Overview
Defines lien and encumbrances. Provides guidance on reports and how to remove liens/encumbrance.
Defining Liens
A lien (or encumbrance) is an obligation to pay for the goods, services and/or equipment obtained via a purchase order (PO). When you place an order in BearBuy, a PO is generated and a lien is placed on the funds in PeopleSoft. PeopleSoft may add estimates to the lien for considerations such as sales tax.
Lien Reports
There are two recommended tools for researching your department's liens—the PeopleSoft PO Lien Balance Report and the MyReports PO Lien Balance Report.
- For questions regarding liens or researching liens in PeopleSoft, contact Supply Chain Management (SCM) at [email protected].
- For assistance using MyReports, contact the Controller's Office at [email protected].
Removing a Lien
The lien is relieved as invoices are entered against the PO. This does not mean the invoice has been paid, but only that the lien has been reduced by the amount of the invoice. The lien should liquidate to zero when the PO is fully expensed or closed.
- To remove a remaining lien balance on a PO that won’t be invoiced again, submit a Change Order in BearBuy to close the PO. Attach the Multiple PO Closure Form to your Change Order when requesting to close several POs from the same Fund/Dept ID.
- To transfer the lien to different funds, submit a Change Order to edit the chartfields on the PO.
After your department approves the Change Order, please allow five to seven business days for SCM to process the request. Allow another two business days for the changes to be reflected in PeopleSoft and MyReports. Processing times may be longer during month-end closing. SCM will communicate special deadlines during fiscal year end.