When making University approved purchases, employees have the following payment options:

University Procurement Card - All University employees are strongly encouraged to use a University Procurement Card, the Catholic U OneCard, for making business purchases under $2,500.  The OneCard can be used for various purchases as noted in the Procurement Card Policy. The University's tax-exempt numbers are displayed on the front of the OneCard since most purchases made on the University's behalf are tax-exempt.  All purchases must adhere to the Procurement Card policy. Should a Tax Exempt certificate, be needed, please contact the procurement office at askprocurement@cua.edu

 Purchase Order - Most purchases Most purchases above $2,500.00 require a PO. Please note that new standard PO terms and conditions went into effect on May 1, 2023. The Purchase Order, along with these Terms and Conditions constitutes the entire agreement between the parties with respect to the goods and/or services. In the absence of a valid and executed contract, the PO would supersede all oral or written agreements and understandings between the parties. Catholic University expressly objects to all additions, deletions, exceptions, or modifications to this Agreement, whether contained in any printed proposal, acknowledgment, or other forms of vendor or elsewhere, unless agreed in a written modification or additional agreement signed by an authorized signatory of each party. This Agreement becomes a binding contract between Catholic University and the vendor, subject to the terms hereof when accepted by acknowledgment or commencement of performance of any part of the Order by the vendor. The University’s standard payment terms by PO are Net30 for checks and ACH.

Payment Request Form - (in Cardinal Financials) For reimbursements. 

Request for information (RFI) / Request for Proposal (RFP) / Request for Quote (RFQ) - click here to learn more about the different types of requests associated within Procurement. If you are planning to release something for vendors to bid on for goods/services, please see this tab - as a reminder, any goods or services over $100K must go through the Request for Proposal process.

Personal Funds - University employees who do not have a university-issued P-card may use personal funds and seek reimbursement from the University for reasonable business and for travel expenses in accordance with the travel policy.  Requests for travel or other business expense reimbursements must be entered into Cardinal Financials and select Payment Request Center to use the Payment Request. Policy dictates that the expenses must be submitted for reimbursement within 20 days from the return of travel or date of purchase with the appropriate documentation.

Booking Travel Arrangements – Catholic’s preferred travel booking vendor is Collegiate Travel Planners. Please visit Cardinal Station and select Cardinal Travel to book travel using your personal P card or your department’s P-card to book all travel, hotels, and event spaces.

Gift Card Purchases – The University uses Gift-o-gram for purchases of all gift cards. The University only provides digital gift cards through Catholic University’s Gift-o-gram site. To request gift cards, enter a Gift Award From in Cardinal Financials. Reference the Gift Award From Manual, click here for more instructions..

Technology Storefront – Use the storefront to get pre-approved technology quotations. The Storefront allows university departments and offices to purchase technology in several categories by requesting a quote for PO submission or by using the Technology Storefront Chargeback Program. The Technology Storefront Chargeback program allows you to purchase items on the storefront that are $5K or less without the need to go through the PO process.

Catholic University Amazon for Business- Each department has been assigned a representative to purchase items from Catholic University’s Amazon website. No one should be using their personal Amazon account, nor create their own business account for business purchases from Amazon.

Catholic University Consortium Partners - The Catholic University of America is a member of both E&I Cooperative and Omnia partners. These groups provide their members with a portfolio of competitively solicited contracts. The memberships allow us to take advantage of contracts from a multitude of suppliers that have already been vetted through a competitive bid or RFP. The consortium supplies all of the documentation needed.

Collectively, these partnerships provide almost 300 additional suppliers that the Catholic University community is able to leverage to meet our goods and service needs. The University treats suppliers provided through the consortium as preferred vendors. Please contact the Procurement office askprocurement@cua.edu to take advantage of the consortium partnership benefits.

If you’re unsure of the best method of payment or have any unusual transactions, please contact askprocurement@cua.edu so we can assist you.

Please use the chart below as a guide to help you determine what form of payment you should use. If you’re unsure or have any unusual transactions, please contact askprocurement@cua.edu so we can assist you.

	Purchase Order	Payment Request	University PCard
Annuities		X
Athletic Game Officials		X
Commissions (CUA Press)		X
Construction & Capital Equipment	X		X
Contributions		X
Honorarium		X
Insurance	X
Lease	X
Licenses		X	X
Low Dollar (Under $2500) Items	X		X
Membership Dues		X	X
Penalties		X
Postage		X	X
Reimbursements for future travel	X
Reimbursements to Employees		X
Subcontractors	X
Supplies	X		X
Taxes		X
Temporary Services	X
Travel	X		X
Travel Advance	X
Utilities	X