A person or business has to be set up with UT specifically as a vendor before we can pay them, reimburse them, or pay travel costs for them (airfare and so on).  This is true of UT employees and students as well.

A vendor who has been set has an EID and a PIF on file (see below).  If you’re paying a new vendor, this step will add time to the approval process.  And it is usually where issues making them difficult or impossible to pay (Ex: UT employment, work visas, payment blocks from the state) crop up.  Those will add delays also, of course.

If you want to know if someone has a PIF on file already, send their EID to the VAC admin and they can check.  If you don’t know their EID or they don’t have one, the vendor will have to submit a PIF (see below) to either find or create their EID.

Exception:  Com card charges do not require the vendor be in the UT system.  POs, contracts, reimbursements, RTA’s and paying for travel costs do.

This form is what UT uses instead of a W-9 or W-8 form.  Everyone must submit one to be set up as a vendor, even non-US citizens, even UT employees.  But a vendor only needs to provide a PIF once.  After that they will always be set up a vendor, it does not expire.

If you request a payment, reimbursement or RTA for someone not yet set up as a vendor, the VAC admin will first send an email to them explaining what is needed, and then a PIF form to fill out via DocuSign. 

An EID is not needed to fill out a PIF, and if the vendor does not yet have one, one will be created once the form is submitted. Nor does the vendor need a DocuSign account to fill out and sign DocuSign forms.

Once the VAC admin receives the PIF, they will confirm what kinds of payments the vendor is eligible for (PO, contract, reimbursement, etc.)  If there is any problem, the VAC admin will contact the requestor.