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Policies and Procedures

APPM

1.3.2 Disbursement Payment Requests

Administrative Responsibility:   Associate Director of Disbursements, reporting to the AVP for Business Services

PURPOSE

This policy provides information on how to submit a payment request when the issuance of a purchase order is not appropriate, such as payment of an honorarium or guest travel reimbursement.  Below are the 3 methods of such a request, Direct Payment Requests, Special Payment Requests and Special Payment Authorizations

SCOPE

This Policy applies to all WSU employees and any non-employees (students, etc.) involved in expenditures, reimbursements, and/or the procurement of goods or services using University funds, whether as an administrator within a Department or Unit or the final end user of such goods and services

DEFINITIONS

Agency Fund Withdrawal

To make a withdrawal of funds held in trust by the university.

Honorarium       

A gratuitous payment for which fees are not legally or traditionally required, such as a guest speaker or lecturer. Such payments should not be made to either University employees or students.  Payments in excess of $5,000 require a contract and should be processed on a Purchase Order.  Honorariums cannot be a stipend (see APPM section 1.3.4, Fellowship Payments) and cannot be used to pay on a personal service contract (see APPM section 2.5, Personal Service Contract).

Key attributes of an Honorarium include:

  • Paying for something where payment is not customary
  • There has been no negotiation of or an "agreed-upon" amount between WSU and the payee
  • Non-recurring payments to the same individual
  • Nominal/token amount (should not be equivalent to a professional rate) 
  • The professional services must be provided in a period not to exceed three consecutive days or five days in a rolling year.
  • An Honoraria/Award Data Form is required.

Legal Fees                                

Payment for legal services.

Membership Dues                 

Payment for membership in a professional organization is considered essential to further an established university program.

Periodicals                                

Payment for newspaper or magazine publications not tied to membership.

Postage Replenishment        

Payment to replace postage stamps or replenish a postage meter.

Prize or Award                        

A reward to an individual for exceptional achievement or winning a contest. There are no services required of the recipient.

Property Taxes                        

Remittance of taxes levied on real estate or personal property of the university.

Reimbursements                    

Payment to a non-employee for a departmentally approved out-of-pocket expense or to an employee for a non-travel or hosting-related out-of-pocket expense.

Royalty                                      

Payment for the use of copyrighted or patented materials.

Utility Payments                     

Payments to utility service providers (AT&T, Consumer's Energy, DTE, etc.)

POLICY

I. Direct Payment Requests (DPRs) 

The Direct Payment Request is used for most non-purchase order payment requests.  DPRs are initiated in the WayneBuy system using the DPR tile.  Examples of the types of goods and services that are normally processed on a DPR are listed in the Definitions section above.  The DPR is not intended as a method to bypass University Procurement Policies, as found in APPM 2.1 - General Procurement Guidelines.

Please Note:

  1. A DPR does not represent a legal obligation of the University to pay a vendor.
  2. Non-recurring goods and service purchases for items not listed in the Definitions (categories) above have a limit of $500 in order to be processed on a DPR.
  3. Procurement reserves the right to review DPRs for goods or services not listed in the Definitions and not in compliance with item B. 
  4. Procurement may reject the DPR and instruct the requestor to submit a regular requisition when appropriate.
  5. Procurement is not responsible for processing DPR's. The responsibility for initiating the transaction is strictly that of the department initiating the DPR. The department should upload the vendor invoice or other pertinent documents to the DPR in WayneBuy.
  6. DPRs in excess of $25,000 may require the submission of a bid waiver request to ensure they are properly reported as procurement exceptions in Procurement's quarterly report to the Board of Governor's.
  7. The vendor should never be given the DPR PO number.  DPR PO numbers are for internal reference only.
  8. The description of the item(s) or service(s) purchased should be clear and complete enough so that approvers may readily ascertain that payment constitutes an appropriate university expense.
  9. The university is exempt from federal excise and Michigan sales taxes. If the invoice includes such taxes, they should be struck and not included in the transaction total.

See the above Definitions for categories of payments normally processed on a DPR instead of a regular Requisition / PO.

PROCEDURE

Department     

  1. Complete a WayneBuy DPR Requisition by following the integrated form instructions or online Job Aids.  Job Aids are found on the Procurement website under WayneBuy.
  2. Attach to the DPR the invoice and any other supporting documentation.
  3. A payment request for honorariums, prizes, and awards requires the completion of the online Honoraria/Award Data Form.
  4. Verify budget balance available. 
    1. If the balance is not available, the purchase is not permitted.
    2. If the balance is available, complete the WayneBuy requisition.
  5. The system automatically routes the online Requisition to the individual/unit identified in the approval queue.

Please Note: Approval queues are established and maintained by Computing & Information Technology.  Departments must identify all individuals to be added or deleted in their approval queues and the dollar amount each person can approve.  The form to establish or maintain approval queues is available on the PASS website at http://procurement.wayne.edu/docs/rappapprovalqueuerequestform.doc.

