Accounts Payable
Welcome to the Accounts Payable section of the Finance Office.
The purpose of this page is to provide a description of the end-to-end function of the Accounts Payable (AP) unit of the Dublin City University; specifically our roles, duties and responsibilities to both you (our customer) and to our internal DCU colleagues too.
The main duties of the AP team is to process and pay invoices for DCU and its subsidiaries, to process and pay all staff general expenses and to coordinate and administer the supplier master file database for all our suppliers on our financial system.
Like any function in any organization, we too have roles and responsibilities which are both internal and external. We, like any organization have policies and procedures in place to ensure best practice is adhered to as well.
After reading through this it is our hope you will have a clear understanding of what we do and what we require as well. At the end of the day (if in doubt), we are only an email or phone call away and will be happy to engage, assist and direct you.
Please note - All DCU financial policies and procedures are in line with our internal policies and the expectations of external auditors, including the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General, as well as the DCU Governing Authority.
In setting up a Supplier or a Research Partner on the DCU Financial System (for the first time) there are several control measures that must be undertaken to ensure information received is correct and up to date.
The onus is on the supplier to engage with their DCU contact (the 'Buyer') and DCU’s Supplier Admin and Procurement Teams, to furnish all necessary documents in line with the University's internal policies and procedures.
Where an update is required to an existing supplier there are strict controls in place.
Please see documentation attached which sets out the criteria for:
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Setting up a New Supplier
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Updating a Current Supplier for:
- Bank Account Details; &
- Email and Business Addresses.
Failure to comply with these requirements will result in a delay or non-completion in setting up a new supplier and/or updating a current supplier.
Revenue Tax Clearance
All suppliers to Irish public sector bodies, including Dublin City University (DCU), who supply or are likely to supply goods/services of more than €10,000 (including VAT) in any twelve-month period must obtain Revenue tax clearance.
A failure to provide tax clearance will result in supplier payments being withheld until clearance is in place.
eTax Clearance
The Irish Revenue Commissioners introduced a system of Electronic Tax Clearance in 2016 (aka. 'eTax Clearance') that replaced the former paper-based certification system. DCU is now required to upload each proposed payments file to Revenue detailing the amount to be paid to each supplier and their related tax number. Revenue confirms by return which suppliers have up to date tax clearance and this determines those payments which can be paid and those which must be withheld.
Note: This electronic system only applies to Irish based suppliers/individuals or those with an Irish tax number.
In cases where Revenue advise that no tax clearance is in place DCU cannot proceed with the payment and the supplier will be advised by DCU that tax clearance has not been obtained. Suppliers should contact Revenue to resolve the matter.
Note: Supplier payments will be withheld by DCU until tax clearance is obtained.
All Irish based suppliers to DCU who supply or are likely to supply goods or services in a twelve month period to a value of €10,000 or more (excluding VAT) must apply through Revenue for eTax Clearance. Failure to do so will delay payment until tax clearance is obtained.
For further information please review the Revenue eTax Clearance Guides.
The requirement to provide evidence of tax clearance applies to non-resident companies, institutions and individuals on a world-wide basis. Once your supplies to DCU exceed, or are likely to exceed, the €10,000 supply threshold you are required by Irish law to provide Irish Revenue Tax Clearance.
Foreign suppliers should complete a Form TC1 and email it to Revenue’s Non-Residents Tax Clearance Unit.
Once you have received your Clearance Certificate it should be forwarded DCU Accounts Payable Unit at e: accounts.payable@dcu.ie
Note: Under no circumstances will a payment be made to a supplier without tax clearance being in place.
Further information is available from the Irish Revenue Website.
In order to process an invoice presented for payment it must have a valid Purchase Order (PO).
All invoices must be emailed in PDF format to e: invoices@dcu.ie
All queries and statements must be emailed to e: accounts.payable@dcu.ie
Purchase Ordering
DCU operates a "NoPO NoPAY Policy".
This means failure to have a valid Purchase Order (PO) on any invoice presented for payment will result in said invoice not being paid (at that point in time). The invoice will be rejected back to the supplier.
Suppliers need to ensure when they receive an order from their DCU contact that a valid DCU PO number is in place. All DCU PO numbers are a 9-digit number starting with 3xxxxxxxx.
