Guest Payments
Paying guest(s) for goods and/or services, including unpaid academics. For payments over $10,000, a UW Procurement buyer will be added to the approval workflow to approve payments.
Payments to UW employees are processed via payroll in Workday.
Payment(s) to Vendor
A vendor/supplier is any business that may or may not already be a registered UW Supplier.
State of Washington and Federal purchasing rules require that purchases over the Direct Buy Limit be competitively solicited in the absence of a contract, funding source mandate, or a sole source justification. Any payment over $100k must be managed by UW Procurement.
On this Page...
- Resources
- Guest Payment Request Checklist
- Guest Payment Invitation Letter
- Payment(s) to Vendor Request Checklist
- Guest Payment Request Checklist
- Workflows
- Guest Payment Processing Time and Workflow
- Missing Payments Processing Time and Workflow
- Payment(s) to Vendor Processing Time and Workflow
- Workflow Currently Under Construction
- Frequently Asked Questions: Guest Payment
- Where can our department find more information on what payments and reimbursements can be processed for foreign nationals?
- I was notified the SSN/ITIN does not match, what should I do?
- The payee has not received their check, what should I do?
- We need a payment for an individual to be sent at a future date, what is the current policy?
- How do I choose a payment type?
- I need to bring in a guest to speak to my class - how do I pay them for their services?
- Are honoraria or payments for services 1099 reportable by the guest?
- Who collects tax identification numbers from payees?
- I don’t know if my guest is a citizen or a foreign national - what should I do?
- What happens if my foreign guest comes from a country without a US tax treaty?
- Is there a dollar limit for guest payments?
- What information do you need from me or my department to issue an advance?
- Frequently Asked Questions: Payment(s) to Vendor
- I want to buy from a vendor - how do I know they are registered?
- Is $10,000 the Direct Buy Limit? What does that mean for me?
- Can I buy from a non-registered vendor?
- How do I pay foreign vendors?
- Who should negotiate and sign a contract?
Resources
Back to TopGuest Payment Request Checklist
Before filling out Administrative Support Team (AST)'s Guest Payments and Reimbursements form — to request a guest payment, ensure you have the following information and documents:
For payment to individuals (US citizens only):
- Invoice/invitation
- Payee name
- Payee email
- Foundation Data Model (FDM) worktags
For foreign national payments please contact AST for more information on the necessary documents.
Guest Payment Invitation Letter
We require an invitation letter for all paid guests of the University. This invitation letter template (WordDoc) includes all required information for payments and communicates what guests can expect with the payment process.
Payment(s) to Vendor Request Checklist
Before filling out AST's Purchasing and Accounts Payable form — to request payment to a vendor, ensure you have the following information and documents:
- Invoice
- Supplier name
- Supplier email
- FDM worktags
Note: If the requisition or supplier invoice is over the direct buy limit of $10,000. Complete UW Procurement Services Sole Source Justification form (NetID required), you will need to download the PDF generated from the confirmation screen. This PDF will need to be included in your requisition or supplier invoice request submitted to AST. Other versions of sole source forms or documents, or sole source justifications in the Internal memo field will no longer be accepted after March 10, 2025.
Workflows
Back to TopGuest Payment Processing Time and Workflow
The turnaround time for processing a guest payments is approximately 10 – 21 business days for US citizens and approximately 1 – 3 months for foreign nationals. This timeline is critically dependent on responses from the payee.
The following workflow image links to a PDF where you can scale to your liking. This workflow is also available in a Word document (Guest Reimbursements (Non-Travel)).
Missing Payments Processing Time and Workflow
The turnaround time for processing a missing payment is approximately 3 – 4 weeks.
The following workflow image links to a PDF where you can scale to your liking.
Payment(s) to Vendor Processing Time and Workflow
Assuming vendor has been registered, approximately 1 – 3 business days. If the vendor needs to register, it can take up to 7 weeks. The timeline to register is dependent on responses from the vendor.
Workflow is currently under construction, keep an eye out for website updates via AST’s Newsletter.
