Use a weekly payment plan to decide which approved supplier obligations to pay, defer, or schedule. The plan controls timing; bill validation and actual bank settlement remain separate checks.
Where this workflow fits
This workflow applies to organizations that manage supplier bills and controlled payment runs. Approved supplier bills enter the payment plan. Paid and deferred items return to finance and the next weekly cycle.
Featured capabilities
- AP Cash Planning: Review the weekly supplier payment plan.
- Purchasing & Accounts Payable: Verify purchasing documents and supplier bills.
- Banking & Reconciliation: Match payments against bank activity.
People and preparation
AP and finance need approved supplier bills, relevant PO and receipt support, payment terms, available cash, supplier priorities, and the organization’s approval and bank-payment controls.
Process areas and stages
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Validate bills
Owner: Accounts payable. Input: Supplier invoice and supporting documents.
Work and decision: Confirm that supplier bills are complete, approved, and linked to their supporting purchase and receipt records when those records apply. Check bill completeness, supplier, amount, and related order or receipt. Send a disputed quantity or price back to purchasing instead of scheduling an unsupported payment.
Evidence and handoff: Approved bill is eligible for a payment decision.
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Review the week
Owner: Finance and AP. Input: Approved bills and cash position.
Work and decision: Create or open the week in AP Cash Planning. Review proposed payments, due dates, available cash, and critical supplier needs. Open the AP Cash Planning week and compare due dates, expected cash, and supplier commitments. Decide what can be paid without treating a proposed amount as a completed disbursement.
Evidence and handoff: Working plan identifies candidate payments.
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Set payment decisions
Owner: Finance lead. Input: Candidate bills.
Work and decision: Add, defer, restore, split, or schedule bills according to the finance team's payment policy. Record the reason for material exceptions. Add, defer, restore, split, or schedule bills according to policy. Record why a critical invoice is delayed or split and tell the relevant supplier contact where needed.
Evidence and handoff: Reviewed plan has a disposition for every material bill.
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Authorize the batch
Owner: Payment approver. Input: Proposed payment batch.
Work and decision: Prepare the payment batch and review suppliers, bills, amounts, payment date, and payment method before confirmation. Check suppliers, bank instructions under the normal control, bills, amounts, date, and method before confirmation. Resolve an incorrect or duplicate item prior to release.
Evidence and handoff: Approved batch passes to payment execution.
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Make and record payments
Owner: Accounts payable or treasury. Input: Authorized batch.
Work and decision: Process the approved payments using the normal accounts-payable controls. Process payments through the approved bank method and record the actual payable settlement. Handle a rejection or cancelled payment as an exception, not as completed cash outflow.
Evidence and handoff: Payment records link back to supplier bills.
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Reconcile and close
Owner: Finance. Input: Bank transactions and payment records.
Work and decision: Reconcile the payment activity with the bank and close or revise the plan for the week as needed. Match cleared bank activity with recorded payments, investigate outstanding or rejected items, and revise or close the week with the remaining obligations visible.
Evidence and handoff: Reconciled paid items and next-week exceptions complete the cycle.
Variations and exceptions
A supplier dispute should be resolved at bill validation. A scheduled or confirmed batch is not bank clearance; unmatched payments stay open for reconciliation.
Completion and review
Every planned bill is paid, deferred, scheduled, or held with a reason. Confirmed payments are traceable to the related bills and bank activity.
Comments and Suggestions
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