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). All reimbursements must be made within 90 days of original purchase/service or invoice date, or an after the fact form is required. 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. More information on the use of a ProCard.

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

On the invoice, please include the following:

Chart field string (if no PO is in place)
Fiscal Authority approval signature
Purchase Category (see list below)
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:

PURCHASING CATEGORIES AND ACCOUNT CODES
ACCT CODE	CATEGORY	CHANGE
660017	Advertising* (not to exceed $10,000). Advertising includes print, radio, and online advertisements. For advertising with terms and conditions, please contact Procurement & Contracts.	Increase from $2,500 to $10,000
660927 (Other Catering) 660928 (Other Meals)	Catering by Sodexo or an Approved Caterer. A Hospitality form is required. If there is a catering contract it must be approved by Procurement & Contracts. CSUSM Catering	New Category
604803	Cell Phone Reimbursement ($50)
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 & Contracts or CSUSM Corporation.
504006	Fine & Forfeiture Revenue (Parking)
Varies	Follett Books/Supply Purchases (No Software)	New Category
Varies	Gordian/JOC Fees (FDMA)	New Category
660820 (Other Hospitality) 660962 (Promotional Items)	Hospitality* (Attach approved Hospitality Form) Up to $10,000 inclusive of taxes and shipping. Refer to Hospitality for definitions. If terms and conditions need to be signed, contact Procurement & Contracts or CSUSM Corporation. Hospitality includes, but is not limited to, promotional items, and participation incentives and awards.	$10,000 cap added. Defined to include promotional items, and participation incentives and awards.
660861	Insurance (IRM and CORP Admin only)
616005	IITS Hardware Technology - Visit: IITS TRP Form and attach IITS approval. Equipment only with no single item equal to or greater than $5,000 and not exceeding $10,000 total (caps are inclusive of shipping and taxes).	Changed Limits
660805	Memberships or subscriptions* (no software, Software as a Service, or online services). For memberships or subscriptions with terms and conditions, please contact Procurement & Contracts.	Added subscriptions and details about no software or online services.
660944: Other Awards/Honors 660945: Incentives	Non-resident Alien (due to tax restrictions, non-resident aliens must receive an award or incentive in ACH payment or check form and not through a gift card). Monetary awards to employees or student assistants must be paid through Payroll.	Added Description
Varies	Other (may require Procurement & Contracts/CORP approval)
660001	Postage & Freight (Distribution Services only)
660002	Printing* (not to exceed $10,000 and without terms and conditions). For Printing with terms and conditions that need to be signed, please contact Procurement & Contracts.	Increase from $2,500 to $10,000
660009	Professional Development* (no travel)
Varies	Refunds for over payments and agency/third transactions (BFS only).
660009	Registration* (i.e., training, webinar, seminar, conference, etc. (no travel)
660943	Research Participants (may not pay students or employees)
660019	Settlements/Garnishments (Payroll and Integrated Risk Management only)
613803	Student Teacher Agreements
660003	Supplies* Supplies includes consumables (low value, everyday items) with no single item equal to or greater than $5,000 and a cap of $10,000 total (caps are inclusive of shipping and taxes).
Varies	Utilities: 605001: Electricity 605002: Gas 605003: Oil 605004: Water 605005: Sewage

*Use ProCard as the first option (cannot exceed your per transaction limit typically $4500). If ProCard could not be used, state the reason on the direct pay form.

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

Procurement Policy CSUSM or CSUSM Corporation
CSUSM Hospitality Guidelines
Property Control Policy
Public Relations Funds Policy CSUSM Corporation

The following expenses are prohibited for Direct Pay:

Payments for Agreements/Contracts
Travel (use a Travel Claim)
Gift Cards (see business unit purchasing procedures)
Payments against Purchase Orders
Services (a PO/Agreement is needed)
Space Usage off-campus (a Facilities Use Agreement is needed)
Stipends
Independent Contractors
Software (Software includes Software-as-a-Service, online services, online subscriptions and any information technology or interconnected system or subsystem that is used in the creation, conversion, or duplication of data or information. Please see the thorough definition of software.)

Direct Payments requiring pre-approvals / supporting documentation:

IITS Hardware Technology purchases. Attach IITS approval.
Food/Gift Purchases – See CSUSM Hospitality Guidelines
Event-related Purchases – See CSUSM Hospitality Guidelines

Approving Authority

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

One-up Manager/Supervisor/Department Chair (only required for employee reimbursements)
Fiscal Authority (If the One-up Manager/Supervisor/Department Chair does not have fiscal authority)
Office of Sponsored Projects (for CORP 85xxx projects only in addition to Fiscal Authority)

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

Roles & Responsibilities List
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. 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/service or invoice date. Check PeopleSoft within 15 working days of submission for confirmation of payment.

Complete the Direct Pay form (link below).
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.

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.
The form will automatically route through Adobe Sign to all approvers.
Once all signers have approved, the completed form will route to the requester, all approvers, and Accounts Payable for payment.

Complete the Direct Pay Form on Adobe Sign:
Direct Pay Form

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)