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  1. Payments & Taxes
  2. Payment Methods

PantherExpress System

The PantherExpress System is the cloud-based purchasing tool and preferred procurement and payment mechanism for most goods and services purchased at the University.

A PantherExpress Purchase Order is the preferred method for purchasing most goods and services (excepting travel) and provides the best contractual terms and conditions to protect your department. It also helps to simplify accounting and purchase record-keeping and feeds data to the University Oracle systems used for budgeting.

Any items that can be purchased from a University-wide Contracted Supplier should be purchased using the payment method defined on their supplier page.

Access and Training

Visit this page to learn more about obtaining access to the PantherExpress System, as well as training resources.

Making Purchases

The purchaser should use the proper punchout, hosted catalog, standard form, or specialty form to create a purchase order. The appropriate purchasing method is specified for all University-wide Contracted Suppliers on this page.

Once the purchase order is complete, but before submission, the purchaser should always review the information to verify it is accurate. It is especially important that purchasers check the fulfillment and distribution information.

After the purchase order is submitted and has gone through all required approvals, invoices can be charged to the purchase order.

Auto-closure of Purchase Orders

It is best practice that fully-invoiced purchase orders are closed to reduce risk. The PantherExpress System automatically closes all fully-invoiced purchase orders seven days after being fully-invoiced.

A purchase order is considered fully-invoiced when the quantity and item(s) on the order match to the quantity and item(s) on the invoice. A purchase order may close if the total price on the invoice is less than the total price for the purchase order but not if the invoiced price is greater than the purchase order. For other scenarios and more information, please review the Quick Reference Guide.

Invoicing

Once a supplier has submitted an invoice for the purchase order it becomes fully- or partially- invoiced, depending on the situation. After an invoice has been applied to a purchase order, you may no longer make changes to the account number for that purchase. To redistribute the charges you will have to submit a Journal Entry.

Payments from PantherExpress

Standard Terms

The University’s standard payment terms are Net 30. Unless you have worked with Purchasing Services and/or Payment Processing, the University will pay invoices on the 30th day following the invoiced date.

The University’s preferred method of payment is a US dollar check. Most companies and individuals accept a US dollar check and a wire would not be necessary.

Wire Payments and Foreign Currency Transactions

With the transition to our new banking partner, JP Morgan Chase, the necessity to make payments to suppliers and individuals via wire transfer has increased.

All payments to suppliers with foreign addresses must be made via wire transfer. Below are the latest, up-to-date guidelines that will help you to choose the proper system to request these payments through, as well as the turnaround time you can expect for your request to be processed. A bank fee of $35 for each transaction will be charged to your department's account and will appear on your level report.

Wire Payments Process

 

If you are paying a foreign individual for payments such as honorariums, per diems, awards, or any type of reimbursements, you will initiate your payment request via Concur.

  • All documentation required for wire transfers will now need to be attached to the report key. This includes:
    • A completed internal Wire Transfer Request form
    • Banking information backup provided by the payee
    • The standard expense backup documents you would include with any Concur report

If you are paying a foreign supplier or individual sole proprietor for good or services, you will initiate your payment request via Panther Express.

  • Any form can be used now, but proper documentation for a wire transfer will be required to be attached. This includes:
    • A completed internal Wire Transfer Request form
    • Banking information backup provided by the supplier
    • A valid invoice or accepted payment documentation alternative (no statements, proforma invoices, estimates, etc.)
  • Please note, you no longer must cancel or reject invoices in Panther Express. Nor will you have to manually close PO’s. You do want to allow the invoice to flow through the approval process into Prism now. 

If you do not have access to either system, Payment Processing will accept requests via “paper,” meaning you can fill out the required documentation, which includes:

ALL requests for wire transfers are to be sent to paymentprocessingwires@cfo.pitt.edu.

*Please note, wire transfer requests are processed in the order they are received and not immediately. The requests may take up to 5 business days before being received and reviewed.  Once approved for payment, it may be additional working days before it gets entered the banking system.  All wire transfers are set to be released in 2 business days from the date of entry.  Please be sure to use the most current wire request form. 

OK to Pay

University policy stipulates that departments must approve the release of payment for all purchase orders over $5,000. The “$5,000 OK to Pay” feature in PantherExpress requires that every department must have at least one designated “$5,000 OK to Pay” Approver. When an order over $5,000 is placed, the designated Approver(s) will receive an e-mail informing them that there is a “$5,000 OK to Pay” order pending their payment approval. The Approver can click on the link in the e-mail to access the order in PantherExpress, or they can also go to the Review Area of the PantherExpress Home Page and locate the $5,000.01 - * folder. When the product arrives, the person who placed the order should inform the designated Approver(s) who can release the funds for payment in PantherExpress.

Resources