If Ariba Settlement is not enabled, you must use an external system, such as an ERP system, to track, manage, and process payments. You can customize Ariba Invoice to send payments to external systems; see the Ariba Invoice Guide for more information.

You must have the PaymentAdministrator or PaymentManager permission to work with payment requests and payment transactions.

Suppliers who use Ariba SN can track, manage, and process payments using Ariba SN.

When an invoice reconciliation (IR) document is created, Ariba Invoice automatically generates one or more related payment request documents. If Ariba Settlement is enabled, the payment request includes a payment schedule based on the default payment terms for the supplier. When the scheduled pay date arrives, Ariba Settlement creates a payment transaction (PMT) document to track payment and remittance data. The payment is then made using Ariba Settlement, Ariba Supplier Network (Ariba SN), or an ERP system, as configured by your company.

Although some details of the payment process vary depending on your company's configuration and on supplier preferences, the general process involves these basic steps (see the process flow diagram for a detailed description of the process):

1. Users review the list of payment requests and take action as necessary:
   • Sort the list of payment requests by due date or payment date to see how many payments need to be made on a given date. You can also group the list by dates or status to help forecast payments and discounts.
   • Edit a payment request and change details such as the pay date, adjustment amount, and remittance address. For example, you can spread payments out over time by changing pay dates. If a payment request contains invalid data or fields, edit the request to correct the problems; otherwise, the request will not be scheduled for payment.
   • Put a payment request on hold to delay payment. For example, if your company has issues with a vendor, you can hold payments to that vendor until the issues are resolved. Or hold payments for cash flow reasons.
   • Release a payment request that was on hold, so payment can proceed.
2. When a payment request reaches the scheduled pay date, its status changes to Scheduled. Ariba Settlement creates a payment transaction (PMT) document to process and track the payment.
   • You cannot edit, hold, or release a scheduled payment request.
   • When multiple scheduled payment requests specify the same remittance address, payment method, or other criteria configured by your company, Ariba Settlement consolidates the payments into one payment transaction. Ariba Settlement also applies available payment requests associated with credit memos to the PMT.
   • You can void (cancel) payment transactions. If your company using Ariba SN to make payments and a transaction payment fails and is not successfully sent to the supplier, Ariba Settlement cancels it.
   • Payment requests included on a canceled PMT are also canceled. New payment requests are created to track the outstanding balance and put on hold.
3. Review remittance data for the payment transaction.
   • If the data indicates the invoice was not paid in full (underpayment), Ariba Settlement creates a new payment request document for you to track and process payment of the outstanding balance. The ID of the new payment request is the same as the original payment request, plus a suffix, such as -1.
   • Underpayments and overpayments are noted on the History tab of the IR document.