For a quick glance at approval workflow and invoice input issues, please refer to the Non PO-Reference Sheet (PDF).
What is changing?
- All Invoices (PO and non-PO) will now be sent to Accounts Payable (AP) at vendorinvoices@yorku.ca from vendors instead of purchasers (PCard purchases are exempt).
- Accounts Payable will upload non-PO invoices to Sm@rtBuy while other invoices will be processed as usual.
- Purchasers no longer have to fill-in a payment requisition form.
- Reviews and approvals would all be done and automatically routed in Sm@rtBuy.
Why is the change being made?
- The payment requisition form is manual and time consuming for purchasers to complete.
- The form is not always completed correctly by the purchaser.
- There are sometimes delays in the form and invoice reaching Accounts Payable which delays payments to vendors.
- Purchasers have no visibility over the progress of the payment once they submit their payment requisition to Accounts Payable.
Exempt Purchases
Some purchases have been exempt from this payment process. To see the full list of exemptions, please click here.
Community Support Information
To ensure the community is prepared and ready for this change, the following supports have been provided:
- Details of the new process will be updated on the Strategic Procurement Services website, with a list of frequently updated FAQs
- Work instructions and video guides that provide step-by-step instructions will be shared
- Training on how to use Sm@rtBuy will be organized, with drop-in sessions available before and after the launch date
- Community members are able to continue sending inquiries via email through acctpay@yorku.ca, and will also be supported through the USC call centre
Work instructions and video guides can be found at the Non-PO Invoice Processing Instruction page.
Account numbers can be looked up using the chart of accounts. For fund and cost centre information, you should contact the finance representative within your unit.
The drop-in sessions have concluded. A recording of one of these sessions is available on the Non-PO Invoice Processing Instructions page alongside video guides and work instructions for Purchasers and Approvers.
Gaining Access
You can access Sm@rtBuy through the Applications and tools section on YU Link. You can then login using your York Passport ID.
Your manager should send a request to smartbuy@yorku.ca for a case-by-case review.
No. For security reasons, you can only see invoices submitted by you. If your role requires that you see all invoices, reach out to the system administrator at smartbuy@yorku.ca for a review of this exception.
If there are approvers in your unit that approve non-PO invoices but do not currently have Sm@rtBuy approval access, please reach out to the Budgets department at budgets@yorku.ca to have these individuals set up as Sm@rtBuy approvers prior to the launch of the new process.
Understanding the Process
All invoices (PO and non-PO) except for PCard Purchases, should be sent by vendors to AP at vendorinvoices@yorku.ca. However, only non-PO invoices will be uploaded to Sm@rtBuy.
For General POs: Departments will send signed POs after receiving the goods/services to AP at vendorinvoices@yorku.ca. AP will match invoices to POs and process as usual.
For Blanket and Project POs: AP will send the invoice to the department and the department will advise what PO line to pay the invoice against.
The purchaser to be listed on the invoice should be the person who would review/confirm invoice detail and enter the accounting information. If more than one person is required, the person actioning the invoice first should be listed as the purchaser. They would have the ability to forward the invoice to the second person for actioning.
The purchaser can also be the cost centre approver.
In some circumstances, even though the purchaser made the purchase, they would not necessarily know the accounting information.
At the time of purchase, the purchaser should be listed on the invoice. The purchaser will receive an email notification once AP has inputted the invoice into Sm@rtBuy and assigned it to them.
Upon review of the invoice details for accuracy, the purchaser can then forward the invoice in Sm@rtBuy to the financial representative who would enter the accounting information. They can put in any notes in the comments section for the financial representative.
Once the financial representative has completed the remaining steps of entering the accounting information and approved the invoice, the system will automatically route it to the appropriate cost centre approver.
