Acquisitions Assistant

Department:	Finance	Effective Date:	September, 2001
Grade:	USG 3	Reports to:

General Accountability

The Acquisitions Team is accountable to the Manager, Accounts Payable in Finance for the operational management of the Acquisitions Team. The Accounts Payable Acquisitions Team is responsible for the financial aspects of the procurement life cycle which comprises managing encumbrances, matching invoices to purchase orders and managing purchase order accruals. With regards to the procurement process the Acquisitions Team applies generally accepted accounting principles, maintains adequate internal control procedures, keeps abreast of current business and technological trends recommending policy and procedural changes where applicable, and participates in the ongoing functional enhancement and upgrade of Oracle Financial System.

Nature and Scope

The Accounts Payable Acquisitions Team, in cooperation with Purchasing and Central Stores is responsible for developing and maintaining a strong working relationship with the University’s vendors regarding day-to-day aspects of the procurement cycle. Responsibility for the procurement cycle extends to currency exchange, taxes, customs and freight. The Acquisition Team also builds strong client relationships with University departments for the procurement of goods and services, with the Payment and Reimbursement Teams in Accounts Payable to ensure accurate and timely payment to vendors; and with Client Services to ensure accurate and timely recording of encumbrances, expenses and liabilities to the general ledger. For the most part, the Acquisitions Assistant is assigned standard invoice processing for which transactions are routine in nature. To achieve the team’s objectives the Acquisition Assistant will support the Acquisitions Specialist and Manager.

The Acquisition Team will provide procedural recommendations to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of invoice processing. Business re-engineering is expected in converting invoice processing from paper to electronic form and in adopting more modern procurement methods, such as a Purchase Card Program. In conjunction with Finance’s effort to provide decision support to end users the Team will develop information packages and conduct training sessions pertaining to invoice information.

Statistical Data

Specific Accountabilities

Review, receive authorization and resolve issues relating to invoices to be processed
Data entry of authorized invoices such as vendor invoices pertaining to system contracting and invoices from courier and brokers
Maintain Accounts Payable operational files, such as invoice batches and shipping orders
Service assigned clients by processing documents, responding to inquiries and providing training.
Reconciliation of vendor statements
Participate in the ongoing functional enhancement and upgrade of the Oracle Financial system relating to the procurement cycle.