The What I Owe report is technically your Accounts Payable. It shows you all the outstanding Expenses that are in the system and yet to be paid.
Of course in many small businesses it may very well be the same person who manages Projects, creates Expenses, and processes payments at the bank. That person will have the Owner or Super Admin User Role with full access and control of the workflow.
However it is very common for a book keeper to be involved with part of this process and therefore it's important to understand what this User Role isn't mean to do with this What I Owe report.
Key points:
Why split this process? By having a Book Keeper enter payments at the Bank (though they may not actually authorise the payments) not only streamlines the process but more importantly introduces a check and balance so as to eliminate the possible fraudulent activities as well as provide a double check by someone else to ensure that expenses aren't paid twice or unnecessarily.
The What I Owe report is more than just a report showing what is outstanding, it also provides a workflow where Expenses in this list can be reviewed before being approved for payment.
Why doesn't the Accountant Role get to approve payments?
The reason is that generally speaking a Book Keeper isn't usually involved in the day to day running of projects. Therefore they will not generally know why an Expense has been create, if it is correct (otherthan teh attached invoice) or if there are certain circumstances relating to that Expense that may require it from not being paid. That's the responsibility of the Manager role. This User will be either a Producer or Production MAnager or even an Account Manager, but rarely will they also have the ability to process payments at the bank. Even the Manager needs to be made accountable and this is why the Approval process has this workflow ensuring the the Owner or Super Admin User has the final check and final say a so whetehr an Expense should be paid.
This Report therefore provides a workflow whereby only the Owner or a Super Admin user can Approve expenses to be paid. They do this by clicking on the Approve button on the far right of each Expense line.
Importantly this report shows if an Expense does or does not have an attached Supplier invoice. It makes sense that someone approving an Expense for payment probably wants to see the original Supplier Invoice to cross check this with the amounts in the Expense. Think of this as a double check for someone to ensure that the Expense reflects the actual Invoice amount that has been received from a supplier. Sometimes they may slip in additional amounts that were perhaps agreed to be included but somehow found their way onto the invoice. While this may be considered the Managers responsibility, the person managing the project, sometimes it's missed and it takes a second eye (usually with a vested interest in ensuring the business is not overpaying for something) to over see it. By having this workflow in place it provides a workflow that encourages all involved to make sure things are done right. More importantly it eliminates the possibility of any fraudulent payments from being processed. It's also provides a secondary check for someone to ensure that expenses aren't paid twice or unnecessarily.
Generally the User responsible for approving payments will likely check that the attached Invoice matches the amount that the Expense is for. They will be able to see if anything looks out of order before they Approve the Expense for payment. Once they click on the approve button this reveals a checkbox which then allows the Expense to processed or allow the Expense to have a Payment applied to it. This will be done at the same time that the Expense payment is set up at the bank or a Cheque written for the Expense. In other words, revealing the check box provides an indication that this Expense has been approved for payment.
