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Expenditure Guidelines

Accounts Payable

(Revised February 2025)

Please refer to the following Expenditure Guidelines for use of uShop, the Purchasing Card (P-Card), Chrome River Travel or Direct Pay, and related payment options.

Expenditure Guidelines

All purchases of goods or services must be processed through uShop or by departmental P-Card which are the systems of record for university purchases and contracts for goods and services. In the business process, the purchase order for goods and often services stands as the contractual document for the business transaction.

Contact purchasing@uncw.edu or your Purchasing Team department liaison should you have any questions regarding the appropriate method to pursue a purchase of goods or services. In the event the expenditure will exceed $5,000, Purchasing must be engaged as soon as possible for the appropriate quote/bid document to be issued in accordance with State requirements.

Additional notes:

  • For general purchases, reference Policy 05.151 Function of Purchasing Services and General Purchasing Policies
  • Obtain a quote for the good/service to establish the level of quality desired for purchase.
  • All goods and services must be delivered to a UNCW address. Delivery to home addresses is not allowed.
  • Purchases for the same item or same project order cannot be split into multiple orders to keep the overall cost under Purchasing thresholds.
  • Requisitions must be entered with complete information, part numbers, description, and current cost.
  • Goods must be received in uShop upon delivery and inspection.
  • Invoices must be emailed to the AP inbox. Vendors should not send invoices to departments on campus
  • Forms W-9 or W-8BEN are required before a vendor can be set up in uShop. Contact uShop Supplier with questions.

The UNCW Purchasing Card Program allows a quicker process to purchase low-dollar (maximum of $5,000 per transaction) goods and services by permanent UNCW employees. Reference Policy 05.160 Purchasing Card Program.

The Purchasing Card Program does not change “what” you can buy under State and Federal guidelines; it offers another means to process a purchase. Use of established State Contracts must be utilized with P-Cards just as in any other purchase.

Purchases must be for legitimate business purposes and in accordance with all published guidelines for appropriate use of the purchasing card. Most allowable purchases of goods in uShop are also acceptable by P-Card.

The following cannot be purchased using a departmental P-Card without prior approval of the Director of Purchasing Services:

  • All Travel-related expenses (see Travel Card website for information)
  • Animals
  • Apple Apps or iCloud
  • Cell Phones
  • Computers, Laptops, Tablets, Software
  • Dine-in Restaurants (individual employee meals)
  • Drones
  • Fixed Assets
  • Furniture, Carpet, Blinds
  • Gift Cards, Gift Certificates, Cash Donations, Food dollars/Seahawk Bucks added to One Cards or other cash equivalents (NO EXCEPTIONS)
  • Hazardous Materials
  • Independent Contractors
  • On-Campus Food over $250
  • Payments to foreign vendors or entities
  • Parking Citations, on or off campus (this is a personal expense)
  • Postal Services at on campus postal location (should be direct billed to dept)
  • Shipping purchases to off-campus locations
  • TAC Repairs

If the information above does not explicitly address your situation, please contact purchasing@uncw.edu or pcard@uncw.edu as applicable or your department Purchasing Team liaison for assistance on the best purchasing method.

Direct Pay Module

The Direct Pay (DP) module in Chrome River is used for limited types of invoice related transactions and employee/student/non-employee non-travel reimbursements. To remain in compliance with existing procurement policies, all employees should be using a departmental P-card or submitting a requisition in uShop for the purchase of allowable goods and services, unless directed otherwise by the Director of Purchasing Services. All employee reimbursement requests are subject to review.

Types of transactions allowable in Direct Pay currently include:

  • ARAMARK for catered events
  • Barnes & Noble (Auxiliary only)
  • Business Entertainment (non-travel)
  • Change Funds, Mission Funds and Petty Cash (General Accounting only)
  • Credit Card statements and Banking Fees
  • Employee Death Benefits
  • Employee Emergency Loans (HR only)
  • Event Sponsorships
  • Garnishments and Child Support (Payroll only)
  • Inter-agency Transfer payments to other NC state agencies. Including but not limited to dual employment, registration fees for virtual conferences, etc. See Payment Methods section below.
  • Legal settlements
  • Memberships (individual or institutional)
  • Refunds to non-employees
  • Royalty payments
  • Stipends for non-employees (not Independent Contractors). For example, New Hanover County teacher training.
  • Trust and annuity payments
  • Utility and Insurance payments

Additional notes:

Travel Module

Under no circumstances can UNCW make a cash donation/gift be paid to a third party. If you have Direct Pay questions, contact the Direct Pay Inbox.

