Making Payments With Candex
Some payments to specific groups are processed through Candex, a payment supplier available in the CU Marketplace on the Pay dashboard.
- All honoraria
- Prizes and awards
- Expense reimbursements associated with the above
Columbia will onboard additional payment types using Candex in the future. This page will update with new information as those payment types become available to the University.
Review the following information to avoid delays in processing.
For Procurement Initiators Paying With Candex
The following questions are a guide for Columbia employees to facilitate the collection and organization of information required to process payments for honoraria and related expense reimbursements. Please note this is not an all-inclusive list and other information may be needed from payees based on School or Department requirements.
What is the name and email address of the honorarium recipient?
Is the honorarium recipient a US citizen?
If the recipient is not a US citizen or legal resident, what is their visa status?
- Please see the visa chart to determine if honorarium payment and/or reimbursement is allowed for the recipient.
- Prior to agreeing to pay an honorarium payment to a non-permanent resident, Procurement Initiators must confirm that the individual is present in the United States under an immigration status that allows them to perform an activity for which a payment may be made.
What is the event or seminar title?
Describe the event or seminar.
- A business purpose and supporting documentation, such as an abstract or brochure, must be submitted for review in your CU Marketplace requisition.
What is the amount of the honorarium?
- The total payment for honoraria, including any expense reimbursement, must be included in Candex in the CU Marketplace.
What type of expenses cannot be submitted through the Candex requisition process?
- Any expense that needs to be segregated is not allowed. This includes expenses considered exceptions to CU Business and Travel Policies, e.g., airfare outside of the economy fare, hotel over the thresholds, alcohol, etc.
- If airfare and/or hotel are part of the honorarium payment, it is strongly recommended that the department book and pay for travel arrangements prior to making a payment commitment.
- If airfare and/or hotel are part of the honorarium payment, it is strongly recommended that the department book and pay for travel arrangements prior to making a payment commitment.
What is the amount of the expense reimbursement, if any?
- Along with the honorarium, certain expense categories as indicated in the Non-Employee Expense Reimbursement Form are considered for reimbursement. You must acquire the recipient’s itemized receipts and submit them with the Expense Reimbursement Form in your CU Marketplace requisition.
What supporting documentation is needed?
- Fliers, emails, or other documentation reflecting the recipient's participation in a Columbia event or seminar. For expense reimbursements, the detailed form along with associated receipts are needed.
- For expense reimbursements involving a foreign currency transaction, you must include with each receipt a screenshot of the conversation rate to American dollars using Oanda.
Refer to the Policy for Making Payments With Candex above for more information regarding when an honorarium payment is appropriate or not appropriate.
The following questions are a guide for Columbia employees to facilitate the collection and organization of information required to process payments for Prizes and Awards. Please note this is not an all-inclusive list and other information may be needed from payees based on School or Department requirements.
Who is eligible to receive Prizes and Awards?
Departments may recognize exceptional achievements or significant contributions by select Columbia and non-Columbia employees, students, or organizations by giving University-funded prizes and awards.
Can employees of Columbia University receive a prize or an award?
On the rare occasion that a University employee may receive a Prize or Award, the payment must be reported as taxable income and appear on the employee’s Form W-2. Therefore, any payment to an employee beyond the scope of their primary position must be submitted as Additional Compensation through PAC. As such, employees may not receive payments for Prizes and Awards via Candex. For more information, review the policy on Additional Compensation.
Is the Prize and Award recipient a US citizen?
If the recipient is not a US citizen or permanent resident, the Procurement Initiator should refer to the Allowable Payments by Visa chart to determine whether prize or award payments are permitted.
What is the event or award ceremony title?
Describe the event or award ceremony.
- A business purpose and supporting documentation, such as department letter, memo or email communication noting the amount of the prize or award must be submitted for review in your CU Marketplace requisition.
What is the amount of the prize or award?
The total payment for the prize or award must be included in the Candex requisition.
What type of expenses cannot be submitted through the Candex requisition process?
