The Office of Academic Affairs (OAA) Business Services and Finance's Procurement team assists partner units with travel and purchasing activities. We advise, assist with, review and approve travel and purchasing requests for the cost centers within and under OAA.
Services
The OAA Procurement Team assists stakeholders in a variety of ways:
- Reviews/ approves procurement and travel-related activities in Workday.
- Advises on policies, processes, guidelines and best practices on the purchasing of goods and services.
- Trains units on best practices when securing travel services for individual and group travel.
- Provides ad hoc and scheduled trainings for procurement requestors and travel arrangers on best practices, documentation requirements and appropriate university policy.
- Liaises between the unit and the Procurement Shared Services Center, interacting with vendor as needed.
- Responds to questions about payment timelines.
- Provides reporting and reminders to PCard managers to ensure transactions are completed accurately and in a timely manner.
- Works with our stakeholders to ensure purchasing deadlines are communicated and planned for in advance.
Travel
Our team works with travelers and travel arrangers to provide the information necessary for approval to travel (spend authorization). All travelers should understand the university’s Travel Policy when planning university travel and creating a spend authorization.
When creating a spend authorization, please include documentation (if applicable) that confirms:
- Lodging cost estimate
- Airfare itinerary and cost estimate
- Map of mileage
- Conference registration cost estimates
- Conference agenda
- Car rental estimate
- Incidental and miscellaneous expenses (ex. ground transportation and baggage)
If adding personal time or requesting deviations from standard travel, view the Travel Cost Comparison Guide.
After the spend authorization is approved, travelers (or arrangers) may move forward with securing airfare and making other arrangements. After expenses are incurred and travel is complete, an expense report is needed.
Procurement of Goods and Services
When purchasing goods or services, University Stores should be the first and then university contracted suppliers should be the next source to provide the goods or services needed. A wide variety of goods and services can be provided by our contracted suppliers such as: motorcoach transportation, translation services, promotional and marketing materials, catering, office suppliers and much more.
If those sources do not have the needed goods or services, other vendors may be contacted, and a purchase order can be requested (or payment made via PCard). Contact the procurement team for guidance if suppliers cannot be identified for the goods or services needed.
Training:
- How to travel
- How to purchase
- Procurement Cards (PCards)
- Travel trainings
- Comprehensive list of business and financial trainings
Visit BuckeyeLearn for a wide variety of business, professional development, and other trainings.
FAQ
How do I request assistance or guidance for procurement (buying and/or paying for goods or services) or travel-related activities?
Contact OAA Business Services.
Who can sign contracts on behalf of the university and how does the process work?
Limited people at the university are authorized to execute contracts. The OAA Business Services team can sign internal contracts (Faculty Club, Fawcett Center, The Blackwell, etc.) and university purchasing staff can sign external supplier contracts.
Individual OAA units should not sign any contracts.
Please route contracts to OAA Business Services (for signature or routing) or attach them to a requisition if paying via PO.
How do I expense a credit card transaction that is travel-related?
If the expenses are related to your travel, create an expense report in Workday and select the charges at the bottom of the page (see previous link).
If the expenses are related to another individual, use the reassign expense credit card transactions in Workday to reassign the charge to the traveler (or ECM if for a guest) so it can be included in their expense report.
How do I pay an individual or organization?
There are a variety of ways to pay for goods and services. The most common methods are:
- Goods and services: create a requisition
- Honorarium, student organization payment, etc.: create miscellaneous payment request
- Goods and Services: Search
- University Stores: PPE, office supplier, Ohio State branded items, beverages, etc.
- Contracted suppliers: Catering, bussing, promotional and marketing items, office supplies, etc.
- Software: Check availability at the Office of Technology and Digital Innovation
If items are not available via those locations, PCards can be used.
There are special rules when it comes to university logos and other items, so please consult with OAA Business Services if you are unsure of next steps.
Is my Workday request approved?
Log into Workday, click menu, select Request Travel or Purchase, and then select Request to procure goods and/or services. The next screen will show you the requisitions that have been submitted and the status (approval workflow, if invoices have been received, and if payments have been made).
If the Workday request is still in draft status, please submit the item to start the approval process.
The review process will normally include a Cost Center Manager (i.e. the OAA Procurement team) possibly a Departmental Leader, and two reviews by the Procurement Shared Service Center and possibly other central university offices.
Has my request been paid to the supplier yet?
