3.1 Budget holders must observe the following end of year procedures:

Invoices

3.2 For the purposes of preparing the published Annual Report and Accounts, the accounts will remain open until the end of April, to ensure all expenditure incurred is charged to the Budget in the appropriate year. All purchase invoices relating to that year must be sent to the Finance Team as soon as possible after receipt in April.

3.3 If, at the end of year, there are any invoices for goods received which remain unpaid because they are under query, full details must be sent as soon as possible after the end of the financial year to the Head of Finance who will agree with the Budget holders the extent to which the expenditure can be accrued/provided for in the accounts.

3.4 Budget holders must inform the Finance Team if orders have been placed, and deliveries made or work completed before year-end where a covering invoice has not arrived by the end of the year. This expenditure must be charged against the Budget in the year the delivery of the goods/service was completed. If only part of a service is completed by year end then only the relevant proportion of the cost is charged in that year.

3.5 Late invoices must be marked to show that goods were received or service carried out prior to the end of March and must be sent to the Finance Team as soon as possible after receipt. IPOS users should ensure that the goods received/services delivered are noted in the Goods Receipt section before the date stipulated by the Finance Team.

Purchase orders

3.6 Purchase orders should be issued throughout March in the usual way. However, invoices for any purchase order for which goods were ordered but not delivered until after the end of the financial year will become a charge on the following year’s accounts. Therefore, if a Budget holder wants to ensure the receipt of goods or provision of service is charged in the year the order is placed, the purchase order should be issued early enough to ensure that delivery is made/the work completed before 31 March.

3.7 Towards the end of the year Budget holders should send reminders to any suppliers who have failed to deliver, with a view to obtaining delivery if possible before the end of the financial year. At the end of the year Budget holders must scrutinise all pending purchase orders and notify the Head of Finance of any significant orders on which deliveries/works are outstanding and which will therefore become a charge on the following year’s accounts.

3.8 Any purchase orders outstanding at the end of the financial year which are to be cancelled and are not to be fulfilled must be deleted. Budget holders are responsible for deleting unwanted purchase orders through IPOS.

Travel and subsistence claims

3.9 All travel and subsistence claims for expenses incurred during the financial year must be submitted at the end of that financial year.