Accounts Payable Features and Objectives of AP System

Legler Systems Company

AP Features

Accounts Payable Features and Objectives:

The primary objective of the Accounts Payable System (AP System) by Legler Systems is to process accounts payable information in an online processing environment, so specific online end-user procedures are performed in seconds rather than the hours required by traditional batch methods of computer processing. This AP System performs the basic accounts payable objectives by providing a complete and accurate record of all accounting transactions affecting each vendor or supplier.

Specific accounts payable features and objectives of this business software application are highlighted below:

Maintain Vendor Master Record for each vendor or supplier doing business with the company that will be issued a computer-printed check. Information in this master record includes name, address, vendor discount terms and standard general ledger expense account codes. The Vendor Text Record (optional) stores the vendor's web address, e-mail address and cell phone number.
Maintain the Vendor Invoice Record on the dollar amounts owed and paid to each vendors, as well as the actual expense account codes. One record for each vendor invoice.
Automatic voucher number assignment to each new vendor invoice transaction for source document control and audit trail purposes. This automatic voucher number control feature is overridden by the setting of System-Option-16 (DB03), so the voucher number is manually assigned and entered by the user.
Automatically assign the GL expense account codes to a vendor invoice based on the standard expense account codes stored in the Vendor Master Record to reduce clerical coding errors and aid data entry.
Print accounting reports, such as Vendor Invoice Report, Cash Requirements Report and Accounts Payable Register, to provide an audit trail of accounting data entered into the system and maintain adequate control over company liabilities and expense distributions.
Print vendor checks with stubs for those invoices due for payment with dollar amounts spelled out in uppercase and lowercase letters. These same multi-purpose check forms can be used by the Payroll System. For selected vendors, the invoice description can be printed on the check under the signature line. Miscellaneous vendor checks are also printed by procedure AP06. The check amount is net of any vendor discount amount taken when paid by the due date.
Automatically update the Vendor Invoice Record with payment information as checks are printed by procedure AP06, so they will not be paid again.
Automatic calculation of payment due date and vendor discount amounts based on invoice date and gross dollar amount and other vendor master information when new vendor invoices are added to the online master file by procedure AP02.
Handle one-time or a miscellaneous vendor who do business with the company on an occasional basis, where mailing name and address is entered with the invoice in procedure AP02.
Automatically test for duplicate invoices at the time of entry of new vendor invoices to avoid duplicate payment of the same invoice. This option is set by System-Option-25.
Automatically create invoice vouchers for recurring (periodic) payments, such as rent and lease payments, to minimize data entry operations.
Handle multiple locations through the use of a separate Location Code defined by Code Definition Records.
Automatically update the Vendor Master Record with amounts paid in calendar year1, calendar year2 and grand total (all invoices in the database) with automatic rollover from one year to the next, so special year-end clerical procedures are avoided.
Handle any fiscal year for accounting purposes, even one different from the calendar year, through the use of a separate accounting period number (YRMO) field.
Print annual IRS-1099 forms and totals for IRS-1096 transmittal form for selected independent contract vendors.
Provide auxiliary data input capability for initial file creation and processing invoice transactions created by other computerized systems, including separate data entry operations. Multiple vendor invoices are processed at one time by procedure AP13.
Provide source document control over input invoice transactions to the computer by assigning a batch number to a group of vendor invoices. This batch number control feature aids in providing a complete audit trail of documents processed. If no batch number is entered, the system date (YRMODA) is assigned to the AP batch number field for positive batch number control.
Provide online inquiry capability to identify all invoices associated with a specific vendor and to summarize payments by month for the last five years.
Provide online query capability of a specific vendor by number or initials and of a specific invoice by invoice or voucher number.
Define an Active-Flag for each vendor to prohibit the online entry of invoice data for an inactive vendor, yet reference that old vendor number for historical reporting purposes.
Provide the capability to create custom AP reports where the user defines the data fields to be selected, sorted and printed (DB12). This end-user procedure is a general purpose custom report writer.
Provide automatic update of the Check Reconciliation System for the entry of manual check information in procedure AP02 and check payments made by procedure AP06. Check Records are automatically added to the online database by procedure AP06 and entry procedure AP02 for subsequent use by the CR System depending on the setting of System-Option-20.
Allow the user to specify the sequence of records in a report by entering a primary (vendor) and secondary (invoice) sort option.
Automatically display a detail record (screen AP01 or screen AP02) when function key F7 is pressed from data entry procedure AP02 and from inquiry procedure AP10 and procedure AP15. This accounts payable objective enables the operator to quickly drill down to more specific information.
Print separate vendor checks for each invoice from a vendor when the Check-Flag in the Vendor Master is set to "S".
Handle multiple bank accounts, however the check numbers must be unique within each Bank-ID.
Verify the state code and ZIP code (first 3 digits) associated with a vendor address. The Canadian province code is validated when the ZIP code is not numeric.
Automatic vendor number lookup occurs whenever the vendor name initials are entered as the vendor number for fast lookup of a vendor number. Vendor name initials are manually or automatically set in the Vendor Master Record to aid in looking-up or finding a vendor number. To find vendor codes by name, enter the "#" character, as the vendor number, to be prompted for part of the vendor name.
Automatically post dollar amount and expense account code information from Vendor Invoice Records to General Journal Records in the online General Ledger System (AP09) by accounting period (YRMO) to eliminate clerical posting errors. Either the cash accounting method or accrual accounting method is supported. This accounts payable objective minimizes the clerical data entry workload depending on the setting of System-Option-04 (DB03). If System-Option-04 is set to "2", these General Journal Records are written to a Transfer File for input to an external general ledger application.
In addition to online processing, batch job processing is supported where multiple AP report requests are entered online for later batch processing.
Provide system options in the Company Control Record (DB03) to handle 6-digit dates or 8-digit dates for data entry and reporting purposes.
Provide the capability to search the invoice description field or the miscellaneous vendor field for any text entered by the user and display the matching invoices on the screen. Both lowercase letters and uppercase letters are tested.
Easily enter notes or comments on a specific vendor (AP01) or invoice (AP02) when the Trans-Code is set to "N" to automatically link to procedure DB17 (General Notes Record) in the DB System.

