Purchases and Payments
Purchases
Authorized employees have the following options for purchasing goods and services for Wabash. To learn more about each, please review the Purchasing Standing Operating Procedures (SOPs) and Guidelines.
Purchasing Card (P-Card)
The Wabash College Purchasing Card program is designed to provide an efficient way to process low dollar (item value of $2,500 or less) orders of college business-related products and business travel expenses. Qualified department purchases within predetermined purchase limits can be charged directly to the purchasing card.
Please review the Purchasing Card Manual for more details about the card and cardholder responsibilities.
The application is located in the Step-by-Steps section below. Because the application has sensitive data and email is not guaranteed as secure, please consider using a secure way to transmit and submit the form for approval. One way to securely process the application is also listed in the Step-by-Steps.
Purchasing Requisition (PR)/Purchase Order (PO)
A Purchase Order (PO) is a buyer’s official request to a seller to provide goods and services at specified terms. A PO serves as a legally binding agreement once accepted by the seller. To create a PO, one must first create a purchasing requisition (PR). Step-by-step instructions on how to create a purchase requisition are located here.
Please review the Purchasing Matrix to get an idea of when to use a PR/PO.
Please review the Purchasing SOPs and Guidelines for more details about approvals and documentation required.
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One type of purchase order is a Blanket Purchase Order (BPO).
A Blanket Purchase Order (BPO) is a purchase order set up with one vendor, so the college can make repeated purchases over a set period without creating a new purchase order each time. It is used when the total amount is approved in advance, but the exact timing or quantity of each purchase is not yet known. A Blanket PO remains open for a specific period, normally one fiscal year, to facilitate repeated purchases on the same account number. The Purchasing Team will reach out to departments when they see an opportunity to utilize this type of purchase order.
Payment Request
A Payment Request form is used for non-PO related purchases. It is initiated when the requestor and the budget manager (or designee) has approved for the payment to occur. If on a grant, then the principal investigator serves as the budget manager.
This process requires a vendor invoice or a signed contract/agreement. Estimates, quotes, statement of works, and proposals do not qualify as an invoice. Those documents are appropriate for the Purchase Order process.
See Travel Payments and Reimbursements for details related to travel expense reports and reimbursements.
For employee reimbursements, nontaxable and nontravel related payments are processed with this form. Taxable reimbursements/payments (like moving allowances and stipends) are processed through the payroll system.
Departmental Charge
A departmental charge is a process to allow direct transfers of funds from one department to another via a journal entry. Click here to see a list of departments who offer services or goods to Wabash departments.
Contract
A contract is a promise or set of promises that the law will enforce. It usually involves:
- An offer by one party,
- Acceptance by another,
- Consideration (something of value exchanged),
- An intention to create legal relations.
On behalf of Wabash College, the Director of Auxiliary and Insurance Services (or designee) must sign all contracts. If over $25,000 then Chief Financial Officer (CFO) & Treasurer (or designee) must also sign the contract.
Please refer to the Special Commodities and Contracts section for more details about contracts and other types of agreements.
Letter of Agreement (LOA)
A letter of agreement is a written document that outlines the terms and conditions of a mutual understanding between two or more parties. It is typically less formal than a full contract but can still be legally binding if it includes the essential elements of a contract.
On behalf of Wabash College, the Director of Auxiliary and Insurance Services (or designee) must sign all LoAs over $2,500. If over $25,000 then Chief Financial Officer (CFO) & Treasurer (or designee) must also sign the LOA.
Questions about when to use a contract vs an LOA? Please refer to the Special Commodities and Contracts section for more details.
Please note the following items regarding purchasing goods and services for Wabash.
- The College has negotiated with various vendors and has contracts in place for the purchase of office supplies, catering services, vehicle rental, and other strategic commodities. Refer to Purchasing Matrix for more information.
- The College is a 501(c)(3) organization and is therefore exempt from sales tax in many instances. When making most purchases, vendors in the state of Indiana should be provided with a completed Nonprofit Sales Tax Exemption (NP-1). A list of local vendors who have received that form along with additional process information is located under the Purchasing Guidelines for Sales Tax Exemption for Local and Online Vendors section.
- Authorization to purchase on behalf of Wabash is granted to the President by the Board of Trustees and is subject to available budget resources. Further information about the guidelines for the appropriate delegation of approval and signature authority may found in the Signature Authority Policy document.
- The purchase of goods and services on behalf of the College, including the documents required, dollar limits established and approval process required are governed by Wabash policies and procedures. More information may be found on the Purchasing SOPs and Guidelines.
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Payments
When doing business with Wabash, ACH (Automated Clearing House), also known as e-check payments, is the College’s required method of payment for domestic vendors. Wire payments are generally reserved for international vendors.