All invoices (PO and non-PO) except for PCard purchases and international payments (non-Cdn/US payments) should be sent from vendors to Accounts Payable (AP) at vendorinvoices@yorku.ca
*PCard purchases and international wire payments (for international payments outside the Canada and the United States) should continue following regular procedures. Please see the exemption list for certain payments that will still need a payment requisition form to be processed.
Yes, ALL non-PO invoices would now be processed in Sm@rtBuy.
The monthly currency FX rate communicated by Finance will be used in converting USD invoices to CAD.
US vendors will continue to be paid by cheque. The community will be informed if and when this changes.
Reach out to Accounts Payable (AP) through the USC at acctpay@yorku.ca or call 416-736-5837
Access the approvers work instructions located on the Non-PO Invoice Processing Instruction page. Please follow the steps outlined in the instructions.
Yes, approvers can change the cost centre if the one entered by the purchaser is not accurate.
Yes, both approvers will get the notification at the same time. Both need to approve the invoice before it moves forward in the process.
All approvers within the same threshold will get the notification. The most appropriate approver as agreed by them will have to assign the invoice to themselves and proceed to approve.
In this case, the invoice would have to be forwarded to the reviewer by the purchaser using the forward function in Sm@rtBuy. The reviewer can review and approve on your behalf which automatically send it to the cost center approver or the reviewer can review and forward back to the purchaser for approval.
The workflow in Sm@rtBuy cannot be adjusted to accommodate every scenario. In this case, the invoice would have to be forwarded to the approver using the forward function and they would need to assign to themselves to be able to approve.
In this new process, for invoices greater than $25k with no PO, the Accounts Payable team will check the Vendor of Record (VOR) listing to ensure the VOR is till current.
If current, the invoice will be entered into Sm@rtBuy for processing.
If expired, or if there’s no contract, Accounts Payable will contact the Assistant Director of Strategic Procurement Services to confirm they can process (new agreement in process/extended). If confirmed that the payment can be processed, attach confirmation with invoice will then be processed in Sm@rtBuy.
The HST rebate is automatically calculated if we pay HST on an invoice or if we self assess the HST for non-resident goods or services. Most cost centres get a 73% rebate. The actual percentage can be viewed in e-Reports at the top of the SOP or transaction details for those with the required access.
System
If you would have approvers in this new process that currently do not have Sm@rtBuy approval, please reach out to the Budgets department to have these individuals setup as Sm@rtBuy approvers prior to launch of the new process.
An alternate way to access the invoice is by signing into Sm@rtBuy using your Passport York login and access the non-PO invoice by clicking the flag at the top right corner of your screen.
Yes, once assigned to you, you can attach supporting documents to the invoice in Sm@rtbuy. However, do not attach another copy of the invoice and do not attach the direct deposit form.
Reach out to the Procurement Operations team through the USC at 416-736-5857.
Reach out to the system administrator at smartbuy@yorku.ca.
Yes, once Accounts Payable has completed a final review, the payment will automatically be sent to Peoplesoft for payment and then posted to eReports for viewing in 1-2 business days. The Non-PO invoice is only viewable in eReports for those with the appropriate permission for the cost centre against which the Non-PO invoice was charged.
Yes, the system will send an email notification when an invoice is added to your queue for review/approval. If the invoice has not been actioned after 5 days, the system will send a reminder email, and every 3 days afterwards, for a total of 120 days.
Vendors
A communication will be sent by Procurement Operations to a list of identified active and approved vendors (with certain exemptions). Active and approved vendors refer to any vendor in PeopleSoft where a purchase has been made by a York employee in the past, and that vendor has not been deactivated in the system.
All active and approved vendors will be selected. There is no dollar ($) threshold applied. Certain vendors who do not invoice York for a particular good or service (so not technically a “vendor”) have been exempted from the communication. If you need to work with your vendors before the final invoice is ready, you can continue to do so. Ensure that the final invoice is sent to vendorinvoices@yorku.ca. The invoice is not considered to be received nor is it tracked until AP receives it in this inbox.