The Accounts Payable System keeps track of unpaid vendor invoices and when they are due to be paid. The Cash Requirements Report (AP05) can be printed at any time to identify all unpaid vendor invoices for a particular vendor or for all vendors within a specific payment date range. If management decides not to pay an invoice that is due, then procedure AP19 is used to modify the multiple Vendor Invoice Records with a new payment date.

Four dates are associated with each vendor invoice:

Invoice date refers to the date of the vendor invoice.
Due date refers to the last date on which an invoice can be paid and still be eligible for any available vendor discount amount.
Payment date refers to the date when the invoice is scheduled to be paid by procedure AP06. Normally, this date is automatically set to the due date. When a payment is to be delayed beyond its due date, then only the payment date is changed. The due date remains unchanged. When the invoice is actually paid, the AP System will not subtract the vendor discount amount from the invoice amount when the payment date is beyond the due date.
Check date refers to the date the vendor check is printed by AP06.

The Pay Code associated with each vendor invoice is used to identify special conditions associated with the invoice, such as "M" for prepaid manual invoices and "P" for periodic payments. Most vendor invoices have a Pay Code of "R" for regular invoice.

The AP System procedures that can be run by a user are identified in the Accounts Payable System Menu document.

Vendor Master Record:

Vendor name and address information is stored in the Vendor Master Record. Online entry procedure AP01 is used to add, change (modify), query and delete the Vendor Invoice Record. For new vendors, automatic vendor number assignment is done by the AP System when the vendor number field is blank. The vendor name and vendor address printed on the vendor checks is from these master records.

The primary key of the Vendor Master Record (VMR) is the Record-Type code and vendor number. Five alternate keys are defined for rapid access to different groups of VMR data.

Vendor Text Record:

Vendor's web address (URL), e-mail address and cell phone number are stored in the Vendor Text Record. Online entry procedure AP01 automatically displays and updates information in the Vendor Text Record.

The primary key of the Vendor Text Record is the Record-Type code and vendor number.

Vendor Invoice Record:

Information about each vendor invoice to be paid by the company is stored in a separate Vendor Invoice Record for tracking the actual check payment. Online data procedure AP02 is used to add, change (modify), query and delete Vendor Invoice Records, one at a time. Auxiliary batch input procedure AP13 edits and adds multiple vendor invoice transactions at one time. For all new vendor invoice entries, the voucher number is automatically assigned using a sequence number counter in the Company Control Record (DB03) for voucher number control. This sequence number counter (SEQNO-1) is incremented by one every time a vendor invoice is added to the online database.

The primary key of the Vendor Invoice Record (VIR) is the Record-Type code, vendor number and voucher number. Five alternate keys are defined for rapid access of different groups of VIR data.

Check Record:

Each vendor check printed by the procedure AP06 is stored in a separate Check Record in the online database depending on the setting of System-Option-20 (DB03). These Check Records are subsequently processed by the Check Reconciliation System (optional) to monitor outstanding unpaid checks. The Accounts Payable System does not update these Check Records. Alternatively, procedure DB18 can be used to export an ASCII file of comma separated values (csv) containing data fields from these Check Records.

The primary key of the Check Record (CKR) is the Record-Type code, Bank-ID code and check number. Five alternate keys are defined for rapid access to different groups of CKR data.

General Journal Record:

At the end of the month, procedure AP09 is run to create General Journal Records summarizing GL account code transactions depending on the setting of System-Option-04 (DB03). These General Journal Records are subsequently processed by the General Ledger System (optional) for accounting record keeping and financial reporting. Alternatively, procedure DB18 can be used to export an ASCII file of comma separated values (csv) containing data fields from these General Journal Records.

The primary key of the General Journal Record (GJR) is the Record-Type code, accounting period (YRMO) and voucher number (SEQNO-1). Five alternate keys are defined for rapid access to different groups of GJR data.

More Information on the AP Software:

For additional information on this online Accounts Payable software and a free CD-ROM demo, e-mail Bill Legler in SF Bay Area, California or go to the Accounts Payable System main page.