Frequently Asked Questions

The Accounts payable office is located in the Hill Hall Building in Office 220.

Where can I pick up my reimbursement or vendor payment check? Reimbursement checks or vendor payment checks can be picked up from the Help Desk (Front Office) in the Office of Business & Financial Affairs. When preparing your check requisition be sure to identify the method of distribution on the request. Typically, request for payments of invoices are mailed to the remit to location on the requisition. NOTE: We can remit reimbursement and/or payment via EFT (electronic funds transfer), the preferred option.

The Accounts Payable process takes between 7 to 10 business days from the point of receipt in our office (Business & Financial Affairs). This applies (7-10 business days) only to documents received in processing form (i.e. all receipts/invoices/contracts attached, all signatures are present, etc ) Keep in mind that AP checks are processed on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s and the audit of printed checks can take 1-2 business days to process.

For non-Agency fund purchases, typically requisitions require your signature (requestor), the signature (approval) of your immediate supervisor, and, if he or she is not the Budget Unit Head for the account to be charged, a signature is required from the Budget Unit Head. Requisitions for Title III (grants with a ‘1’ prefix) must route to the Title III Office for an additional approval level. Requisitions for Agency fund purchases require the signatures specified on the agency fund agreement on file in the Office of Business & Financial Affairs.

Payments to non-U.S. residents require either a Federal Identification Number (Tax ID) or a social security number. Anyone doing business in the Unites States should have an identification number issued to them by the government. THIS IS REQUIRED! The paperwork process is the same as with any other request for payment. Typically, however, the payment will be wired from our bank directly to the vendor/persons. Thus, additional information (such as bank, routing, wire number, etc ) may be required. NOTE: Requirements may vary dependent upon the situation.

Request for payments to consultants performing services, or contracted companies performing services required a contract/agreement attached. The contract/agreement should be completed prior to the services being rendered and must be reviewed by legal counsel for the University.

Contact the Accounts Payable unit through the Business & Financial Affairs Help Desk at (912) 358-4050.

Per Diem rates can be found at www.gsa.gov by following the Per Diem link for locations outside of Georgia. For locations within the State of Georgia, Savannah State University follows the travel guidelines set by the State of Georgia Department of Audits. Travel policies, procedures and regulations can be located on the Web at: https://sao.georgia.gov . It is possible the Board of Regents(BOR) travel regulations may be more restrictive than those of the State. Please review BOR travel regulations at: https://www.usg.edu/fiscal_affairs/bpm_acct/bpm-sect04.pdf Please Note: The meal allowance for travel in the State of Georgia is $28.00 except in certain areas deemed as high cost. These areas are identified in the State travel regulations.

All invoices should be mailed to our Accounts Payable office, at the following address:
Savannah State University
Attn: Accounts Payable
3219 College Street
Box 20419
Savannah GA 31404

In the event that a department receives an original invoice by mistake, the department needs to IMMEDIATELY forward to Accounts Payable in the Office of Business & Financial Affairs.

All Business forms can be found on the Business & Financial Affairs website at www.savannahstate.edu/fiscal-affairs/Comptroller-forms.shtml .

Airfare, registration fees, and even lodging can be pre-paid by one of the following methods:

• Pay the expenses using a personal credit card, and submit a request for reimbursement using any invoices as documentation. Be sure to submit a Request for Authority to Travel form, as failure to do so will result in a delay in processing your reimbursement.
• Submit a request with invoices from a travel agency or the registration center as documentation. Again, be sure to submit a Request for Authority to Travel form.
• For pre-payment of lodging, a fax from the hotel can be used as documentation for an the request. The fax must include the daily rate plus any applicable taxes. The check should be hand carried by the employee and presented at check-in.
• Note: If options 2 or 3, from above, is selected as a means for prepayment of travel expenses, you must obtain a federal identification number of the agency, hotel, and/or airline (or other vendor for the expense). Failure to do so will result in a delay of payment.

No, but it is important to note that any expenses that exceed the per diem allowance must be explained (i.e. a banquet that is an integral part of the conference or meeting) and might not be reimbursed. Additionally, high-level administrative approval will also be required, thus, delaying the processing of the reimbursement (and, still might not be reimbursed).

Please note that it is University policy to pay only for institutional membership dues. This policy is based on the Attorney General Opinion 68-110. There are some possible exceptions, and include:

• Transferable individual memberships
• Memberships that are required as a condition of employment
• Memberships that are required for accreditation of a department or program
• The membership fee plus a registration fee to an organization’s conference is less than the nonmember registration
• The membership results in a discount on beneficial publications that is greater than the cost of the membership

Please look at these exceptions before submitting a request for payment of dues or reimbursement for such a payment. If the membership does not fall within the allowable parameters, consider it a personal expense and do not request payment or reimbursement.

1099’s are mailed on January 31st, or the closest date preceding the 31st when the 31st falls on a Sunday.

Refer to University Travel page.

Departments that accept a contract or grant that requires them to track and label items that are not considered equipment, as defined by the university, are responsible for tracking and labeling the items. Un-serialized property labels should be created and maintained by the departments for such items. Central Stores is not responsible for tracking items that do not meet the university’s definition of equipment.

