Schools can submit files daily via SIMS Invoice Integration however the process to import the invoices to make payment only runs once a week. The deadline for schools to get files to the Payments Team is 5pm on the Wednesday evening, after this time files will not be picked up until the following week which may delay payment. The Payments Team receive and process the schools SIMS files on a Thursday morning.
Please can we remind all schools to put the actual invoice date on the files and not the date they process the invoices. Also to ensure that LEA reference numbers are on every invoice that is processed in the file, failure to do this creates extra work and may delay payment to suppliers. If Schools require a new LEA reference they should email the Payments.Team@suffolk.gov.uk. It is helpful if you quote the suppliers’ bank account, if known, in any requests for LEA’s.
Suffolk County Council policy is to pay invoices 20 days from the invoice date, just to confirm if schools are processing invoices with older invoices dates, these invoices will be picked up on the next available payment run. Suffolk County Council do a BACS payment run every day and a cheque payment run 3 times per week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday).