Policies, Procedures, Guidelines and Protocols

Title Trust Ref No Local Ref (optional) Main points the document covers Who is the document aimed at? Author Approved by (Committee/Director) Approval Date Initial Equality Impact Screening Full Equality Impact Assessment Lead Director Category Sub Category Review date Who the policy will be distributed to Method

Document Details Finance Procedure R1 : Accounts Receivable : Invoicing & Receipts 878-25151 How invoices are raised for income due to the Trust & the procedures when paid Managers responsible for income/recharge budgets & all Finance staff, particularly those in Financial Accounting Diana Owen, Head of Financial Accounting Approval process Director of Finance, Contracting & Performance September 2014 Yes No Trish Donovan Finance Finance Procedures September 2017 Distribution Distributed to senior staff as defined by directors Electronically to senior staff & available to all staff via the Trust web-site Document Links

Required by CQC Required by NHLSA Other No 1

Date January 2013

2 3 4 5

September 2014

Procedure R1 Page 1 Of 8 September 2014

Amendments History Amendment New section on invoicing amounts (paragraph 5) & minor amendments to terminology Amendment to cash receipting process

Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust Finance Procedures Section R R1

Accounts Receivable Accounts Receivable – Invoicing & Receipts

1 – Introduction 1.1

The Trust provides services for both NHS and non-NHS organisations, as well as individuals, and charges their costs by invoice. Payment is made by the debtor either directly into the Trust’s bank account, or by cash/cheque. Control of debtors is maintained by use of the Oracle Accounts Receivable ledger.

1.2

This procedure covers : an overview of the Accounts Receivable system  access and password control  invoice requests, invoicing and credit notes  account creation and deletion  cash received and allocation.

1.3

This procedure refers to both the computer processes and the associated clerical processes relating to invoicing and receipts. Month end procedures, year end procedures and credit control are covered in other procedures in Section R – Accounts Receivable.

2 – Overview of the Accounts Receivable system 2.1

The purpose of the Accounts Receivable system is to ensure that :– a) invoices are raised on behalf of the Trust, and payment received, on an accurate, regular and timely basis b) correct receivables information is transferred daily to the General Ledger to be incorporated into the budgetary reporting and control system c) up to date information is available to identify and attempt to recover overdue debts.

2.2

The diagram below gives an overview of the system.

Procedure R1 Page 2 Of 8 September 2014

Receivables System Invoice Request

Cash Received

Raised by Budget Holder, Budget Manager, Resource Manager or Finance staff

Cash receipt and banking procedures

Debtor Invoice

Cash Collection Sheets

Invoice raised and sent to debtor

Cash entered onto sheets, identified and coded

Ledger Processing

Account Maintenance

Invoices, payments and adjustments processed to control Debtors

Create / delete accounts, other housekeeping

Enquiry

Report

Link To General Ledger

Online enquiries

Aged Debtors, etc.

Month end processing Year end processing

Credit Control Reminders, final warning, solicitors

3 – Access and password control 3.1

Controlling access to the Accounts Receivable ledger is the responsibility of the Oracle Systems Admin team. The creation and deletion of login usernames and passwords is one of their functions. Further details are in Finance Procedure Y2 – Oracle Login and Password Control.

3.2

When a new user requires access to the Accounts Receivable ledger, their manager notifies the Systems Admin team. They create the login and give the new user the required details.

3.3

When an existing user no longer requires access, the manager again notifies the Systems Admin team, who delete the user from the system.

4 – Invoice requests 4.1

Budget Holders, Budget Managers, Resource Managers and Service Leads have responsibility for specific services and cost centres. Part of their responsibility is to ensure that the provided services that they have control of are charged for by the Trust. At appropriate times, the above staff, as well as Finance staff, complete an Invoice Procedure R1 Page 3 Of 8 September 2014

Request and forward it to the Accounts Receivable Assistant in the Finance Department. 4.2

4.3

The request can take several forms :a)

a standard form on an Excel spreadsheet (see sample at Appendix A) which is e-mailed to the Finance Department – this is the preferred method for raising Invoice Requests

b)

a free-form e-mail, or other document, provided that it contains all the information required to produce the invoice - this should only be used for occasional one-off requests

c)

where a set number of invoices, of known value, are required over a period of time, the originator may supply a schedule to the Finance Department - again, this must contain all the information required to produce the invoice.

Sufficient information should be included to help ensure prompt payment by the individual/organisation invoiced. This includes attaching additional backing papers which need to be sent out with the invoice, and ensuring that for large organisations in particular, the person the invoice is for the attention of is made clear.

5 – Invoice amounts 5.1

The person raising the invoice request should ensure that all costs are covered. If in doubt, the advice of the Management Accounting team should be obtained.

5.2

Due to the costs involved, the minimum amount an invoice will be raised for is £20. There are 2 exceptions to this: a) Subject access requests under the Data Protection Act – these are often under £20 but are invoiced due to the amount of work done. In these cases, payment of the invoice must be received before the information is sent out. b) Prescription charges, where invoicing is mandatory.

6 – Debtor invoicing 6.1

On receipt of an Invoice Request the Accounts Receivable Assistant checks it to ensure that all sections are completed appropriately. If there is any missing or obviously incorrect information, the request is returned to the originator for correction.

6.2

On a daily basis, all invoice requests are passed to the Financial Accounting Manager to check that the account code contains the correct subjective and correct customer code. They initial each form and return them to the Accounts Receivable Assistant for processing in Oracle.

