Procurement

10.03         Non-Travel Advances                                                                     Issued: May 15, 1998

1.    Purpose

        The purpose of a non-travel advance is to facilitate the procurement of goods when the
        purchase order process will not suffice.

2.    Eligibility

        To be eligible for a non-travel advance, the purchase must meet one of the following
        conditions:

                        a.    Vendor will not accept a purchase order
                        b.    Vendor has placed the University on temporary credit hold due to
                               an unpaid invoice
                        c.    The purchase involves a number of small dollar items from various
                               vendors, thereby making the normal purchase order process an
                               inefficient method of procuring the goods.

3.    Procedures for issuing Non-Travel Advances

        3.1     To obtain a non-travel advance, an employee must submit properly completed and
                  approved Purchase Requisition and Travel/Non-Travel Advance Request forms to
                  the Purchasing Office.
 

        3.2     The Purchasing Office processes the Purchase Requisition through the normal
                  procedures to the point of Purchase Order issuance. The Purchasing Office also
                  verifies that the eligibility criteria are met. If the criteria are not met, the Purchasing
                  Office issues the Purchase Order to the vendor and disregards the non-travel
                  advance request. If the criteria are met, the Manager of Procurement approves the
                  non-travel advance request and forwards to the Controller for approval.

        3.3     The Controller reviews and approves all requests for non-travel advance requests
                  and forwards to the Treasury Services Office for check issuance.

        3.4     The Treasury Services Office verifies that the employee requesting the advance has
                  cleared all prior advances before generating the check. If a prior advance is
                  outstanding, the department is notified that it must be cleared before the new
                  advance request is processed.

        3.5     The Treasury Services Office prepares a check for all approved non-travel advance
                   requests and requires the employee receiving the advance to sign for it.

4.    Procedures for Clearing Advances

        4.1    All non-travel advances must be cleared within 10 business days of receipt.
                 Exceptions to this must be approved by the Controller.

        4.2     To clear a non-travel advance, the employee must provide the Cashier's Office
                  with all paid receipts and any excess cash.

        4.3     The Cashier's Office issues a receipt to the employee for the excess cash deposited
                  and the original paid receipts and a copy of the cash receipt (if applicable) are
                  attached to the non-travel advance documentation and forwarded to the Accounts
                  Payable Office for filing.

5.     Penalties for Delinquent Non-Travel Advances

        The penalties for failing to clear non-travel advances within the required 10 business days
        are as follows:

                                a.    Employee is no longer eligible to receive advances, until prior
                                       advances are cleared.
                                b.    Employee's department is no longer eligible to receive advances,
                                       until prior advances of employee are cleared.
                                c.    Employee's travel reimbursement checks will be held, until the prior
                                       advances are cleared.

6.     Forms

        Travel/Non-Travel Advance Request forms may be purchased from Central Stores.  

Contact:     Manager of Treasury Services