Accounts Payable

Guidelines for Submitting Payables

Submission Date
Invoices to be paid on a Payables Warrant are due at 3:00PM on the Wednesday prior to the Monday Warrant date.  Invoices received by Accounting after this time will be paid on the following Payables Warrant.  On weeks with holidays, payables are still due by 3:00PM on Wednesday.  There is no time extension.

Vendor Invoice
Invoices must accompany any statements submitted for payment.  Vendor statements alone are not acceptable for processing payment.  The Accounting office provides the following instruction document to assist you in preparing invoices for submittal for payment processing.  Please click here for the Invoice Preparation document.

Vendor W-9 Forms
If you are paying a new vendor, you must supply us with their Tax ID number.  New vendors will not be paid unless a W-9 is supplied.  Invoices will be returned to your department until a completed form is received. A copy of the W-9 is available on our Forms page.

Item Description
The invoice must state the items(s) being purchased.  If only an item number is printed on the invoice, please write a brief description of what was purchased.

Signatures
Each voucher must have an original signature(s) of the department head, or a majority of the Committee, Commission or Board. Vouchers with insufficient signatures will be returned.

Account Numbers
All invoices submitted for payment must include the complete account number to be paid from.  Invoices without account numbers will be returned.

Invoice Total
If you are submitting multiple invoices to be paid to the same vendor, please attach an adding machine tape listing each invoice to proof the total.

Copies
A copy of the bill is not required if the invoice being paid has an invoice number assigned by the vendor, as we will print this number on the check stub.  If an invoice number is not assigned by the vendor you must supply us with a copy of the bill so that we may include it with the payment.  Invoices with remittance portions (i.e. Mass Electric, Quill, Cingular, Verizon) should be submitted with the remittance portion separated and the payment amount completed by the department.

Reimbursements
Requests for reimbursements must be accompanied by original receipts.  If the receipts are small, please attach them to a standard size piece of paper so they will not get lost or misplaced.  We cannot reimburse tax paid for any reason.  The Town is tax-exempt.  Please supply a copy of the Tax Exemption Certificate to vendors when making purchases for the Town.

Fixed Asset Inventory Control Form
Must be completed and submitted with the invoice for any item with a purchase price of $1,000 or more.

Quotes
Any purchase of goods or services from $10,000 to $34,999.99 must be accompanied by three quotes or bids.

Fiscal Year
Only bills for the current fiscal year may be submitted for payment.  Bills of a prior year can only be approved for payment at a Town Meeting.