Expenses requiring segregation are not reimbursable through Candex. These include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Amounts exceeding policy thresholds
- Alcohol
- Business-class or first-class airfare
- Any other expense specifically designated as requiring segregation
If airfare and/or hotel are part of the prize or award payment, it is strongly recommended that the department book and pay for travel arrangements prior to making a payment commitment.
Exceptions to the established guidelines for expense reimbursement associated with honoraria and prize and award payments are rare. Any exception must be reviewed and approved by the Senior Business Officer in a School or Department and by either the Vice President for Procurement Services or the Executive Director of Accounts Payable.
What is the amount of the expense reimbursement, if any?
Along with the prize and award, certain expense categories as indicated in the Expense Reimbursement Form are considered for reimbursement. You must acquire the recipient’s itemized receipts and submit them with the Expense Reimbursement Form in your Candex requisition.
What supporting documentation is needed?
- A department letter, memo, or email noting the amount of the prize or award must be submitted for review in your Candex requisition.
- For expense reimbursements, the detailed form along with associated itemized receipts are needed.
- For expense reimbursements involving a foreign currency transaction, you must include with each receipt a screenshot of the conversion rate to American dollars using OANDA.
Refer to the Policy for Making Payments with Candex available at the top of the page for more information regarding whether a prize and award payment is appropriate or not appropriate.
You can log into the Marketplace from My.Columbia or from the Buying and Paying menu dropdowns on the Procurement website.
From the Marketplace Pay dashboard, look for the Candex button listed under Payment Requests. This will launch the Candex platform within the Marketplace.
- Select the Category of the payment.
- If you are including a reimbursement with your payment, complete the honoraria or prize/award details before adding the reimbursement information.
- Enter the Description for the payment along with the Name of the individual who provided the service and the payee’s Vendor Email Address. The email address must be for a specific person, not a general mailbox.
- Enter the correct payment Amount.
- Read the Allowable Payments by Visa Type page. Click the checkbox ensuring you confirm the recipient qualifies for payment.
- If you are including a reimbursement with your requisition, click the Add Line-Item button and complete additional fields similar to what you completed above for honoraria.
- To send the requisition to your Marketplace shopping cart, click the Checkout button.
Complete the Shipping/Billing Addresses and Accounting Codes entries as needed, then attach appropriate documentation:
- A memo and/or flyer describing the event, business purpose, and reason for the honoraria
- A department letter, memo, or email noting the amount of the prize/award
- For expense reimbursements, the detailed form along with associated itemized receipts
- For expense reimbursements involving a foreign currency transaction, each receipt requires a screenshot of the conversion rate to American dollars using OANDA
Reimbursements will require an attached Expense Reimbursement Form. It must be completed in USD.
Click Place Order to submit the requisition.
For Payees Receiving Payments From Candex
The Columbia employee requesting a payment for a payee is responsible for providing Candex onboarding instructions to the payee.
The payee will receive an email invitation via Candex sent by the requesting employee at Columbia University. From this email the payee must create a Candex account and complete their payment information. Payees must complete this step to proceed with receiving a payment.
- On the Request Payment screen, the payee should click the Add Details button beside Pay to to bring up the Personal and Bank Details screen. Complete the fields.
- Payees who are US citizens and legal residents are required to upload a completed W9 form. Click the Add File link to upload. Payees who are foreign, non-US residents are required to upload a completed W8 form. Click the Add File link to upload.
- When the payee is finished entering the above information, they must click the Add button. The payment details will appear on the payee's Request Payment screen.
- Click the Submit button at the bottom to request payment.
Payees can log into their Candex accounts to view individual requests under the Orders header in the lefthand navigation.
Click a request, then click View in the righthand panel labeled Payments to see a timeline and information about your payment status.
If payees have questions about a payment, they can click Add a message to your buyer in the message field at the bottom of the payment information screen to submit an inquiry to Columbia.
If payees require technical assistance with the Candex application, click Candex Support in the message field to send an email to Candex.