Our goal with the CiraConnect Payables Lockbox is to facilitate fast and efficient processing of your community associations' payables. To that end, we cut checks daily (provided all steps in the approval process have been completed before the end of business the day before), with holidays excluded. Therefore, the need for rush processing of payments should be minimal, but we also have that capacity at an additional charge to the community association. In the following pages, we will guide you through how you and your valued vendors can submit invoices, how you, as a manager, review and manage the process, and how board members are involved. As with all platform aspects, your leadership team or Account Manager can assist you as you get started and learn the process.

Table of Contents

• An Overview of the Workflow Path
• Adding a New Vendor
• Submitting an Invoice into Workflow
• Vendor Portal
• By Mail
• By Email
• By Facsimile
• Options in CiraNet
• Vendor Management
• CiraMobile
• Steps to Creating the Workflow
• Processing a Workflow
• Scanning and Data Entry
• Verification
• Manager Review and Approval
• Board Approval of Invoices
• Accountant (or Other) Review and Approval
• Exceptions to Approval
• Auto Approval
• CAM Override of Board Approval
• CAM Submission of Invoice
• Payment Disbursal
• CiraConnect Payables Lockbox Fulfillment
• Local Check Printer
• Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT)
• Automated Clearing House (ACH)
• Wire Transfers
• Completed Workflows
• Reclassifying Completed Workflows
• Reporting
• AP Expense Detail
• Open AP
• AP Ledger
• Search Invoices
• Actual vs. Budget
• General Ledger
• On Demand Reports

An Overview of the Workflow Path

A disbursement request travels through a systematic path via an online AAP (Association Accounts Payable) Workflow that provides a routing and approval process designed to manage community association invoices, reimbursements, and other disbursement requests from transaction data entry through the payment process. The workflow follows a processing flowchart. At a summary level, the processing flow is depicted in the diagram below:

These steps are designed to ensure quality control and accuracy, which will be detailed in the following information.

Adding a New Vendor

Of course, you must hire a vendor before you can pay them. Once that decision is made, adding a new vendor into CiraNet can only be done by a member of the Payables Lockbox team. Therefore, for those of you utilizing the services of the CiraConnect Payables Lockbox Shared Services Group, requests for new vendors should be directed to them at accountspayable@ciramail.com or, preferably, by Case to that department. Alternatively, if you have a new vendor invoice merged with a W-9, you can submit it directly into workflow, and it will be added via the dedicated Vendor Edit team.

Please note that the vendor, with only a few exceptions', must submit and keep on file a Form W-9 to comply with federal tax laws. To protect all parties, we cannot process the invoice without it. While we recommend requiring vendors to provide a current Certificate of Insurance before commencing work at the community as a best practice to protect your company and the community, our Payables Lockbox team will not require it unless stipulated in your contract. Therefore, you can manage and maintain those forms directly in the Vendor Management module. A separate Process and Service Description for that module is available in CiraHelp. Of course, your management company or boards may have additional audit controls, which can also be managed from the Vendor Management module.

Submitting an Invoice into Workflow

There are a few basics we suggest all vendors take note of when submitting their invoices to help us process the information faster:

Payables Lockbox Administration for Management Team Members Process and Service Description

• To help avoid misdirects, since we process invoices for several management companies across the country, they should ensure the community's name is on the invoice. The full legal name is preferred since many communities share names similar to those of other communities in different regions.
• Statements and proposals can be challenging to process for several reasons, including understanding the correct amount to pay. Some management companies have policies prohibiting payments from statements and proposals, so we encourage vendors to submit only individual invoices for payment.
• There is a 1:1 relationship between the AAP Workflow and an invoice. Do not combine invoices into a single document to try and submit them in bulk. If you intend to merge payments into a single check, that can be achieved using the settings in the Vendor Management module.
• While there are several ways to submit an invoice, we encourage vendors to submit them directly to us, so your staff does not have to take the time to upload them. We also discourage internal team members from directly accepting hard copies of invoices to avoid delays in processing since managers and their staff are busy and may forget to enter them immediately into workflow or risk losing invoices. To that end, we offer a dedicated Vendor Portal as one of the many ways to submit invoices directly to the Payables Lockbox Processing team.

