Vendor Set-Up

When we do business with a new vendor there are a host of tasks which must be done prior to an invoice being processed.

First, ascertain if the individual or company has an account in Oracle.  Go to the Financial Administration Department's Financial Systems Solutions applications page.

Click through the Access Oracle System Applications link and log in using your Harvard ID and PIN.

At the Oracle Applications Homepage, select the Vendor Request tab.

You’ll see a page with a series of options designed to find extant vendors—or to let you know the vendor you seek has not done business with Harvard before.

You may now search for a corporate name or that of an individual.  Use the wildcard truncation device to limit searches (and bring up the largest number of possible hits.  Sometimes a vendor name will be a variation on the name you have, and you want to be sure word order or spelling doesn’t adversely affect your search.

Our hypothetical vendor today is Boston Really Rare Books.

Conduct the search.

No results found means you can proceed with setting up the new vendor.

In order to do this, you need documentation in hand. The first of these is essential, the second and third are the process, and the final two are necessary as conditions demand. Read through this list before beginning.

Invoice

You must have an invoice from the potential vendor which states the name of the vendor, the address of the vendor, the date of the invoice and a total amount due.  It is also preferable to have the vendor’s telephone and fax numbers, as well as website and e-mail addresses.

Request a New Vendor form

This is the form you complete online when you’ve ascertained there is no extant vendor in Oracle to meet your needs.  This form is completed and submitted online.  You may wish to complete this form in tandem with the Aleph Vendor Request (AVR) paper form.

Aleph Vendor Request (AVR)

This is the paper form which is needed to upload the new vendor file to Aleph.  You may wish to complete the AVR in tandem with your online completion of the Request a New Vendor form (much of the information is duplicated).

W-9

This is the federal form for individual persons or LLCs.  This form registers the tax status of individually-controlled and licensed enterprises which are not corporations.  If a vendor is an individual, sole proprietor, partnership, estate, or LLC, a W-9 is necessary.  An individual on a W-9 will list a Social Security number.  Some individuals conducting business under a name other than their own may also have a Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) for either the partnership/LLC or themselves.

Foreign National Information Form (FNIF)

This form is required for foreign individuals—those outside the United States—acting as vendors.  Individuals for whom this form is required must be able to check the box in Section C labeled No entry to U.S.

Once you’re ready to begin, open a new AVR form and begin the vendor set-up process in Oracle.

Duplicate the address and other information.  There are some differences:

• On the Oracle form:

1. note the type of business,
2. any SSN or EIN (as necessary),
3. check the box for same Remit and Legal addresses (or indicate different ones),
4. indicate the full ZIP+4 postal codes (Oracle will not take five character ZIP codes).

Before the final click of the Submit button, print a copy of the completed form—you will not be able to do this after you’ve submitted the request. 

Finally, submit the form as indicated: Tub 195, Org 15000, and the correct approver (when approvers change, indicate this as directed).

• On the AVR:

1. note the Aleph code for the new vendor (always consult Aleph to be certain of no duplication),
2. indicate the date,
3. add the Oracle request number.

Once you have submitted the Oracle request, note the request number on the AVR.

When the request has been submitted electronically, gather up the paperwork:

• Invoice
• AVR
• Oracle printout
• W-9 and/or FNIF (if applicable)

And FAX all to the approver on your Oracle form.  As of the date of this entry, that is Jill Hiller at 6-4732.  If you have a W-9 and/or FNIF as part of this vendor set-up, note the Oracle request number and date at the bottom and FAX that page only to 5-3600.

Once this is done, make a front/back copy of the pages faxed (stapled) and add it to the New Vendor Set-Up file in the Acquisitions file cabinet.  Retain the originals until the set-up has been approved (an e-mail from the approver will announce this).  The e-mail will follow this form:

When the set-up has been approved, return the original invoice to the Acquisitions Assistant for processing and payment.  Destroy all other pages.

Vendor set-up is complete.