Paying a Vendor or Individual

How to pay a vendor or an individual for a product or service.


Types of payments

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Purchase Order (PO) Invoice

Purchase orders are typically used for purchases over $5000, repetitive purchases or payments on existing contracts.

  • Send your invoice to: Accounting Services, 21 N Park St Suite 5301, or
  • Email your invoice as a PDF attachment to ap-invoices@bussvc.wisc.edu.

If you need to make a change to an existing Purchase Order, follow instructions on Managing Your Order.

Payments made can be found on WISER. Send questions to acctg@bussvc.wisc.edu.

Direct Payment (DP)

Direct payments are typically used for one-time non-repetitive payments below $5000.

Complete the direct payment form and submit it with your invoice and any additional documentation in ShopUW+. You can view Direct Payment instructions here or in ShopUW+.

Payments made can be found in WISER.

For questions, email uwmsnap@bussvc.wisc.edu.

Payment to Individual Report (PIR)

Payments to individuals are typically used for one-time non-repetitive payments to entertainers, instructors, speakers, and consultants.

Complete the Payment to Individual Report (PIR) form and submit it with your invoice and any additional documentation in ShopUW+. You can view PIR instructions here or in ShopUW+

Payments made can be found in WISER.

For questions, email uwmsnap@bussvc.wisc.edu.

Payment/voucher upload

Payment upload, also known as voucher upload is a spreadsheet prepared by the department for the mass upload of vouchers. The intended use is to expedite processing of repetitive or large quantities of payments where documentation is retained in the department.

What qualifies?

  • Non-tax-reportable Payment to Individual Reports (PIRs)
  • Recurring delegated audit and non-invoiced Payments
  • Refunds
  • PO and Department has Delegated Audit Authority

Note: All upload requests are subject to reasonability of request.

Pros of using payment upload

  • Faster departmental preparation process
  • Faster departmental approval
  • Faster payment processing
  • Reduced opportunities for error

Cons of using payment upload

  • Invoices not in WISER
  • Not available for all types of payment
  • Template format is preset

Contact Sean Kirkeng or Denise McDearmon for more information.

I need to use a specific payment method

Payments default to ACH if available and checks if no ACH information is set up

  • ACH notifications are sent to the vendor at the time of payment generation and funds are available in the payee’s account after 3 business days.
  • Checks are issued at the accounting date and placed in U.S. Mail the following day.
  • Attachments can be included with payment requests and should be clearly marked “Attachment” at the top of the payment request.

Wires

Pay with a Wire or Foreign Payment

Call for pickup

UW-3007 Check Distribution Policy

Contact Mark Domaszek at mark.domaszek@wisc.edu.

Grants/Sub-Awards

Follow guidance on the Research and Sponsored Programs (RSP) website.

Tax exempt payments

Use the Sales Tax Exempt Certificate, which includes a letter explaining UW–Madison’s tax exempt status and relevant ID numbers. The certificate and may be used to respond to vendor inquiries.

See UW Tax Exempt forms and documents

Email questions to acctg@bussvc.wisc.edu or purch@bussvc.wisc.edu

Pay an Invoice with a Purchasing Card

Intended for low-dollar best judgement purchases to be paid directly by the university.

View Purchasing Card page

Pay an invoice

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Pay a speaker

Entertainers, speakers, instructors, and consultants (“Provider”) events may require a written contract to define compensation, liability and tax responsibility.

Follow the policies detailed at UW-3003 Payments to Individuals Policy.

Access the Payment To Individuals Report (PIR)

Pay a UW–Madison student or employee

The method of payment to students differs depending on the reason for the payment. To identify the correct way to pay a student, use the Student Payments Tool.

When making a payment to a UW–Madison employee, follow OHR policies for how to pay an employee.

I want to apply positive approval on an invoice

Positive approval is when the end user wants to approve the payment prior to a check being sent to the vendor.

Access the Positive Approval Documentation (PDF)

Links currently only work in IE/Edge and Safari, and JAVA must be installed. Access to WebNow is granted automatically when someone receives WISDM access, so the approver must have WISDM access.

I don’t have an invoice

If you need to make a payment but don’t have an invoice, you have two options:

  1. Complete a payment notice form and submit it to Accounting Department.
  2. Use a Purchasing Card (P-card). A Purchasing Card is a Visa card issued by US Bank, assigned to a specific UW employee and tied to University funding. The card is intended for low-dollar best judgment purchases that are to be paid directly by the University.

Time sensitive payments

Purchase orders

Purchase requisitions can be submitted through the ShopUW+ Requisition Wizard as a “Pre-payment” so full or partial payment will be made at the time the purchase order is created.

Direct Payments (DP) and Payment to Individuals (PIR)

For an extreme emergency a DP or PIR that needs to be paid by the next business day can be created in ShopUW+. Do not use for special handling payments, such as those with processing deadlines, unique mailing instructions, documents with list of payees, wires, foreign drafts, etc. These would be items formerly paid using an ET form.

Once all department approvals have been completed, an email request may be submitted to uwmsnap@bussvc.wisc.edu.The email must include the voucher number from ShopUW+, the vendor name and the amount of the payment. The email reference line should include “ET” and the vendor name (i.e.” ET for Jane Doe”).

The DP or PIR approvals must be completed and the email request received in the uwmsnap@bussvc.wisc.edu email box by 9 a.m. to be processed by the next business day.

Using ShopUW+

The University will not issue blanket Purchase Orders, and also will not typically issue specific orders for products available for purchase through ShopUW+. ShopUW+ sells commonly used items to supply the operational needs of UW-Madison, other UW campuses, state agencies, local governments and school districts.

ShopUW+ maintains limited inventory for “core stock” items which are stored at 1061 Thousand Oaks Trail in Verona, Wisconsin. These are high volume and specialty (printed for the University, etc.) items only.

ShopUW+ has prime vendor relationships for office supply products, laboratory supply products, and maintenance repair and operational supplies. Items purchased from these vendors are received through a cross dock operation and delivered along with core stock inventory. The prices for all MDS core stock items are routinely checked with outside vendors. Comparative items are priced at or below those of outside vendors.

Learn more about ShopUW+ on the ShopUW+ Essentials website. ShopUW+ questions can be answered by calling (608) 263-3100 or emailing uwsaproblemsolvers@uwsa.edu.

Contact

Find accounting Services

Accounting Services –
Disbursement Services

21 N. Park Street
Madison, WI 53715

Call accounting services

(608) 262-5748