A.                 All goods and services must have a research or education relation.  Additionally, project, activity or program specific expenses require R&D Committee or Education Committee approval of the associated project, activity or program.

B.                 There must be sufficient funding to support the request.

C.                 Competitive bids are required for purchases in excess of $100,000.

D.                 All requests for payment or reimbursement must be made in a timely manner.  PAIRE reserves the right to deny payment for invoices that are more than 90 days old.  Reimbursement requests submitted more than 60 days after the expense was incurred must include a completed Justification for Late Submission form and may be denied.  If PAIRE accepts the requestor's justification for late submission and does not deny reimbursement, the reimbursement must be reported as taxable income to the requestor.

E.                  PAIRE is not exempt from sales and excise taxes.  We must pay tax on all tangible goods purchased for use in California.  If sales tax is not charged, PAIRE is required to pay use tax to the state.

F.                  There must be a Signature Authority Delegation on file for anyone other than the Principal Investigator to approve expenditures.  Signature stamps are not acceptable.

A.                 Purchases considered to provide predominantly personal benefit are not allowed.  

B.                PAIRE does not provide discretionary spending accounts or tax indemnification and gross up payments.

C.                 No expediture will be authorized for personal housing expenses, business use of personal residence, health or social club dues or initiation fees, or personal services (e.g., maid, chauffer).

D.                 Expenses related to professional licensure (annual fees, Board certification courses, etc.) are not allowable, regardless of source of support. 

E.                 No purchase which may result in the appearance of a conflict of interest will be made.

F.                 No expenditure will be authorized for memberships with PAIRE funds unless it includes a publication which furthers the VA’s research or education mission.

G.                  No expenditures will be authorized for donations.

H.                  No expenditures will be authorized for lobbying or political activities.

I.              PAIRE is not responsible for upgrade, repair or maintenance of VA or Stanford owned equipment.  However, if such are allowable and appropriate, PAIRE funds may be used for such support.

J.                 Business meetings may be appropriate for PAIRE support.  If there is any question about what will or will not be allowed, pre-approval is strongly suggested.  This approval can be obtained by email with PAIRE Administration.

K.                    Reimbursement for meals for business meetings (not associated with travel), including recruitment, scientific review with external colleagues, or other appropriate activity, will be limited to $30 per person for lunch and $50 per person for dinner.  A Business Meeting Expense Request must be submitted for reimbursement.  Such activities should be infrequent.  (An exception to the infrequent requirement, for example, would be recruitment for an academic position involving dinners with several final candidates in a short period of time; in such a case the Search Committee Chair should email the Executive Director with a request for support of such activity.)

L.                   Support of meals for frequently recurring staff meetings, journal clubs, lab review discussions, etc. is not an appropriate cost.

M.               Honoraria may be paid to invited lecturers.  Honoraria will never include tax indemnification and gross up payment.  Special provisions govern payment of honoraria to VA-paid employees. Any associated travel support will be provided in accordance with the PAIRE  travel policy.

N.                  A test of reasonableness will prevail in any acquisition for goods or services, including personal services, supported by PAIRE.

O.               Support for tuition must be reported as taxable income to the student.  Therefore, the student must pay the fees and request reimbursement.  Any reimbursement will be reported to the IRS, and the student will receive an IRS Form1099-MISC.

P.               Support for such things as food, drink or decorative items for personal use or benefit is not an appropriate cost. Only project specific items of this sort will be approved for purchase or reimbursement.

A.        Submission of a Purchase Order

1.                  A signed, completed Purchase Order should be submitted to the PAIRE office for each vendor from whom you wish to order.  Incomplete information will delay the ordering process.

2.                  Orders will usually be placed by PAIRE within two business days of receipt.

3.                  Every effort will be made to achieve delivery as requested in the “Date Required” field.  The PAIRE account listed will be charged for any increased shipping costs resulting from rush orders.

4.                  Any questions or problems with the order, e.g., significant price difference, back orders, discontinued products, will be conveyed to the person named as “Recipient” on the Purchase Order prior to placement of the order.

5.                  PAIRE reserves the right to substitute the vendor listed on the form with one from whom we can get the same product at a lower price.  The vendor may also be substituted if we do not have an account with the suggested vendor, and the same item is available through an established PAIRE vendor.  In either case the recipient will be notified prior to commitment.

6.                  If an order is not received within the expected time frame the recipient should notify the purchasing agent, who will follow up regarding anticipated delivery.

B.         Submission of a Check Request

1.         The Check Request (or pertinent Request document) is used for goods, services and other expenditures not procured through the use of a Purchase Order, including:

a.         Reimbursements;

b.         Goods or services acquired and invoiced “on account” to an individual or other entity;

c.         Orders which require a check, e.g., for reprints or a subscription.

2.         The following backup documentation is required with the signed, completed Check Request:

a.         Itemized detail - A company invoice, order form, or receipt indicating the items purchased or to be purchased, the price of each item and total cost. Quotes, Statements of Account, credit card slips and credit card statements do not fulfill the requirement for itemized detail.

b.         Proof of payment – Required if the Check Request is for a reimbursement.  Printouts from bank or credit card accounts showing the payee and amount, standard retail cash register receipts, invoices marked “paid” or “credit card” and statements or invoices showing a zero balance are all sufficient proof of payment.

c.         In some cases when an invoice or receipt carries no descriptive information, further documentation may be required.  For instance, an invoice that appears to have easily been produced on any word processor may be supported by documentation about the company/product from the internet.

C.        Procurement of Animals

1.         Animals may be procured only by submission of a signed, completed VMU Animal Requisition.  This request must be submitted to the IACUC Administrator in VA Research Administration (151) for review and approval.

2.         The requisition will be sent by the IACUC Administrator to PAIRE upon approval.  If not approved, the IACUC Administrator will contact the requestor.

3.         The PAIRE purchasing agent will follow the standard purchasing procedures upon receipt of the VMU Animal Requisition from the IACUC Administrator.

4.         All animal orders will designate the Veterinary Medical Unit as the delivery point.

A.        To comply with certain regulatory requirements in carrying out its mission of facilitating research and education activities at VAPAHCS, PAIRE utilizes some facilities and reporting mechanisms of VAPAHCS. 

B.         Within the requirements of the law and to eliminate duplicate registration, review and reporting activities, it is PAIRE policy that all animals purchased are donated immediately upon receipt to and become the property of VAPAHCS.

C.        Within the framework discussed above, PAIRE also utilizes VAPAHCS resources for such activities as handling and removal of medical and laboratory waste, including radioactive and other hazardous or controlled materials.  To ensure conformance with legal and regulatory requirements and to eliminate duplication of activities it is PAIRE policy that all expendable supplies purchased by PAIRE for use in approved research or educational activities are donated immediately upon receipt to and become the property of VAPAHCS.

Last Modified: November 21, 2008
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