Dean's Office - Administrative Services

 

Procurement Request - upon completion, save to your computer and email to SOMPurch@vcu.edu

Personal Reimbursement Procedures

eVA and Banner training information

Quick links for forms and VCU guidelines

Purchasing Resources for New Staff

Administrative Services Staff

Administrative Services serves as a clearinghouse for all financial and budgetary aspects of the Dean’s Office units. All requistions, direct pays and travel reimbursements are processed through Administrative Services. Additionally, documentation for purchasing card transactions and unit-initiated VCU services such as Mail Services and Media Services are submitted to Administrative Services.

 

Centralized Purchasing

 

eVA requistions:

To maintain compliance with university policy and procedures, Administrative Services handles all eVA requisitions. Units submit a procurement request to SOMPurch@vcu.edu using the Procurement Request form. Any needed documentation, invitee lists or quotes should be attached to the email or addressed to SOMPurch and delivered to Administrative Services. Please provide all necessary information on the procurement request, including item numbers. When a procurement request is submitted, it is assumed that the purchase is approved by the unit’s Associate Dean or Director; each unit may want to establish its own process for this approval before submitting requests to SOMPurch.

 

Units are responsible for the following:

 

 

Administrative Services is responsible for obtaining SWAM quotes as necessary for eVA requisitions. To the fullest extent possible, the preferred vendor for a requisition will be used; however, there may be instances when a purchase must be made from a different vendor, such as for certain contract purchases or when a significant price savings can be obtained from a SWAM or eVA-registered vendor. Administrative Services will work with units in such situations.

 

Once a requisition is complete and a DO number is assigned, a copy of the DO is emailed to the unit. Once the order is physically received by the unit, the unit is responsible for completing the online Banner receiving. All packing lists should be sent to Administrative Services, as should any invoices that the unit receives.

 

VCU policies require that any requisitions should be created and fully approved prior to purchases being made.

If you utilize services or procure goods from one vendor on more than one occasion in a 12-month period of time, your total delegated authority ($7,500) applies to all orders placed with this vendor. You're responsible for anticipating your needs at the beginning of the year and estimating your total costs. If the anticipated yearly cost is over $7,500, bids will need to be solicited. Please keep this in mind and notify Administrative Services as soon as possible should this apply to a vendor.

 

Purchases requiring prior approvals:

Corporate Purchasing Card (Pcard):

The Corporate Purchasing Card is available for University departments. The card streamlines the procurement and payment process for small purchases. Use of the card eliminates requisitions and shifts paper processing to the credit card company. Cardholders may contact vendors that accept the card to procure goods and services, with a limitation of $2,500 per purchase. A monthly statement is sent to the cardholder. The cardholder is required to maintain a log of purchases that must be signed by the Unit Manager or fiscal authority and forwarded to Administrative Services by the 1st of each month immediately following receipt of statement with the monthly statement and all supporting documentation (quotes for prices, SWAM quotes and packing slips).

Pcard transactions are not exempt from eVA and SWAM policies, and appropriate vendors should be used for charge card transactions. Necessary documentation should be submitted with the Pcard logs each month. Pcard purchases that are made over the counter at a physical store are eVA-exempt. Additionally, over-the-counter purchases with non-SWAM vendors are exempt from needing a SWAM quote; however, these purchases should be the exception rather than normal procedure. Repeated over-the-counter purchases should not be made in order to circumvent SWAM procedures. Cardholders continue to be responsible for obtaining SWAM quotes for Pcard purchases.

Purchases over $500 to eVA-registered vendors must be ordered through eVA unless the order is for something on the eVA Exempt Categories list. All Pcard purchases except those made over the counter must be either ordered through eVA or entered in eVA through a PCO or liquidation SOMPurch request.

Travel

Units are responsible for completing all travel authorizations and submitting them to Administrative Services for review and commitment to their budgets. Administrative Services obtains any necessary Dean and/or Vice President approvals. Travel arrangements are made by the units and/or the traveler.