Vendor Portal

This is undoubtedly the fastest way for any party to submit an invoice for processing, whether a vendor, a management team member, or a board member. The portal can be accessed directly from www.ciranet.com by selecting the Vendor Portal from the menu or the direct URL of www.ciranet.com/vendorportal.

No registration is needed; all users are "guests." Once they click on the Continue as guest option, they are directed to the streamlined site with two nodes: Home, which provides brief instructions, and Submit Invoice, where they can submit their invoices directly into the workflow. Within minutes of submitting their invoice, they are emailed an acknowledgment with the resulting workflow number, so they have that unique number for reference.

By Mail

[Community Association Name]

P. O. Box 702348

Dallas, TX 75370-2348

By Email

accountspayable@ciramail.com

Alternatively, if the invoice is received directly in your CiraMail box, the invoice can be entered immediately into AAP Workflow from the email using the Actions, Start, and then Create AAP Workflow. A small pop-up window will open with the resulting workflow number, which is also automatically replicated on the notepad. If more than one invoice is attached, once you select the action, you will receive a pop-up listing the attachments and can check the ones to submit into workflow. Separate workflows will be created for each attachment. Note that the attachment must already be in a pdf format to use this method.

By Facsimile

866-919-5696

Options in CiraNet

This sub-node in the Accounts Payable node in CiraBooks provides a convenient filtered view of your created workflows, including their status. It also allows you to submit a new invoice directly from there.

Vendor Management

Users can find the applicable vendor in the Community-level Vendor Management module, click on Action, and select Submit New Invoice.

Figure 5: Submitting an Invoice from Vendor Management

CiraMobile

This option allows the user to take a photo of the invoice and upload it into a workflow, where it is automatically converted to a pdf document.

Please be cautious to use only the methods outlined in the Process and Service Description.

For instance, uploading invoices to the Document Archive does not create a workflow nor notify anyone in the Payables Lockbox Shared Services Group, and those invoices will not be paid. Additionally, please select only one option to avoid duplicating efforts. For example, if you manually submit the invoice into the workflow, do not also email Accounts Payable. Please advise your vendors against this practice as well. If they submit an invoice through the Vendor Portal, there is no need to email a copy. The exception is collection attorneys, who are specifically requested to copy the Collections Shared Services Group on invoices for billing owner accounts but submit them separately for payment.

Steps to Creating the Workflow

Submitting an invoice directly into workflow through one of the steps referenced in CiraNet offers the workflow form and the options detailed below. It is unnecessary to complete all these steps, particularly if it meets the abovementioned criteria (being made out to the community, etc.). However, in those cases where a workflow should be detailed as part of the original submittal, these are the steps to take:

Fields denoted by a red asterisk (*) are mandatory.

1. Community. This will be preselected when navigating to the form from the Community node but can also be selected in a portfolio view by either typing in at least part of the community name or selecting it from the drop-down menu.

1. Handling. Given that we process checks daily, and payments can be disbursed the morning following full approval for most invoices, standard handling should suffice in most cases; however, in an emergency or when a special situation arises, we offer these additional handling options:
1. Standard. This should be the selection that works for most invoices.
2. Standard - Print check at local office for delivery. This option indicates that the check should be printed at the branch or on an on-site office printer linked to the community association instead of the default CiraConnect corporate printer. If your location does not have a printer linked to it, this option is not available. Please also note it in the notepad.
3. See Special Instructions. This draws the attention of the Payables Lockbox team to the notes field for any instructions, such as whether the check needs to be mailed to an address other than that on the invoice.
4. Rush - Overnight payment to payee (additional fee applies). If you need the check sent overnight to the vendor, please choose this option and ensure the physical address is included (we cannot send payments to a PO Box). The community association will incur the rush fee (subject to change; please refer to your company's SLA for current rates) and the courier fee.
5. Rush-Overnight to management office (additional fee applies). This option would be appropriate if you need to hand deliver a priority payment to a vendor but do not have the option of a local check printer. As mentioned above, the community association is subject to rush and courier fees.
6. Rush-See Special Instructions (an additional fee applies). This option differs from the one above because it involves rush handling, but please note the instructions in the notepad.
7. Rush - Service Termination. This is the election used if the vendor, often a utility, is about to terminate services to the community.

