As a reminder, the use of direct pay requests is limited to purchases incapable of being handled by the university’s procurement or financial aid systems. Employees (full-time, part-time, adjunct, student, etc.) of the university cannot be paid for services rendered, stipends or any other type of compensation using a direct pay request form. Policy 301.1, Use of Direct Pay Request Form provides direction on the appropriate usage of this form.
As explanation, UA Little Rock has three systems that are used to produce payment: the financial aid system, the procurement system, and the payroll system. Each of these systems has its own reporting and regulatory requirements that must be met. In addition, the systems have safeguards in place for notifying other parties when there is a problem.
When payments go through the financial aid system, those payments are used to determine other scholarship payments and are used in financial aid reporting. In the procurement system, payments are reviewed with respect to state law and UA Little Rock policy. In the payroll system, withholding and W-2 information is collected.
In summary, scholarships should be processed through Financial Aid, purchases through Procurement Services, and payments for services rendered through Payroll (employees) or Procurement Services (vendors). Additionally, Procurement Services cannot issue purchase orders to employees for services or commodities. The only PO’s that can be issued to an employee are for personal reimbursements in accordance with the university’s reimbursement policy. Only when payments cannot be processed through these systems should a direct pay request form be used. Employee stipends or payment for services rendered are NOT allowed using a direct pay request form because they can be processed through our existing systems.
If you have an employee that is due payment for services rendered, stipends, or any type of compensation outside of their normal salary, please contact Human Resources for guidance on how to process payment and if additional paperwork (such as a concurrent employment form) is needed.
