SBS Tip of the Week

If you are the requisitioner of the order and you receive a po notification requesting you to receipt the invoice (Hold code will say QTY REC)

You have an option to place the invoice on hold if for example the goods have not yet been received or you are querying the invoice charge with the supplier

See the attached PO guide for further details (see page 28).

Puchase to pay drop in sessions will resume on 7 December and continue on the first Wednesday of every month from 12pm to 1pm. It will be lead by the Procurement team and  Purchase 2 Pay team.

Join the session here ​​​.

This is an opportunity for end users to drop by and ask the P2P team questions about a range of topics including: raising requisitions, receipting orders, processing their PO notifications, coding non po invoices and any other queries you may have.

If a member of staff is leaving the organisation, you will need to  complete the attached form.

If the person leaving is an approver, please ensure that any user who has the person as an approver is allocated a new approver within the hierarchy (by completing the amendment part of the form).

Following this process will ensure that goods and services are able to continue to be  ordered and suppliers will be paid in a timely manner.

If you have any queries please contact procurement@merseycare.nhs.uk.

Please refer to attached document on how to check an order balance

If you find it is running low you can raise a Top Up Requisition

Top Up Requisition

A top up requistion adds funds to an existing order

To do this raise a new requisition and in Notes To Buyer type ‘Please link to purchase order 345…. And add the number you widh to increase the extra funds to

If the order relates to goods/services coming in each month for varying amounts please select ‘value’ order when prompted with ‘type’

Any queries with above please email procurement@merseycare.nhs.uk

End User raises a new requisition for the amount they wish to increase the order for (this should always be for the amount less the VAT called the NET amount)

If it is for a call off order (on going order where monthly amount unknown) the end user should select from drop down on Type and select ‘value order’ (see below)

In notes to buyer the end user must type ‘Please link to PO number 345 (And quote the order number they wish to increase).

A requisition must always be raised less the VAT amount (this is called the net amount).

There are three types of requisition:

1. Type: Goods e.g. 10 x Wheelchairs
2. Type: Value (call off order where monthly amount is unknown) e.g. Tools and Ironmongery for the Estates department 1 April 2022 – 31.03.23
3. Type:  Services billed by quantity e.g. Quantity 12 @ £200 per month Monthly Cleaning Service: Litherland Walk in Centre  - April 2022 – 31.03.23

(please note this order type is to be used where the monthly amount is known and agreed by the supplier)

If you have any queries in raising a requisition please contact procurement@merseycare.nhs.uk.

When raising a requisition wherever possible please select the suppliers from the supplier list.

This list’s end column ‘type of supply’ which is ‘a work in progress’ and will be updated on a weekly basis.

If you would like to access the list on the S drive, it can be found here - S:\Finance\FINSERV\OPS DESK\SBS\23. Supplier List\Copy of P201 Supplier Address with Site Flags 22.09.22.

Useful to note: Teqex Ltd is a similar type of supplier to Argos should you have difficulty finding a product please try this supplier.

Did you know that the Trust is tasked to pay invoices within 30 days?

Please can you ensure you action any Notifications you receive on SBS as a matter of urgency, as they will escalate up to your approver after 30 days.

Each notification you receive relates to an invoice from a supplier for goods or services supplied to the Trust.

If you receive a purchase order invoice notification this means there is a discrepancy between the invoice and the purchase order and the invoice will not be paid until the issue is resolved e.g. raise a receipt or add money to the order by a top up requisition.

Please refer to the attached guide to help you process your notifications.

Failure to action these in a timely manner can result in the accounts being put on hold and delay to delivery of goods and services to yourselves and other teams in the organisation.

The Procurement Department will be holding SBS Oracle user training on Wednesday 21 September and Wednesday 28 September 2022.

Exact times, content and links to access this training will be communicated next week.

There are also a range of monthly webinars held by SBS, details can be found in the below table. 

There are a number of useful monthly webinars available below showing step by step guides on how to do tasks on SBS. To register for the webinars, please use the links below.

