Vendor Payment Information for Northwestern Faculty and Staff
Northwestern faculty and staff should review how to properly submit vendor invoices and related correspondence for payment processing, including exceptions, required documentation and compliance with university financial policies.
Procurement and Payment Services has identified some exceptions for certain transaction types that are considered low dollar and low risk, where a formal Purchase Order may not be as necessary. These guidelines are only meant to clarify payment options for certain services: they do not change any other Northwestern or department/school policies and procedures. Please review the Alternative Procurement and Payment Methods document.
Every vendor's invoice is due for payment within some period of time after it is generated. This is normally computed as the number of days after the invoice is received. The University's standard for payment of vendor invoices is within thirty (30) days after receipt of the invoice. This is referred to as payment terms of 'NET 30.' The University must pay its obligations in a timely manner. Failure to comply with payment terms often leads to:
Credit hold, where a vendor refuses to fill any subsequent orders until the outstanding obligation has been paid.
Less favorable terms, where a vendor charges a late payment penalty or even demands payment in advance.
Higher prices on future purchases.
A vendor may impose one or more of the above actions on the entire University even if the dispute involves only one department/school within the University. The Accounts Payable department does what is necessary to prevent any of the above from happening while acting within sound financial controls. Departments/schools must ensure that purchases are properly accounted for in NUFinancials to enable the invoice to be paid once it is received by Accounts Payable.
All University expenditures and costs should be charged to their proper source of funds within 90 days of their occurrence. Expenditures and costs over 90 days will be posted only on an exception basis. Processing of all reimbursement requests, on both sponsored and non-sponsored accounts, should adhere to the 90-day rule. Departments/schools must use the 90 Day Exception Form to process transactions that are more than 90 days old.
Reminders for Northwestern Faculty and Staff
While the new invoice processing is more automated, the NUFinancials rules are still applicable, such as the need to add a receiver for POs over $5,000, payments against blankets and payments against receive by dollar amount POs.