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What is an Early Payment Discount or EPD?
As a financing method, certain VCU Vendors are willing to offer Early Payment Discounts (EPDs) to receive their payments faster than the university’s standard payment terms of 30 days.
EPDs apply to payments made against POs and One Time Payments, but not CorpCard transactions.
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Who Sets Up Early Payment Discounts for Vendors?
Purchasing is responsible for negotiating EPDs with vendors and closely coordinates with Accounts Payable and Treasury to determine if EPDs are feasible based on cost/benefit and cash management policies.
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How are EPDs “taken?”
To “take” an EPD, invoices must
- Be fully matched in RealSource, that is to say the invoice must exactly match the Department’s PO and Receipt (or the One Time Payment Request), and
- Be paid by Treasury within the timeframe specified by the vendor (i.e., 15 days).
Once a discounted invoice is paid in Banner against a PO, the PO will be automatically liquidated by the discounted amount (Journal Vouchers are not required).
The success rate of EPDs is largely dependent on the User Department, who must create proper POs and promptly and properly process Receipts in RealSource to accommodate the required 3-way match.
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Example of how EPDs are calculated.
If VWR offers a 2% EPD on invoices that can be paid within 15 (vs. 30) days, a $100 VWR invoice that is properly matched to the PO and Receipt(s) would be paid at $98. Once the invoice is paid, the Banner PO line would be automatically reduced by $2.
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Where can I find the list of VCU vendors that offer EPDs?
Goto the RealSource homepage Quick Links, select “Early Payment Discount Vendors.”