Purchasing & Spending
Purchasing and spending money is part of managing finances as a student organization. The Authorized Signers are responsible for the overall purchasing activity for the student organization. The Authorized Signers may not be an individual that is planning events and initiatives for the organization, so it is very important that the Authorized Signers educate these members on the information, documentation, and receipts/invoices needed to pay for goods and services in a timely manner.
Defining Terms
When purchasing goods and services, you interact with suppliers, University entities, like the University Contracts Office, and more. Before you begin to spend or purchase prizes and gifts, you first need to understand the difference between goods and services, and their relationship to the suppliers.
- Goods refer to physical and tangible items.
- Services are when someone/something provides skills, support or labor.
- Suppliers are the people or businesses being paid for goods or services.
How can I purchase goods?
- P-card - University credit card
- Purchase Order - Any purchase ≥ $5000 must be paid via Purchase Order. Any company that requires a check or bank transfer must be paid via purchase order
- On-Campus Purchase - On-campus vendor purchases, such as the Bookstore or Entropy
- JE Transfer - Electronic transfer of money between 2 on-campus accounts
- Expense Reimbursement - Out of pocket purchases, receipts submitted for reimbursement
How can I purchase services?
- P-card
- General services like printing or small rentals
- Must cost less than $5,000
- Purchase Order
- JE Transfer
- On-Campus Purchase
- Payroll - If a student has a job on campus, they can be paid for services from your org's funds through university payroll
Important Note: You CANNOT be reimbursed for services. A contract is REQUIRED for services provided on campus
Special Types of Purchases & Spending
In addition to the everyday spending your organization does, you may want to utilize additional spending options, like making Amazon purchases, capital and travel purchases, external donations, and even purchases like hazmat/hazardous materials and prizes/gifts/awards.
Make an Amazon Purchase
Request UberEats Meal Vouchers
Orgs can request meal vouchers to give to members to use during meetings/events. Vouchers are loaded directly to recipient’s personal Uber account. Vouchers can be requested for a specific date, time, and dollar amount.
Make a Capital Purchase
Capital purchases are items, typically equipment, that the organization expects to use for multiple fiscal years. Capital purchases are not transferred as part of your JFC allocation but are housed separately in the JFC Capital account. Organizations can request to spend from the Capital Account via the Common Funding Application.
Make an External Donation
JFC funds cannot be donated to external organizations. Organizations can donate revenues including ticket sales or other sales revenue.
To make a donation to an external organization, send a completed payment request form to Student Involvement and Traditions' Finance Team. A member of SIT's Finance team will confirm that your organization has funds that are eligible to donate.
Make a Travel Purchase
Make a Hazmat/Hazardous Materials Purchase
Student Involvement and Traditions staff must be notified prior to making any hazardous material purchases. Student Involvment and Traditions partners with CMU’s Environmental Health & Safety department to ensure all hazmat purchases are shipped safely, accounted for, and stored properly. This helps the University to maintain safety on campus.
Hazardous materials include, but are not limited to: propane, epoxy, lighter fluid, acetone, aerosol sprays, paints and dyes, etc.
For questions about hazardous materials, please email the Student Involvement and Traditions Finance Team.
More Purchases & Spending Options
prizes/gifts/awards
Organizations are required to meet with a Student Involvement and Traditions Finance Team member before an event to award a cash prize. Tangible gifts valued at under $100 may be awarded with out additional tax implications.
- All Prizes, Gifts, or Awards will require the names of the winners to be submitted to the SIT office to ensure that there is no conflict of interest in how prizes and gifts are awarded.
- Any Prizes, Gifts, or Awards valued over $100 will require tax documents to be completed by the recipient to ensure that the recipient does not receive an amount that would be considered taxable income.
- Gift Cards and Cash of any value will require a tax form to be completed by the recipient so that if the recipient does receive taxable income, their information is available to report the taxable income.
raffles/drawings
Raffles: Under Pennsylvania state law, 50/50 raffles or raffles of any kind are prohibited without a license. Please contact the Student Involvement and Traditions Finance Team prior to your event if you plan to give away prizes or awards. Specific documentation may be required to ensure that the University remains compliant with the IRS tax law.
Drawings: If all participants have an equal statistical chance of winning, a drawing, not a raffle, may potentially be permitted. Orgs interested in doing a drawing should email the Student Involvement and Traditions Finance Team to ensure that the drawing is compliant with University policy.
Working with Suppliers
When possible, students should aim to use a supplier that the University has worked with before. Suppliers must have their information verified by the university before they can receive payments. To inquire whether a supplier is in our payment system, please email the Student Involvement and Traditions Finance Team with that supplier’s name. If the supplier is not in the database, then they will have to have their business and banking information verified by the university before a payment can be made.
If a contract is required, organizations should try to work with suppliers who've negotiated a Master Service Agreement. These suppliers already have pre-established rates and terms with Carnegie Mellon University. Additionally, students can consider utilizing a supplier from the Supplier Diversity Program.
What is the timeframe for submitting a new supplier to the system?
It can take 4-6 weeks from the time supplier registration is submitted to establish a new supplier in the system. The 4-6 week timeframe allows the suppliers a sufficient amount of time to complete the registration and also allows Accounts Payable to verify tax information and banking information that is submitted before entering the supplier into our system.
If a supplier is already set up, they do not need to complete the supplier registration, unless it's been 2+ years since they've worked with the university. To find out if a supplier is already established, please email the the Student Involvement and Traditions Finance Team.
Contracts & Services
Contracts & the University Contracts Office (UCO)
Any service that is provided on campus or as part of any official Carnegie Mellon University-sponsored event must have an agreement that is signed and executed by an authorized university official.
The types of transactions that require a contract include:
- Entertainment Performance Agreement
- Consultant Agreement
- Professional Services Agreement
- Speakers Agreement(s)
- Hotel, Banquet and/or Conference Services Agreement
- Non-Disclosure Agreement
How long does it take to get a signed contract?
Does paying another CMU student for a service count as a contract? How do I pay another student?
The university does not contract with current students.
If you need to pay a current student for a service, please submit a Payment Request form to StudentOrgFinance@andrew.cmu.edu. If the student has a current job in WorkDay, they will be paid through university payroll. If they do not, then they will be asked to be set up as a verified supplier before the university can issue a payment to them.
