AP - FAQ's II

In FMS, vendors and customers are maintained in the same table, Vendor/Customer (VCUST), in order to consolidate financial details and to allow for Citywide Vendor/Customer reporting. You can search by legal name, DBA, vendor number, or BTRC number on VCUST.

Yes, there is a Vendor/Customer Type field. Users will specify whether it is a Vendor or Customer. It is also possible to have a vendor as customer in some cases.

As in existing practice, you could still use the miscellaneous vendor codes for a one-time vendor payment in FMS if payments are NOT 1099 reportable OR create a new vendor code based on Controller's policy and procedures for one time vendor payments.

A vendor's “Active” status is manually selected by the user who creates the vendor in FMS using the VCC document. The FMS default is “Inactive” (this is found in the Certificate section of the Vendor/Customer table). The person creating the VCC document needs to manually select Vendor Active Status = “Active” and Vendor Approval Status = “Complete”. Only an active vendor can be used on any document requiring a vendor code to be processed in FMS, such as encumbrance and payments.

The same as in FMIS, FMS accepts the master 10-digit BTRC account number for each vendor that will be associated with the FMS vendor master account code. Composition of full length BTRC numbers from the Office of Finance are as follows: 10-digit master number that is constant with the vendor’s legal name plus four digits that are unique by location and four digits that are unique by business type. Each vendor can have multiple addresses and business types, but will use the same BTRC master number.

FMS validates the vendor's tax ID as a valid character field.

The VCUST table is shared by both vendors and customers. What is a required field for a vendor might not be required for a customer and vice versa. Required fields for vendors are indicated in the FMS 302: Vendor Maintenance training manual.

You can use a pick list in DISBQ table to bring you to a browsing screen where you can drill down your search or browse by Vendor code, Vendor Last Name, Vendor Legal Name, Vendor Active Status or Vendor DBA.

On the Vendor/Customer table, the Certification tab has fields to distinguish whether the record is a vendor or customer. If Vendor Active Status field is "Active", this signifies an active vendor record. If Customer Active Status field is "Active", this signifies an active customer record. If both Vendor Active Status and Customer Active Status fields are populated as "Active", then it would be both an active vendor record and an active customer record.

Yes. You can use a valid Miscellaneous Vendor Code existing on the Vendor Table for processing encumbrance documents, but in addition to valid vendor codes, you have to provide exact legal names and addresses for processing payment documents.

Yes. You can use a valid Miscellaneous Vendor Code existing on the Vendor Table for processing encumbrance documents, but in addition to valid vendor codes, you have to provide exact legal names and addresses for processing payment documents.

These fields are in the Reporting Code (Budget Structure) table.

The vendor address that the payment should go to should be on the vendor table. If not, a vendor/customer modification should be made. When processing a GAX, the user should specify where the payment should go to by selecting the correct Address ID field.

Yes, this is the existing procedure. Although the input process is de-centralized, a vendor creation/ modification transaction has to go through the workflow process for review and approval by the Controller's Office before the updates become effective.

The Reporting Code will only be used for FMS Vendors.

Existing FMIS vendors have been converted to FMS following the conversion criteria defined by the Controller's Office. There is no need to re-enter the vendor information. Eliminating duplicate vendors is part of the clean up process undertaken in conversion except if this vendor is both a FMIS and a SMS vendor.

No, FMS has no hyperlink to external websites to validate information (i.e., address or IRS information). This is to ensure the security of the records, as the City’s official books of accounts. This reinforces the importance of users confirming and validating vendor information before submitting to the Controller's Office for approval.

Address Line 1, City, Zip, and State are required fields that satisfy the basic requirements of a valid mailing address. However, the system does not validate an address (e.g., 91344 zip code should be Granada Hills and not 90012).

Yes, the Vendor Business Tax (VBTC) table in FMS reflects the status of BTRC. If the status is inactive, FMS will generate error messages if any vendor and/or payment documents are processed.

Yes, BTRCs on FMS vendor records will be validated against LATAX information.

The validation will check if a BTRC is associated with an existing vendor number. When setting up a new vendor in FMS, the system will infer the Vendor Legal Name based on the BTRC entered (the Legal Name is also interfaced from LATAX). The vendor’s legal name will be compared against the issued BTRC.

FMS will allow generic BTRCs for government agencies, similar to the current FMIS process as defined in Controller's Policies and Procedures. The same process will also be applied to other miscellaneous vendors that will be in FMS.

To create a new vendor in FMS, departments will now enter a Vendor/Customer Creation (VCC) document, which will be electronically routed to the Controller’s Office for approval through workflow. Similarly, departments will enter Vendor/Customer Modification (VCM) documents in FMS to request changes to a vendor record. The AP 302 Training Manual on Vendor Maintenance has detailed procedures on this process.

The first level of contract budget structure in BQ91LV1 table shows the entire contract amount: how much was authorized to spend, encumbered, expended, and also balances of unobligated or uncommitted amounts. The next level in BQ91LV2 table shows contract amounts by department level with the same detail of information as in BQ91LV1.

The Contract dates are maintained in the Reporting Code Table under the "Contract From" and "Contract To" fields. A processed Encumbrance document referencing Reporting Code and Sub Reporting code will be validated against these fields.

The Vendor Name, Entered/Modified by, Amendment Number, and Change Order Number are provided on the budget structure (BQ91LV) and budget entry document (BGB9CON). The Contract, Start/End Date, and Change Order Number is available on the Reporting Code table. The Controller will maintain the Reporting Code table. Each contract will require a record within this table and each record will have effective from/to fields.

All departments will have VIEW access to the Reporting Code/Sub Reporting Code table and the Contract Budget Structure (BQ91LV1 and BQ91LV2) tables. Controller's Office will have write/update access to Reporting Code/Sub Reporting code table based on Department request. Departments can also update data in the Contract Budget Structure tables (BQLVs) by processing a BGB9CON document, subject to approval by the Controller's Office.

The Reporting Code/Sub Reporting Code Tables have the same functionality as the AUTH (FMIS) in terms of Contract Authority definition by Name, Start/Expiry dates, department, type of contract, and other elements. The Contract Budget Structure (BQ91LV1 and 2) are equivalent to FMIS AUTH's contract budget funding or Contract Ceiling Amounts. The Contract budget structure tables also function as (FMIS) OPPH/OPPL for Contract Authorities.

Accrued expenses are those unpaid expenditures chargeable against your contract budget. Actual expenses are paid and unpaid expenditures. The expenditures chargeable/deducted against your contract budget to get uncommitted balances are Balances of: Pre-encumbrances, Encumbrances, Accrued Expenses, and Cash Expenses.