Once Wabash Accounts Payable (AP) receives a NON-PO (Purchase Order) related invoice bundled with:
- All programmatic (departmental) and fiscal approvals AND
- Appropriate support documentation for the transactions,
AP will begin the invoice audit process and, if applicable, initiate the new vendor validation and setup.
Once AP receives a PO-related invoice, they confirm goods/services are received, and as long as the invoice matches (or is within reasonable tolerance of) the conditions on the PO, they process the invoice.
Although AP processes invoices daily, it may take up to one to 30 business days to complete all required audits, validations, and data entry. Processing times may be extended due to scheduled campus closures (such as winter break). Wabash departments are expected to submit vendor invoices as soon as possible to Accounts Payable.
Vendors with questions about payment status should first contact the Wabash employee or department that purchased their goods or services to confirm that the invoice has been approved by the department and submitted for further approval and payment.
After an AP Payment Run has been completed, vendors/payees paid via ACH will receive an email notification confirming that the payment has been issued by Wabash College. Please remember to check your junk email folder, in case the notification was accidentally filtered as spam. Funds are typically deposited within one to three business days after the notification email is sent.
Additional informational about this process is available to Wabash Employees here.
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List of the Procure to Pay Step-by-Steps
The links below marked with a (unlink) icon are still under development.
Most links will require that you log in to your Wabash employee account to access.
If you are only using one monitor, please consider printing these step-by-steps; otherwise, remember to open a new tab in your browser to access the systems you need for the process. If you have multiple screens, one screen should show these directions and the other the system(s) where you need to perform the actions.
Sections Below
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Purchase Order (PO)
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(PDF link) Contract Request Form - PILOT
Starting July 2026, Wabash College is piloting this new process to request Purchasing's review of new contracts/agreements. Please contact purchasing@wabash.edu if you'd like to participate.
Pilot Program Processes
Departments participating in the Pilot will utilize the following process and tools:
- Complete the New Contract Request Form after funding and approvals are confirmed.
- Confirm the vendor is active in Colleague. If not, follow the Secure Vendor Upload.
- Attach the completed Contract Request Form and the vendor’s draft contract to a Purchase Requisition (REQM) in Colleague. Step-by-step instructions for creating a purchase requisition (REQM) in Colleague are available here.
- Purchasing will review the contract and provide suggested revisions if needed.
- After the contract is finalized and signed:
- If a PO is required, Purchasing will create and issue it to the vendor.
- If a PO is not required, after services/goods are received, the department should submit the invoice, signed agreement, and Payment Request to Accounts Payable promptly.
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(PDF link) Purchase Order Request Approval Form
To ensure compliance with Wabash College's procurement guidelines, the requester and budget approver(s) must sign the attached form and attach it to the Purchase Requisition in Colleague.
What You Need to Do:
- Confirm the vendor is an active vendor in Colleague (Wabash’s ERP system); if not, follow the New Vendor/Payee Setup Request process.
- Complete the Purchase Order Request (PR/PO) Approval Form
- Attach the completed form to your Purchase Requisition (PR) in Colleague. (If needed, see Step-by-Steps on how to Create a Purchase Requisition)
- Ensure the Purchase Order is fully approved and issued before placing an order with the vendor, as the PO serves as the legally binding agreement.
If your department has an internal process in which a designated employee creates purchase order requests on behalf of others, please continue using that process. If you need access to REQM in Colleague to create them yourself, please contact purchasing@wabash.edu.
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(PDF link) Create Purchase Requisition (PR)
This process outlines the steps to create a requisition in Colleague (Datatel).
If your department has an internal process in which a designated employee creates purchase order requests on behalf of others, please continue using that process. If you need access to REQM in Colleague to create them yourself, please contact purchasing@wabash.edu.
In addition to creating a PR to create a PO, this process is being piloted to also be used for requesting Purchasing's review of a new contract.
Purchasing Card (P-Card)
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(PDF link) How to Access Smart Data
Once you receive your email that you are approved, follow these instructions to pick up your purchasing card and how to access the Purchasing Card system to create your profile.
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(PDF link) Purchasing Card Application
Use this form to request a new P-card. If you already have a P-card and need to make a temporary or permanent change to your account, please use this form, instead.
To complete the form electronically, please download the form to your machine, which will need Acrobat, Adobe Reader, or Apple Preview. If you need instructions on how to create a Digital ID, please click here. When downloading the form to your machine, please store the application in a secure location (like a Box folder that only you have access to) and add the applicant's first name and last name to the title of the form. (example: Purchasing_Card_Application_Fname_Lname.pdf)
Instructions on how to send the application securely for approvals are found here.
