Forms 

Payment Requisition Form 

Payment Requisition Procedure

Requisition Process

Filling out requisition forms is an important responsibility, and doing so correctly saves time for all people involved. Errors filling out your requisition form may lead to delays in your payments. Should you have any questions, please call 6385 for assistance.

Below are the procedures for payment requisitions that should answer most of your questions. To help answer additional questions, please direct your inquiries to Accounts Payable, 6385. This is also the number to call with inquiries about paid requisitions or those in process.

Questions about journal entries, departmental charges and account numbers are best directed to General Ledger, 6113.

Here are some tips that help ensure that your requisition is complete before submission.

1. Always include a complete address for the payee. This is a required field in the process leading to the issuance of the check. If you have a common name i.e. William Smith - please include a middle initial, complete address or social security number for proper identification.
    
2. Social security or Federal ID number when appropriate, are frequently missing. We face IRS fines if we do not have this information on file.
    
3. The account number(s) to be charged must be 12 digits long and be accurate. Do not try to combine parts of different accounts to make a whole one. Be very careful to distinguish between unrestricted (Fund 21) and restricted (Fund 22 or 23) accounts.
    
4. Avoid using "ASAP" as a date for the check to be written. Specify a date.
    
5. Documentation is a MUST. Many different people, inside and outside the university, review expenditures. We are expected to show support and justification for each disbursement. No documentation with a requisition can result in return of form.
    
6. All "enclose with check" copies to be sent with requisitions must be supplied at time of requisition submission.
    

Procedure for Payment Requisitions

1. All payments, except for payroll and travel reimbursement, must be initiated with a Payment Requisition form. This form may be either typed or hand printed (legibly) as follows:
   
   DEPARTMENT - Enter the department initiating the payment.
   
   PAYEE NAME AND ADDRESS - Many companies have a remittance address that differs from the corporate address. The address shown in this block should be the remittance address. This address should be included even if special instructions are given (see below) to forward the check to another individual for distribution. Please make sure the address is correct and check the box if it is a new or change of address. Datatel can accommodate 5 lines of address with 24 characters per line. Addresses longer than this should be typed on an envelope and enclosed with the requisition. If the check is to be made out to an acronym, please write out what words the letters stand for in the special instructions box. Vendors are listed under the full words spelled out. If this is a new vendor, a W-9 will need to be collected from the vendor to collect all pertinent information so that they can be set up in the system.
   
   SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER OR FEDERAL ID NUMBER - This will not be required on most requisitions. It is required only when an individual or corporation has provided services for which we must issue an IRS Form 1099. Examples: honorariums, services provided by persons not employed by Capital (including students), and businesses providing services as opposed to materials. Services provided by Capital employees must be paid through payroll as the IRS frowns on issuing a W-2 and a 1099 to the same person in any given year.
   
   PURCHASE ORDER # - Whenever the payment is for goods or services for which a Capital University Purchase Order was issued, the purchase order number must be entered here. Usually the payment will be made with the purchase order form generated by Datatel. If there is no purchase order involved, leave this box blank.
   
   DATE CHECK TO BE WRITTEN - This is the date that the check will be written. If the date falls on a weekend or a holiday, the check will be written on the next business day. Make sure the date entered will allow us to take advantage of any discounts, and avoid late payment fees and interest. To compensate for slow mail delivery or the possibility of a weekend delay, we suggest that the date entered be 5 days before the payment due date. Please avoid using "ASAP". If the due date is blank or ASAP, the Finance Office will use its discretion as to when to write the check. Please also allow sufficient time for the approval process.
   
   VOUCHER TOTAL - This should be the total of the check to be written and must agree with the total of all amounts listed on the lower part of the requisition.
   
   SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS - Enter any special instructions that the Finance Office should know in order to properly process the payment. For example, while we would encourage checks to be sent to the payee directly from the Finance Office, we will forward the check to another individual for distribution if so instructed. If you would like to pick up the check from the Finance Office, please note this here.
   
   ENCLOSE WITH CHECK - If anything needs to be enclosed with the check when it is mailed from the Finance Office, you must identify it here and attach it to the requisition. This is in addition to what you attach for backup documentation. If all or part of the supporting documentation is to be mailed with the check, you must provide sufficient copies of the documentation so that one copy can be retained to support the expenditure and one can be mailed with the check.
   
   ACCOUNT NUMBER - This consists of 3 parts: a 2 digit fund #, a 5 digit department # and a 5 digit object code. A full 12 digit account number must be shown for each amount to be charged. Requisitions with incomplete account numbers will be returned to the requester.
   
   SIGNATURES - Two proper signatures are a must. Any unsigned requisitions will be returned. Both signatures must be legible and cannot be the same person.
   
    
2. Appropriate documentation must be attached to the requisition. In most cases this will mean the original invoice. Other examples might be a copy of a registration form showing the registration fee due, a receipt or a copy of a contract or letter of agreement with a speaker or performer. No requisition will be processed without proper documentation. If any of the supporting documentation is to be mailed with the check, sufficient copies should be attached. There may be times when documentation does not exist because of the nature of the purchase or service. In these instances, a complete explanation must appear on the requisition or as an attachment. Be specific. At the moment we may know what the university is paying for, but months later when the auditors are asking, we may have forgotten. If a receipt is to follow, clearly mark the requisition, it is your responsibility to get that receipt to the Finance Office.
   
    
3. Up to 15 separate invoices to the same vendor can be placed on the same requisition. For each invoice, there can only be only one dollar amount per GL account number, but unlimited GL numbers.
   
    
4. The person requesting payment should sign the requisition, retain a copy and forward the original, with original documentation attached by staple and enclosures attached by paper clip, to the appropriate Budget Manager for approval. Requisitions over $1000.00 must be sent to the proper VP for signature. Requisitions over $5000.00 must also be signed by the Vice President of Business & Finance.
   
    
5. If approved, the payment requisition and all attachments should be forwarded to the Finance Office for payment.
   
    
6. The Finance Office writes checks three days a week: Monday, Wednesday and Friday. To protect the university from fraud, we must write the checks the day before they are released and notify the bank of all checks that have been written. This is why emergency checks are difficult to do. If you have an emergency check, please call the Finance Office to see if it can be done in the time frame needed and then hand deliver the requisition.
   
    
7. Please be aware of the different payment processes for employees and independent contractors. Persons who are employees are employees for all services rendered and must be paid through the payroll process. Non-employees acting as independent contractors are paid through the requisition process. Payroll object codes cannot be used on accounts payable checks.