Where do I start?

A vendor cannot be paid until Columbia has obtained all required information about the vendor and this information has been recorded in the Accounts Payable Master Vendor File. The AP Vendor Maintenance group maintains this file.

Columbia University as a research institution, receives over $300 million per year in Federal awards.  Acceptance of these funds requires the University to be rigorous in complying with Federal regulations and guidelines.  The IRS routinely scrutinizes our accounting records and any discovered instance of noncompliance translates directly into a decrease in Federal funding.   Vendor Maintence audits to verify that these policies are complied with at every point during the payment process.

Before making any kind of payment the University must determine its withholding tax obligations.  A processor, acting as an agent of the University must answer the following two questions when processing a vendor:

1) Who are we paying?

 In other words, is this person a student, employee, prospective student, prospective employee, non-resident alien, or U.S. citizen?  Or, is this vendor an incorporated company, contractor, or consultant?  

If you are making a payment to a foreign vendor, there are some things you should be aware of.  View information about foreign vendor payments.

2) What type of payment is this?

In other words is this a travel or business expense, Check request, Patient refund, regular invoice;  or what services were provided to the University? 

The answers to these two questions are often mutually dependant.  For example, a reimbursement to an employee is usually a travel & business expense (the payment of royalties via a Check Request to a University faculty member is one exception), but a reimbursement to someone who is not a University employee or student is usually a Check Request.

The University guidelines for proper payment procedures are designed to satisfy IRS requirements. Please keep in mind that all documentation is subject to examination by third party review.

W-9 Information

Please Note:

All U.S. based businesses including corporations, consultants and sole proprietors are required to submit Form W-9 to the Vendor Maintenance group in Accounts Payable prior to being approved as a vendor in the system. 

The following types of vendors and transactions are excluded from the requirement to submit a Form W9:

• Employees of the University including students receiving expense reimbursement
• Nonresident Aliens or Foreign Entities
• Petty cash reimbursements
• Patient Refunds to individuals

The W-9 form can be downloaded from the IRS website at http://irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw9.pdf.  Detailed instructions for the requester of the W-9 form can found on the IRS website at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/iw9.pdf.  The information on page 1 must be completed and signed by the vendor.  Columbia University employees and departments are expected to review the completed / signed form to ensure that the payee name, address and SSN / EIN match the vendor request and / or system and the form is otherwise complete prior to submitting to Vendor Maintenance.  If the form is not signed or the payee name, address or SSN/EIN does not match the new vendor request and/or the system, the request will not be processed. 

For more information on the University's W-9 policy, please see the complte W-9 policy at: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/administration/policylibrary/responsible_office/acpy.html.

LEARN THE NEXT STEP:  FIND A VENDOR.

Need more help? 

Contact us: AP Service Center, AP Staff Directory.