All travel by employees, students, non-employees, and student groups requires a pre-approval be entered in Chrome River Travel. Reference the Travel website or the Travel Guidelines for more information.

All permanent employees that travel on university business are strongly encouraged to have and use a UNCW Travel card. This helps alleviate an employee from incurring out-of-pocket expenses. Visit the UNCW Travel Card website and the Travel Card Program policy 05.190 for more information.

If you have Travel questions, contact the Travel Inbox. If you have Travel Card questions, contact the Travel Card Inbox.

For transactions in uShop, Chrome River Travel, and Chrome River Direct Pay, payments are processed as either paper checks, ACH direct deposits, EFT payments, or Virtual payables. There are exceptions for State agencies and foreign individuals and entities as outlined below.

Inter-Agency Transfers

The State of NC prefers payments between State agencies to be processed as Interagency Transfers. This is a more efficient and more timely method of payment than a paper check. We do not process electronic payments to State agencies. State agencies using Interagency Transfers as payments will include their 4-digit NCFS code on the invoice. Departments must complete the Interagency Transfer Request form found on the Forms page of the Controller’s website.

For uShop transactions with a State agency, direct a uShop comment to the AP Inbox and attach the invoice and completed Interagency Transfer Request form in uShop. If you have questions about the AP process and/or invoices, contact the AP Inbox.

For Chrome River Travel or Direct Pay transactions, choose “Manual” for the Check Handling and attach the invoice and completed Interagency Transfer Request form in Chrome River. If you have questions about using Chrome River Travel or Direct Pay, contact the Travel Inbox or the Direct Pay Inbox.

If you have questions about Interagency Transfers, contact the General Accounting Manager, Kim Blankenburg.

 Wire Transfers

Wire transfers are the required payment method for foreign individuals or entities for the following reasons:

  • Foreign payments must be reviewed and approved by UNCW’s Tax Accountant and the NC Office of State Controller (OSC) prior to processing to ensure IRS compliance for proper tax withholding.
  • The State does not allow direct deposits to a foreign bank. A wire is transmitted directly to the vendor’s foreign bank.
  • Paper checks cannot be processed in another country’s currency. A wire transfer can be transmitted in most any currency.
  • Form W-8 or W-8BEN may be required before the foreign vendor is set up or a payment is generated. Contact ushopsupplier@uncw.edu for uShop vendor questions or newvendor@uncw.edu for Chrome River vendor questions.

To process a wire request, the department requests the foreign individual or entity’s banking wire information and completes the Wire Transfer form found on the Forms page of the Controller’s website.

General funds (1XXXXX) cannot be used for the $25 processing fee charged by the NC Department of State Treasurer. An appropriate non-general fund number must be included on the wire transfer request form for this fee in order for the transaction to be completed.

For uShop transactions involving a wire transfer, direct a uShop comment to the AP Inbox and attach the invoice and completed Wire Transfer form in uShop. If you have questions about the AP process and/or invoices, contact the AP Inbox. For Chrome River Travel or Direct Pay transactions involving a wire transfer, choose “Wire” for the Check Handling and attach the invoice and completed Wire Transfer form in Chrome River. If you have questions about using Chrome River Travel or Direct Pay, contact the Travel Inbox or the Direct Pay Inbox.

If you have questions about Wire Transfers, contact the General Accounting Manager, Kim Blankenburg.

Interdepartmental Invoices (IDIs):

  • IDI’s are used when one UNCW department is providing goods or services (revenue) to another UNCW department (expense).
  • IDI’s are processed on the same form as journal entries using rule code D03.
  • IDIs (rule code D03) cannot be used with agency funds (9XXXXX). In this case, rule code JE16 must be used on the journal entry form.
  • IDIs also cannot be used for internal transfers, error corrections, or to move expenses between funds. These also would be journal entries using rule code JE16.

If you have questions about IDI’s, contact the General Accounting Manager, Kim Blankenburg.