3. Notes/Special Instructions. This notepad allows the submitter to leave special instructions if necessary.
4. Invoice. There are two options here, with the default being:
1. Upload Vendor Invoice. This allows the submitter to upload and submit the invoice without further work. It moves on to the first verifier step.
2. Generate a Payment Request. This option opens the fields below for completion.
5. Browse. This is how to upload the pdf file into the workflow from your local drive. Note that, from this process, the file must already be in a .pdf format. Once uploaded, you will see the invoice in the pane to the right (by default) to verify it is readable and correct.
6. Enter Payment Details. If you selected Upload Vendor Invoice but decided you needed to enter the details, you can toggle the button to Yes to reveal the additional fields.

7. Vendor Notes. This feeds from the community-level Vendor Management. If there are notes about the vendor, they will populate this notepad, and the icon will be filled in green with a white checkmark.
8. Vendor Activities. This is also from the community-level Vendor Management and is a history log for any changes made to the vendor itself.
9. Board Approval. If the community is configured for the optional business process of Board Approval, you will see a green checkmark here. A red X indicates it is not subject to that additional approval step.
10. Work Orders. Clicking here will open a two-tab field of Open and Closed Work Orders. Any existing work orders attributed to this vendor will populate those respective tabs to link to the workflow. Users cannot create a new work order from here.
11. Invoice / Receipt Date. If the invoice is dated, please use that date here. If there is none on the actual document, use the date submitted.
12. Invoice Number. A default version of the date used will populate here, which is appropriate to retain for some payments, such as owner reimbursements, where there is no formal invoice with an assigned number. Still, the ideal for most cases is to use an invoice number from the originating document, so check for that on the invoice and override it to that value if available.
13. Bank Account. This indicates the account from which the payment will be made. Generally, it defaults to the Operating Fund but can be changed to an alternate fund.
14. Total Amount. This is the total due on the invoice. It is important to remember that a second individual will verify the information entered against the invoice. If you want to make a partial payment, ask the vendor to submit a revised invoice, or, if that is not possible, use a specific cover page explaining the discrepancy and use See Special Instructions handling notating why (which will also help memorialize the information later for audit purposes).

15. Payee. Clicking on the ellipsis opens a three-tabbed menu of possible payees:
1. Vendor. This is a list of all active vendors for the community. The first election is Not in List. Use this one if you do not see the vendor listed.
2. Owner. One advantage of CiraNet is that owners do not have to be added as community vendors to be reimbursed?. A list of all current owners is available on the second tab.
3. Community. This tab lists other communities to which you have access on the CiraNet platform. It allows you to choose one as the Payee, which can be convenient if a subassociation, for example, pays the Master for services or if two communities have a joint usage agreement for a shared common area.
16. Vendor Accounts. This is primarily, but not exclusively, necessary for utility and insurance vendors. If the Payee has one or more accounts configured, this is where you would select the correct account to correlate to the invoice.
17. Print As. If an owner is selected as the Payee, but if someone else in the household is the individual due the reimbursement, such as a tenant, or if only one spouse should be listed on the check, this field is enabled with this selection, allowing you to change the Print As to reflect that name:

Once modified, the system retains it for the next time to streamline committee and board reimbursements in the future.

18. Description. The system can support GL line item descriptions or add one for the vendor's invoice here.
19. Due Date. Use the date specified on the invoice. If none is referenced, please note that our policy is to default to a Net 30 from the invoice date. This does not impact when the disbursement is made but does impact your reporting and metrics; therefore, we encourage you to follow that guideline.
20. EFT Account. If the vendor has been configured for either EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer) or ACH (Automated Clearing House) payment, this will change to Yes. You can also use this in other circumstances to stop a check from being cut. An example would be if the vendor was paid using another method, such as wire transfer, and the workflow is to document the expense. It is essential to know that if this toggle is set to Yes, the system will not issue a check.
21. Default Line Item and New Line Item. These options exist to create a line/lines in the field below to "code" the payment (assign a GL to the expense). Default coding and handling, and even fund disbursement, can be set for a vendor or individual vendor accounts from the Vendor Management module. We recommend setting these default values from the community-level Vendor Management module wherever possible to save yourself time later and avoid potential miscoding. When set, the information should automatically populate in the grid below. If it does not, however, you can click the Default Line Item button to populate it. If no default coding is set, you need at least one line item in the grid field to proceed, so you can create the line by clicking on New Line Item and then populating the details for the line. The columns in the line differ by community. For example, suppose your community has expenses per different neighborhood/building cluster. In that case, you may need to set that value, but generally, the columns are the main GL (General Ledger), sub-category, amount, fund, and description. Multiple lines can be added.