Catalogue order using Edge4 Health

Non Catalogue order using Edge4Health

Notifications and how to deal with them

Receipting goods and/or service

Regular electronic notifications, also known as reminders, are automatically sent to the user within the SBS system to request an action to be performed, this is to prevent delays in the processing of either a requisition, order, receipt or invoice.

These notifications typically relate to:

• Quantity receipt - where the order needs to be receipted onto the system to enable payment
• Price variance – where there is a price discrepancy that needs be addressed before payment is made
• Ord quantity/max ship amount – where the overall quantity detailed on the invoice exceeds that on the order.

This notification, if left unactioned, will escalate to the next person, usually a line manager, and will continue to escalate until action is taken with the notification.

Previously, there was a 4-day period before the notification escalated to the next person in the hierarchy; this has now been increased to 30 days. This should allow more time for the user to deal with the notification, as well as enabling the P2P team to monitor notifications to see where additional assistance might be required.

Moe information can be found in the attached document.

Did you know that your 'Deliver to Location' on SBS relates to your Ward/Team /Department and not the building you are located in.

When ordering Goods/Services on SBS Oracle you must always put a 'Deliver to location' within the delivery screen below

Each location can be found by inserting a % symbol plus your budget code in the Deliver to location box below eg %187215.

Attached is a list of all current location.

Requisitions must always be raised for general goods and services. The subsequent official purchase order contains a link that refers the supplier to the standard NHS terms and conditions of contract. 

This provides additional safeguards to the Trust in case of a contractual dispute. Under no circumstances should a supplier’s own contract/order form be signed without the approval of Procurement. If this happens, please email procurement@merseycare.nhs.uk with the documentation.

It is best practice to receipt an order on SBS when you actually receive the goods/service rather than waiting until you receive notification on SBS.

By doing this, it will ensure that suppliers are paid in a timely manner and also speed up the payment of invoices. 

Please see attached further guidance on how to receipt an order on SBS.

If you are preparing for annual leave or going to be absent you can set up a Vacation Rule in iProc and in the Non PO Approval responsibility. Once the Vacation Rule has been set the system will automatically direct any requisition or approval notification to your nominated colleague, without allowing self-approval.

The rule will ensure that your notifications are dealt with promptly whilst you are away. A Vacation Rule should be set up when you are aware in advance that you are going to be taking an extended leave of absence.

You can find the full user guides on how to set up Vacation Rules using the links below

Non PO vacation rules

IProc vacation rules

Did you know that all invoices for goods and services procured for the organisation must include the following information?

Name and address of the supplier

Invoice date

Invoice Amount

Invoice Number

and must be addressed as follows:

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust

RW4 Payables F875

Phoenix House

Topcliffe Lane

Wakefield

WF3 1WE

If you receive an invoice that does not include the above information, please inform the supplier of what is required to ensure payment is not delayed. Once invoices are addressed correctly and include all the relevant information they can be emailed in a pdf format to sbs.apinvoicing@nhs.net.

If you have any queries or require assistance, please contact procurement@merseycare.nhs.uk.

When raising Requisitions, it is important that the correct 'Type' of order is selected. Take a look at the options below to find out which 'Type' should be used and when:

1. Goods - This should be used when goods are being purchased, e.g. 10 books at £10 each, and subsequent receipts (by quantity) will need to be made on SBS to enable payment (depending on whether they were all delivered at once).
2. Service - This should be used when purchasing a service, e.g.- room hire/training course - 1 course fee  at £50, and only ONE subsequent receipt (by quantity) will need to be made on SBS to enable payment
3. Value - Only to be used when multiple invoices are expected to be matched against the one line on the order (call off orders), e.g. Call off order for food items as and when required between 1 April 2021 – 31 March 2022 at total anticipated amount for the time period. Subsequent receipts (by value) will need to be made on SBS to enable payment (as per each invoice received).

Failure to select the correct type can cause issues when processing and paying invoices and cause delay in receiving goods/services for the organisation.