The Disbursement Services department is part of the Controller's Office and is responsible for a variety of functions associated with the process of making non-payroll payments to suppliers and employees. Disbursement Services performs the following functions:

• Maintains the vendor file utilized for making non-payroll payments
• Administers travel advances
• Issues emergency checks and foreign payments
• Initiates payments for withholding to the State and reports 1099 Miscellaneous Income payments to the IRS
• Data entry of payment and financial transaction document

The department provides customer service regarding all facets of the payment process, assists with corrections, and administrates the University's Purchasing Card Program.

View Disbursement Services' mission statement.

Revised Vendor Authorization Form (VAF)

Effective immediately (1/30/09), the forms for establishing vendors or making changes to existing vendors have changed.

The VAF is now one page long. Departments can send it to the vendor to complete or they can take the information over the phone and complete the form themselves. Departments should remember to provide the department contact information at the bottom of the form. All forms are available in the U-Wide Forms Library.  The related procedures have been updated and are available in the U-Wide Policy Library.

For new vendors, departments are required to send vendors a W9 to complete. The completed and signed W9 should be submitted along with the VAF. If the new vendor is a Sole Proprietor or Individual, departments are also required to complete and submit the Independent Contractor Authorization form along with the VAF and W9.

For changes to existing vendors, departments complete the appropriate fields on the VAF. Unless there is a vendor name or tax ID change, a W9 is not required. The Independent Contractor Authorization form is not needed for changes.

Please call the University Financial Helpline at 612-624-1617 or email finsys@umn.edu with questions.

New Job Aids

There are many processes associated with the payment of vendors and employees. Job aids are available to help users with most of these processes. The following links will take you to published job aids currently available.

• Job aids from Disbursement Services
• Financial system transaction-related job aids. This link will take you to a list of job aids available from Training Services.

In addition, the link below is a summary of transition items related to paying vendors and employees in the new financial system:

• Disbursement Services PeopleSoft Transition Job Aid
  
  
  

Dept. News/Events

Vendor Authorization Form

The Vendor Authorization form and other finance-related forms can be found in the UWide Forms Library. This form must be completed and sent to Disbursement Services before a vendor can be set up in the financial system.

Procurement Card Processing Calendar

January - December 2009
Wells Fargo Bank Procurement Card Billing Cycle

The last day to reconcile and approve pcard activity is the 10th of the month following the activity. If this is a weekend or holiday it will be the next business day.

Forced reconciliation is the 15th of the month following the activity, or the next work day if the 15th is a weekend or holiday.

Use the Billing Date to print Purchase Detail Reports. Print the report the day AFTER the billing date using the billing date.

Purchase Detail Reports and supporting documentation are due to Disbursement Services by the end of the month following the activity. Example: January 2009 reports are due by February 28.