Accounts Payable and Disbursements - Business Office

The accounts payable team makes payments owed by the college to suppliers and other creditors.

Complete a Disbursement Request in Etrieve

There are three basic functions of the accounts payable team:

Vendor Payments
Student Payments
Employee Business Expense Reimbursements

Use of Institutional Funds: As a not-for-profit organization, the college is required to allocate resources in a prudent manner that best supports its mission. Faculty and staff are expected to exercise care and good judgment when procuring goods and services and ensure the expenditure is necessary and reasonable to support the mission of the college. A cost is reasonable if, in its nature and amount, it does not exceed that which would be incurred by a prudent person under the circumstance prevailing at the time the decision was made to incur the cost.

Check Run Schedule

Checks are mailed and direct deposits processed each week on Friday.
Approved disbursement requests must be received by the business office by noon on Wednesday to be paid in the Friday check run. Disbursements lacking proper documentation may be delayed.

Documentation Requirements

To avoid delays in processing your disbursement requests, follow these guidelines. View our financial policies and guidelines for additional information.

Reimbursement requests must be submitted within 30 days after returning from a business trip or incurring a travel or entertainment expense, but no later than 60 days after incurring the expense.
Receipts must be itemized, show date of purchase, and include proof of payment.
Vendor invoices must clearly state the vendor name, remit to address, and the amount due.
Statements, packing lists, quotes, order confirmations, and estimates are not acceptable forms of support for payment.

Note: Prior to engaging someone to perform work as an independent contractor, you must get approval from both the human resources and risk management offices. Learn more about our independent contractor policy.

Expense type	What to include with the payment request?
Supplies	Invoice or itemized receipt showing the date of purchase and proof of payment
Travel	Itemized receipt showing the date of purchase and proof of payment
Personal vehicle used for business travel	Destination and the business reason for travel Google map printout showing total miles of trip IRS mileage rate Reimbursement for mileage only, not gas receipts (except for when a rental car is being used for business travel)
Catering (not provided by Bon Appétit)	Invoice or itemized receipt with date of purchase and proof of payment Copy of approved catering exception request form
Entertainment	Invoice or itemized receipt with date of purchase and proof of payment Name of attendees or group Brief explanation of business purpose
Fees and services paid to domestic individuals and entities (non-corporations)	Personal Service Agreement or other contract Form W-9 Direct Deposit Form by request
Fees and services paid to domestic corporations	Invoice which must clearly state the vendor name, remit to address, and the amount due Form W-9 Direct Deposit Form by request
Fees and services paid to international individuals and entities—work performed outside the U.S.	Personal Service Agreement or other contract Form W-8BEN for individuals (instructions) Form W-8BEN-E for entities (instructions)
Fees and services paid to international individuals—work performed inside the U.S.	Personal Service Agreement or other contract Please contact the business office as soon as you decide to contract services. Reed uses Sprintax Tax Determination System to assist with the paperwork and tax withholding for international payments. The business office will create a Sprintax account for the individual. They will complete a questionnaire in Sprintax and Sprintax will generate the relevant tax documents.

Submit Forms (W-9; W-8BEN) Securely to the Business Office

View Forms (independent contractor, disbursement request) in Etrieve

Gift Card Guidance

The IRS considers all gift cards as taxable income. All gift cards must be reported to the IRS as income; there is no de minimis amount that is allowed to not be reported. In some instances, it is acceptable to provide gift cards, such as for a raffle prize or in exchange for student participation in an event where they would not otherwise be paid as a student employee (e.g. survey participant, focus group participant, or panel member).

In these cases, if you purchase gift cards with college funds for students, staff, or faculty, you must report it to the business office so it can be reported to the IRS. In Etrieve, please complete and upload a copy of our gift card form along with your receipt and your request for reimbursement. If gift cards were purchased with a P-Card, email a copy of the gift card form to accountspayable@reed.edu. Gift cards will be reported annually on form W-2 for faculty and staff recipients and on form 1099 for student recipients. Please direct questions to the business office.

Disbursement Request Forms in Etrieve

Disbursement request forms must be submitted to the business office via Etrieve, the college's web-based software for managing documents. Emailed and paper requests will not be accepted.

Complete a Disbursement Request in Etrieve

Vendors can continue to upload documents containing confidential information such as W-9 and direct deposit forms securely through the business office File Robot.

To avoid delays in processing your payment requests, please follow these guidelines:

Provide the correct ORGN and account numbers
Ensure all requests have department approvals
Include all required documentation listed in the document requirements above

Etrieve Central

Etrieve Central is a browser-based, mobile-first management system for electronic forms and documents. Documents are routed to users via workflows for review and approval.

Download our Etrieve user guide for information on submitting and approving disbursement requests.

Tips

In Etrieve, use the paper clip icon at the bottom of the Disbursement Request form to attach the necessary documentation required for approval and payment.
For multiple items, for instance multiple receipts, invoices, or maps, combine PDFs using Preview or Adobe to submit one file with all of your documentation. Do not combine files that contain digitally signed forms or documents (i.e. personal services agreements, W9s, direct deposit forms). Combining these types of forms creates an issue where the signature will disappear and you will need to request the documentation all over again.
Note the budget (ORGN), the expense-type category (ACCT), whether the department uses Activity Codes, and who can approve your business-related expense.
A description must be provided for all expenditures. The description, as entered, is what will appear in the IRIS budget app for the finance manager to reconcile.
The description must be short (fewer than 15 characters) and clearly state why the expenditure is necessary and reasonable to support the mission of the college.
For example:
SNACKS is not a business purpose.
SNACKS-ECON 301 CONF is a business purpose.

Contact the business office if you want to schedule an Etrieve training session for your group or department.