PO numbers must be clearly shown on all invoices presented for payment.
DCU staff will create a purchase requestion internally. Once the requisition is approved its converted to a PO. All POs are emailed to suppliers.
Each school, faculty and department of DCU has its own administration team and the Requisitioners operate within these teams. Each Requisitioner will have access to DCU's financial system where they will create and seek approval for all the necessary POs that are required.
Further information on the raising of PO can be found in the link below.
Supplier Payments
DCU and its subsidiary companies operate an invoice scanning and validation solution named Proactis.
The Proactis Invoice Capture system will ensure that supplier invoices (and credit notes) submitted to DCU are automatically captured in a streamlined End-to-End process.
All Invoices/Credit Notes should be emailed to e: invoices@dcu.ie
Invoices/Credit Notes must be submitted in a valid PDF format.
Please do not send query emails to e: invoices@dcu.ie as this email account inbox is not monitored and we may miss the opportunity to assist you.
When your Invoice/Credit note has been submitted you will receive an auto-email response from e: noreply@proactis.com to acknowledge receipt.
All invoices must be addressed to the correct DCU legal entity e.g the University or a Campus Company etc.
DCU will not accept hard copy invoices by post; these will be returned to the supplier unprocessed.
Please see Invoice Requirements.
Non-Invoice Expenditure Requisition (NIER) Payments
In the majority of cases supplier payments for goods and/or services to DCU, or to one of its campus companies, are processed through the invoice/PO (aka. 'Purchase-to-Pay') process referred to earlier on this webpage.
However, a NIER is a once off payment where a supplier invoice may not, or cannot, be obtained.
NIER payments are only allowed for the specific purposes such as:
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Student expenses
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Research collaborations payments between DCU and other universities or research institutions
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Visiting academics
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External interview board member and attendee expenses
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Visiting guest lecturer expenses
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External visitors and external conference attendee expenses
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Miscellaneous payments to students
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Student Intra expenses and grants
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Promotor payments in the Helix
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Pre-finance agreement payments which will ultimately require a supplier account to be set up but where the initial payment needs to be made.
The NIER supplier payment option can be facilitated by the Accounts Payable Team when the following items are provided:
a) A signed NIER Form;
b) Supporting backup / evidence in relation to the payment (Note: Visa slips or Credit Card Statements are not acceptable as proof of payment); &
c) Redacted bank statement dated within the last 12 months showing name, address, BIC and IBAN details.
Full details on NIERs, the necessary requirements and how to process them can be found at the link below.
A blank NIER form may be downloaded from the link below.
Payments Schedule
DCU operates a weekly payment schedule; all its subsidiaries are paid once a month.
All invoices are paid no later than 15 to 30 days once received and where all relevant detail submitted is in line with DCU expectations and polices.
Once a payment is generated and the payment file is approved on the bank a remittance advise will be emailed to the designated email address for the supplier.
Revenue Requirements
In accordance with Irish legislation the University is obliged to apply the following Revenue requirements when conducting its financial affairs in relation to purchasing and expenditure.
As a Public Body Dublin City University is required by law to obtain a current tax clearance certificate from all individuals, partnerships or companies in Ireland, EU or International with which it has dealings to the value of €10,000 or more (inclusive of VAT) in any twelve month period.
The Agresso system monitors this and notifies the buyer if the limit has been exceeded when the purchase order is being generated. If the supplier has reached the threshold for the first time the onus is on the buyer to obtain the certificate and submit it to the Finance Office where the supplier master file will be updated with the certificate number and renewal date.
The accounts payable section will then run a monthly report to ascertain any supplier whose certificate has expired and a renewal letter is sent to the supplier requesting an updated certificate.
For more information visit Revenue's Website.
To independently verify a Tax Clearance Cert please see this Revenue webpage.
An EU law came into effect on 7 August 2002 to combat late payment in commercial transactions. This law was implemented in Ireland by Regulations which provide that penalty interest will become payable if payments for commercial transactions are not met within 30 days, unless otherwise specified in a contract or agreement.
