your comment. 
  3. Once the change request has been approved and the PO reflects the updates, notify AP via invoice comments. AP will then process the invoice.

REMINDER: When adding a comment, select the assigned AP representative from the “Email Notification(s)” checkboxes – this ensures they are notified of your update.

Account Fund combination is not linked N/A
  1. Complete General Accounting’s New Account / Cost Center Request form
  2. Add a comment to the invoice, alerting AP that you have submitted a request for General Accounting to link the Account and Fund. 
  3. Once General Accounting confirms the Account and Fund have been linked, notify AP via another invoice comment. AP will then process the invoice.

REMINDER: When adding a comment, select the assigned AP representative from the “Email Notification(s)” checkboxes – this ensures they are notified of your update. 

Effective date invalid; accounting period closed PO was migrated from legacy BruinBuy 
  1. Create a new PO with a blank Account Effective Date and override the distribution to prevent it from being emailed to the vendor.

    NOTE: If this is a PO that will have future invoices applied to it, ensure you send the new PO number to the vendor. 
  2. Add a comment to the invoice, alerting AP that the new PO has been submitted for approval.
  3. Once the PO has completed approval workflow, add the new PO number as an invoice comment. AP will then process the invoice.
  4. Close the old PO. The timing of this step is at the discretion of your department. 

REMINDER: When adding a comment, select the assigned AP representative from the “Email Notification(s)” checkboxes – this ensures they are notified of your update. 

Effective date invalid; accounting period closed PO was created in BruinBuy Plus 
  1. Submit a change request to remove the current Account Effective Date.
  2. Add a comment to the invoice, alerting AP that a change request has been submitted for approval. Include the change request number in your comment. 
  3. Once the change request has been approved and the PO reflects the updates, notify AP via invoice comments. AP will then process the invoice. 

REMINDER: When adding a comment, select the assigned AP representative from the “Email Notification(s)” checkboxes – this ensures they are notified of your update.

Fund must be defined in table of fundsOnly applies to POs that were migrated from legacy BruinBuy
  1. Create a new PO with a valid Fund and override the distribution to prevent it from being emailed to the vendor.

    NOTE: If this is a PO that will have future invoices applied to it, ensure you send the new PO number to the vendor. 
  2. Add a comment to the invoice, alerting AP that the new PO has been submitted for approval.
  3. Once the PO has completed approval workflow, add the new PO number as an invoice comment. AP will then process the invoice.
  4. Close the old PO. The timing of this step is at the discretion of your department. 

REMINDER: When adding a comment, select the assigned AP representative from the “Email Notification(s)” checkboxes – this ensures they are notified of your update.

This object code is not allowed for contracts and grants funds N/A
  1. Inform AP of the new Fund via invoice comment.
  2. AP will then process the invoice OR provide next steps. 

REMINDER: When adding a comment, select the assigned AP representative from the “Email Notification(s)” checkboxes – this ensures they are notified of your update.

Invalid PO

The invoice does not include a PO number, the listed PO does not exist, or the listed PO is closed. 

AP is rejecting these invoices and notifies the vendor via email (see the Rejected Invoices web page for additional information and communication samples). To identify impacted invoices, review the How to Identify Invoices Rejected Due to an Invalid PO guide.

NOTE: An invalid PO prevents the associated invoice(s) from being linked to a department. In order to view these irregular invoices in BruinBuy Plus, you must have the vendor's invoice number.
 
Invoice ScenarioNext Steps
PO number is missing from invoiceThe vendor needs to add the PO to the new invoice and resubmit. 
Listed PO number does not existThe vendor needs to add a valid PO number to the invoice and resubmit. 
Listed PO is closed
  1. Create a new PO and override the distribution to prevent it from being emailed to the vendor and causing duplicate goods/services.
  2. Provide the new PO number to the vendor to add to their invoice(s).
  3. Have the vendor resubmit the updated invoice. 
TIP: Review the Electronic Invoicing web page for invoice submission requirements. 

Matching Exception: Invoice Over Price

The invoice’s pricing is higher than the pricing on the associated PO and there are not enough funds to pay it.

