Special procedures for invoice submission and check requests in response to COVID-19
Thursday, March 19, 2020
From: Allison Baird-James, Associate Vice Chancellor/Controller
Subject: UCLA Accounts Payable Remote Operations in response to COVID-19
Colleagues:
As UCLA Corporate Financial Services (CFS) continues to develop contingency plans in light of the current COVID-19 crisis affecting the world, I would like to share with you some temporary procedures that departments and suppliers should utilize to better position us for remote operations.
While we continue to look to suppliers to submit invoices directly to Accounts Payable via electronic methods like Transcepta, EDI or our ViP (Vendor Invoice Portal), we recognize that some (several or most) invoices are being sent directly to users via PDFs or by US Mail. In order to facilitate this process, departments can upload invoices at the AP Invoice Submission page (PDFs only), after signing-in with your UCLA Logon ID.
The file naming convention should be the PO number, along with the invoice number, separated by an underscore, for example: 1234NAB456_INV871. This will allow for multiple invoices to be submitted for the same PO numbers.
Please place your invoices in the appropriate subfolder:
- Utilities, Memberships and License Renewals
- Dining Services & Conference Operations
- Sub-awards & Subcontracts
- Foreign Payments, Honoraria, Income-reportable Payments
- Real Estate Invoices
- Facilities Invoices
- Capital Programs Construction Invoices
- Travel & Entertainment Invoices
- Other Invoices
Submission Procedures
Vendors may send invoices as PDF attachments to Accounts Payable and Travel Accounting at this new email address: invoices@finance.ucla.edu. Given the large volume of invoices that Accounts Payable handles, please follow these procedures for submission:
- Attach only one PDF for each invoice per email (whether it is one page or multiple pages).
- The PDF must be an attachment, not embedded within the email body.
- The email subject line must be the PO number.
- Do not include instructions or details in the email, as these will not be read.
Check Requests
Due to operational constraints in Accounts Payable and on campus, checks requested to be mailed back to departments, held for pick-up at Murphy Hall, or required to be sent with attachments will temporarily be stopped. Electronic payments are available through credit card or EFT via Paymode-X. More detailed descriptions from your submitted BruinBuy orders can appear on the checks using the “Description on Check” option when creating orders, up to five lines maximum. Please consider using Pcard for smaller purchases.
Contacting Us
- For quicker responses to customer service inquiries, please contact Accounts Payable via email at ap@finance.ucla.edu or Travel Accounting at travelacct@finance.ucla.edu instead of via the phone.
- Employee non-travel and non-entertainment reimbursements must be submitted using the electronic process outlined here.
- Stop payment requests must be submitted via email to: stoppayments@finance.ucla.edu.
As the University faces an array of challenges related to the COVID-19 global pandemic, we want to ensure the campus community of our commitment to upholding day-to-day business operations. Please help us concentrate our efforts on processing invoices by using our online resources and tools to obtain information on policies and procedures to reduce the volume of inquiries to our customer service team. Corporate Financial Services will continue to refine processes and communicate regularly as more details become available.
Thank you for your flexibility and patience.
Sincerely,
Allison Baird-James
Associate Vice Chancellor/Controller
UCLA Corporate Financial Services