Instructions on how to create a Box folder where you control who has access may be found here.
Troubleshooting tips if employee cannot access Purchasing's Box folder to submit the form may be found here.
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(PDF link) One Way To Submit the Purchasing Card Application Securely
The purchasing card (Pcard) application has sensitive employee data on it (date of birth, mother’s maiden name, last 4 digit of SSN). Sending the form as an attachment to an email is not a secure data transmission. This process outlines a suggested process to obtain the necessary approvals.
The process leverages both the Adobe's Digital ID to lock down the form and Box's Signature Approval feature to obtain the Supervisor's signature.
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As another process option, instead of using Adobe's Digital ID, users may also use Box's Signature Appoval to sign the form first and then route to their supervisor.
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(PDF link) Purchasing Card Account Temporary or Permanent Change Request Form
Use this form to request a temporary or permanent change to card limits, name changes, and/or any other cardholder information on your Pcard account.
Since there is no sensitive or confidential information on this form, you may obtain approvals via email.
When the form is completed, please either email it to purchasing@wabash.edu or save the completed form with your name in the title and upload it to this Box folder.
Naming convention: Purchasing_Card_Account_Change - FNAME_LNAME.pdf
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(PDF link) Purchasing Cardholder Agreement Form
When you receive your new purchasing card, you will be asked to read and sign this form to acknowledge receipt and that you agree to the expectations of a Wabash Purchasing Cardholder.
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(PDF link) How To Upload Receipts via Mobile Devices
This process outlines how to digitize paper receipts using mobile devices and the Box application.
Taking a picture of a receipt may result in blurred data, especially if there is a need to magnify (zoom in on) the picture. This process shows how to SCAN the receipt via the mobile device’s camera.
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(PDF link) How To Attach an Electronic Receipt to a Smart Data Transaction
Once you have a receipt that has been digitized and saved, you may follow these instructions to upload and attach the receipt to the appropriate transactions in the PCard system.
Before uploading, please make sure the receipt is legible. If not legible, either ask the vendor for a new receipt and/or use these instructions to scan a paper receipt via your mobile device.
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(link to new tab) Purchasing Card FAQs
Here's a list of PCard related frequently asked questions and their answers.
Last updated 4/21/26
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(PDF link) PCard Reconciliation Reference Guide
This guide is also located in the PCard system under the Resource Center tile. The other Wabash specific resource located there is the updated Missing Receipts form.
Vendors/Payees (Entities and Individuals)
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(PDF link) Current Active Vendor/Payee Request to Change ACH/Direct Deposit form
If the vendor/payee already has an active vendor record in our ERP system (Colleague) and needs to update their ACH/Direct Deposit information, you may provide them with this form. For security reasons, this form is not published for the PUBLIC to access.
A change of bank information will run through the validation process with the bank. The vendor record will be blocked for payment until all validations are completed. This change process could take up to 30 days to validate, update the vendor record, and process payment.
If the vendor/payee does not have an active record in our ERP system, then please follow the New Vendor/Payee Set Up Request.
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(PDF link) New Vendor/Payee Set Up Request and Example Communication Messages to Vendor/Payee
These instructions provide you the steps to request a new vendor record. The term "vendor" includes both businesses and individuals.
Please use the links below to obtain the most up to date forms that need to be provided to our new vendors. Because new domestic and foreign vendor forms include the bank information, the "Vendor ACH Direct Deposit Authorization form.pdf" may no longer be accepted for processing.
The instructions and new vendor forms are not available to the public. Potential new vendors/payees need to be engaging with a current Wabash employee to obtain these forms at the appropriate time.
Domestic Vendors/Payees need to complete these two forms:
New Domestic Vendor form (includes ACH/Direct Deposit Info) - ONLY Current Wabash Employees may access this
International/Foreign Vendors/Payees need to complete these two forms:
New Foreign Vendor Form (includes ACH & Wire/Bank Info) - ONLY Current Wabash Employees may access this
W-8BEN (for individuals)
W-8BEN-E (for entities/businesses)
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(missing link) Wabash Employees - Vendor Setup
Current Wabash Employees are already in the ERP system since the banking and tax data are in their employee record; however, for nontaxable payments, they should confirm that their bank account is in their banking information for “Refunds, Reimbursements, & Payments” in Wabash Self-Service’s Employee module.
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(PDF link) Wabash Students - Vendor Setup
Current Wabash Students are already in the ERP system and should access Wabash Self-Service to enter their banking information for “Refunds, Reimbursements, & Payments.” The Enrollment team provides new students with the process to enroll in direct deposit. The students receive these instructions in the "Student Roadmap." If a student cannot find this documentation in their roadmap, please download the instructions and email it to them.