Questions? Contact our Accounts Payable Specialist:

Melissa Smith
mesmith@carleton.edu
507-222-4844

Campus Handbook: Financial Regulations for Student Organizations


Plan Ahead

The Business Office processes a check run once a week. Please allow 7-10 business days for processing. The deadline to submit requests is 12:00pm Thursday to be included in the following Thursday’s check run.

Reimbursements to students will be made via ACH (direct deposit into your bank account). Students who incur an eligible out-of-pocket expense can submit their expense for reimbursement with attached receipt documentation in Workday using “Create Expense Report” in the Expenses section.  Students will be able to monitor the progress of their expense reimbursement request in Workday. Please reference “Payment Elections” in Workday to confirm banking information for reimbursements.


Payment will be delayed if Accounts Payable is required to seek additional information or does not have adequate support or proper approval.

Student Organization Payment Request Forms

College policy states that expense requests must be submitted within 60 days from the date of purchase or return from travel (per IRS guidelines, Pub. 463). SAO guidelines for Academic Teams require expense requests be submitted to the SAO Office within 2 weeks of travel. See the Carleton Student Organization Administration website for additional information.

Appropriate Documentation

Electronic copy of receipts must be submitted when requesting reimbursements. A signed credit card slip is NOT a receipt; the receipt must list the itemization of what was purchased. An invoice must be submitted if payment is being made to an outside vendor.

For new vendors, please work with the SAO Office to request their W-9 form through our secure portal in the Business Office.

Travel

Please note: there is NO reimbursement for gas expenses; the student mileage reimbursement for a personal car is at a rate of .14 cents/mile. Please provide Google Map type documentation or travel log and sufficient detail as to the purpose of the travel.  See the Campus Handbook for additional information about the Travel Policy.

The IRS states that any travel/research payment made to or on behalf of a student not required for a course of instruction represents taxable income to him/her. (Students are not employees of the College and, therefore, have different tax status regarding research/travel expenses than do faculty or staff.)

The following types of payments are considered taxable income to the student:

  • travel, room, and board expenses
  • conference registrations

Exceptions to the above list are:

  • travel expenses for a student formally representing the College as a member of a competitive team (e.g. IRC/MUN, Mock Trial, Quiz Team)
  • if presenting a paper as a representative of Carleton College

Recipients who are U.S. citizens or resident aliens of the United States must report the travel related funds as income in the year it is received. The College will not withhold any amount towards payment of federal, state or local income taxes and will not send a Form 1099 or a Form W2 to you. It is the student’s responsibility to report the payment in the year received on his/her federal, state or local income tax return and pay all applicable taxes. Please refer to IRS publication 970, “Tax Benefits for Education” for more information. You may or may not have taxes due, depending on your other income, tax withholding, and filing status.

Signing Authority

CSA clubs: The club’s president or treasurer, CSA Treasurer and Student Activities representative must approve all payment requests.  Please submit your completed payment request and documentation to the CSA Office in the Student Activities Office.  The CSA Treasurer and Student Activities Office will review the request and, if approved, email it to accountspayable@carleton.edu in the Business Office for review/processing.

Sports clubs: The club’s treasurer and Director of Sports Clubs must approve all payment requests.  Please submit your payment request to the Director, who will review and then submit to the Business Office.

Event Planning

Please contact the Student Activities Office if you are planning an event.

Performers

Please contact the Student Activities Office if you are bringing a performer/visitor to campus. Work with SAO staff to coordinate W-9 forms and search for active vendors on our Approved Vendor List.

If the performer is a student or employed by the college, payment will be processed through Payroll. Non-Resident performers/entertainers are subject to Minnesota Entertainer Tax.

Contracts

A signed contract between the college and the performer must be attached to the payment request. Students may not enter into contracts on behalf of the college. Students must work with the Student Activities Office when bringing a performer to campus.

Managing your Budget

Budget access is available to CSA Treasurers via workday. Please view the CSA Budget Management Reporting work guide, which can be found HERE.

Large Expenditures

Please make an appointment with the Student Activities Office to discuss larger purchases.