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Internal Control Documentation and Checklist
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NEW VENDORS
Currently, whenever we pay a bill on behalf of this office, we must make sure that the company we are paying is established, through tax identification number, on the state's warrant payee/vendor file. The responsibility for obtaining the payee information rests with you, the department, who incurs the expense. The Department of Administration has been requiring only this tax identification number in order for us to establish a payee/vendor for payment purposes. However, the requirements we must satisfy in order to pay a NEW vendor have now been changed.
The Administrative Financial Services Division – Department of Administration, issued an updated EFT Policy, Management Memo #1-2006-4-6 which requires that all state agencies, including interface agencies, that establish new vendors in the Statewide Accounting, Budgeting and Human Resource System (SABHRS), MUST request bank information for any vendor who provides services or supplies to the State of Montana prior to them being added to the statewide vendor file to facilitate payment. Therefore, programs doing business with vendors or individuals (only those who provide services or supplies) who are not currently on the state vendor file, will need to begin requesting in writing that each new vendor provide the required bank information via one of the following methods:
1) a completed 1199A form (direct deposit form, copy attached);
2) a voided check; or
3) a written and signed statement with the applicable bank information on vendor/company letterhead.
At the current time, the policy only requires that we request the applicable bank information in writing and retain documentation of doing so with each individual vendor information form . Therefore, prior to paying any new vendors, each program must submit either the requested bank information or your written documentation verifying the request was made along with any invoices for payment to the fiscal department.
In addition to the EFT policy, the Department of Administration also requires agencies to obtain a valid W-9 form for all vendors prior to being added to the vendor file or prior to making any address, name changes, etc. to vendors already on the system. Without a W-9, we cannot add a vendor to the system and thus cannot process any payment to them. Therefore, programs must also obtain and submit the required W-9 for all new vendors or vendor changes along with the applicable payment requests to the fiscal department.
Use the W-9 and the 1199A forms when dealing with vendors. We appreciate your assistance and cooperation in complying with state policy. Please let us know if you have any questions.
Fiscal Department
Montana University System
Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education
46 North Last Chance Gulch
PO Box 203201
Helena, MT 59620-3201
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