22. Reset or Submit for Data Processing. If you click on Reset, it removes all fields, including community, that you have set so far. On the other hand, if you are ready to submit the information for processing, click that button. A small pop-up will appear with the workflow number that was created.

Owner Refunds versus Owner Reimbursements

Processing a Workflow

Scanning and Data Entry

If you entered an invoice into AAP Workflow following the steps detailed above, you just took the Scanned step. For invoices received via mail, email, or the vendor portal, the Payables Lockbox team enters those details. Their process and view differ slightly, but the information they glean and enter from the invoice is much the same, with a few additional steps, such as analyzing the invoice for any late fees and reporting on that (which can be tracked).

If the vendor is not listed, the processor selects Vendor Edit, which sends the invoice to a specific Vendor Edit queue. In this queue, a team works to add new vendors, provided they have the correct information, such as the W-9, and then returns the invoice to the Process Invoices queue.

The Operating Fund is the default fund used in these early processing steps unless otherwise instructed on the invoice or through the default configuration set through the Vendor Management module, but it can be changed during the approval steps.

One main difference between what the processors do and what you set when manually inserting an invoice is that they do not set the GL coding.

Verification

The workflow moves on to the second step in the flowchart. In this step, a different Payables Lockbox team member completes all data fields again but cannot see what the initial processor selected. This duplicate step verifies the accuracy of the data entered against the data entered in the initial scan step.,,

If the two steps do not match, the AAP Workflow moves to an AP Supervisor, who will review and reconcile the discrepancies before proceeding to the next step.

If it is determined that the invoice is a duplicate or invalid at any of these steps, the workflow will be Deleted, meaning it will no longer be active. However, the workflow is still in the system and can be viewed in Search Invoices, from the vendor's activity in the Vendor Management module, or My Submitted Invoices. The system generates an email to the CiraMail box for the community to notify the manager that the workflow has been deleted, and the reason entered by the processor will be included in the body of the email, with the invoice attached for reference.

Manager Review and Approval

Next, the assigned manager has the opportunity and responsibility to review the invoices via the workflows. Reviewing and approving pending workflows can be a simple and quick process. However, with only two exceptions, we cannot move the invoice forward for payment without this step, so monitoring the approval queue at least once daily is imperative.

There are two primary pathways to access pending approvals, My WorkInBox and Invoice Approval, both accessed from My Work Queue in the Navigation Pane. My WorkInBox, which by default opens to Show My Work but can be switched to Show ALL Work, will load only those approval items directly assigned to you but loads all open items requiring approval in addition to invoices, so also pending mass communication approvals, and any violation records requiring review. This makes this queue a great one-stop shop for all items needing review, but with all that material, it can take the page longer to load. The alternative, if you are only interested in approving invoices at the time or are a supervisor with an extensive portfolio, is to use the Invoice Approval, which is nested under Payables Workflow. This page opens automatically to Show ALL Work but is only invoice

workflows, so the load time is nearly immediate. From either location, the workflow opens with the same information, and the options are the same. To begin, click on the Action button and select Process Workflow.

The workflow that opens contains the information you need to complete the evaluation and decide on the invoice's validity.

Fields denoted with a red asterisk (*) are mandatory for the workflow to progress to the next step.

1. Title Banner. This references the workflow number and the community. Check this against the invoice to make sure the community is correct. If not, you cannot change it from here and must deny the workflow to the Payables Lockbox team so they can correct it.
2. Process Menu. This lists the steps through which the workflow flows to disburse the payment. Note the step it is currently in is highlighted in yellow. Also, note the question marks in blue circles to the right of each step. Clicking on these takes the user to help text describing what each step entails.
3. Settings. Clicking on the gear icon lets the user change how the invoice/backup opens in the frame. The default is to the right, but users can move it to the left or set it so the backup opens in a new pane. This will change the settings for all workflows, but it can be changed again at any time.