PO Scenarioresolution steps
PO was migrated from legacy BruinBuy and is incorrect
  1. Create a new PO and override the distribution to prevent it from being emailed to the vendor.

    NOTE: If this is a PO that will have future invoices applied to it, ensure you send the new PO number to the vendor.  
  2. Add a comment to the invoice, alerting AP that the new PO has been submitted for approval.
  3. Once the PO has completed approval workflow, add the new PO number as an invoice comment. AP will then process the invoice.
  4. Close the old PO. The timing of this step is at the discretion of your department. 

REMINDER: When adding a comment, select the assigned AP representative from the “Email Notification(s)” checkboxes – this ensures they are notified of your update.

PO was created inBruinBuy Plus and is incorrect 
  1. Submit a change request to match the PO to the invoice.
  2. Add a comment to the invoice, alerting AP that a change request has been submitted for approval. Include the change request number in your comment.
  3. Once the change request has been approved and the PO reflects the updates, notify AP via invoice comment. AP will then process the invoice. 

REMINDER: When adding a comment, select the assigned AP representative from the “Email Notification(s)” checkboxes – this ensures they are notified of your update.

PO is correct

Work with the vendor to submit a credit memo or new invoice.

To submit a credit memo:

  1. Add the following comment to the BruinBuy Plus invoice: “Hold for processing – vendor is submitting a corresponding credit memo”.
  2. Submit the credit memo through the standard electronic invoicing process. Ensure the memo clearly lists the PO number and original invoice number.
  3. Create a support ticket, alerting AP that steps 1 and 2 have been completed.

REMINDER: When adding a comment, select the assigned AP representative from the “Email Notification(s)” checkboxes – this ensures they are notified of your update.

To submit an updated invoice:

  1. Add the following comment to the BruinBuy Plus invoice: “Please reject – vendor is resubmitting an updated invoice”.
  2. Wait for AP to tell you that the previous invoice has been rejected.
  3. Have the vendor submit the updated invoice through the standard electronic invoicing process.

IMPORTANT: Step 2 must be followed to stop the new invoice from being auto-rejected as a duplicate.

REMINDER: When adding a comment, select the assigned AP representative from the “Email Notification(s)” checkboxes – this ensures they are notified of your update.

 

Matching Exception: Invoice Over Quantity

The invoice’s quantity is higher than the quantity on the associated PO and there are not enough funds to pay it.

NOTE: This matching exception frequently occurs when the PO was supposed to be a declining balance. Review the Declining Balance guide for additional information.

PO SCENARIORESOLUTION
PO was migrated from legacy BruinBuy and is incorrect
  1. Create a new PO and override the distribution to prevent it from being emailed to the vendor.

    NOTE: If this is a PO that will have future invoices applied to it, ensure you send the new PO number to the vendor.
  2. Add a comment to the invoice, alerting AP that the new PO has been submitted for approval.
  3. Once the PO has completed approval workflow, add the new PO number as an invoice comment. AP will then manually route the invoice to the next workflow step.
  4. Close the old PO. The timing of this step is at the discretion of your department. 

REMINDER: When adding a comment, select the assigned AP representative from the “Email Notification(s)” checkboxes – this ensures they are notified of your update.

PO was created in BruinBuy Plus and is incorrect
  1. Submit a change request to match the PO to the invoice.
  2. Add a comment to the invoice, alerting AP that a change request has been submitted for approval. Include the change request number in your comment. 
  3. Once the change request has been approved and the PO reflects the updates, notify AP via invoice comments. AP will then manually route the invoice to the next workflow step. 

REMINDER: When adding a comment, select the assigned AP representative from the “Email Notification(s)” checkboxes – this ensures they are notified of your update. 

PO is correct

Work with the vendor to submit a credit memo or new invoice.

To submit a credit memo: 

  1. Add the following comment to the BruinBuy Plus invoice: “Hold for processing – vendor is submitting a corresponding credit memo”.
  2. Submit the credit memo through the standard electronic invoicing process. Ensure the memo clearly lists the PO number and original invoice number. 
  3. Add a comment to the invoice, alerting AP that the credit memo has been submitted.

