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Direct Pay

CSUSM Direct Pay GUIDELINES 
Effective September 1, 2020 

These guidelines apply to all Business Units including CSUSM, CSUSM Corporation, CSUSM Foundation, and ASI.  

Direct Pays are payments against a department’s account without the establishment of a purchase order (PO). Do not follow these guidelines if you have a purchase order for your purchase, instead follow the PO guidelines, or the CSUSM Corporation Requisition and PO guidelines.

ProCard Preferred: Please use ProCard whenever possible. Personal credit cards should be used on a limited basis such as urgent situations. For more information on the use of a ProCard, visit:  https://www.csusm.edu/procurement/procurementservices/ebusinessprocard/index.html  

You May Not Need to Submit a Direct Pay Form if you have an invoice. 

On the invoice, please include the following: 

  1. Chart field string (if no PO is in place) 
  2. Fiscal Authority approval signature 
  3. Purchase Category (see list below) 
  4. Original authorized signatures and the words “Direct Pay” on the invoice itself along with all necessary information for payment. 

Purchase Categories 

Any purchases/payments must follow all applicable policies/regulations: 

ACCT CODE CATEGORY ACCT CODE CATEGORY
660017 Advertising* (not to exceed $2,500)  660001 Postage & Freight (Distribution Services only)
660003  Cell Phone Reimbursement ($50)  660002  Printing* (not to exceed $2,500 per job) 
660805  Community Outreach/Sponsorship (i.e. purchase tables at events with no terms and conditions to be signed). For events with terms and conditions to be signed, contact Procurement or CSUSM Corporation  660003 Supplies*
504006  Fine & Forfeiture Revenue (Parking)  660009  Professional Development* (no travel) 
660820  Hospitality* (Attach approved Hospitality Form)   varies

Refunds for overpayments and agency/third transactions (BFS only) 
660861  Insurance (IRM and CORP Admin only)  660009  Registration* (i.e. training, webinar, seminar, conference, etc. – no travel) 
616005  IITS Hardware Technology (Visit:  https://www.csusm.edu/iits/trp/order.html.  and attach IITS approval) 660943  Research Participants (may not pay students or employees) 
660805  Memberships*  660019  Settlements/Garnishments (Payroll and Integrated Risk Management only) 
Varies 

Non-resident Alien  

660944  Awards/Honors 

660945  Incentives

 613803  Student Teacher Agreements 
Varies  Other (may require procurement/CORP approval) Varies 

Utilities  

605001   Electricity 

605002   Gas 

605003   Oil 

605004   Water 

605005   Sewage

*Use ProCard as 1st Option 

Any purchases/payments must follow all applicable policies/regulations: 

  1. Procurement Policy CSUSM or CSUSM Corporation 
  2. CSUSM Hospitality Guidelines 
  3. Property Control Policy 
  4. Public Relations Funds Policy CSUSM Corporation 

The following expenses are prohibited for Direct Pay:

  1. Payments for Agreements/Contracts 
  2. Travel (use a Travel Claim) 
  3. Gift Cards (see business unit purchasing procedures) 
  4. Payments against Purchase Orders 
  5. Services (a PO/Agreement is needed) 
  6. Space Usage off-campus (a Facilities Use Agreement is needed) 
  7. Stipends 
  8. Independent Contractors 
  9. Software 

Direct Payments requiring pre-approvals/ supporting documentation: 

  1. IITS Hardware Technology purchases – https://www.csusm.edu/iits/trp/order.html.  Attach IITS approval. 
  2. Food/Gift Purchases – See CSUSM Hospitality Guidelines 
  3. Event-related Purchases – See CSUSM Hospitality Guidelines 

Approving Authority 

Note:  Requestors seeking reimbursement for themselves may not sign as an approving authority.  

  1. One-up Manager/Supervisor/Department Chair (only required for employee reimbursements) 
  2. Fiscal Authority (If the One-up Manager/Supervisor/Department Chair does not have fiscal authority) 
  3. Office of Sponsored Projects (for CORP 85xxx projects only in addition to Fiscal Authority)  
  4. If over $10k, Division PAT Member
  5. If over $50k, CFO or Chief of Staff for FAS payments 

Thresholds 

  1. Purchases over $10,000: Division PAT Member approval required 
  2. Purchases over $50,000: CFO approval required 
  3. FAS Purchases over $50,000: Chief of Staff approval required 

Documentation: Attach original receipts/documentation. (Please include additional copy of back-up to be sent with the check to vendor if appropriate). See “Direct Payments requiring pre-approvals/supporting documents” section above for additional documentation requirements. 

See Cell Phone Guidelines for cell phone reimbursement. 

Roles & Responsibilities 

Role 

Responsibility 

Requestor/Submitter 

Certifies expenses are necessary, appropriate to the occasion, reasonable in amount and serve a purpose consistent with the mission and fiduciary responsibilities of the University. 

Confirms the expense is allowable per the University Direct Pay Guidelines and applicable policies and procedures. 

Certifies accurate approving authorities were entered in the Adobe Sign workflow. 

Does not seek duplicate payment or a payment paid by another source. 

Attaches required supporting documentation. 

Approving Authority 

Principal Investigator (if applicable) 

Ensuring expenses charged to funds authorized for the purpose. 

 One-up Manager/Supervisor or Department Chair

Substantiates expenses are necessary, appropriate to the occasion, reasonable in amount and serve a purpose consistent with the mission and fiduciary responsibilities of the University.  

Approving Authority/Fiscal Authority

Confirms the expense is allowable per the CSU Direct Pay Guidelines and applicable policies and procedures. 

Office of Sponsored Projects (if applicable) 

Ensuring expenses are an allowable expense per the grant agreement.

All involved in the review or approval routing. 

Approving/denying the Direct Pay form in a timely manner. 

Denying requests not directly related to official University business. 

Accounts Payable 

Validates fiscal authority. 

Verify appropriate approver over $10k and $50k.   

Validates purchase is an allowable category. 

Confer with Procurement as necessary when the category “Other” is selected. 

Ensure appropriate supporting documentation is submitted. 

Process  

Timeline: Forms for reimbursement must be submitted within 90 days of original purchase. Check PeopleSoft within 15 working days of submission for confirmation of payment.  

  1. Complete the Direct Pay form (link below).
  2. Attach original itemized receipts and any other supporting documentation. (Please include additional copy of back-up to be sent with the check to vendor if appropriate). See “Direct Payments requiring pre-approvals/supporting documents” section above for additional documentation requirements.  

Employees Only: If not already receiving direct deposit through Accounts Payable, complete the direct deposit form. This will only need to be completed once, unless banking information changes.

  1. If recipient has not been paid by the University previously: ensure completion of the Payee Data Record (204).  This will only need to be completed once, unless payee’s legal business name, entity type or tax payer identification number changes for the payee data record. Payments to new vendors/payees may be delayed until a completed Payee Data Record Form (Form 204) is received by Accounts Payable.
  2. The form will automatically route through Adobe Sign to all approvers.  
  3. Once all signers have approved, the completed form will route to the requester, all approvers, and Accounts Payable for payment.  

 linkComplete the Direct Pay Form on Adobe Sign

Follow-up Questions: All forms will route automatically to Accounts Payable once completed in Adobe Sign. For any questions, please contact accounts payable at: 

accountspayable@csusm.edu (for stateside submissions) 

apcorp@csusm.edu (for CSUSM Corporation submissions) 

apfnd@csusm.edu (for Foundation submissions)