Accounts Payable

Business Services & Accounts Payable – Holiday Notice

As we approach the upcoming holiday break, please be mindful of the end-of-year deadlines for submitting items to Business Services. To ensure timely processing and submission to the State of Maryland prior to the close of the calendar year, all items listed below must be submitted to Business Services with all required departmental approvals no later than close of business on Friday, December 11th:

• Payment Requests

• Invoices

• Travel Reimbursements

• Working Fund Requests

• Wire Transfers and R*Stars

Items received after December 11th will be processed in the new calendar year, as State processing timelines will pause for the holiday period.

We appreciate your attention to these deadlines and thank you for your cooperation.

Linda S. Rothfus
Manager, Business Services

Adam Drutz-Hannahs
Assistant Manager, Business Services

• More Information about Business Services & Accounts Payable – Holiday Notice

Effective November 1, 2026

In accordance with State of Maryland requirements governing Comptroller Advances, UMBC is updating its petty cash reimbursement procedures effective November 1, 2026.

What is changing?

Petty cash reimbursements will be limited to infrequent, incidental, and urgent expenses of $50 or less that cannot reasonably be processed through standard University purchasing or reimbursement procedures. Requests will be reviewed and approved on a case-by-case basis by the Manager of Business Services and Accounts Payable.

Example: An employee who must pay for Express Mail to ship specimens for university business over a weekend when Mail Services is closed may qualify for an emergency reimbursement.

• Payment Method Requirement: Eligible petty cash expenses must have been paid in cash or by debit card.

• Ineligible Payment Method: Expenses paid by credit card are not eligible.

What expenses are no longer eligible?

Routine, non-emergency purchases will no longer qualify for petty cash reimbursement. Examples include, but are not limited to:

1. First aid kits, snacks, and beverages for student trips and activities.

2. Routine Express Mail, shipping, and postage expenses.

3. Food and refreshments for meetings, leadership trainings, kick-off events, and similar activities.

4. Office supplies, craft items, candy for students, and other routine departmental purchases.

5. Fuel for UMBC vehicles.

6. Membership dues for Costco, BJ’s, and similar organizations.

7. Laboratory, instructional, and other university supplies and materials.

How should departments handle these expenses?

Departments should plan purchases in advance and use established university procurement methods, including purchasing cards where permitted. Employee expenses that require reimbursement should be submitted through the regular Accounts Payable reimbursement process.

Business Services is available to help departments identify appropriate purchasing and reimbursement methods.

Questions?

For questions, please contact Linda Rothfus at lsrothfus@umbc.edu or 410-455-3288.

Earlier today, Procurement held October's Supplier Spotlight with Enterprise and National rentals.  If you were unable to make it, here are the resources to view at your convenience.

A recording of the session (30 minutes) can be viewed at this link.

Slides from the presentation are attached

Our Supplier Spotlight for November will be with E&I Cooperative Services.  Details will be posted soon on Procurement's event page.

• Attached Presentation for Recording of October 2026 Supplier Spotlight: Enterprise & National Vehicle Rentals

As you have heard through other messages, the way that non-catalog purchases, contract requests, and software/cloud services requests will be changing on Monday, October 5.

To help you and others in your department navigate this new process, Procurement has created the attached resource documents. 

Two of the files - Contract or Software Request Process and Non-Catalog Purchase Process - have step-by-step directions to assist you with this new process.

The Information Needed for Procurement Request Process document lists all of the required information that will be needed to submit the Procurement Request. This will be helpful if staff in your office are sharing purchase requests with you and let's them know the information that you will need to successfully submit the request.

For more information, including a recording of a training about this new process, review the post from September 17.

We thank you for your patience and understanding as we impliment this new process, which should simplify the purchasing process.

• Attached Document for Resource Documents for New Procurement Request Process
• Attached Document for Resource Documents for New Procurement Request Process
• Attached Document for Resource Documents for New Procurement Request Process

To: UMBC Campus Community

From: Procurement & Division of Information Technology (DoIT)

Please be advised of an upcoming change to how university-owned Apple products are procured.

Due to the terms of the Maryland Education Enterprise Consortium (MEEC) agreement, UMBC will no longer be able to facilitate purchases directly through Apple. Effective October 1, 2026, the Apple punch-out tile will be removed from the PAW system.