Once Accounts Payable receives the invoice from a new vendor, they would send it to Procurement via the venreq@yorku.ca inbox. Procurement Operations would carry out the necessary vendor verification process and send back to Accounts Payable for processing when verification is complete.
This page contains all the details vendors need to know. Purchasers should share this information with all new vendors.
Vendors should send their enquiries to Accounts Payable at vendorinvoices@yorku.ca.
Proceed to approve invoice and add detailed notes in comment section for this to be corrected.
- If the invoice has not been entered into Sm@rtBuy, the faculty/unit should advise Accounts Payable via the email acctpay@yorku.ca to review the situation.
- If the invoice has been entered into Sm@rtBuy, the Approver will enter detailed comments as to why the invoice needs to be cancelled and forward the invoice to Accounts Payable. The department would need to liaise with the vendor to ensure a revised invoice is sent to Accounts Payable at vendorinvoices@yorku.ca.
We are currently investigating this and would add it as an enhancement to this process after the launch. Please check back later for updated information on this.
Clarifying Existing Sub-Processes
For a new vendor, a completed vendor direct deposit banking form should be sent with the invoice to vendorinvoices@yorku.ca.
Existing vendors can sent completed direct deposit forms to venreq@yorku.ca.
Please note: York University is phasing out cheque payments over the next few months. In order to receive payments from York University in the future, vendors will be required to register for direct deposit.
For all internal payments listed here, fill out a payment requisition form and send to vendorinvoices@yorku.ca.
Honorarium will be processed as follows:
For USD residents:
- Complete non-resident form
- Complete Payment Requisition form
- Send to Payroll and once payroll reviews, they will send to AP to pay in USD
For International Residents
- Complete non-resident form
- Complete Request for Wire/Draft form
- Send to Payroll and once payroll reviews, they will send to AP to pay via Western Union
If an individual is a Canadian resident, and the amount is $500 or less, this will be paid as an honorarium using an honorarium payment form which should be submitted to Payroll.
If the individual is a Canadian resident, and are paid over $500 as guest speakers, an invoice will be required from the guest speaker, sent to AP, and would be processed via Sm@rtBuy.
If the honorarium is to an organization (incorporated or limited), it will be processed according to the non-PO invoice process.
Units should ensure that all pre-approvals are compliant with the University’s Signing Authority Policy and the Signing Authority Register. Once AP receives the invoice, they would reach out to the unit to obtain evidence of the pre-approval which AP would then attach to the invoice in Sm@rtBuy. However, units need to send the pre-approval on time once requested to prevent delays to invoice processing.
Units must ensure that there is an approved ICQ on file when a purchase for services is made. Refer to the Paying Independent Contractors page for more information. For resale services (non-degree/non-credit units), having an approved ICQ is not a requirement. Units must do the following:
- Send their resale vendor list to AP at least one week prior to the launch date;
- Communicate to the vendors to have the invoice include a line stating it is for resale services and the unit e.g SEEC;
- Provide an updated vendor list to AP every time a new resale vendor is engaged.
Once AP receives the invoice, they will refer to the vendor list sent by the units to ensure that the vendor is included. If the vendor is on the list, the invoice gets processed. Otherwise, AP will reach out to the unit to request an updated list. In the future, the contracts with these vendors will be reviewed to ensure that they are standard contracts, and all requirements are met.
Making Enquiries
Vendors should send their enquiries to Accounts Payable at vendorinvoices@yorku.ca.
For all other concerns or enquiries, please check the work instructions and video guide before reaching out to Accounts Payable (AP) through the USC at acctpay@yorku.ca or call 416-736-5837 or Procurement Operations through the USC at 416-736-5857.
Need more help?
For all other concerns or enquiries, pleace check the work instructions and video guide before reaching out to Accounts Payable (AP) through the USC at acctpay@yorku.ca or calling 416-736-5837, or to Procurement Operations through the USC at 416-736-5857.