At present the late payment interest rate is 8% pa (that is the current ECB rate of 1% plus the margin of 7%). That rate equates to a daily rate of 0.0222%. Penalty interest due for late payments are calculated on a daily basis. This interest is automatically calculated by the Agresso system from the first date of registration. This deduction is shown in your accounts as transaction type TX ref INTxxxxx
For more information visit the Revenue Tax Office.
Dublin City University is required to self-account for VAT on all inter-community purchases of goods and services and on all world-wide purchases of services. This means that DCU must self-account for VAT at the appropriate rate (i.e 23%, 13.5% or 9%) on invoices received from EU suppliers and pay this VAT over to the Irish Revenue Commissioners.
This self-accounted VAT is a non-recoverable additional cost to DCU.
Invoices from businesses based in EU countries such as France and Germany, and all other EU member-states, should be received without any VAT charge but DCU has to self-account for the VAT at the appropriate rate on the transaction.
VAT on goods purchased outside the EU (e.g. USA, Australia) is collected by the Irish Revenue at the point-of-entry to the State (i.e. it must be pre-paid before the goods are permitted to pass through Irish customs). Goods coming from these non-EU states will normally be cleared through customs by the freight company.
Note: Except for certain vatable research accounts the University cannot generally recover the cost of VAT on its purchases.
If you are self-employed in the construction industry you may be a 'Principal Contractor', or a 'Sub-Contractor' (or both).
Relevant Contracts Tax (RCT) applies when a Sub-Contractor is hired by a Principal Contractor to carry out construction operations under a Relevant Contract.
All RCT transactions are submitted through the Revenue Online System (ROS).
RCT applies to Construction, Forestry and Meat processing operations. Any suppliers providing services within these categories are known as a sub-contractor with DCU being the principal contractor. Each sub-contractor must present his C2 (certificate of authorisation issued by the tax office) to DCU accounts payable office in person, a record of the card number and expiry date are recorded on the supplier master file. A RCT46 form is signed by DCU and the sub-contractor and returned to the revenue who then issues a RCT47 Payments card to DCU. Any payments made to the sub-contractor should be recorded on this card. If a sub-contractor does not have a C2 card the RCT47 cannot be applied for 35% is deducted from the gross amount of invoice and an RCT Deduction Card (FormRCT48) completed and given to the sub-contractor on payment. RCT30 is completed monthly for the total amount deducted from the sub-contractor.
The accounts payable section run a monthly report to ascertain any supplier whose certificate has expired and a renewal letter is sent to the supplier advising them that they should present their C2 card to the Finance Office.
Reverse Charge Vat In The Construction Industry On Services Subject To Relevant Contracts Tax (RCT)
From 01 September 2008 there is a change in how VAT is accounted for by Subcontractors.
New Procedures
- The subcontractor will not charge VAT to the Principal Contractor ie invoices received will be NET of VAT.
- The Principal Contractor will calculate the VAT on the NET amount charged by the Subcontractor.
- The Principal Contractor will account for the VAT directly to Revenue in his/her VAT return.
- The invoice supplied by the Subcontractor will contain the statement “VAT on this supply to be accounted for by the Principal Contractor”.
For more information visit the Revenue Tax Office
Payments for professional services (e.g. consultancy, legal, medical, engineering, architectural) are subject to Professional Services Withholding Tax (PSWT).
DCU is required to deduct PSWT at 20% from all payments for professional services. The PSWT we deduct is remitted to the Irish Revenue each month.
ePSWT
Revenue brought in a new online 'ePSWT' system, starting from 1st July 2021. From this date relevant Irish suppliers are no longer issued with a printed F45 in respect of PSWT Tax deducted but instead they can access their certificate (called a 'Payment Notification Acknowledgement') on ROS. Non Resident suppliers who do not have access to ROS will have their Payment Notification Acknowledgement emailed. Non-Residents must claim a refund of tax deducted from the Irish Revenue.
Any payment made on an invoice where Professional services have been provided is liable to WT i.e. a reduction of 20% on the net value of the invoice as a requirement from the Revenue Commissioners. The sum of the reductions from each payee must be paid to the Revenue Commissioners each month.
