Frequently Asked Questions - Payments

Disbursement Vouchers

Yes, as of July 2019, UAccess Financials system enhancements implemented additional security features on the Disbursement Voucher to provide the same security as the Images tab. The advantage of attaching supporting documentation and/or forms (ICON, Substantial presence test, Subject Pay, etc.) is that it provides and inclusive audit trail of the expenditure of the Disbursement Voucher.
The original documentation for a Disbursement Voucher should be maintained in the department business office for 90 days or until the DV is in final status. Refer to the Notes and Attachment Guidelines for additional details on record retention requirements. Documentation attached to the DV should not be sent to Accounts Payable/Travel via mail or Accounts Payable Document Upload since this is a duplication of effort.
No, a DV Cover Sheet is no longer required, and due to the moratorium of UAccess Financials system changes we are unable to remove the link on the Disbursement Voucher.

There are two major causes of delayed reimbursements:

  1. Obtaining online approval from the University employee validating the expense is accurate and a true University expenditure.
  2. Missing documentation or clarification of business purpose for the expense and how it benefits the University. Please refer to the Business Purpose guide.

Employees seeking reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses should monitor their UAccess Financials action list or email when the reimbursement is awaiting their approval.  VPN access is needed to utilize UAccess Financials and can navigate directly to the eDoc via their Action List or by a Document Search and entering the eDoc number in the Document ID field. Employees can then review the expense and supporting documentation and click approve.

Out-of-pocket expenses are discouraged whenever possible due to the personal liability and risk of not being reimbursed if the expense is unallowable or appears personal in nature. Proper purchasing methods (PCard, Arizona Buyways, Disbursement Voucher, or Purchase Order) should be utilized whenever possible, but emergencies may occur when no other option is available. Travel is an example of out-of-pocket expenses that are an acceptable reimbursement request.
Yes, as long as no other action has been taken. If the initiator of the eDoc can use the RECALL function to return the eDoc to their action list to make this change. If action has already been taken and the RECALL function is not available, the account number cannot be changed. Place a note on the DV and email FNSV-Accounts-Payable@arizona.edu requesting disapproval of the DV. Include the DV number and payee's name in your email.
Yes, the object code may be changed on a Disbursement Voucher (DV) once it has been routed to Accounts Payable (AP). Please provide the new object code in the Notes and Attachments section of the DV and AP will change the object code prior to approval of the DV.

Please review the AP Payment Reason Guidelines for detailed information on each Payment Reason Code.

If the Disbursement Voucher (DV) supporting documentation does not contain an invoice number, please refer to the Invoice Number Guidelines for specific instructions on creating an invoice number. AP reviews all invoice numbers and may modify based on appropriateness.

Purchase Order Invoices

No. Invoices associated with a Purchase Order must be sent directly to Accounts Payable for entry into the processing queue for timely initiation of the Payment Request (PREQ) in UAccess Financials. Departments may review the invoice and approve/cancel based on departmental activities. This requirement is to ensure University compliance, adherence to the terms and conditions of the Purchase Order and ensure institutional efficiencies.

When an invoice is received in Accounts Payable that requires departmental support on applying expenditures to the correct accounting line, the Payment Request (PREQ) will be initiated, placed in SAVED status, and ADHOC routed to the fiscal officer for accounting line guidance.

Delays are often identified when individuals with financial responsibility are not checking their UAccess Financials Action List for pending electronic documents awaiting their approval, when there are questions on the expense, or when Accounts Payable requests clarification on the business purpose for the expense.

There are multiple ways to verify a payment has been initiated by viewing the Purchase Order (PO) or the Payment Request (PREQ). On either document, navigate to the View Payment History tab where users can view all payments made specific to the PO. The PAID? field in the View Payment History tab will indicate Yes or No. If Yes, click on the Disbursement Info in the PDP Extract Date column for check, ACH number. If paid by Accounts Payable Virtual Credit Card Program no information will display and you will need to contact Accounts Payable. If the PAID? field indicates No, the payment is being held for Net terms or an existing pending credit memo. Please contact Accounts Payable for additional information.

System functionality allows for auto approvals if no action taken based on the Purchase Order terms and conditions. Departments maintain the ability to set the Payment Request Positive Approval Required indicator when creating a Purchase Order that will override any auto approvals of PREQs based on department requirements. This option may be established at the account level or Purchase Order level if disbursements should not be made without the fiscal officer approval.

It is always a good practice to attach the packing slip or any supporting documentation to validate receipt of goods/services for institutional record retention purposes as the official audit record of the expense.