Accounts Payable

With a reimbursement, you are being paid back for goods or services you purchased on behalf of the university. With a refund, you are being paid back for goods or services that you purchased for yourself from the university, and those goods or services were not provided.

After the Purchasing Department has approved the purchase, submit a prepared invoice voucher and original itemized receipts showing proof of payment to Purchasing.

If the reimbursement includes payment for items for which receipts are not required (i.e., individual meals and mileage), an invoice voucher must be signed by the vendor under "Vendor's Certificate." See further information concerning invoice vouchers in the FAQ below.

See also Purchasing's web site

Prepare an invoice voucher. The original form plus one copy should be forwarded to Accounts Payable 319 SHW.

See Accounts Payable Tutorials and Accounts Payable Forms.

If the payment has been made and has shown up on your monthly budget statements, then you need to submit a Journal Voucher Form to General Accounting. 

If the payment has not yet been made, then you should contact the office to which you sent the initial documents. For instance, if the index number is incorrect on a purchase order or contract, then the Purchasing Dept. should be contacted at 359-2253. If the information on a travel voucher or authorization is incorrect, then Travel Accounting should be contacted at 359-2249. Accounts Payable should be contacted concerning all those payments that are sent directly to them, e.g., refunds, utilities, stipends, etc.

Use tax is the tax we are obliged to pay when vendors do not collect Washington State sales tax on purchases we made from them. Many out-of-state vendors are not required to collect and remit sales tax to the state of Washington. When they do not collect tax, we are required to pay the tax directly to the state of Washington in the form of use tax. The use tax rate is equivalent to our sales tax rate.

Accounts Payable Contingency Plan

In the event of suspended operations, the following plan is in place to address the payment of vendor invoices.

Critical Vendor Payments

• Departments with invoices that are critical for payment should scan and email them to the Accounts Payable Department at accountspayable@ewu.edu.
• The Accounts Payable department will enter those invoices remotely and process them for payment.
• The AiM invoice batch process will run based on invoices entered into the system.
• Vendors that are set up for ACH Direct Deposits will receive payment of invoices as normal.
• Paper check payments will be printed and mailed once university operations return to normal.

Accounts Payable continues to work toward setting up vendors for ACH Direct Deposit payments. ACH Direct Deposits allow vendors to receive payment regardless of on-site operations, and allows flexibility during times of closure.