PO and Invoice Transaction Reports
Departments and schools should run their Open Encumbrance Report and Match Exception Report to confirm whether there are any active orders or if there are any orders that may have errors. These reports should be run regularly throughout the year to help manage orders submitted through NUFinancials.
Open Encumbrance Report
This report, entitled SC016–Open Encumbrance Report in Cognos, lists all active Purchase Orders or all active lines from a PO and provides the details of each order. The following are some reasons why a Purchase Order or line(s) from a PO will appear on your Open Encumbrance Report:
- No Invoice: If a PO has been issued and you have received the product or service but have yet to be invoiced by the vendor, reach out to the supplier to request the invoice and forward it to Accounts Payable once it is received.
- Items Unavailable: If you received notice from a supplier that an item on a particular order (either iBuyNU or non-catalog) is unavailable and will not ship, and it is still showing on your Open Encumbrance Report, you must submit a Purchase Order Change request to have the PO closed.
Match Exception Report
This report is titled SC027–Match Exception Report by Department in Cognos. The following are a couple of reasons why a Purchase Order or line(s) from a PO will appear on your Match Exception Report:
- Invoice Not Within Tolerances: If an invoice has been entered that does not fall within tolerance, a payment will not be processed. Tolerance issues can be caused when the price listed on the invoice is 25% or more than the price listed on the Purchase Order. Discrepancies in quantity and unit of measure can also cause orders to appear on your Match Exception Report.
- If the price listed on the invoice is incorrect, contact the vendor to request a corrected invoice.
- If the invoice price is correct but does not match the price on the PO, submit a Purchase Order Change request to Procurement to have the price adjusted.
- Open Receipts (for non-catalog orders only): It is important that you enter receipts once your order has been received. If you have any open Purchase Orders on your Match Exception Report, confirm whether a receipt needs to be entered. If so, enter the receipt, and if there are no other issues with the PO, it will automatically be removed from your Open Encumbrance Report within 15 days.
For assistance locating or running the Open Encumbrance Report or Match Exception Report, contact the ̨ÍåÂãÁÄÖ±²¥ Support Center by dialing 847.491.4357. If you have questions regarding the necessary steps to remove a PO on your department’s Open Encumbrance Report or Match Exception Report, contact Procurement at procurement@northwestern.edu.