6.3

Invoices are raised in Oracle using the Transactions screen off the Transactions menu.

6.4

For monthly invoicing of contracted amounts, recurring invoices are used. Details are supplied to the Accounts Receivable team at the start so that monthly invoice requests are not required.

6.5

It is the responsibility of the Accounts Receivable Assistant to add VAT output tax if applicable.

Procedure R1 Page 4 Of 8 September 2014

6.6

The method of invoice despatch defaults according to the set-up of each customer account, in the following order : e-mail, fax, post. E-mail is the preferred method provided that the customer will accept it. Most invoices are likely to need posting so they are printed using the Invoices screen off the Print Documents menu. File copies are also made.

6.7

On completion of the invoice, the Accounts Receivable Assistant cross references the invoice request to the invoice by inserting the invoice number on the invoice request. Both are then filed together in invoice number order, with any backing papers attached.

6.8

Confirmations of invoice details are only sent to the originator if specifically requested. It is the responsibility of the originator to be aware of the income effect of the invoice in the General Ledger, and to cross reference the invoice number, date, and amount with their own budget records.

7 – Credit notes 7.1

In cases where it is necessary to raise a credit note on a debtor account, a “Request to Raise a Credit Note” is completed and forwarded to the Cash Management Assistant who is responsible for raising credit notes.

7.2

A request to raise a credit note will only be actioned if authorised by the person who raised the invoice originally, their manager, or a senior manager from the Finance Department. If it is to correct an error made when actually raising the invoice in Oracle (e.g. an incorrect customer), the request must be authorised by the Financial Accountant supervising Accounts Receivable.

7.3

Credit notes are raised in Oracle using the Credit Transactions screen off the Transactions menu and then printed in the same way as invoices. Credit note requests are filed with the copy credit notes.

7.4

There may be occasions when it is necessary to raise an unallocated credit note i.e. one that does not relate to an invoice. An example would be underperformance on an SLA.

8 – Customer account creation and de-activation 8.1

It is the responsibility of the originator of the Invoice Request to ensure that the customer name, address and postcode are correct, particularly if a new customer account needs to be set up. On receiving a request relating to a new customer, the Accounts Receivable Assistant creates a new account from these details. Particular care must be taken when setting up NHS bodies.

8.2

Customer accounts are created in the Accounts Receivable system using the Standard screen off the Customers menu. Customers are linked to one of 2 profile classes – either NHS or non-NHS. This is to aid reporting.

8.3

Customer accounts can be de-activated provided that they don’t still have open transactions on them.

Procedure R1 Page 5 Of 8 September 2014

9 – Cash received and allocation 9.1

Posting of cash receipts to the ledger is the responsibility of the Cash Management Assistant. They identify all cash receipts from 2 sources :a) directly from the GBS bank account statements (e.g. for BACS and Book to Book credits) which should then be backed up by remittances b) from the cash collection sheets completed by cashiers across the Trust who have received and banked monies – see Finance Procedure I2 : Cash Receipts and Banking.

9.2

Both debtor and non-debtor cash receipts are posted to the Accounts Receivable ledger using the Batches screen off the Receipts menu. Debtor receipts are posted against the relevant invoice and non-debtor receipts are posted against receivables activities. There are a number of these activities to reflect the different types of non-debtor receipts that the Trust expects (including miscellaneous ones). There are account codes attached to each of these but they can be amended during input – the miscellaneous ones will always need amending.

9.3

Receipt batches should all be posted in Oracle within the same period as the cash receipt was received.

10 – Detailed operation of the Accounts Receivable ledger computer procedures 10.1

Full step-by-step instructions on using the menus to enter transactions, create documents and reports, and maintain housekeeping are available in the Oracle Accounts Receivable training notes and locally produced procedure notes.

References & associated documents Oracle Accounts Receivable detailed user notes Procedure notes on Oracle receipting held by A/R staff

Reviewed By _____________________

Date __________________

Authorised By _____________________

Date __________________

Procedure R1 Page 6 Of 8 September 2014

Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust Finance Procedures R1 Appendix A

Accounts Receivable – Invoicing & Receipts Sample Invoice Request Form

Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust Request To Raise An Accounts Receivable Invoice Top copy of this form to be sent to the Accounts Receivable Assistant in the Finance Department, William Farr House, or email to [email protected]. If required the requisitioner will be notified of the invoice number and the date it was raised. Person / NHS Body / Organisation to be invoiced:Name: Full Address:

FAO: Details of Good/Services supplied

£-p

TOTAL Requested By: Department: Telephone: Date:

Finance Department Use

Invoice number:

Procedure R1 Page 7 Of 8 September 2014

Date:

General Ledger Code

Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust Finance Procedures R1 Appendix B

Accounts Receivable – Invoicing & Receipts Request to Raise a Credit Note

Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust Request To Raise An Accounts Receivable Credit Note Top copy of this form to be sent to the Cash Management Assistant in the Finance Department, William Farr House, or email to [email protected]. If required the requisitioner will be notified of the invoice number and the date it was raised. Person / NHS Body / Organisation to be invoiced:Name: Full Address:

FAO: Details of Good/Services supplied

£-p

TOTAL Requested By: Department: Telephone: Date:

Finance Department Use

Invoice number:

Procedure R1 Page 8 Of 8 September 2014

Date:

General Ledger Code