To ensure a smooth transition and compliance with the MEEC agreement, please review the updated purchasing guidelines below:

Standard Apple Purchases

All institutional purchases of Apple Computer, Laptop, iPad, or iPhone products must now be routed through our authorized MEEC resellers. You can access their catalogs directly in the PAW system using the following punch-out tiles:

• B&H

• CDW-G

Custom-Configured Apple Devices

If your department requires a custom-configured Apple device (such as upgraded memory, specialized storage, or specific processors) that is not listed in the standard reseller catalogs, these orders are fully supported through B&H or CDW-G:

1. Request a Quote: Contact Client Services with an RT ticket of your exact specifications (or to consult with DoIT Client Services for guidance on technical specs).

2. Receive an eQuote: The reseller will generate a custom quote tailored to UMBC's MEEC pricing and load it into their system.

3. Retrieve in PAW: Log into PAW, click the respective B&H or CDW-G punch-out tile, and navigate to the "eQuotes" or "Saved Quotes" section to retrieve your quote and complete the requisition.

Please note: Custom-configured (built-to-order) Apple devices ship directly from the manufacturer to the reseller and typically require extended lead times. Please plan your purchasing timelines accordingly.

Policy Reminders

Workarounds for direct Apple purchases are strictly prohibited. As a reminder:

• Apple Computer, Laptop, iPad, or iPhone products cannot be purchased using a university P-Card.

• Apple Computer, Laptop, iPad, or iPhone products cannot be purchased through Amazon.

Contacts & Support

• Purchasing, PAW Requisitions, & Policy Questions: Contact Procurement Services by submitting a ticket at https://procurement.umbc.edu/contact-us/

• Custom Configurations, Hardware Specs, & Technical Guidance: Contact DoIT Client Services by submitting a ticket at https://help.umbc.edu

If you have pending direct-from-Apple purchases or saved carts in PAW, please ensure they are finalized before October 1 or recreated using the B&H or CDW-G tiles. 

We apologize for the late notice of this change and recongize that it might have an impact on your plans. Thankfully, alternate methods of purchaing Apple devices exist.  Please also know that this change with Apple is impacting all USM institutions.

Thank you for your cooperation in keeping UMBC's procurement processes compliant.

Greetings Procurement Group,

We are pleased to announce we had over 300 people attend a Procurement training in September. Thank you for attending one (or more) of the trainings this past month and to assist us with future trainings please completed the the google form survey below. 

This survey also has a section for anyone planning to attending the Procurement Q&A session on Monday September 21st from 9am -11am to ask their questions for Procurement, DoIT, or Accounts Payable. 

Survey link available here.

Thank you for all who attended our live training on the 15th and the 17th.

For those unable to attend you can access a recording at this link. 

Attached are the slide decks from Procurement, DoIT and Accounts Payable.

• Attached Presentation for Recording Required PAW Training: New Procurement Workflows & Process UpdatesTraining Sept. 15 and 17, 2026
• Attached Presentation for Recording Required PAW Training: New Procurement Workflows & Process UpdatesTraining Sept. 15 and 17, 2026
• Attached Presentation for Recording Required PAW Training: New Procurement Workflows & Process UpdatesTraining Sept. 15 and 17, 2026

Earlier today, Procurement held September's Supplier Spotlight with 4imprint.  If you were unable to make it, here are the resources to view at your convenience.

A recording of the session (41 minutes) can be viewed at this link.

Slides from the presentation are attached

Our Supplier Spotlight for October will be with National and Enterprise rentals.  Details can be found at https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/paw-procurement/events/158307.

• Attached Presentation for Recording of September 2026 Supplier Spotlight: 4imprint

This is the time of year when departments are submitting payment requests to reimburse newly hired employees for moving expenses. As a reminder, reimbursements for moving expenses are fully taxable. Business Services is required by the State of Maryland to report these requests quarterly, and the applicable tax is withheld over multiple pay periods.

To ensure there are sufficient pay periods remaining in the calendar year to spread the tax withholding, payment requests for moving expenses must be submitted to Business Services and approved by the department no later than COB Friday, October 9th. Requests received after this date will be returned, and you will need to resubmit them after January 1, 2026.

Guidance for submitting payment requests, including moving expenses, is available on our website:
https://businessservices.umbc.edu/payment-request-guidance/

Best regards,

Linda S. Rothfus
Manager, Business Services
UMBC
1000 Hilltop Circle
Baltimore, MD 21250
410-455-3288

• More Information about Deadline for Submitting Moving Expense Payment Requests

Earlier today, Procurement and Management Advisory Services held a virtual session around how to purchase food and catering for UMBC events. If you were unable to make it, here are the resources to view at your convenience.

A recording of the session (55 minutes) can be viewed at this link.

Slides from the presentation can be viewed at this link.

Please visit the Procurement myUMBC event page to see upcoming training opportunities.