4. AAP Workflow Job Details. This section helps you research information about the vendor and how the vendor is configured. The available icons differ depending on the vendor configuration and the elections the community or management company takes advantage of, but these are standard information fields:

1. Payee. The vendor linked to the workflow is listed here as a hyperlink. Click on it to be directed to that specific vendor's community-level Vendor Management module entry.
2. Vendor Notes. This feeds from the community-level Vendor Management. If there are notes about the vendor, the icon will be filled in green with a white checkmark, which you can view directly from here.
3. Vendor Instructions. If available in the workflow, it indicates that the Payables Lockbox team made notes at the "company" level, in the Vendor Management. In other words, when creating the vendor, if something specific should be available for all individuals/communities working with this vendor, they have a free-form Instructions notepad to document it. That information will be visible if you click on this icon. If there are none, the icon is not enabled in the workflow.
4. Vendor Activities. This is the invoice/payment activity from the community-level Vendor Management.
5. Vendor Checklist. If your management company uses checklists to ensure compliance with disbursement guidelines, click here to open the manager's checklist.

6. Board Notes. This feature is only enabled if the community is set up for online board approval. Generally, this notepad is blank since the manager's approval precedes the board's. However, it is pertinent in cases where the invoice was denied back to the CAM Approval step by the board. As with all other notepads, if there is information in the notepad, it is highlighted in green with a white checkmark.
7. Internal Notes. These are notes that those of us who are internal users can make and see when communicating about the workflow.
8. AAP Workflow History. This is the activity log for the workflow, showing every user who has made a change to it, as well as when and what they did.
9. Work Orders. Like the Work Orders icon in Submit an Invoice, this pop-up opens a two-tab window showing any Open or Closed Work Orders linked to the vendor. The difference is that there is an option to open a new work order.
10. Contracts. This opens to any contracts uploaded by the vendor in the community-level Vendor Management module. The user may also upload a contract from here that populates to that module.
11. Board Approval. As you can see in Submit an Invoice, if the community is enabled to approve online invoices by board members, a green checkmark will be present. A red X means it is not.
12. Invoice. This opens a small pop-up window with the invoice.

5. AP Invoice Header Detail. This section focuses on the payment details for this specific invoice.

6. AAP Invoice Line Items. This is where the GL line items can be set or changed as part of the approval items. As with other fields, this configuration can differ depending on the community, but this is a typical view:

You can select the GL and Subcategory using the drop-down menu or type in the number or label you want. To code the invoice using multiple line items, click Add to open another line item, and repeat that as often as necessary to code the activity correctly. All lines must reconcile with the Amount to Pay to proceed to the next step. If a default GL coding has been set in the Vendor Management module, click the Default Line Items to have it automatically populate this area. As noted, adding a Description at this level does not populate the main Description box in the AP Invoice Header Detail, but the reverse scenario does cross-populate.

7. Deny, Place in Review, Approve, or Exit. These are the action options to complete the review.
1. Deny. Selecting this will open a pop-up with a form field to explain what needs to happen with the workflow. If an error needs correcting or updating, the Lockbox Payables team will remediate it based on the information you provided and advance it for a second review. If the intent is not to pay it, indicate why, and they will delete the workflow.

2. Place in Review. This allows you to save any changes or settings you have made in the workflow form but keeps it in your queue. This may be used if, for example, you need to check on the work done before approving the payment. It cannot be advanced for payment so long as it is in this status, so use it prudently and monitor your queue daily to evaluate any you have previously placed in that status.
3. Approve. This, on the other hand, moves it forward to the next step.
4. Exit. This closes the workflow without saving any changes you may have made to the form and does not remove it from your pending approval queue.

Board Approval of Invoices

Access to the CiraNet Management/Board Portal allows your Board members to view recently completed invoices and pending payables in near real-time. However, if a specific Board insists on more significant involvement in the bill approval process, we can accommodate that by allowing them to action pending invoices on the portal or CiraMobile via an iOS device before payment.

Configuring a community for online invoice approval is a two-step process: first, determining the parameters of what the board wants to review and approve, completing the form available in CiraHelp with that outlined, and submitting it via Case to Accounts Payable, where a member of that team will enable the community based on those definitions. Once the configuration is complete, the CAM configures and maintains the appropriate board members to approve via the Board/Committee Management module.