Frequently Asked Questions: Guest Payment
Back to TopThe Foreign National Payment & Reimbursement Reference Guide is designed as a quick guide AST created to help units determine what payments and reimbursements can be processed for foreign nationals. This reference addresses students, scholars, and employees on UW-sponsored visas, as well as those at other US institutions or visiting the US on other visas types.
This means the SSN/ITIN provided does not match IRS records, and the payee's information needs to be updated. AST will contact the Payee before resubmitting the request to UW Procurement for approval in Workday. In the event the payee does not respond, we ask the department to help facilitate the resolution of this matter.
If the payee has not received the check, contact our team via the General Inquiry form and AST will cancel the check, confirm the address with the Payee, then reissue the check.
You can also refer to AST's Missing Payments workflow to see the process and estimated processing time.
AST will contact you if additional information is needed. For future dated requests, payments sent to the department will be submitted in Workday two (2) weeks before the date of service; payments sent to the payee will be submitted in Workday on the date of service.
Don’t worry; our team will review your request to confirm the payment type. The invitation or invoice typically has enough information for AST to begin this determination. Always feel free to add any questions/concerns in the notes section.
Guest speakers typically receive payments in the form of honoraria. To initiate an honorarium, submit the invitation you extended to your guest in writing via email or letter as documentation for your payment request.
Yes, guest payment transactions are 1099-reportable, as documented by Procurement Services. As part of this process, the Tax Office matches the name and tax ID provided with each guest payment request against IRS record.
Best practice demands strict control over tax identification numbers and personally identifying information. For this reason, AST collects tax information using DocuSign.
No worries. Our DocuSign process captures this information. We will contact your guest to guide them through the next steps on additional federal documentation or wire payment details if they are a foreign national or even a citizen living abroad. We might need your help if there is a translation opportunity.
Thirty percent of your guest's payment will be withheld for taxes.
No. Payments over $10,000 can be processed through guest payments. However, a UW Procurement buyer will be added to the approval graph to approve payments over $10K.
Before filling out AST's UW Travel and Field Advance form — to request an advance, ensure you have the following information:
- Name of traveler
- Dollar Amount
- Proposed use of advance (i.e. meal per diem)
- Location and UW business reason for advance (i.e. Buenos Aires, Argentina for research)
- FDM values
Once the traveler has concluded their trip, a reconciliation of the advance will occur in WD. For more information about travel advances please review our reimbursements page.
Frequently Asked Questions: Payment(s) to a Vendor
Back to TopLook up the vendor using Supplier Search maintained by UW Procurement and accessed via the BI portal. AST can help you with this query or, if you do not have BI portal access, contact your ASTRA authorizer (NetID required).
Yes. If you don't have a contract, funding source mandate, or a sole source justification, the State of Washington and Federal purchasing rules require a competitive bid for purchases over the Direct Buy Limit. For purchases over $100,000, the process must be managed by UW Procurement Services.
To clarify these terms and responsibilities:
- Competitive Solicitation: UW Procurement Services is responsible for managing the competitive solicitation process of seeking proposals, quotations or information from suppliers that bid competitively.
- Sole Source: Complete UW Procurement Services Sole Source Justification form, you will need to download the PDF generated from the confirmation screen. This PDF will need to be included in your requisition or supplier invoice request submitted to AST. Other versions of sole source forms or documents, or sole source justifications in the Internal memo field will no longer be accepted after March 10, 2025.
It is best practice to have all vendors/suppliers registered with the UW. AST can assist in registering your suppliers, both domestic and foreign. We can also assist you with non-registered vendor questions, ProCard payments, and one-time purchases.
This can be complicated and depends upon many country-specific factors. Contact our team as soon as you know you will need to pay a foreign vendor and we can work together on the best method for payment.
Only UW Procurement Services may sign a contract/agreement/Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on behalf of any UW unit. While contract negotiation requires departmental content area expertise, the contract language itself should be formulated and approved by UW Procurement Services.
For Further Support
Back to TopReach out and we will route your questions, comments, and/or ideas to the appropriate subject matter experts on our team and keep an eye out for monthly updates via AST's Newsletter.
Last Updated: Thursday, June 05, 2025