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County administrator flags invoice backlog and requires strict requisition compliance
Summary
Claiborne County Administrator Dr. Gregory Reed told supervisors the county has unpaid invoices and outstanding purchase orders because required requisitions, vendor information and receiving documentation were not submitted, and asked departments to follow procurement procedures to prevent delays.
Claiborne County Administrator Dr. Gregory Reed told the Board of Supervisors on May 19 that a portion of the county's unpaid invoices can be traced to missing requisitions, absent vendor paperwork and incomplete receiving documentation, and he directed department heads to follow the county's procurement process to clear historic backlogs.
Dr. Reed said the accounts‑payable office could not process some payments because the requisition or supporting paperwork had not been submitted by departments. "Now what I do is I generate a report every week," Dr. Reed said when describing efforts to track outstanding items. He told the board that some purchase orders or invoices date to previous administrations and that the accounts‑payable office cannot finalize payments until departments supply required receipts, requisitions and line‑item coding.
The chancellor clerk's office and purchasing staff told the board that the county's receiving clerk must verify physical delivery of goods and sign receiving forms before payments are processed. Dr. Reed described a pattern of requisitions that lacked vendor names, line‑item detail or signatures, which required staff to follow up and slowed payments. The board asked staff to identify aged purchase orders for cancellation where appropriate and to ensure departmental compliance going forward.
Why it matters: delayed vendor payments can strain vendor relations and obscure budget reporting. The county administrator said he will run weekly reports, work with department heads to complete missing paperwork and close out stale purchase orders per state law and county policy.
No policy changes were approved at the meeting; the presentation was an informational update and staff committed to providing regular status reports to the board.
