OPS-SOP-025 — Invoice Approval Chain & Payment Tracker
1. Purpose
This SOP defines the structure and operating rules for the Unity Care Solutions master Payment Tracker — the central log of all vendor invoices, their approval status, payment execution, and GL coding. The Payment Tracker is the single source of truth for accounts payable status and is the primary tool for ensuring no invoice is lost, delayed, or paid without proper authorization.
2. Scope
Applies to all vendor invoices received by Unity Care Solutions, LLC and entities managed under the Unity Care Operations umbrella, including recurring vendor fees (Allied, ProAct, Varipro, HealthEquity, Brown & Brown/HLRA, Dickinson Wright, etc.) and non-recurring vendor invoices.
3. Tracker Ownership & Maintenance
| Role |
Responsibility |
| Operations |
Primary owner of the Payment Tracker. Enters new invoices, updates status, runs the weekly sweep, escalates stale invoices, and generates the weekly status report. |
| Finance |
Reviews and validates GL codes in the tracker. Updates payment confirmation fields after payment execution. Performs monthly reconciliation against Acumatica. |
| Executive Signatory |
Reviews invoices above approval threshold in the tracker before signing off in the payment system. |
Update Cadence: The Payment Tracker is updated within 1 business day of any invoice receipt, approval action, or payment execution. A formal weekly review sweep occurs every Friday (see Section 6).
4. Payment Tracker Field List
| # |
Field Name |
Description |
Required |
| 1 |
Invoice ID |
Unique tracker ID assigned upon entry (format: INV-YYYY-###) |
Yes |
| 2 |
Vendor Name |
Legal name of vendor as on invoice |
Yes |
| 3 |
Vendor Invoice Number |
Invoice number as assigned by vendor |
Yes |
| 4 |
Invoice Date |
Date shown on vendor's invoice |
Yes |
| 5 |
Date Received |
Date Operations received the invoice |
Yes |
| 6 |
Service Period |
Period of service or benefit covered by the invoice |
Yes |
| 7 |
Invoice Amount |
Total amount billed |
Yes |
| 8 |
Due Date |
Payment due date per invoice or contract terms |
Yes |
| 9 |
GL Account Code |
Assigned GL account from Acumatica chart of accounts |
Yes |
| 10 |
Branch Code |
Acumatica branch (NUWELL, MAIN, etc.) |
Yes |
| 11 |
3-Way Match Status |
Passed / Failed / Pending — result of PO/contract/invoice match |
Yes |
| 12 |
Operations Review Date |
Date Operations completed review and routed for approval |
Yes |
| 13 |
Approval Status |
Pending / Finance Approved / Executive Approved / On Hold / Rejected |
Yes |
| 14 |
Approver |
Name/role of final approver |
Yes |
| 15 |
Approval Date |
Date of final approval |
Yes |
| 16 |
Payment Method |
ACH / Check / Wire |
Yes |
| 17 |
Payment Date |
Date payment was executed |
Yes |
| 18 |
Payment Reference |
ACH trace number, check number, or wire reference |
Yes |
| 19 |
Payment Status |
Unpaid / Paid / Disputed / Void |
Yes |
| 20 |
Acumatica Posted |
Yes / No — confirms AP bill and payment posted in Acumatica |
Yes |
| 21 |
Notes |
Any discrepancies, holds, disputes, or follow-up actions |
No |
| 22 |
Document Link |
Link to invoice file in document management system |
Yes |
5. Approval Thresholds
| Invoice Amount |
Required Approval Level |
Payment Execution |
| Under [TBD] |
Finance |
Finance |
| [TBD] to [TBD] |
Finance + Operations review |
Finance |
| Above [TBD] |
Finance + Executive Signatory (Dr. Greg or Nora) |
Finance with Executive authorization |
TBD: Approval threshold dollar amounts to be established by Finance and executive leadership and inserted above upon adoption of this SOP.
6. Weekly Sweep Process
Every Friday, Operations runs the end-of-week Payment Tracker sweep:
6.1 Filter the tracker for all invoices with Approval Status = "Pending" and Operations Review Date more than 7 days ago. These are stale invoices requiring escalation.
6.2 For each stale invoice: identify the current bottleneck (awaiting Finance review, awaiting Executive sign-off, disputed, on hold). Update the Notes field.
6.3 Escalate stale invoices to Finance (and Executive, if applicable) with a written summary. Request resolution by end of next business day.
6.4 Flag any invoice with a due date within 5 business days that is not yet approved. These are urgent — escalate immediately, not just in the weekly sweep.
6.5 Distribute a brief weekly AP status summary to Finance and Operations leadership: total invoices pending, total dollar amount outstanding, any invoices past due.
Any invoice more than 7 days outstanding without approval is automatically escalated. No exceptions. Do not hold invoices waiting for routine "catch-up." If an invoice is on hold due to a dispute or pending resolution, document the hold reason and expected resolution date in the Notes field.
7. Monthly Reconciliation Against Acumatica
7.1 At month-end, Finance exports the AP register from Acumatica for the closing period.
7.2 Finance compares the Acumatica AP register to the Payment Tracker: every Paid invoice in the tracker should have a corresponding closed AP bill in Acumatica. Every closed AP bill in Acumatica should appear in the tracker.
7.3 Any discrepancy (invoice in tracker not in Acumatica, or vice versa) is flagged, investigated, and resolved before close.
7.4 Finance signs off on reconciliation completion. Operations confirms tracker is up to date.
7.5 Reconciliation documentation (export files, discrepancy notes, sign-off) is archived per document retention policy.
TBD: Monthly close calendar date to be established with Finance (see OPS-SOP-026). Reconciliation format and export procedure to be documented once Acumatica access for Operations is confirmed.
8. Escalation Path
| Situation |
Action |
Escalation To |
Timeframe |
| Invoice >7 days pending without approval |
Written escalation from Operations |
Finance; add Executive if above threshold |
Immediate (weekly sweep) |
| Invoice due within 5 business days, not approved |
Urgent escalation |
Finance + Operations leadership |
Same day |
| Invoice past due |
Escalate with vendor notification risk |
Finance + Executive |
Same day |
| Disputed invoice unresolved >14 days |
Escalate to legal review |
Legal (Dickinson Wright) if material amount |
Within 14 days of dispute opening |
9. Related Documents
- OPS-SOP-010 — Vendor Invoice Control & Payment Authorization
- OPS-SOP-026 — GL Structure & Monthly Reconciliation
- Payment Tracker [link TBD — shared Finance/Operations drive]