1. Finance Brief Sept 2016

2. Digital receipts – remove the need to send original receipts
This change takes immediate effect
From now onwards scanned receipts will be accepted; removing the need to;
number each receipt, and
send the original receipts to Pay Support.
To take advantage of this facility you must;
Attach each receipt to the individual expense item it relates to
There is no need to attach a receipt to items (such as mileage) where a receipt is not expected
Original receipts must continue to be sent to Pay Support for claims without digital receipts attached
Original receipts for claims submitted from now on will be chased only if no digital receipt is attached to any ‘receipted’ expenses item claimed.

3. Digital receipts – did you know about the Expenses360 App?
How to attach digital receipts to your expenses
You can scan, save, attach and manage your receipts, use this icon, or
Use the Expenses360 App for iPhone®, Android™ and BlackBerry® smartphones to enter expenses, capture, attach and synchronise your receipts and claim
The expenses system supplier is developing the App for Windows phones, we’ll let you know when this is available
For more information check the latest news People First from 5th September 2016
Log into Expenses and click on the
Expenses360 icon if you want more
information or to find out how to set
this up on your personal device

4. Total Reward Statements to April 2016 are now available
Total Reward Statements updated to April 2016 are now available.
Your Total Reward Statement (TRS) provides a personalised online statement that shows your full employment benefits. As well as listing your basic pay and allowances, it also includes details of other benefits you might get such as childcare vouchers and the cycle to work scheme.
If you are a member of the NHS Pension Scheme it includes an Annual Benefit Statement.
To find out more go to TRS section on People First:
Alternatively visit the Employee section of the Total Reward Statement information website at

5. Managers’ responsibilities checking pay and expenses claims
A recent dismissal case has highlighted that it is possible for managers/supervisors who authorise pay claims to overlook mistaken or fraudulent claims if they fail to check all sections of the claim, including those they expect to be blank because they expect the individual to not to be claiming certain payments.
It cannot be stressed strongly enough that all managers, and supervisors who
have the responsibility of authorising pay, and expenses, claims must check each one thoroughly before approving for payment.
Approvers are reminded that comprehensive guidance and demonstrations are
available on People First , these include
approval, reporting and claiming.
These should be used to ensure that managers are fully aware of their responsibilities when checking claims.

6. Expenses & EASY Deadlines
There has been increase in requests for manual payments to be made outside of payroll due to Expenses and EASY timesheets not being approved by the deadline.
This level of manual payments is unsustainable and such additional payments cannot be guaranteed to be made in future.
Making these payments causes significant additional, manual work in Pay Support, SBS Payroll and Finance Operations and additional direct cost is incurred to process each additional payment .
There is also an increased risk of incorrect payments being made and advances not being recovered correctly.
Please ensure claims are submitted and approved prior to the deadlines, which are available on People First:
Thank you for your support in this matter.

7. Nextrasoft replaces WISe in Pay Support
The WISe system, used to calculate Donor Carer payments, is moving to a new platform in September. The new system is called Nextrasoft (Nextra).
The NHSBT Pay Support team in Newcastle have held Continuous Improvement events to streamline their internal processes alongside the system change.
Pay Support will continue to receive all pay confirmation sheets (PCS) from teams.
During September we are going to pilot using digital images of PCS.
We will then be working with Blood Donation colleagues identify further improvements to these processes.

8. Service Now live in Accounts Payable and Procurement Operations
In September the Accounts Payable and Procurement Operations teams will start using Service Now to monitor all internal customer and supplier calls and queries.
Service Now is a service delivery and management system which is already used by HR Direct and the IT Helpdesk to manage, support and improve customer interactions. Its is being introduced improve our service to you our internal customers.
Initially we will monitor the contacts and assess your satisfaction with our service. We will also monitor the time it takes to resolve your queries.
We will then develop the system further to make self service easier, to develop a comprehensive knowledge base you can search and also use the system to streamline many of our forms based processes. We will keep you informed of further developments as the project progresses.
For more news watch Intranet News items, Leadership Communications and future Finance briefs or contact Mike White on x87074

9. Business Support Analyst Team
Monika Szablewska has joined the finance operations BSA team.  Monika is a experienced management accountant and is currently half way through her ACCA professional qualifications. 
Falak, the BSA team leader, and team have taken the opportunity to review the areas covered by each team member. Please see table overleaf.
 Business Support Analysts prepare the monthly budget reports for their business areas.
If you have any questions about your budget reports ask your Business Support Analyst or your Finance Business Partner.

10. Business Support Analyst team areas of work
BSA (Tel No.) BP
BUSINESS AREA
Bryan Chapman  (58725)
Lucy O & John S
Patient Services
Mina C & Andrew W
TAS (Therapeutic Apheresis Services)
Paul Illife 
Clinical
Research & Development
Catherine Tamaloke (55932)
Belinda Wright
Tissues
Neil Colbourne
Communication & Public Affairs
Sharon Gibson 
Organ Donation & Transplantation
Ravi Digwa (58719)
Linda Haigh
General and Other
Chief Executives & Board
Estates & Facilities
Finance
Human Resources
Quality
Monika Szablewska (58720)
Colin Jackson
Blood Donation
 Transition supported by Lynda Stark.
SPS (Diagnostic & Therapeutic Services)
ICT
Tony Baxter
Logistics - Transport
Logistics - Warehousing

11. Finance Operations will be out of office on 12th October
This is advanced notice that the finance operations team will be out of the office, for a development day, on12th October.
Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Financial Accounting, and Business Support Analysts teams will be unable to take customer calls on this day. (Pay Support will be unaffected).
The development event will get the whole team involved in visioning how the finance team will work to achieve our ambition: ‘ to provide efficient, compliant services, easy for our customers to use....’
If there are any urgent matters on this day please call Linda Haigh Assistant Director Finance Operations on x Calls will be monitored periodically.
Thank you for your understanding.

12. Income due to NHSBT Accounts Receivable must be notified
We need employees of NHSBT to inform us where they are aware any adhoc income is due
This is a requirement under the Standing Financial Instructions of NHSBT paragraph
Please provide details of the income to Please tell us the amount, when it is due and where this needs to be coded.
There have been a few exceptions to this process recently which means adhoc income due has not been collected promptly. 
If you have any questions you can call Tracey Noble on x 55947