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Business Office

Payment Processing Policies

General
    • Payments are issued from IWU via check, electronic fund transfer, and credit card.
    • For audit reasons, whenever possible, a purchase should be completed with an IWU credit card or check
    • Services to the university may only be paid with checks written by the IWU Business Office
      • Contractual or personal services to IWU must be paid via invoice or non-invoice payment voucher. Failure to follow this guideline may result in withholding or denial of reimbursement, or revocation of an IWU credit card.
    • Reimbursement requests will not be honored for expenses incurred over 1 year prior to the submission of the request
    • Non-tuition payments made to IWU can only be accepted via cash or check
    • Payments to persons who are not U.S. Citizens must be requested on a non-invoice payment form. Before the request can be processed, IRS form W-8 and form 8233 (if applicable) must be completed in full and returned to the Business Office. Please contact the Business Office for the proper forms prior to requesting a check. Depending upon the information provided on these forms, the Business Office determines the amount of tax, if any, that is to be withheld from payment. These payments are reported to the IRS on a form 1042.
  • Signatories
    • In most cases, a department chair or administrative specialist will be the authorized signatory for payment requests.
    • Any payment request to an employee (faculty or staff) should be signed by a department chair or supervisor
    • Department chairs and supervisors should have payment requests signed by their supervisor. For most department chairs, this will be the Provost’s Office
    • Any payment exceeding $1000 should be signed by a department head
  • Adjustments
    • The Business Office may return items to a department for corrections to be made. See deadlines above.
    • Adjustments may either increase or decrease the payable amount
    • The Business Office reserves the right to make adjustments to the following without notification to the department
      • Sales Tax
      • Calculation errors less than $50 (reimbursement is properly documented, but the requested amount differs from documentation)
      • Mileage rate errors
      • Illinois Wesleyan University, may, at the discretion of (VP, Controller, Director of Accounting & Budget) withhold any reimbursement for items deemed unfit or unrelated to university business.
  • Fund Transfers
    • Transfers of funds with IWU must be initiated with the Request For Transfer of Funds Between Internal Accounts form available at https://www.iwu.edu/business-office/policies.html
    • The signature of a chair, admin, or department supervisor, responsible for the debit account is required to approve transfers
    • No approval is required to receive funds, only to send them
    • The purpose of a fund transfer should be clearly stated, with documentation attached if applicable
  • Documentation Requirements
    • General
      • Payment requests must include a valid sequence of financial codes, and the signatory must be authorized to spend from that budget
      • New financial codes are created at the discretion of the Director of Accounting & Budget
      • Vendors will not be paid prior to IWU receiving a signed W9 form from an authorized representative of that vendor
    • Invoices
      • Itemized
      • Vendor named
      • Remittance Address
      • Please note that invoices can be coded and signed without any additional paperwork, a non-invoice payment form is not required for an invoice.
    • Non-invoice payment requests
      • Purpose clearly stated
      • Itemized receipts
      • Note that documentation is not required for honorarium payments
    • Travel Vouchers
      • Must be filled electronically
      • Must include all applicable receipts
      • Use multiple forms if multiple mileage rates apply
      • Destinations must be listed for mileage reimbursement requests
    • Payee Information Updates
      • Students, Faculty, and Staff must update their personal information through the applicable Self-Service portals
      • Vendor Payee information will be verified at the time of payment. A remittance address is required for all invoice and non-invoice payment requests
    • The most recent applicable version of a form must be used. If a prior version is used, the business office may return a payment request for resubmission on the correct form.
  • Check Holding
    • Checks are given directly to the payee, either in person, or via US Mail.
    • Contracts with guests and performers should specify the time and manner of payment and who at IWU is responsible for facilitating payment.
      • For large on-campus events, the payment may be provided to a vendor by the signatory IWU employee on the contract with that vendor/performer
    • A copy of the signed contract should be attached to the payment request as documentation
  • Sales Tax
    • Illinois Wesleyan University is a tax-exempt organization, all purchases made within, or delivered to Illinois must be completed tax-free
    • Vendors who do not meet this requirement should not be used, this applies to vendors who assert an inability to process tax-exempt sales, as well as those who simply decline to honor our exemption.
    • For individuals traveling on IWU business, contact the Business Office to determine if we have a tax exemption in your destination state.
    • Non-sales taxes may not be possible to exempt. Examples include hotels, where no occupancy taxes will be waived, and rental cars, where only the sales tax may be waived.
    • Improper payment of sales tax is a basis for reduction of a personal reimbursement, specifically for the sales tax amount.
    • Repeated improper payment of sales tax with an IWU purchasing card is grounds
      for deactivation of the card.

 

Purchasing Card (Credit Card)
  • Overview (please see the IWU Purchasing Card Policy for full information)
    • University purchasing cards are for university business purposes only, do not use an IWU card for personal purchases.
    • Requests for cards should be submitted by an employee’s direct supervisor
    • Illinois Wesleyan University, may, at the discretion of the VP of Business and Finance, Controller, or Director of Accounting & Budget, require the return of any items, or refund request of any charges on a university issued credit card.
      • Employees are required to reimburse Illinois Wesleyan University for any such items that were purchased or charges that were incurred as a result of gross misconduct of an employee
      • GROSS MISCONDUCT INVOLVING ILLINOIS WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY ISSUED CREDIT CARDS MAY BE PENALIZED, UP TO, AND INCLUDING, TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT
      • The VP of Business and Finance, Controller, and Director of Accounting & Budget may deactivate a purchasing card based on failure to comply with purchasing card guidelines.
      • An employee may be required to complete mandatory training prior to a card being reactivated, if deactivated due to policy violations. Eligibility for card reactivation is determined by either the VP, Controller, or Director.