Understanding Financial Approvers in NMSTAR

What is a Financial Approver?

Financial Approvers in NMSTAR are users who are designated to review and approve invoices for a specific project or projects. Financial Approvers can Approve invoices, Deny invoices, mark invoices for correction, or place them into any other invoice status.

Financial Approvers are granted access to the Invoices (Lead Agency) section of NMSTAR.

What does a Financial Approver have access to?

A Financial Approver has access to any invoices that reside under the project they have Financial Approver access for. This will include all Providers that have an allocation for the project. This access cannot be limited to specific providers.

When running reports in NMSTAR, the user will be able to look at financial information related to that project on their reports.

What is Vendor (Read Only) access?

Vendor (Read Only) access allows a Lead Agency user the ability to see NMSTAR the way a user at a Provider Location will. Vendor (Read Only) allows the Lead Agency user to see what allocations are present, what services are configured, and if there are any pending services that have not been generated into invoices yet.

Vendor (Read Only) access will also allow a user to see pending invoices for the Provider. If a user has only Vendor (Read Only) access, they will not be able to take action on those invoices.

I see someone else’s name on an invoice that I am supposed to approve. Why isn’t my name there?

In NMSTAR, the user who is designated as the Program Manager of the Project by the Lead Agency will have their name listed on the invoice. This is to provide vendors/providers with a point of contact should they have any questions regarding their invoice.

We understand that there can be numerous approvers for projects in NMSTAR. Falling Colors Support works with the Lead Agencies to keep the Primary Approver, Secondary Approver, and Back Up approver information for each project as up-to-date as possible.

If you are curious as to who is listed as the Primary, Secondary, or Back Up approver for a project you are involved in, you can run the Program Managers Report from your Invoice (Lead Agency) section at any time. Please see our Program Managers Report guide for more information on running and reviewing this report.

If you are directly overseeing an entire project and all of its participating providers, please reach out to Falling Colors Support for assistance in correcting the Primary Approver of the project.

Note: Primary Approvers in NMSTAR are configured ONLY for the Project. Financial Approvers cannot be distinguished by Providers in NMSTAR.

Can I still approve the invoice even though my name isn’t on it?

Yes! Any users with Financial Approver access can take action on the invoice, even if your name is not listed on the invoice.

Invoice Action History

Any action that you take on the invoice, such as Approving the Invoice, Marking it for Corrections, and so on, will appear under the Invoice Action History. This will let the provider know the correct Lead Agency Approver to reach out to should they have any questions about their invoice.

NMSTAR does not send notifications related to changes in Invoices Statuses to the provider or Lead Agency. To make sure your provider is aware of an item requiring their review, please follow up with them with the action needed.

If Corrections are Required, feel free to link the Provider to our Corrections Required Help Guide:

Invoice Comments

Any comments that you leave on the invoice will also be retained under your name. If you leave a question or direction for the provider, they will know who exactly the question or direction came from.

Last Action Taken on an Invoice

The Last Action Taken field from the Invoice History trackers will show the name of the user who last took action on the Invoice. This will indicate to the provider who is actively reviewing their invoice.

How can I best utilize NMSTAR to take action on my invoices?

Invoice Trackers

Use the Invoice Trackers to best navigate to Invoices in a status that is pending your review.

NMSTAR Reports

Utilize the available reports, such as the Burn Rate reports, Activity Detail, or Program Manager reports to keep up to date on the services rendered and project configurations for your projects.