For Schools and Departments
PaymentWorks is the vendor onboarding and management system used by Columbia. University staff use this platform to invite vendors (both entities and individuals) who are new to the University or existing vendors who have not yet completed the PaymentWorks onboarding process. The vendor registers with PaymentWorks and provides their business information—legal names, tax IDs and statuses, addresses, payment preferences, etc.—by completing an onboarding profile.
PaymentWorks validates the tax IDs and addresses and performs sanction list searches. Once the profile is approved by Vendor Management, it is securely transmitted to ARC, establishing a vendor record. You can use PaymentWorks to view the onboarding status of the vendors you invited.
Departments should follow best practices and invite vendors to register before purchases are made and services are provided in order to ensure that prospective vendors are in compliance with University policies and procedures and Federal and State law.
Onboarding New Vendors
Anyone seeking to do business with or be paid by the University needs to be set up as a vendor.
PaymentWorks is the application through which vendors provide their business information, including legal names, tax identifications, payment preferences, physical and email addresses, contact names, diversity data, and more.
The following Vendor categories (individuals and entities) who transact business through Purchasing and Accounts Payable must complete the PaymentWorks onboarding process. This is true regardless of whether the vendor is domestic or foreign:
- Goods and services
- Facilities vendors
- Honoraria, prizes or awards, and other outside parties receiving payment
- Sub-recipients for sponsored projects
- Human subject study participants receiving payments of $600 or greater
Please Note: Vendors must complete the PaymentWorks onboarding process before they can be added to the vendor master file. Accounts Payable can only issue payment after a vendor has successfully registered.
About Student Vendors
Enrolled students who provide hired, paid services to the University must be set up as vendors via PaymentWorks in order to receive payments. Initiators should direct such students to the Vendor Management page for Enrolled and Prospective Students so they can review instructions for becoming a registered vendor with Columbia.
The following vendors are set up outside of PaymentWorks.
All Current University Employees and Enrolled Students
These parties automatically have an ARC vendor profile set up for them, which is systematically maintained in our vendor file based on the integration between PAC, SIS, and ARC. This allows Schools and Departments to skip the vendor invitation process for expense reimbursement or refund.
Current employees and enrolled students should not receive PaymentWorks invitations unless they are registering as Outside Parties or as suppliers of goods or services.
Petty Cash Custodians
These vendors set up outside of PaymentWorks in coordination with the Controller’s Office. Please refer to the Getting Started with Petty Cash webpage for additional information.
Steps to Follow
- Log into PaymentWorks using Single Sign-On (SSO) authentication through DUO.
- Select the Vendor Master Updates tile.
- Click on the Send Invitation button beneath the search section on the left.
- Complete the required fields in the Invite New Vendor form. Leave the Personalized Message field blank.
- Click Send.
Email Address Error Warning
A vendor's contact email address may only be used once. If an initiator attempts to send a second PaymentWorks invitation to a vendor that has already been invited to connect with Columbia, the initiator may receive an error message. The vendor must connect with Columbia's original invitation from PaymentWorks, or the original initiator can resend their invitation if it has not been opened.
Authentication Error Notice
If you encounter a Single Sign-On Authentication Failure message when you try to log into PaymentWorks, refer to the Resolving Your PaymentWorks SSO Authentication Error job aid for instructions on how to unlock your account.
Staff Who Sent the Invitation
You can track progress of the onboarding status for vendors you have invited. Please note that PaymentWorks will automatically send reminders to vendors to complete their registration with Columbia.
- Log into PaymentWorks using Single Sign-On (SSO) authentication with DUO.
- Select the Vendor Master Updates tile.
- The Onboardings screen will display the status of any vendors you have invited.
Refer to the PaymentWorks Quick Guide for Schools and Departments for details regarding invitation and onboarding status changes.
Create an Email Rule
Staff can create a rule in their email application to forward any PaymentWorks email alerts to other colleagues to keep them apprised of vendor onboarding progress.
Staff Who Did Not Send the Original Invitation
PaymentWorks users can only view their own list of invited vendors in PaymentWorks. However, a PaymentWorks user can export to an Excel file a list of vendors they have invited in addition to the vendors' onboarding status and other information. Users can then share that Excel file with other colleagues.
It is important to share vendor onboarding statuses if a PaymentWorks user expects to be out of the office for an extended period of time, or in the event of staffing changes.
Steps to Export to Excel
- In the left panel, click the CSV download icon and then click OK in the confirmation dialog box.
- Use the filters in the panel to limit the data exported.
- A link to the file will be sent to your email. The size of the vendor list might affect the time that it takes for the email to be received.
- Click the link in the email to download the file.
If a PaymentWorks User Leaves the University
If a colleague with active PaymentWorks invitations has left the University, you can click the Help link from the upper right corner in PaymentWorks and choose Contact Support to submit a request to gain access to the former colleague’s onboarding list.
To view a vendor's payment statuses and remittances, please visit the AP Payment Status & Remittance Tool. (This application also includes the Vendor ID Lookup Tool to assist users.)
Instructions for Updating Existing Vendors
Prior to inviting a vendor for onboarding via PaymentWorks, use the Vendor ID Lookup Tool to see if a vendor is already set up with Columbia. If the vendor is already registered with Columbia, then the department can proceed with transaction processing and there is no need to invite the vendor to connect with Columbia via PaymentWorks.
Alternatively, you can enter an existing vendor's Supplier ID into a PS Query in ARC called CU_VM_SUPPLIER_DEFAULT_LOCA. This allows you to view the vendor's default payment location, address, a masked ACH bank account number, remittance email ID, and their PaymentWorks connection status.
If a vendor update is required, the department will need to invite the vendor to register with Columbia via PaymentWorks. After a vendor establishes a connection with Columbia via PaymentWorks, any future updates to the vendor will be facilitated by the vendor through PaymentWorks.
- If the vendor is already connected with Columbia via PaymentWorks and a change is requested, the vendor will need to log into PaymentWorks to initiate the change.
- If the vendor is an existing Columbia vendor in ARC, but has not yet connected via PaymentWorks, and an update to the vendor is required, then the department will need to invite the vendor to register with PaymentWorks.
- If a vendor is already in the PaymentWorks system, but has not yet completed their registration with Columbia, the department may need to re-send the original invite to the vendor to create a connection with Columbia via PaymentWorks.