More information on this optional process can be found in CiraHelp.

Accountant (or Other) Review and Approval

The assigned accountant is the final approval/review step for most communities utilizing our complete services. The reviewer assigned to this step has the ability, using the workflow form like the one detailed above, to do the following:

• View the invoice
• Review vendor and invoice history
• Update the handling instructions (e.g., selecting a local check print location if optionally configured)
• Update the header and line-item coding and descriptions
• Save/update a template configuration
• Update the General Ledger post-date Link the AAP Workflow to a vendor contract, insurance policy, utility meter (account), or common property parcel (for property tax payments)
• Link the workflow to a Maintenance Work Order
• Review/ add internal notes
• Complete a QA checklist (if optionally configured) for this approver's step (which may be different than the checklist for the Manager's step)
• Deny the request
• Place the request in Review, which will also keep it from disbursing and acts like a suspended state • Place on cash Hold (used for cash flow management)
• Approve the request

The invoice will be recorded in CiraBooks in the Accounts Payable sub-ledger and posted to the General Ledger when the reviewer approves the AAP Workflow or places it on cash Hold.

Exceptions to Approval

Auto Approval

CiraNet can support bypassing the CAM or Accountant Approval Steps for some or even all invoices. An example would be the auto-approval of EFT workflows or utility invoices with tight turnaround times. However, the platform allows a lot of flexibility in the configuration. Visit with your Financial Manager or Account Manager to learn more and to request this if appropriate for your communities.

CAM Override of Board Approval

If a board member is assigned an invoice to review and approve but cannot do so directly, the CAM can act on their behalf. They log in as themselves, access the invoice just as the board member would, and approve it the same way. The log will indicate that the CAM approved the invoice on the board member's behalf. For more information on this process, refer to the Tip Sheet in CiraHelp.

CAM Submission of Invoice

If a CAM submits an invoice into workflow using one of the methods detailed above from CiraNet using the Generate Payment Request option (in other words, they detail all the steps), they have, in essence, taken the Scan Verify step and need not approve it again, provided it was verified with 100% accuracy in the second verifier step. However, if there is a discrepancy in the two steps requiring AP Supervisor review and reconciliation, it would need to be reviewed again by the CAM. This is one of the reasons it is essential to carefully follow the steps outlined above to avoid these delays, slight as they may be, to invoice processing.

Payment Disbursal

Of course, our work is not done until payment is made to the vendor. CiraNet supports these payment methods:

CiraConnect Payables Lockbox Fulfillment

We print checks from our main corporate office and mail them first-class to the payee once all approvals have been met. We print and mail checks Monday through Friday, except for mail holidays. To have a check mailed on a specific day, AAP Workflows should be approved by the end of business the day before.

Local Check Printer

If a local check printer is available (a specific printer setup must be preconfigured and supplied with the appropriate toner and check stock), checks can be printed at a local office. However, all approval requirements must still be met. For more information on local check printing, printer specification, and setup, please refer to CiraHelp.

Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT)

With your authorization, and where possible, we will gladly work with your priority vendors to set up payment via EFT if the vendor offers it. By default, insurance and utility vendors are placed on EFT toward the end of the on-ramping process. Communities must have a stable cash flow to be eligible, and there may be a one- to two-billing cycle delay for the EFT to become effective. Unless the management company or community has elected to auto- approve EFT invoices, they will still be viewable through your Work Inbox for review. However, the vendor will withdraw the funds regardless of the manager's or board's action during the review process.

Automated Clearing House (ACH)

Some, but not all, of the partner banks we work with can support and allow us to offer ACH to your valued vendors. Check with your leadership team or Account Manager for a list of available banks. Once the workflow process has met full approval for an invoice, the system will push a payment directly to the vendor's bank account. They will be notified via email that a payment is being processed.

The vendor must complete a form sent to a restricted CiraMail address. Only a select team can view the information and configure the vendor for this service. Therefore, please ask that they follow the instructions on the form carefully to protect their information. The form to provide them, including the instructions they need, is in CiraHelp.

