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Acquisitions: Conceptual Background (New UI)

1. Acquisitions_Conceptual Background_Final

1.1 Welcome

Notes:

Welcome to this session on Acquisitions Conceptual Background.

Published by Articulate® Storyline www.articulate.com

1.2 Introduction

Notes:

Alma supports one-time, continuous, and standing-order acquisitions of physical resources, electronic resources, access and database services. Alma also supports the full end-to-end workflows required for these different types of acquisitions.

In this session, we will describe the three primary workflows of the acquisitions process in Alma which are purchasing, receiving or activation, and invoicing. We will also discuss the infrastructure elements that are related to Acquisitions.

Note that subsequent sessions will provide detailed information regarding the management of these workflows in Alma, as well as variations resulting from purchase order line types such as one time or continuous orders, physical or electronic materials, and configuration options.


1.3 Acquisitions Workflow Introduction

Notes:

There are three basic workflows to the acquisitions process in Alma, which are common to most types of acquisitions: The Purchasing workflow governs the way a purchase order line (PO Line) is handled from

the point of its creation to the point at which it awaits receipt or activation. In the Receiving workflow, physical material that was ordered from a vendor is received. If

the PO line is for electronic material, it proceeds to the activation workflow. The Invoicing workflow governs the way an invoice is handled from the point of its creation

to the point at which the invoice is closed.


1.4 Acquisitions Workflows

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Let’s take a look at each workflow within Acquisitions, starting with Purchasing.

1.5 Purchasing Workflow

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The purchasing workflow begins with creation of the PO line. The PO line is created based on a bibliographic record - either manually from the results of a repository search, or automatically via EOD (Embedded Order Data) import or an EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) process. When a PO Line is created, funds are encumbered, or reserved, for the ordered item. In addition, inventory records are generated and attached to the bibliographic record. The PO line then goes through a validation process to check for missing or erroneous mandatory information. You can configure additional validation criteria, such as a high price threshold, in order to mandate manual staff review of the purchase order line.

The validated PO Line is then packaged into a PO, or Purchase Order. Packaging can be manual or automatic. The PO then goes through its own validation process. If any mandatory information is missing or erroneous, Alma sends the PO to a manual staff review stage. Otherwise, the PO continues to the approval stage.

By default, approval of purchase orders is a transparent process and takes place automatically. However, Alma can be configured if Purchase Orders should require manual approval. Depending on the Acquisition method, the approved purchase order is sent to the vendor as needed. The purchase order then awaits invoicing and the library awaits arrival of the ordered material, which brings us to the next workflow.

1.6 Receiving/Activation Workflow

Notes:

For physical inventory, the next stage of the Acquisitions process is the Receiving workflow. When physical material arrives at the library it is marked as “Received” in Alma and routed for further cataloging or physical processing, or to the shelf if no further processing is needed. If the item does not arrive in the expected timeframe, a claim can be created, either manually or


automatically. If the order type is continuous, such as a journal subscription, Alma handles the renewal process automatically, in accordance with the renewal date in the PO line. Renewals can also be handled manually per PO line.

For electronic inventory, the next stage is Activation. In the case of electronic material, the resource goes through an activation process in Alma. Access is tested, and then it is made publicly available. Note that claims can also be created for electronic resources as needed. Similar to physical inventory, subscription renewals can be handled automatically in accordance with the renewal date in the PO line, or handled manually per PO line.

1.7 Invoicing Workflow

Notes:

The last workflow we will discuss is Invoicing. Note that Invoicing can happen in parallel with Receiving. Invoices can be created manually from an existing PO, manually using a file upload, or automatically using an EDI process. Once the invoice is created, validation happens automatically to ensure that mandatory data is not missing or erroneous. Invoices can then go through an optional review and/or approval process if configured. Remember when the purchase order line was created we mentioned that an amount of money was reserved, or encumbered, in the fund referenced by the PO line. When an invoice is created for that PO line, the reserved amount is released, or disencumbered, either partially, for example, for a subscription; or fully, for example, for a one-time purchase. If Alma is integrated with your institution’s financial system, Alma can export the invoice and wait to receive confirmation of payment. If not, you can record payment information in the invoice manually.


