Accounts Payable

The goal of the Accounts Payable Office is to uphold the Business Office mission by providing high quality and efficient Accounts Payable services to students, faculty, staff, and administration.

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Accounts Payable

The Accounts Payable Office aims to provide:

  • Clear, concise and timely dissemination of accounts payable policies and procedures
  • A control to ensure proper approval of all expenditures
  • Prompt and accurate processing of invoices and check requests
  • Timely payment of invoices and check requests
  • Professional and helpful interactions with the College community on all accounts payable matters

Accounts Payable audits all payment and reimbursement requests before issuing payments in accordance with College and federal policies and regulations. As part of the auditing process, the department ensures appropriate documentation is in place to support the business purpose of an expense in accordance with IRS regulations.

 

Check Run Schedule

Accounts Payable runs checks once a week, on Thursday morning, and checks are normally mailed on Fridays. During holiday weeks or inclement weather, the check run schedule may be changed. The campus community will be notified in advance when the schedule is changed.

There is a 10-business-day turnaround on reimbursements and payment processing. Please allow at least 10 business days before contacting the office regarding the status of a payment.

 

Lost or Stolen Checks

If a Centenary College check is lost or has not been received, contact Nikki Holmes at (318) 869.5126 so that a stop payment can be placed on the check. Please allow at least two weeks from the check date before requesting a stop payment, unless there is reason to believe the check has been stolen or misappropriated. Please know the vendor name, check amount, and approximate date the payment request was sent, so that we may identify the check more readily.

 

Payments to Students & Employees

It is extremely important that any payment for work done by a student or employee of the college be processed through Payroll rather than through Accounts Payable. Failure to properly report these individuals as employees and remitting the appropriate portion of employer's tax puts the college and the individual at risk of incurring severe financial penalties from the IRS. If you are unsure as to the proper handling of payments to be made to an individual please contact the Human Resources department.  

 

Mileage Reimbursement Policy

The rate of 53.5 cents per mile is to be used for reimbursement requests for all mileage incurred on or after January 1, 2017.

The College will reimburse employees for the use of their personal vehicle used for College business. Reimbursement will be at the effective date and rate published in this policy.

Mileage reimbursement is meant to cover only those miles incurred above and beyond the employee’s normal commute to his/her place of business. For example, if the normal commuting round trip is 20 miles, and the employee goes on a trip that covers 75 miles, only the incremental 55 miles are reimbursable. The number of days should also be taken into account. If the 75 miles in the above example were incurred over three business days, then the incremental reimbursable miles would be 15 (75 – (3 * 20)).

Reimbursement requests should indicate the points of travel and the miles eligible for reimbursement. Mileage reimbursement requests should be sent to Accounts Payable either separately or as part of a larger travel reimbursement request.

Human Resources will update the policy website to reflect this change in rates.

Purchasing Policy
Purchasing Card Policy
Purchase Order Policy

 

Accounts Payable Vendor Creation Procedure

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to provide for the maintenance and control of an accurate vendor master file within the Banner System. This procedure will help maximize efficiency within the Accounts Payable (AP) function so that the occurrence of duplicate vendor payments and inaccuracies in vendor information is avoided.

Creation and maintenance of vendor files in the Banner system is a process solely controlled by Business Office.  The Business Office is responsible for receiving the appropriate documentation from the requestor to establish a new vendor, changing vendor’s information and for ensuring that each vendor has only one master vendor file.

Before requesting a new vendor, check the current vendor list.  Please allow 5 days for setting up new vendor.

Definitions

  • DBA – doing business as
  • W-9 form required for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification for US companies
  • W-8BEN form required for foreign vendors

 

Procedures

  • If the vendor does not exist in Banner, Business Office will create a new vendor number using the information provided on the Vendor Request Form.
  • The Vendor Request Form should be completed by an employee/requestor and should be approved by their Budget Manager with W-9 form attached for US vendors or form W-8BEN for foreign vendors. This form will ensure that the new vendor has a valid tax identification number and will also provide their legal name and business name if applicable along with their street address.
  •  A vendor will not be created until a Vendor Request and W9 forms are received.
  • The complete paperwork can be faxed to 318-869-5722 or return to the Business Office
  • Creation of or changes to vendor numbers related to remittance of payment are made by the Business Office.

To view the vendor list visit https://apps.centenary.edu/vendors.

Contact Info

Nikki Holmes

(318) 869.5126 nholmes@centenary.edu

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