The policy for stolen government equipment is similar to the policy for other equipment. You must immediately contact the Department of Police and Public Safety who will require that you complete a written report describing both the equipment and the circumstances of the theft. A copy of the report must be forwarded to the government property administrator through the Contract and Grant Administration. Departments may be liable for government property that is stolen.

Government owned/loaned equipment must be used for the purposes specified in the contract. Before government owned/loaned equipment can be transferred to another department, approval from the Contract and Grant Administration and the property administrator must be obtained.

The Division of Business & Financial Affairs is located on the second floor of the Hill Hall Building.

Our hours of operation are 8am to 5pm. Checks are available for pick-up between the hours of 8:30am and 4:30pm only.

The payroll office is located inside of the Division of Business & Financial Affairs main office on 2nd Floor of the Hill Hall Building.

Pay statements are available online via www.portal.adp.com. Once you have accessed your employee self service account, click on the money tab, and pay statements in the left vertical menu.

Pay checks can be deposited into a maximum of two banks — A primary and secondary. The secondary can be a dollar amount or a percentage. Should you have a request for additional deposit accounts, please contact the payroll office directly with your request.

The State of Georgia Purchasing Card (P-Card) is a valuable tool for quickly and efficiently purchasing and paying for small value items under $5,000.00. The P-Card is issued through Bank of America to a qualified applicant of the University. Who can get a procurement card? The individual must be a permanent, benefited employee of Savannah State University.

Completing the P-Card Request Form is the first step in obtaining a P-Card. The form must be approved by the Department Head and/or Business Manager, and submitted via email as a PDF attachment or campus mail to:

Purchasing Office
Attn: Alicia Williams or Pamela Fulwood
Box 20419

No, your personal credit is not affected in any way by using the SSU procurement card. The university is responsible for all authorized charges.

The cardholder must immediately contact the card issuer (BANK OF AMERICA) if the P-Card has been lost or stolen by calling 1-888-449-2773 and must also notify the P-Card Program Coordinator.

NO! You must treat this P-Card as you would your own personal card. You can make a purchase on behalf of someone, but you are not to give your card or number to anyone else other than the vendor you are purchasing from to make purchases.

The approver must be at the Budget Authority level or higher, or designated by the Budget Authority. In addition, the approver must be at a higher level within the department than the cardholder/reviewer.

Cardholders will receive statements from Bank of America by the 5business day of the month.

All paperwork must be received by the Card Administrator no later than 5 p.m. on the last business day of the month. Statements that have been placed in the mail, but not yet received, by Business Services will be considered late and handled accordingly.

All P-Card statements should be sent by campus mail or hand delivered to: Purchasing Office ATTN: P-Card Program Team.

Please refer to the P-Card Check Off List. (See Business Forms on Comptroller’s Website).

All statements are reviewed by Procurement to assure that Policies & Procedures are being followed.

Yes, the P-Card may be used to pay for conference or workshop registration fees either in town or out of town. However, all other travel expenses for an employee such as food, lodging, parking, etc., may not be charged to the P-Card.

State funds cannot be used to purchase food of any kind. Further, P-cards may not be used to make Agency fund purchases. However, food may be purchased if allocated to Grant funds if the contract specifically states that food can be purchased with such funds. For questions related to Grant funds, contact: Myisha Clemons at [email protected] (912) 358-4050.

No, employee travel expenses are not allowed on the procurement card. Airline tickets, shuttle, bus, train tickets, hotel/motel room charges and meals are not allowed on the procurement card – these must be paid for personally and will then be reimbursed.

E-mail your P-Card Administrator, and we will find out why your purchase is being denied. Oftentimes a charge is declined because the available funds have reached the $10,000 mark even when the available credit on the card is less than $10,000. Available funds are determined by the transactions requiring allocation and sign off. If a transaction has not been signed off, the funds are said to be unavailable. Charges may also be denied because of the Merchant Category Code (MCC), which means the company you are trying to purchase from has categorized themselves under a code that we do not allow. As long as the item is an allowable purchase, and within your transaction limit, this can be resolved within a few minutes.

A restricted item is anything that is not allowed on a state wide contract or any thing that has been restricted as a P-Card purchase. please contact Purchasing at: 912 358-4050.

Each card issued will be assigned a speed-chart number which represents the PeopleSoft account string that will automatically apply to every p-card transaction unless changed during the allocation process. Contact the P-Card Program Coordinator prior to the cycle cutoff to make any additions, deletions, or changes to your speed-chart number.

Default limits are $4,999.99 per transaction and $10,000 per month.

Transaction limits are set by State of Georgia. These purchases, by law, must go through the procurement process and must be bid if over $5,000. Large purchases that are over your transaction limit should be reviewed by your director and a buyer via the requisition process.

You must get a credit on the procurement card as soon as feasibly possible and pay for the item via another means. If this is not possible contact the P-Card Administrator immediately and make arrangements to reimburse the University within three days of the purchase. This is a major violation and can result in employee termination if determined repetitive.

No. You will need to turn your current card into Purchasing. The card will be canceled. If you are changing departments, you will need to request another card for your new department.

• Do not carry your card with you on weekends or vacations.
• Leave your card in a secure location in your office; only take it out if you need to make a University purchase.
• Do not write down your card number and let other employees use the number.
• Only place online orders on secure websites.