Procedure: 101-Payments to Individuals

General Guidelines

The Payment to Individual Report (PIR) is used to request all payments to individuals except salaries, employee reimbursements, and payment to subcontractors and architects. An individual is defined as "a person who is not a company, partnership, corporation, association, organization, trust or estate, and for whom an employer-employee relationship does not exist." See FPPP #31 for more details. Examples of valid payments processed with a PIR are direct-charge payments to individuals for services, prizes and awards, scholarships, rents, royalties, and participant support. You may use the PIR to pay a non-UW employee. You may use the PIR to pay a fee that is less than $50 to a registered UW student. Fees for services greater than $50 that are paid to students and any payments to a UW employe must be paid through payroll.

Take the following steps to complete the PIR form (more detailed instructions appear in Appendix 1.):

  • Indicate residency, dates of service and purpose of payment.
  • Complete the area "Entertainer or Public Speaker". If indicating "yes," attach a completed, signed entertainment contract. Only UW Purchasing can sign contracts for the University unless the Department has been delegated by Purchasing to sign contracts.
  • Depending upon the type of service and if the payment is $1,500 or more, attach a sole source justification. Detailed instructions on the sole source justification is available from Purchasing Services. Refer to Internal Procedure Paper #31 and Purchasing Policy and Procedure Paper #19.
  • If the payment is $5,000 or more for any 12 month period, no matter what service is being performed, a signed Academic Support Services Agreement must be attached to the PIR. Please note that the agreement should be signed by Purchasing Services prior to services being performed or offered. After the order is approved, a check will be issued.

Account Codes

  • Code payments for services to SFS Account Code 2620.
  • If the coding for payment is using Program 9, the Dean/Director's Office must send the PIR to the Student Financial Aids Office for approval. Program 9 can only be used with SFS Account Codes 5711 and 5713.
  • The SFS Account Codes marked with an asterisk (*) require an individual's home mailing address.
  • SFS Account Code 2637 (Reportable) should conform to our procedures for paying human subjects. Please read How To Pay Human Subjects before submitting a payment to individual report

Listed below are the SFS Account Codes that are most commonly used on the PIR. Please refer to the current Account Code page for specific definitions or an entire list of SFS Account Codes and definitions

Account Code

Title
2162 Travel - Non-employees who adequately account for expenses
2620* Services - Professional, educational, or vocational - individual, sole proprietorship or partnership (Reportable).
2621* Services - Provided by consultants - individual, sole proprietorship or partnership (Reportable).
3750* Prizes and Awards - Cash to individuals (Reportable).
3860* Royalties - Individuals, sole proprietorship or partnership (Reportable).
2637* Human Subjects (Reportable).
5709* Support - Students, fellows, scholars and trainees (Reportable when payment is to a non-resident alien).
5710* Support - Non-employees and non-registered UW students (Reportable when payment is to a non-resident alien).
5711* Student aid/scholarship awards - excluding loans (Reportable when payment is to a non-resident alien).
5713 Tuition and fees.

PIR copies are retained as follows:

  • Copy 3 is retained by the Department Chairperson/Principal Investigator.
  • Copy 2 is retained by the Dean/Director.
  • Copy 1 and Original are sent to Accounting Services, with 2 copies of all attachments.
  • Copy 1 will be used by the Accounting Services Tax Department. Original will be attached to the voucher.

Procedure: 101-Payments to Individuals


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