Accounting Office / Accounts Payable

Primary Uses:

Airline Tickets Purchased from "Consolidators"
Books
Conference Registration Fees
Dues and Membership Fees
Licenses (Notary Public, Trailers, Vehicles)
Periodicals, Publications and Subscriptions
Refunds
Travel Advances
Utilities (Electricity, Natural Gas, Telephone, Water and Sewer)

Please visit the Policy Library website for an overview of procurement policies before using the Iowa State University - Voucher for purposes other than those described above.

For supplies, consider using on-campus sources or the Purchasing Card as an alternative to a voucher. Voucher payments for purposes other than those listed above usually require a purchase order number, which should be obtained before the supplies are ordered.

For services, use of the Purchasing Card is not allowed, as we currently are not able to perform the necessary tax reporting for Purchasing Card payments. Services must be paid on a voucher, which includes a taxpayer identification number. As with supplies, payments for services often require a purchase order number, which should be obtained before the services are performed.

A flowchart for payments for services provided by non-individuals is provided as a guide to the attachments and approvals needed when using an Iowa State University - Voucher.

Services paid to individuals usually are paid on an Honorarium or Expense Voucher. Please refer to the flowchart for payments for services provided by individuals for services.

You may also call Bill Cahill (294-5124) or Carole Gill (294-5181) for assistance.

The Iowa State University - Voucher sometimes also is informally referred to as an ISU Voucher, a Regular Voucher, Invoice Voucher, Regular Invoice Voucher, or simply a voucher.

When the Accounting Office receives an invoice for which a Purchase Order already has been generated, a voucher is prepared by the Accounting Office, and can also be referred to by one of the terms below:

• Tracking Voucher - When the Accounting Office receives an invoice that already has a Purchase Order number identified, we create a voucher that has nine-digit "tracking number" just above the Vendor Name. When we enter this approved voucher for payment, we enter only this tracking number instead of re-entering all the data on the voucher. A tracking voucher also has a barcode with a pre-printed voucher number at the top right.
  
  
• Non-Tracking Voucher - When a voucher has more than 15 account numbers we cannot enter it as a tracking voucher, so by default it becomes known as a non-tracking voucher. Otherwise, it is identical in appearance to a tracking voucher. The Accounting Office must affix a different barcode to the top right corner, so the posted reference number will be different than that shown on the Departmental copy.
  
  
• Equipment Voucher - Most equipment purchases are required to be inventoried. As such, these "equipment vouchers" are batched separately and require an extra routing step. An equipment voucher bears the class code 711 00, but is otherwise indistinguishable from a tracking voucher.
  
  
• Check-With-Remittance Voucher - To avoid using paper unnecessarily and to avoid the expense of manually stuffing envelopes, most invoices we pay on a Purchase Order are sent in sealed checks. The vendor receives a check and a remittance stub including the purchase order, invoice numbers and amounts, but no copies of the original invoices. Similarly, no Remittance copy of the voucher is generated. The Check-With-Remittance vouchers look similar to other tracking vouchers, but are identifiable by the large bold "R" at the top left of the Accounting copy.
  
  
• Negative Approval Voucher - Vouchers generated by the Accounting Office that are under $5,000 and already have a fund-account number determined by the Purchase Order do not require a signature from the department. Instead, the department only gets a Departmental copy that has "NEGATIVE APPROVAL" stamped at the bottom left. We will release the voucher for payment eight business days after it is printed, unless the department asks us to stop payment. The department also can request that we release the voucher earlier.
  
  
• Checkless Voucher - If the purchase is from ISU Bookstore / Tech Cyte or Information Technology Services, we process a voucher to record the purchase on our inventory records. However, we do not write a check, as it is another university department. The result of the voucher is an internal transfer, so we refer to these as checkless vouchers.
  
  
• Signed In Advance (SIA) Voucher - If you receive the invoice directly from the vendor and want to skip the eight-day negative approval period, you can prepare a signed voucher of your own, including a purchase order number, and submit it to the Accounting Office. The Accounting Office will still create a tracking voucher and send you a departmental copy. The voucher will be entered for payment the day after the tracking voucher is prepared. On the Accounting Copy of the tracking voucher the signature area in the bottom left corner will read "See Attached - Passed Accounts Payable."
  
  
• Payables Voucher - For financial reporting purposes the Accounting Office must specially process invoices received in the new fiscal year that were for goods delivered or services performed in the previous fiscal year. The barcode printed on the Departmental copy of the voucher will be replaced by another beginning with "9."
  
  

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Last Updated August 26, 2008.