Receiving and Date Stamping Vendor Invoices
According to the TxDOT Purchase Order language, vendor invoices
should be mailed or e-mailed to the Financial Management Division’s
(FIN’s) Voucher Processing Section. If the vendor sends the invoice
via e-mail, it is recommended that they “carbon copy” the TRF Purchasing
Manager or the TRF-BTS Program Manager in the e-mail, to expedite
the review process. The following will serve as the invoice’s “receipt
date” and the beginning of the 30-day prompt payment deadline:
- If the vendor mails a hard copy invoice to FIN, the first TxDOT date stamp on the hard copy invoice is the “receipt date.”
- If the vendor submits the invoice electronically, preferably by sending an e-mail to FIN_INVOICES, but on rare occasions TRF may receive an e-mail directly from the vendor, the date on the e-mail is the “receipt date.”
If TxDOT fails to date stamp an invoice, FIN must use the
vendor’s invoice date to calculate the 30-day payment due date.
The invoice date is usually three to five days earlier than the
actual receipt date, so this reduces the time TxDOT is entitled
to review, approve, and make payment on an invoice.
If the vendor submits their invoice via e-mail to FIN_INVOICES,
one of the following two steps will occur:
- If the TRF Purchasing Manager or TRF-BTS Program Manager is copied on the vendor e-mail to FIN_INVOICES, FIN personnel will not send a separate e-mail to TRF to start the invoice review process.
- If the TRF Purchasing Manager or TRF-BTS Program Manager is not copied on the e-mail to FIN_INVOICES, FIN will sort the invoices by services and commodities, and the invoices are assigned to certain individuals in FIN for tracking purposes. The responsible party in FIN will send an e-mail to TRF to include the vendor invoice plus all attachments.
This process, where FIN e-mails the invoice or date stamps
and sends the hard copy invoice to TRF, should take no more than
two working days.
FIN e-mails all vendor invoices to the TRF Purchasing Manager.
The TRF Purchasing Manager date stamps and logs all services invoices
into a tracking spreadsheet. Information entered into the spreadsheet
includes vendor name, PO number, invoice number, dates of services
rendered, invoice amount, date received by FIN, date received by
TRF, and date sent to the TRF-BTS Program Manager.
The TRF Purchasing Manager will forward the originals to the
appropriate TRF-BTS Program Manager for review and approval. The
TRF Purchasing Manager will include a date that the TRF-BTS Program
Manager should submit the approved invoices back to the TRF Purchasing
Manager. The TRF Purchasing Manager’s process should take no longer
than two working days.