Process Payments for Goods & Services Vendors

Submitted by admin on Tue, 05/04/2021 - 15:37
Policy: 

F/EA processes vendor payments on a bi-weekly basis when completed, valid payment request forms (PRFs) are received.

The payment request forms are distributed to all consumers when they join the program, in the Goods & Services Vendor Enrollment Package.  Consumers or vendors can request PRF’s by calling F/EA’s toll-free customer service line or the form can be accessed online. 

The PRF allows the participant to inform F/EA of what vendor is to be paid, in what amount and from what line in the participant’s budget to use allocated funds. 
 

Procedure: 
  1. Payment Request Forms are distributed to all consumers in the  program in their initial Goods & Services Vendor Enrollment Packages
  2. Consumers can print out more PRF’s from the F/EA website
  3. Consumers can call F/EA toll free line to request more forms by mail
  4. On at least a quarterly basis, F/EA should conduct a mail merge, sending out fresh, blank PRF’s to consumers 
  5. Once consumers receive notice from their counselor that their budget has been approved, they may begin to spend the funds from it (both on workers services and non-workers goods and services) 
  6. Consumers will complete a PRF for each non-workers good or service for which they wish to use their budget funds
  7. Even if the good or service will be regularly purchased on the participant’s behalf, a valid PRF for each pay period must be submitted for each payment to be made
  8. It is mandatory that each PRF be accompanied with a valid invoice for the good or service being purchased
  9. Consumers can fax or mail the PRF’s to the number or address on the form
  10. The payment schedule has a due date by which the PRF will need to be received in order for a check to be cut in that pay-cycle.
  11. If the PRF is received after the cut-off date that is specified on the payment schedule then it will be paid in the following check run
  12. Each pay period, appropriate staff alphabetize each PRF by the participant’s last name and then by vendor
  13. All PRF’s are date stamped as they are received
  14. Alphabetized, date stamped, accurately completed PRF’s with a valid invoice attached are placed in a “to-be-paid” folder
  15. The invoice is stapled behind the PRF
  16. If the PRF is not filled out completely or there is not an invoice attached, the PRF is placed in a separate folder
  17. The F/EA Customer Service team will follow up on all incomplete PRFs with the goal of resolving any issues so that payments can be made in the current check run
  18. Any unresolved issues will be processed in a future check run, after requirements have been met
  19. If applicable vendors are not already in the payment processing system, they must be added
  20. After entering the vendor into the system, the vendor ID is written on the form
  21. In the invoice processing location of the accounting system:
  22. Create a new line item for each PRF by filling in the participant field, vendor field, service code field and the payment amount
  23. There may be two errors that occur while following the above steps:
  24. The service code is not in the participant’s budget; or
  25. Sufficient funds do not exist in the budget line item to cover the invoice
  26. For any consumers with issues on their PRF, F/EA staff report the issue to the participant’s counselor
  27. The counselor and participant determine whether and how to adjust the budget to make the payment
  28. Any PRFs that cannot be processed are placed in a file folder of PRFs with issues
  29. On the check run date, checks are cut and mailed to each vendor for which PRF’s were processed
  30. Consumers and their counselors receive spending reports on a monthly basis, so that they can see what they have spent and what they have left to spend out of their budgets. 
     

 

Internal Controls: 

The internal controls used by F/EA to monitor this process establish responsibility, segregate duties, document procedures and ensure independent internal verification.

  1. <<Insert internal controls depending on process>>
  2. F/EA Payroll Department reconciles payroll account to ensure that accurate payments are debited from the account
  3. Chief Financial Officer is one of two signatories on the program bank account
    • F/EA maintains Chief Financial Officer signature block for checks in a password protected, secure location
    • Only authorized staff have access to Chief Financial Officer signature block
  4. On a quarterly basis Quality Assurance Coordinator contacts a random sample of 25 workers/vendors to inquire if they regularly received a remittance advice with their payments
    • F/EA Quality Assurance Coordinator completes a findings control document and submits to <<Staff Title>> for review and signature
    • Corrective action plan developed and implemented based on findings