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Payments and Reimbursements

The information here will help you determine the appropriate procedures for payments and reimbursements. If you have further questions, please contact your Business Administrator.

Reimbursement Requests

Western Union Business Solutions (WUBS) processes business expense reimbursements for all faculty, staff, and students.  Student reimbursements are for Penn Official Business only, all other reimbursements should use the Non-PO request form in Penn Marketplace. If you have not yet migrated, Concur Expense users will be asked to take two important steps so that their expense reimbursements may continue uninterrupted. 

  1. Concur Expense users must authorize WUBS to direct deposit their expense reimbursements into their bank account. After the migration to WUBS, users will be prompted to make this one-time authorization before submitting their first expense report.
  2. Concur Expense users will be required to include their personal postal address, if it is not already available in the system, when entering or updating their USD bank information within the Expense Settings of their Concur profile.

Once these steps have been taken, Concur Expenses users will be able to successfully submit their expense report. 

Effective November 2021, the Provost Office is allowing meal per diem reimbursement for employees traving on University business with an overnight stay. Please see this memo for full policy details.

The Guest Travel Reimbursement (GTR) is used to support travel expense reimbursement for Penn guests (governed by Penn’s accountable plan/policy) and must be attached to the Non-PO Payment Request form on the Penn Marketplace. Individuals without vendor numbers need to include a W-9 Form.

For payments that need to be made in foreign currency to Foreign Corporate Suppliers, Foreign Individuals, or Foreign Non-Corporate Entities, use Form PDA-FC.

Independent Contractor Determination and Certification is used to determine whether an individual (without a Taxpayer Identification No) providing services to Penn is an independent contractor under IRS guidelines. Form must be submitted with a W-9 and Contract for services rendered.

W-9 is for requesting Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification.  Must be included for individuals/corporations that do not have a vendor number.

Where do I submit my forms?

Accounts Payable is responsible for processing invoices and issuing payments for Companies and Individuals. This includes payments to Foreign Nationals, students, faculty, staff, and independent contractors. Any paper forms should be submitted to their offices.

WUBS is used to process all faculty, staff, and student requests for payment/reimbursement for travel, meals, and entertainment expenses online.

What is a Vendor Number and where do I find it?

A vendor/supplier number is a unique identifier for University qualified contractors.  Click here for the Approved Supplier List and vendor numbers.

How long does it take a supplier to receive payment?

Suppliers should receive payment within 4-6 weeks after the invoice and forms have been submitted to Accounts Payable. To expedite payment, submit invoices and PDA Forms to your business office as soon as possible.

How long does it take to receive a reimbursement?

It usually takes 4-6 weeks for a non-affiliate vendor/supplier to receive reimbursement from Accounts Payable.  Affiliates of the university should receive reimbursement within a weeks of final approval via WUBS.