For purchases via requisitions, log into Workday, click menu, select Request Travel or Purchase, and then select Request to procure goods and/or services. The next screen will show all the requisitions that have been submitted and the status (approval workflow, if invoices have been received and if payments have been made).
Contact OAA Business Services for more information.
What suppliers have contracts with the university?
Purchasing’s website has a search tool to view contracted suppliers.
What documentation is needed for a travel spend authorization?
Documents should be attached to show the estimates for airfare, mileage, lodging, conference registration, etc.
Airfare: Screenshot from Concur, or email from travel agent.
Mileage: Screenshot from online map site showing the distance from departure point to destination (not including normal commuting mileage).
Lodging: Screenshot of the hotel rates from their website (or conference site) is sufficient or use the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) rates.
Conference registration: Screenshot from conference website showing the dates, location and price of the conference.
How do I document if there are (or are not) additional costs for adding personal time to university travel?
Utilize the university cost comparison tool and attach to your spend authorization.
How do I document the cost difference of flying versus driving?
Utilize the university cost comparison tool and attach it to your spend authorization.
Can I have alcohol at a university event?
If your unit has discretionary (non-general) funds and receives pre-approval from the Executive Director of OAA Business Services & Finance, it is possible to have alcohol at events. Please use the OAA pre-approval form. If the event is offsite or at a location without a liquor license, additional approvals are needed. See Authorization to Serve Alcohol Request Form.
Is it appropriate to pay sales tax on a purchase?
If utilizing personal funds (to be reimbursed by the university), it is appropriate for suppliers to charge sales tax. You can be reimbursed by the university for the sales tax.
If paying with university funds (PCard, EFT, or check) to a vendor in the state of Ohio, suppliers should remove sales tax from their invoice, as the university is state sales tax exempt.
When purchasing, please provide a copy of the university’s sales tax-exempt certificate to vendors.
What do I do if sales tax was erroneously charged to my PCard?
You should attempt to get that amount refunded. If that is not possible, please document your attempt in your expense report.
My purchase order is ready. Has the supplier been paid?
The supplier is responsible for adding the purchase order number to their invoice and submitting the invoice to apinvoices@osu.edu.
The university’s default payment terms are 60 days from invoice date depending on the specific terms negotiated with the supplier.
What are the appropriate attachments for expense reports?
The reviewers and approvers of the expense report should be able to determine the who, what, when, where and why from the expense report. Appropriate documents to attach include, but are not limited to: invoice and receipt (or itemized receipt, which is required for meals), participant list (if meal or group event), description of event and purpose and any other relevant information.
What resources should I be aware of?
Administrative Resource Center (ARC) for guides on Workday processes and others
Travel Office for travel related training and job aids
PCard Office for PCard related raining and job aids
Where do I find University policies?
All policies (including those above) are available on the Office of Business and Finance’s website.
Staff
Timothy Hornsby
Manager of Procurement Customer Service, and Receivables
Manages all procurement activities for all OAA reporting units. Oversees all procurement card, requisition, spend authorization/expense report and other procurement-related activity. Leads the receivable and depository activity for our units. Ensures that inquiries to the OAA Business Services procurement service account are addressed completely in a timely manner. He also is the capital asset tracking and surplus lead for OAA Administration and selected units.
Christopher Feil
Senior Fiscal Associate
Reviews and approves of all procurement-related Workday workflow transactions. Provides training and advice to our units for spend authorizations, expense reports, requisitions and other procurement-related activity.
Jeff Zelli
Senior Fiscal Associate
Reviews and approves all procurement-related Workday workflow transactions. Provides training and advice to our units for spend authorizations, expense reports, requisitions and other procurement-related activity.
Heather Armstrong
Fiscal Associate
Reviews and approves all procurement-related Workday workflow transactions for The Ohio State at Lima, The Ohio State at Marion and The Ohio State at Mansfield. Provides training and advice to those units for spend authorizations, expense reports, requisitions and other procurement-related activity.
Nicholas Maddron
Fiscal Associate
Daily procurement requests and inquiries for all units. Assistance with spend authorizations, expense reports, requisitions and other procurement-related activities. Review and response of OAA procure service account inquiries.
Sheri Matheny
Fiscal Associate
Handles daily procurement requests and inquiries for all units. Provides assistance with spend authorizations, expense reports, requisitions and other procurement-related activities. Reviews and responds to OAA procure service account inquiries.