How to Pay External Vendors

To ensure compliance, internal community members need to be familiar with the University Procurement of Goods and Services Policy and Procedure when procuring goods and services on behalf of the university. It is highly recommended that individuals responsible for procuring goods and services for their areas attend the Procure to Pay Workshop. Visit YU Learn for registration information.

Depending on the dollar value of the acquisition and what method used when procuring the good/service the payment process could be one of the following methods:

• Sm@rtBuy (Universities on-line purchasing system)
• PCard (Universities recognized corporate credit card)
• Payment Requisition Form and/or Wire/Draft Payment
• e-Invoicing (payment is submitted electronically to vendor)
• Purchase Order

Paying Vendors in Advance

Pre-payment should be avoided whenever possible – but in some instances, vendor pre-payment may be necessary. Where goods and services being acquired are unique, or being produced exclusively for York, please take into account the following conditions:

• Pre-payment must be specifically agreed to in the contract or agreement between the University and the vendor
• Pre-payment approvals can only be issued by an employee with the appropriate signing authority under the University’s Signing Authority Register (Article 10, Procurement of Goods and Services)
• The vendor has supplied an invoice clearly indicating that the payment being requested is either for full pre-payment or deposit/partial payment
• To minimize the University’s risk, the vendor provides an irrevocable standby letter of credit or a credit reference from its banker
• The vendor is a government agency that requires advance payment prior to the completion of the sale

Please contact Strategic Procurement Services if guidance is required when negotiating pre-payment terms. For more information on pre-payments and other procurement procedures, please visit the university’s Procurement of Goods and Services Procedure.