REMINDER: When adding a comment, select the assigned AP representative from the “Email Notification(s)” checkboxes – this ensures they are notified of your update.

To submit an updated invoice: 

  1. Add the following comment to the BruinBuy Plus invoice: “Please reject – vendor is resubmitting an updated invoice”.
  2. Wait for AP to tell you that the previous invoice has been rejected. 
  3. Have the vendor submit the updated invoice through the standard electronic invoicing process.

IMPORTANT: Step 2 must be followed to avoid the new invoice from being auto-rejected as a duplicate.

REMINDER: When adding a comment, select the assigned AP representative from the “Email Notification(s)” checkboxes – this ensures they are notified of your update.

 

Missing Foreign Wire Transfer Form 

The invoice needs to be paid via wire; however, a Wire Transfer Request form was not submitted.

  1. Complete the Wire Transfer Request form. If paying for services, ensure you include the country and city in which the services were performed. Once submitted, you’ll receive an automated email with the associated case number.
  2. Add the 8-digit case number as an invoice comment.  
  3. AP will reach out to you if any additional information is needed during the review process. Once the wire transfer request is fully approved, the invoice will be processed. 

REMINDER: When adding a comment, select the assigned AP representative from the “Email Notification(s)” checkboxes – this ensures they are notified of your update. 

Missing Location of Services

The invoice does not indicate where the services were performed. This information is required for tax purposes.

  1. Add the location of services (City, State) as an invoice comment
  2. AP will reach out if additional information is needed to process the invoice.

REMINDER: When adding a comment, select the assigned AP representative from the “Email Notification(s)” checkboxes – this ensures they are notified of your update.

Missing Original Invoice Details

This irregular invoice is a credit memo that: 

  1. Lists an invalid original debit invoice number OR 
  2. Is missing the original debit invoice number and / or PO number.

UCLA cannot take the credit until the associated debit is located.

SCENARIORESOLUTION STEPS
Invalid debit invoice number 
  1. Attach the original debit invoice to the credit memo’s comments.
  2. AP will then process the debit and offset the credit where applicable.

If the credit doesn’t fully offset the debit, the processor will provide next steps via comments.

REMINDER: When adding a comment, select the assigned AP representative from the “Email Notification(s)” checkboxes – this ensures they are notified of your update.

Missing debit invoice number and/or PO number 
  1. Add the original debit invoice number and / or PO number to the credit memo’s comments.
  2. AP will then process the debit and offset the credit where applicable.

If the credit doesn’t fully offset the debit, the processor will provide next steps via comments.

REMINDER: When adding a comment, select the assigned AP representative from the “Email Notification(s)” checkboxes – this ensures they are notified of your update.

Missing UCLA PI Approval

This invoice requires principal investigator (PI) approval; however, it’s associated with a legacy BruinBuy PO which means it cannot be routed to the BruinBuy Plus Subaward / Subcontract Approvals workflow step.

  1. AP emails the associated fund manager to obtain PI approval.
  2. The fund manager replies to the message and includes the PI approval (e.g., DocuSign document) as an email attachment.
  3. AP then processes the invoice.

PO Line Mismatch

There are one or more line items on the invoice that are not covered by the itemized PO.

PO SCENARIO RESOLUTION STEPS
PO was migrated from legacy BruinBuy
  1. Create a new PO that matches the invoice and override the distribution to prevent it from being emailed to the vendor.

    NOTE: If this is a PO that will have future invoices applied to it, ensure you send the new PO number to the vendor.
  2. Add a comment to the invoice, alerting AP that the new PO has been submitted for approval.
  3. Once the PO has completed approval workflow, add the new PO number as an invoice comment. AP will then process the invoice.
  4. Close the old PO. The timing of this step is at the discretion of your department. 

REMINDER: When adding a comment, select the assigned AP representative from the “Email Notification(s)” checkboxes – this ensures they are notified of your update.