Wire Transfers

CiraConnect can also make payments by wire transfer. In such cases, authorized individuals will process and approve the wire transfer. A corresponding payment will be posted in the CiraBooks Accounts Payable module and applied to the open AAP Workflow with the corresponding invoice. If you have an emergency, such as an impending utility service cut-off, and need to explore alternate payment options, call the Accounts Payable hotline at 972-380-3530 with the applicable AAP Workflow number. The workflow must have met all approval requirements for them to assist you.

Completed Workflows

Once a payment has been processed and applied to an open AAP Workflow, the Payment Status will be updated to Paid in the application.

Users can click on this Payment Status to find details on the payment itself. If the payment is a check, we can immediately see the check number and whether it has cleared. If it has, the date it cleared will be available.

Users can click on the check number to find even more details, notably a copy of the check image. This can be helpful to provide the vendor, mainly if they still show it as an open item but the check has cleared, so they can better research it on their end.

If a vendor states they did not receive a check payment, we request they wait 30 days before asking you to reissue it. This allows mail delivery time, the vendor to cash, and the bank to clear the check. Your contract may include additional charges for reissued payments, so there is even more reason to allow ample time before asking for a new check. But, if necessary, after the 30 days have expired, you can create a Case for the Accounts Payable team with the vendor name, workflow, and check numbers.

If the payment was made via EFT, it will be indicated in the Check # column.

Reclassifying Completed Workflows

If the workflow is within an open accounting period, users can reclassify them. This includes many board members, depending upon their access. Open the Workflow form (see below for some of the many resources that allow access to them), make the changes needed in the AP Invoice Line Items, and then click on the Reclass button on the lower right-hand side.

Reporting

We understand that processing the community's bills is one of the most significant responsibilities management companies have for their clients, so we provide a wide range of reports designed to allow all community users-whether management team members, back office support, or executive (board) members— to monitor the activity. Here are just a few of the modules available to help users keep up with community expenses.

AP Expense Detail

This is a popular module for board members to see expenses for the current year or, if selected from the Filter By Year located at the top left-hand side of the pane, one of the last two prior years, presented in a grid format, allowing for a great deal of flexibility to group by Vendor, or Expense Category, Amount, etc. For management company users and board members with full access, the Amount is a hyperlink that opens to additional details on the expense, including a copy of the invoice. This page is accessed from the Community level in CiraBooks and then Accounts Payable.

Open AP

In contrast to the AP Expense Detail, which shows completed disbursements, this module lists approved but open payables grouped by disbursing account, with a current beginning bank balance and a projected net balance after they are paid. The Amount column, however, is also a hyperlink allowing users to click on it for more details about the specific expense.

AP Ledger

This is available from CiraBooks Accounts Payable at both the Community and Portfolio levels, but it can only be viewed using one community at a time. However, it is a flexible tool for viewing payable activity for selected periods, as you choose, and for all vendors or specific ones. Users set the search parameters in the page header, and the results are displayed in a grid format, with activity showing as hyperlinks to access more details.

Search Invoices

This is a robust search module for AAP Workflows at any stage (depending upon the search parameters set). It can be accessed from either the Community or Portfolio views, also under the CiraBooks Accounts Payable node. AAP Workflows can be viewed and actioned (depending upon status) directly from this module.

Board members can access this tool, but the search parameters are more restrictive. They can only view results in Board Approval status, fully approved but not yet paid, or Completed. They cannot act on items directly from this view.

Actual vs. Budget

Many of you are familiar with the expense section of this module from working on it from Step 2 of the Monthly Management Report process tracker, but it can also be accessed directly from CiraBooks by selecting Financial Reports. This feature allows users to view expenses for both the month and year-to-date, access details about the expenses by clicking on the hyperlinks and write or review notes regarding significant variances from the budget.

General Ledger

This module, accessed from CiraBooks by selecting the General Ledger sub-node, provides a customizable report detailing a complete listing of all financial transactions for a specified period. The report displays the beginning balance, debit and credit transactions, and ending balance for each account.

On Demand Reports

Users can access several reports dedicated to the payables process from the On Demand Reports menu. Board member access is limited to two from here, but internal members have a minimum of 21, and some users have more, so there is a wealth of information worth exploring in this area.

As noted, this only scratches the surface of the information available to you and the board members. We encourage you to explore the CiraBooks Accounts Payable node. Additionally, check out the information offered in some Workspace widgets, such as the Work Processed Last 30 Days, to see what insights they provide to help monitor your community's payables.