A form (F45/2 from the Revenue Commissioners- "Withholding Tax from Payments for Professional Services") is completed on foot of Invoices received for Professional services work carried out for DCU.
A copy is given to the Professional concerned together with the reduced payment (80% of fees due).
In the case of a WT certificate being mislaid please contact the Finance Office.
To re-claim WT contact:
International Claims Section
Office of the Revenue Commissioners
Government Offices
Nenagh
Co Tipperary
T: +353 67 33533
F: +353 67 44182
Email: intclaims@revenue.ie
For more information visit the Revenue Tax Office
IntraStat is the system for collecting statistics on the movement of goods (Not Services) between Member States of the EU.
All invoices received in the Finance office are monitored for Intrastat. Invoices received from the EU are stamped `Intrastat' and are copied and filed for inclusion in the monthly Intrastat return.
The general concept of intra-EU trade statistics is independent from the ownership of the goods and it concerns only their physical movement.
Any invoice that falls into this category is registered and the appropriate return made.
For more information visit the Revenue Tax Office.
- Claims for all items other than porterage, taxis, and basic fares, must be supported by receipted vouchers. Porterage and taxi expenses of a substantial nature should be supported by a voucher.
- Fares: Only fares actually paid by the claimant should be included in a claim. Distinction should be made between 1st and 2nd class fare; the cost of sleeping berths should be shown.
- (a) Route: An explanation should be furnished covering any journey which is not undertaken by the cheapest route. Journeys from and to Ireland are regarded for official purposes as commencing and terminating in Dublin.
(b) For journeys undertaken by private car, the distance in miles must be shown. - Persons travelling on the business of the University may use their own motorcars subject only to the authorisation of the Head of School/Unit. It is the responsibility of each staff member who anticipates the need to use his/her car on University business to ensure that his motor insurance cover is adequate to cover this class of driving as distinct from ordinary personal private use.
- (a) Subsistence Allowance: The place where each night was spent should be stated, the appropriate rate of subsistence allowance being ascertained from the current circular on the subject and inserted. If the particular rate is not known the column should be left blank.
(b) When sea or air journeys are undertaken, times of embarkation and disembarkation should be reported. - Where expenses are claimed in connection with attendance at a conference or other meeting, the dates of commencement and termination of the conference should be stated above.
- When travelling to a conference all expenses ie Registration Fee, Travel, Subsistence should be recorded under the Conference code 60100.
- Travel Advances: Staff may receive an advance on their subsistence expenses from the Finance Office up to 75% of subsistence allowed plus any paid expenses eg flights, conference fee. On return to the college following travel, the balance of the monies due will be paid subject to the receipt of a fully completed travel claim form.
NO Advances are given for travel within Ireland. - Claims must be submitted within one month of the completion of a journey, otherwise any advances issued may be recovered from salary due.
- Charges for postage. telegrams or other incidentals must be strictly limited to those necessarily incurred on University business.
- The relevant rate of exchange to be used, when not readily available, will be inserted by the Finance Office as well as the € equivalent.
| Category | System Guides & Updates |
|---|---|
| User Guide | Employee Dashboard (Claimant) |
| User Guide | Manager Dashboard (Approver) |
| User Guide | Card Holders (Credit Card Statements) |
| Update | Claimant & Approver |
| Category | System Policy Name |
|---|---|
| DCU Policy | Travel, Subsistence & Other Expenses Policy |
| DCU Policy | Business Credit Card Policy |
| DCU Policy | Gifts, Hospitality, Entertainment & Sponsorship Policy |
For Core System support for both Claimants and Approvers please see link below.
Accounts Payable
Room A140, 1st Floor Albert College Extension
DCU Glasnevin Campus, Dublin 9
D09 V209, Republic of Ireland
The Accounts Payable unit's operational hours are Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm.
Specific Purchase Order (PO) related queries should be addressed through your DCU contact in the first instance.
For all other general supplier queries (including statements or payment queries) please contact e: accounts.payable@dcu.ie
The Accounts Payable team's direct dial phone number is + 353 1 700 5877.
Please note:
If your query is specifically in relation to Student Fees please call +353 1 700 5875.
Alternatively, please see refer to the Accounts Payable section of the Finance Office staff list below.