 

Please refer to VCU policies regarding travel prior to doing any registration or paperwork. When filling out forms, you should always use the online links below, as the forms may change without notice.

Before any travel arrangements, including conference registration, can be made, a travel authorization (TA) must be completed. The authorization should include a best estimate of all anticipated charges.

Travel authorization forms are available online under Accounts Payable & Support Services forms. Use only the Excel version where calculations are automatically made.


Refer to the Lodging and per diem rates to complete the TA. Lodging rates, when justified, can be up to 50% over the listed rate. On 4-ledger budget codes, any lodging above 50% of the shown rate must be approved by the Dean and the VP for Health Sciences; travel authorizations should be submitted to Administrative Services with enough time to allow these approvals to be obtained.

Employees are permitted to use their personally owned automobile when a State-owned vehicle or Enterprise State contract vehicle is not available, or when the use of a personally owned vehicle is cost-beneficial to the University. Employees electing to use their personal vehicle as a matter of convenience will be reimbursed for mileage at the lowest rate. The Personal Vehicle Use Statement at the top of the Travel Expense Reimbursement Voucher should be checked with the appropriate choice.

The employee must conduct a cost/benefit analysis to determine whether a Stateowned/ OFMS rental or a personally-owned vehicle should be used in official State travel. It is expected that a good faith effort will be made to use the Enterprise Rental contract when practical. Generally, a personal automobile is considered cost beneficial under the following circumstances:

If the trip calculator shows that it is more cost beneficial for the employee to use a personal vehicle for the trip, the employee should
print a copy of the screen showing the calculation authorizing the use of a personal vehicle. This documentation must be attached to the travel reimbursement in order to be reimbursed at the current IRS rate per mile. If the trip calculator documentation is not attached, then mileage reimbursement will be at the rate of .246 per mile.

If the calculator shows that use of a rental vehicle is more cost effective, the traveler can follow the Enterprise link on the trip calculator to arrange for a vehicle using the Commonwealth of Virginia contract.

Please refer to the travel policy for detailed information.

Once travel is complete, all required receipts and statements are submitted to the Administrative Services. A Travel Reimbursement form is completed and emailed to the traveler, who will print and sign it. The signed form is returned to Administrative Services for processing to Accounts Payable.

Direct Pay:

Direct Pay transactions - Personal reimbursements are processed using Direct Pay rather than eVA. All required receipts should be submitted to the Administrative Services, who will complete a Direct Pay form and email it to the requestor. The signed form is returned to Administrative Services for processing.

Computer Equipment:

Technology Services purchases all computer equipment and peripherals, maintenance contracts on computer equipment, software and training. Contact SOMTech for your computer needs. Units are responsible for purchasing toner for their individual equipment.

Cash/Checks Received:

When checks and cash payments are received, it's important to ensure that these funds are deposited in a timely manner. When checks or cash total more than $100, they must be deposited the same day they're received. If received after the Cashier’s office is closed for the day, they can be deposited the following day and should be stored in a secured, locked location overnight. Collections totaling less than $100 should be deposited no less often than weekly. Cash payments must be receipted using a university-provided, consecutively numbered receipt books. Any voided receipts must be retained for documentation. Post-dated checks are not accepted.

The procedure for receiving and depositing checks and/or cash is as follows:

Staff Contacts:

Sania Marcoccia, Fiscal Assistant

828-3745

smarcoccia@vcu.edu

Ann-marie Taranto, Fiscal Coordinator

828-2044

amtaranto@vcu.edu

Sharron Burnette, Fiscal Coordinator
828-2497
sjburnet@vcu.edu

Ruth McIntosh-Brandt, Senior Fiscal Coordinator
828-6040
ramcinto@vcu.edu

Kimberley Blowe , Assistant Dean for Finance and Administration
828-5101
kgblowe@vcu.edu

Amy Sebring, Associate Dean for Finance and Administration
828-9794
asebring@vcu.edu

 

Updated February 25, 2009