The payments list, every month
Invoices arrive by post and email: the grass cutting contractor, the street light energy bill, the hall cleaner, the website host, the stationery supplier. The RFO checks each one against what was ordered, codes it, and adds it to the payments list for the next meeting. The list is printed for the agenda pack. At the meeting councillors approve it, and two of them sign the invoices or the list.
After the meeting the RFO sets up the payments in online banking, and two authorised councillors log in to approve them, one of whom is on holiday. The contractor rings to ask why he has not been paid. The RFO then records each payment in the accounts package, typing the same amounts again.
Where the time and delay come from
Your financial regulations set out who can approve spending and how payments are authorised, and those controls matter. The delay comes from how the steps are carried out: paper and email in between each control, and the same details typed at each stage.
| Step | Usually done by | The friction |
|---|---|---|
| Receive and check invoice | RFO | Invoices scattered across post and email |
| Add to payments list | RFO | Retyped into a Word or Excel list |
| Approve at meeting | Councillors | Printed list, signatures on paper |
| Set up bank payments | RFO | Retyped into online banking |
| Authorise bank payments | Two councillors | Availability, reminders by text |
| Record in accounts | RFO | Retyped a third time |
What the current process costs
Suppliers wait weeks for payment because everything is tied to the meeting cycle, and small local contractors notice. The RFO spends hours on retyping, which is also where mistakes creep in: a transposed digit in a sort code, a payment made twice. Evidence of approval is a signature on a paper list in a file, which is harder to show to an auditor than it should be.
What your financial regulations require is for your council, RFO and auditor. We do not change your controls. We make them quicker to carry out and easier to evidence.
An invoice approval flow around your rules
- A dedicated invoices email address receives supplier invoices. Paper invoices are scanned into it.
- Invoice details, supplier, date, amount and VAT, are read from the document and the RFO confirms them and adds the budget code.
- Each invoice is matched to its purchase order or the minute that approved the spending, where one exists.
- The payments list for the next meeting builds itself from checked invoices, with links to each document, and goes into the agenda pack.
- Approval is recorded against each payment as your regulations require: at the meeting, or by delegated approval between meetings where your regulations allow it, with the councillor's name and time.
- An approved payment file is prepared in the format your bank accepts for upload where it offers one, so the RFO does not retype payments.
- The accounts package receives the payments by export, so they are not keyed in again.
The two-person authorisation in online banking stays with your bank. We do not have access to your money and do not move it.
A month with the flow in place
Invoices land in one place and are checked as they arrive. The payments list is in the agenda pack without anyone building it. After approval, the RFO uploads one file to the bank and the authorisers get their usual prompt. The accounts are updated from an export. When the auditor asks who approved a payment, the answer is a record with a name, date and the invoice attached.
Is your payment process like this?
- Invoices arrive by post and email and are tracked by hand.
- The payments list is typed for every meeting.
- Approvals are signatures on paper.
- Payments are retyped into online banking and again into the accounts.
- Suppliers chase for payment because of the meeting cycle.