School of Medicine Financial Processes and Policies

The guide can be accessed here. It provides an overview of university procurement, finance and accounting policies and processes.

The SOM Finance and Operations team is responsible for reviewing and submitting all School of Medicine contracts under the polices set forth by the university’s Office of Procurement. University policy requires contracts for several types of transactions:

• When procurement of services exceeds $10,000
• When a goods purchase includes services (e.g., equipment installations, technical services, etc.)
• When a supplier requires a signed agreement
• On-campus catering that includes alcohol from an external vendor
• Off-campus student events sponsored by university funds
• When an independent contractor performs over $2,500 worth of services or more per year
• Chartered transportation for groups of 8 or more
• When a supplier collects and processes payment information on behalf of SOM.

(Request to Approval Time Frame: anywhere from 4-12 weeks; please plan ahead for your purchasing needs to ensure there is enough time for the process to be completed; technology contracts tend to take longer.)

The SOM department requesting a contract is responsible for providing the following items to the SOM Finance and Operations team by email to somfinanceadmin@georgetown.edu:

• A statement of work, supplier contract, or supplier quote along with an expense justification.
• Supplier contact information
• Certificate of Insurance, which demonstrates coverage over the dates of service
• Competitive bids per university’s bidding requirements or sole source justification (note: bids or sole source justification is not required for catering, specialized medical or scientific equipment, library resources, or specialized academic/research services provided by an independent contractor)
• For technology contracts, the requesting department should coordinate with SOM’s technology project manager to ensure compliance and feasibility within UIS guidelines.

Departments must seek approval from the SOM Finance and Operations team by submitting a request by email to somfinanceadmin@georgetown.edu before offering any honoraria payments or stipends. The request must include:

• Recipient name and email address
• Affiliation (university employee, Medstar Georgetown, external visitor, etc)
• Proposed amount
• Reason for payment/description of services
• Dates of service

Each School of Medicine department must have at least one requisitioner. Requisitioners have the ability to order supplies through GMS. The university has agreements with Staples, Amazon (should not be used for items that can be purchased from Staples), CDW-G, Fisher-Scientific, Apple, Grainger, and VWR. The requisitioner role can be requested by sending an email to somfinanceadmin@georgetown.edu. Upon request, the Finance and Operations team can provide training on navigating the GMS punchout purchase process.

There are circumstances in which an employee may incur work-related expenses that require a reimbursement (transportation, incidentals, travel expenses). For specific details on the process, please refer to the Financial and Operational Policy & Procedural Guide linked above. It is important to remember the following steps:

1. Employees must submit a spend authorization in GMS prior to incurring the expense.
2. After the spend authorization is approved, employee can proceed with purchase.
3. Submit itemized receipt(s) via GMS expense report.