Dean/Director

  1. Review the online WayneBuy Requisition for appropriateness of the purchase and budget availability. 
  1. Verify budget balance availability. If the budget is available, approve the Requisition using the online WayneBuy approval option.
  2. If the budget is not available, the purchase is not permitted.  Select the "Return" or "Reject" option on the Requisition in WayneBuy.  This action systemically returns the Requisition to the originator or effectively cancels it.
  3. If the purchase is inappropriate, disapprove the Requisition in WayneBuy using the "Reject" function.  This action cancels the Requisition.

      2. The system will automatically route the Requisition to all required approvers.  After all Departmental approvals are complete, the system will route to Disbursements except for certain commodities below $1,000. 

Disbursements    

  1. Review and approve or reject the online WayneBuy DPR Requisition.
  2. Once approved, WayneBuy will systemically generate a PO through the Banner ERP, automatically create a WayneBuy invoice, and route the invoice through Disbursements according to established approval queues.
  3. The Banner ERP will issue payment according to the DPR due date established on the DPR form.

II. Special Payment Authorizations (SPAs) 

  1. A SPA does not represent a legal obligation of the University to pay a vendor.
  2. The department initiating the SPA is responsible for initiating the transaction.
  3. The payment description should be clear and complete enough so that auditors may readily ascertain that payment constitutes a University expense rather than a personal expense.
  4. The university is exempt from federal excise and Michigan sales taxes. If the invoice includes such taxes, they should be struck and not included in the transaction total.

The following are categories of payments normally processed on a SPA.

Balance Sheet Accounts        

Any payment that cannot be posted to Banner as a University expense

Examples:

Debt Service                      

Principal and interest payment to reduce or retire the University's outstanding obligation.

Employee Benefits           

The remittance of premiums for various employee fringe benefit programs.

Refunds                              

A return of unused funds to the originating governmental agency, company, or person.

PROCEDURE

Department

  1. Complete a Special Payment Authorization (SPA), form 10-102A, according to the instructions on the back of the form after receiving goods or services.
  2. Attach to the SPA the original invoice or other supporting documentation.
  3. Include the index and non-expense account to be charged. For multiple accounts, type the account numbers and respective dollar amounts in the description section.

Dean/Director

  1. Approve SPA by signing in the appropriate field.
  2. Submit the SPA to Disbursements.

Disbursements

Audit SPA for accuracy and propriety and process for payment.

III. Special Payment Requests for select central departments (SPRs)

  1. An SPR does not represent a legal obligation of the University to pay a vendor.
  2. The SPR is used only by select central departments for expenditures that are typically charged de-centrally, such as utility payments
  3. The responsibility for initiating the transaction is strictly that of the department initiating the SPR. The department should upload the vendor invoice or other pertinent documents to the SPR in WayneBuy.
  4. The vendor should never be given the SPR PO number.  SPR PO numbers are for internal reference only.
  5. The description of the item(s) or service(s) purchased should be clear and complete enough so that approvers may readily ascertain that payment constitutes an appropriate university expense.
  6. The university is exempt from federal excise and Michigan sales taxes. If the invoice includes such taxes, they should be struck and not included in the transaction total.

The following are categories of payments normally processed on an SPR.

Gasoline Card                          

Payment of gasoline cards distributed to Public Safety, Facilities Planning & Management, the President's Office, and other units.

Research Participant Cards      

Paying the card service provider for amounts loaded onto research participants' debit cards.

Telephone Bill                         

Payment for telephone services.

Treasury Payments                  

Payments through the Treasury Office to banking institutions.

Utility Bill                                 

Payment for utility services.

PROCEDURE

Department        

  1. Complete a WayneBuy SPR Requisition by following the integrated form instructions or online Job Aids.  Job Aids are found on the Procurement website under WayneBuy. 
  2. In the Attachments & Contact Information section, select the appropriate Department Routing for the SPR approvals.
  3. Use the Accounting tab on the Requisition form to distribute the charge among the appropriate indexes for multiple index accounts.
  4. Attach to the SPR the invoice and any other supporting documentation.
  5. The system automatically routes the online Requisition to the individual/unit identified in the approval queue.

Dean/Director

  1. Review the online WayneBuy SPR for the appropriateness of the transaction.
  1. If the SPR is appropriate, approve the Requisition using the online WayneBuy approval option.
  2. If the purchase is inappropriate, disapprove the Requisition.  Select the "Return" or "Reject" option on the Requisition in WayneBuy. 
  3. This action systemically returns the Requisition to the originator for correction or effectively cancels it.
  1. The system will automatically route the Requisition to all required approvers.  After all Departmental approvals are complete, the system will route to Disbursements. 

Disbursements    

  1. Review and approve or reject the online WayneBuy SPR Requisition.
  2. Once approved, WayneBuy will systemically generate a PO through the Banner ERP, automatically create a WayneBuy invoice, and route the invoice through Disbursements according to established approval queues.
  3. The Banner ERP will issue payment according to the SPR due date established on the SPR form.

APPENDICES

None

RELATED UNIVERSITY/BOARD POLICIES

2.81.01 Contract Awards  

Effective Date: 2/8/2023

Revised Date: 2/8/2023

Reviewed Date: 2/8/2023

To be reviewed, at minimum, every three years and/or revised as needed by:  Associate Vice President Procurement and Strategic Sourcing

Next Review By Date: 2/8/2026

SUPERSEDES POLICY

N / A

HISTORICAL DATES

9/17/2020, prior to year 2000