Accounts Payable

The Accounts Payable Office is an integral part of the Finance Office at Gustavus Adolphus College. In addition to processing non-payroll disbursements of the College, we also assist students, faculty and staff in any way we can.

• Deadlines
• Request for Payment forms
• Purchase Order forms
• Purchase Card Policy and Order Forms
• Travel Policy
• Gift Policy
• Honorariums
• Tax-exempt status
• End of fiscal year procedures
• Mileage rates
• Cash on delivery

Deadlines

All request for payments are due on Mondays at 4:45pm in order to be paid on the following Thursday. Requests received after this deadline will be included in the check run for the following week. You will be notified of any revisions to this policy.

Request for Payment Forms

A complete request for payment includes the following: an original invoice and/or explanation sheet, name and address of vendor, proper signatures, account numbers, and routing information. The Request for Payment form is now online.

All new Vendors need to have a "New Vendor Form" filled out. A supply of forms are kept in the Accounts Payable Office. IRS requires us to have a Federal Id number for all vendors.

A Request for Payment is required for each invoice. Vendor statements are not a substitute for an original invoice and will not be accepted.

If you are being reimbursed for meals you must attach documentation to support who attended the event and the purpose of the event with your receipt to comply with IRS rules.

If a request is not complete, it will be returned to you through campus mail.

All department expenses must be signed by the department chair. Expenses payable to the department chair must have a vice president's approval.

Charge Account Policy

Please be reminded that the College has established charge accounts at the following businesses for your convenience:

• A to Z Rental
• Arrow Ace
• B-Stark
• Barnes and Noble
• *Best Buy
• C&S Supply
• Cold Stone Creamery
• Cub Foods
• Dollar Store
• Dominos
• *Econofoods
• Erbert & Gerberts
• Godfather's
• Hancock Fabric
• Hermel
• Hy-Vee
• IKEA
• Mary’s Flowers
• Menards
• Mr. Monogram
• Nelson Printing
• Panera Bread
• Paper Service Plus
• PJ's Pizza
• Scheels
• Shopko
• Slumberland
• St. Peter Food Coop
• St. Peter Greenhouse
• St. Peter Lumber
• St. Peter Rental
• Swedish Kontur
• Target
• Total Entertainment
• Village Drug
• Village Flowers - Nicollet
• *Wal-Mart

* See Finance Office regarding these stores. In order to charge at these locations and avoid paying tax on your purchase, a signed purchase order is required. If you choose to make a purchase at one of these locations without a purchase order you WILL NOT be reimbursed for the tax you paid. If you have any questions whether we have a charge account with a business, please call Accounts Payable before you make the purchase.

Purchase Order Forms

All purchase orders must be obtained in person from Sandy in the Finance Office. The Finance Office maintains a log of all distributed purchase orders.

Each department is responsible for purchase orders assigned to their department. Therefore, we recommend that the purchase orders be kept in a secure place to reduce the risk of unauthorized purchases.

Department heads are responsible for authorizing purchase orders for their department. If the purchase price exceeds $5,000, Finance Office approval is required.

We recommend that the purchase order be detailed enough to ensure no unauthorized purchases are made.

Purchase Card Policy and Procedures

Information regarding Purchase Card Policy and Procedures can be found in this PDF manual.

Gift Policy

The Internal Revenue Code now states that when gift certificates, prizes, gifts, and awards are given to employees or students, the value of the item represents taxable income to the individual and is subject to Federal income, Social Security, and Medicare tax withholding. Failure to comply with the Internal Revenue Code would result in substantial tax and penalty assessments in the event of an audit.

To ensure compliance with the Code, please observe the following guidelines:

1. If you choose to provide a gift or award from the College to an employee or student, you will have to complete a Request for Payment (RFP) form for the amount or value of the gifts and obtain a vice president's signature of approval. Send the RFP to payroll for processing. The amount of the gift will be included with the employee's next payroll check as taxable income.
2. If you are providing a gift to a non-employee, complete an RFP and send it to accounts payable for processing. The non-employee may receive a 1099 form depending on whether the gift meets the specific requirements.

Honorariums

To request payment for a speaker, performer, band, or some other form of honorarium, the IRS dictates that we MUST have the person's social security number and home address. Please include this information on the request for payment. The request for payment will not be processed until the above information is provided.

Before booking a foreign speaker who will require an honorarium, contact Accounts Payable regarding the necessary documents that will be required.

Tax Exempt Status

Gustavus is a tax exempt organization. Therefore, most purchases should not include sales tax. Please deduct sales tax from any invoices. If the vendor needs verification of our tax exempt status, please contact Sandy for the proper form.

End of Fiscal Year Procedures

The fiscal year ends on May 31. To include purchases in the current fiscal year, your purchase must occur prior to June 1 and be received on campus by May 31. Travel expenses are included in the fiscal year in which the travel takes place. Travel overlapping fiscal years will be posted to the year in which the majority of travel takes place.

Mileage Rates

As of January 1, 2009 the IRS rate for reimbursement is 55.0 cents per mile. The rates for using Gustavus-owned vehicles are as follows: car (56 cents per mile) van (62 cents per mile). The minimum charge for using a vehicle is $25.00. Late return charge is $15.00/day. Clean up charge is $25.00. Removal of seats fee is $15.00. Contact the Switchboard for key pickup (Monday–Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.)

Cash on Delivery

We do not accept any COD packages. Please make the proper shipping/delivery arrangements prior to shipment.

Calendar of Check Runs

Checks will be run Thursday of every week except as noted below.

Request for payment due	Check date
December 21, 2009	December 24, 2009
This will be the last check run for 2009
January 4, 2010	January 7, 2010