Once the invoice has been paid, it is closed. If the related PO lines are fully invoiced, they will also be closed. If the PO line is continuous, it is marked for renewal.

1.8 Acquisitions Infrastructure

Notes:

Let’s now look at the key elements that make up the Acquisitions Infrastructure.


1.9 Vendors

Notes:

Vendor records can be accessed and created from the Acquisitions menu > Acquisitions Infrastructure section. Alma supports several different types of vendors: Material Supplier, Access Provider, Licensor, or Governmental.

1.10 Vendor Types


Notes:

If a vendor is a material supplier, it receives orders and payment for resources in all formats. A Material supplier designation requires that one or more vendor accounts be created for the vendor record. For example, a vendor account for approval orders, and perhaps another vendor account for firm orders.

If a vendor is an access provider, it means the vendor provides access to electronic resources. The vendor record then requires that an interface(s) is defined.

A vendor can also be a licensor, meaning they negotiate licenses for electronic resources. This is important when working with a license record in Alma, in order to identify the vendor with whom you are negotiating the license rights.

Lastly, a governmental vendor type indicates that the vendor is to receive use tax for an invoice payment. Invoices from governmental vendors handle only use tax. This ensures that tax payments are handled separately from regular invoice charges and go directly to the government. When defining a governmental vendor, the tax percentage is entered in the vendor record. The Governmental vendor cannot be selected as the vendor for a PO line; it is used only for handling use tax invoices.

1.11 Funds and Ledgers

Notes:

Funds and Ledgers are also part of the Acquisitions infrastructure and are an important part of the ordering and invoicing workflows. Like vendor records, they can be accessed and created from the Acquisitions menu > Acquisitions Infrastructure section.


1.12 Funds and Ledgers Hierarchy

Notes:

To perform transactions for payment, you use Allocated funds. Allocated funds contain money. They are what you would typically think of as funds: the budgets used to pay for library acquisitions. Allocated funds track their current cash balance as well as their current available balance. The difference between the cash balance and the available balance is the encumbered balance. The encumbered balance represents the amount that has been reserved for open orders that have not been fully invoiced. When a new order is created, an encumbrance is added to the allocated fund associated with the order, reducing the available balance and increasing the encumbered balance. When an invoice is created for that order, a disencumbrance is created, the encumbered balance of the allocated fund is correspondingly reduced and the available balance is correspondingly increased. An expenditure is added to the fund and the cash and available balances are correspondingly reduced.

The middle level of the funds and ledgers hierarchy is Summary funds, which are optional and provide a structure for grouping together similar allocated funds, to assist in management of your funds. There can be several levels of summary funds, if desired.

The highest level of the hierarchy is the Ledger, which is mandatory and groups funds together. You might have more than one ledger in your institution depending on your needs.

Funds and ledgers are defined per fiscal period and can be used only during that fiscal period, although leading and trailing grace periods can be defined that allow the allocated funds to be used before and after the fiscal period for which they are defined. Toward the end of the active fiscal period, you can run the Fiscal Period rollover job, which creates copies of your existing funds and ledgers for the upcoming fiscal period. Fiscal Period rollover is discussed in a separate presentation in the Alma Extended Training.


1.13 Licenses

Notes:

Licenses are another piece of Alma infrastructure. Licenses record the rights to use an electronic resource. They can be created and accessed from the Acquisitions menu, in the Acquisitions Infrastructure section.

When you create a PO Line to order an electronic resource, you can select the applicable license. You can also choose to display license information to patrons when they view an electronic resource in Primo.


1.14 Session Review

Notes:

This brings us to the end of this session.

1.15 Summary: Acquisitions Workflows

Notes:


In summary, in this session we covered the general Acquisitions process, involving: the Purchasing workflow where PO lines are created and packaged into POs to be sent to the

vendor as needed. the Receiving workflow where you indicate that a physical item has been received, or

activate an electronic resource to make it available for public use. the Invoicing workflow is when an invoice is created to pay for the item. During this stage,

existing encumbered funds are updated to create disencumbrances, turning them into expenditures.

We also discussed the Acquisitions Infrastructure, including vendor records, funds and ledgers, and licenses.

1.16 Thank You!


1.17 About this Training

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