PO was created in BruinBuy Plus
  1. Submit a change request to match the PO to the invoice.
  2. Add a comment to the invoice, alerting AP that a change request has been submitted for approval. Include the change request number in your comment. 
  3. Once the change request has been approved and the PO reflects the updates, notify AP via invoice comments. AP will then process the invoice.

REMINDER: When adding a comment, select the assigned AP representative from the “Email Notification(s)” checkboxes – this ensures they are notified of your update. 

Quantity / Price Mismatch

The invoice’s pricing is higher than the pricing on the associated PO and there are not enough funds to pay it, AND/OR the invoice’s quantity is higher than the quantity on the associated PO and there are not enough funds to pay it.

NOTE: This hold reason is used when the matching exception workflow step is not appropriately triggered.

PO SCENARIO RESOLUTION STEPS
PO was migrated from legacy BruinBuy
  1. Create a new PO that matches the invoice and override the distribution to prevent it from being emailed to the vendor.

    NOTE: If this is a PO that will have future invoices applied to it, ensure you send the new PO number to the vendor.
  2. Add a comment to the invoice, alerting AP that the new PO has been submitted for approval.
  3. Once the PO has completed approval workflow, add the new PO number as an invoice comment. AP will then process the invoice.
  4. Close the old PO. The timing of this step is at the discretion of your department. 

REMINDER: When adding a comment, select the assigned AP representative from the “Email Notification(s)” checkboxes – this ensures they are notified of your update.

PO was created in BruinBuy Plus
  1. Submit a change request to match the PO to the invoice.
  2. Add a comment to the invoice, alerting AP that a change request has been submitted for approval. Include the change request number in your comment. 
  3. Once the change request has been approved and the PO reflects the updates, notify AP via invoice comments. AP will then process the invoice.

REMINDER: When adding a comment, select the assigned AP representative from the “Email Notification(s)” checkboxes – this ensures they are notified of your update. 

Vendor Mismatch

The invoice vendor and the PO vendor do not match (i.e., vendor name and/or tax ID).

SCENARIORESOLUTION STEPS
The PO is wrong 
  1. AP should have listed the correct vendor's VCK in the invoice comments. Create a new PO under this VCK and override the distribution to prevent it from being emailed to the vendor.

    NOTE: If this is a PO that will have future invoices applied to it, ensure you send the new PO number to the vendor.
  2. Once the PO has completed approval workflow, add the new PO number as an invoice comment. AP will then process the invoice. 
  3. Close the old PO. The timing of this step is at the discretion of your department. 

REMINDER: When adding a comment, select the assigned AP representative from the “Email Notification(s)” checkboxes – this ensures they are notified of your update.

The invoice is wrong

Resolution steps for this scenario are case specific. Add a comment to the invoice for instructions. 

REMINDER: When adding a comment, select the assigned AP representative from the “Email Notification(s)” checkboxes – this ensures they are notified of your request.

Vendor Remittance Mismatch

The invoice lists a remittance address that isn’t associated with the vendor’s UCLA profile.

  1. Request the vendor update their PaymentWorks remittance address. Comprehensive instructions can be found in PaymentWorks’ How to Update the Remittance and/or Corporate Addresses – Part A article.
  2. Add a comment to the invoice, alerting AP that you have notified the vendor of the necessary resolution steps.
  3. Continue to add status updates to the invoice comments (e.g., vendor needed Vendor Management assistance; vendor has submitted update in PaymentWorks; etc.).
  4. Once the remittance update is approved and visible to the vendor in PaymentWorks, notify AP via comments.
  5. AP will then process the invoice.

REMINDER: When adding a comment, select the assigned AP representative from the “Email Notification(s)” checkboxes – this ensures they are notified of your update. 

Other - See Comments

This hold is used for 1) invoice irregularities not captured by one of the above hold reasons and 2) invoices with multiple issues.

Review the invoice comments for additional explanation:

  • If the explanation lists one or more of the hold reasons outlined on this web page, follow the related resolution steps.
  • If the explanation lists a hold not captured on this web page and you don’t know how to resolve it, request resolution instructions via invoice comments.

REMINDER: When adding a comment, select the assigned AP representative from the “Email Notification(s)” checkboxes – this ensures they are notified of your update.