Visitors (non-SU payees) are often invited to Stanford to speak, collaborate and study. Stanford Easy Pay is a payment method, initiated through the Expense Requests system, that is available for:
- Reimbursing visitors (both domestic and foreign) for eligible expenses (including for relocation and recruitment)
- Paying visitor honoraria
- Affiliates (such as employees of Stanford hospitals), alumni, and emeriti faculty or staff with SUNet IDs, may be paid honoraria or reimbursed with Stanford Easy Pay. In these cases, the recipient’s personal email address should be used in the ERS transaction.
Stanford Easy Pay was implemented to expedite and streamline the visitor payee process. A third party (Candex) manages the registration and payment process directly with the recipient (visitor payee), so the recipient does not need to be set up as a supplier in Stanford’s system.
There is no minimum or maximum amount for Stanford Easy Pay and it can be used for foreign and domestic visitors.
Stanford Easy Pay is not used for:
- Reimbursing an employee or student (SU payee). Refer to: Reimbursements and Expense Reports.
- Paying Human Subject incentives.
- Paying a supplier or independent contractor who is being paid or reimbursed for professional services or has an active Purchase Order or contract pertaining to the reimbursement (travel for a project should be billed by submitting an invoice to the Purchase Order followed by receipts that can be filed).
The following expense types are available when processing a Stanford Easy Pay transaction. Details on how to apply the various expense types and additional steps are outlined in the process instructions below.
| Expense Type | Guidance |
|---|---|
| Adjusted Per Diem | Used to enter the Per Diem amount when using a sponsored PTA account. Preparers can determine the appropriate Per Diem amount by looking up in the Domestic Per Diem Rates or Foreign Per Diem Rates by Location. |
| Airfare | Used to enter the amount being requested for reimbursement (omitting personal expenses included in a receipt). Refer to the Topic Overview: Airfare for more information on types of fares. |
| Ancillary Fees | Used for fees charged by the airline. Refer to the Topic Overview: Airfare for more information on types of fares and ancillary fees. |
| Car Rental | Used for car or truck rental, including costs of gas for these rented vehicles. Refer to the Topic Overview: Ground Transportation for more information, such as when car rental insurance is paid for by the university. |
| Conference Registration | Refer to Topic Overview: Other Reimbursable Business Expenses for information on conferences and training fees |
| Ground Transportation | The Ground Transportation expense type is for transportation expenses such as taxi, limousine, Uber, and car service, etc. Refer to Topic Overview: Ground Transportation for more information. |
| Lodging | Refer to Topic Overview: Lodging for more information, such as guidance on lodging rates and conference hotels. |
| Meals | This expense type is used to enter a single or group meal that does not include alcohol. The expenditure type choices will be for no alcohol. Refer to Topic Overview: Travel Meals and Topic Overview: Business Meals for more information. |
| Meals with alcohol | This expense type is used to enter a single or group meal that includes alcohol. The expenditure type choices will be for alcohol. Refer to Topic Overview: Travel Meals and Topic Overview: Business Meals for more information. |
| Mileage | Used for miles traveled in a personal automobile, reimbursed using the Mileage Reimbursement Rates. |
| Miscellaneous | Used for other reimbursable expenses not covered by a more specific expense type. |
- Refer to inviting visitors (both domestic and foreign)
- Best practice is to document the invitation through a letter, which can be attached to the transaction as backup documentation.
- Activity occurs
- Note: Will call (physical check printed in advance of the activity) is not available for these types of payments. After the event, departments can thank the visitor with a card or letter, but this payment method will not facilitate a check that can be physically provided by the department to the visitor.
- A department preparer initiates the transaction within the Expense Requests system. Depending on the transaction, refer to one of the following resources. If the visitor is receiving both an honorarium and reimbursement, prepare and submit two separate transactions.
- For foreign visitors, ensure the preparer includes the recipient’s visa type in the WHO: section of the Business Purpose in the transaction.
Submit a support request if an alternative payment process needs to be considered for individual recipients/payees in rare cases in which that person is unable to register with Candex.
- Financial approval routing for Stanford Easy Pay consistent with other transaction types:
- Department and school or unit level financial approver(s)
- Central audit (Business Expense)
- Based on their notification settings, the preparer will receive an email after approval and audit completion and the transaction status will change to Ready for Payment and then Pending Payment.
- If the department needs to cancel a transaction that is in Pending Payment, contact Candex support to request cancellation. This will also initiate the cancellation process in ERS.
- If the department needs to decrease the amount of the transaction, first request that Candex support cancels this transaction and then create and submit a new transaction for the correct amount.
- If the department needs to increase the amount of the transaction, create another Stanford Easy Pay transaction for the added amount for the recipient. The original transaction number should be referenced and an explanation provided in the business purpose of the new transaction.
- Stanford sends the transaction to the third party (Candex), typically on the same day as approval.
- Candex initiates the registration process by sending an email to the recipient (using the same email address as entered in the ERS transaction)
- Preparer will be notified when the recipient, who Candex emails may refer to as the “vendor,” confirms their registration and accepts payment from Stanford, who is referred to as the “buyer” in correspondence from Candex.
- Preparer will receive an email from Candex informing them if the recipient has not yet accepted the payment.
- The recipient can utilize the “Invite Finance” option to authorize a non-Stanford contact to complete their registration online.
- The recipient can reach out to Candex for assistance - @email
- The recipient should seek assistance from Candex for registration and payment acceptance details.
- Electronic payment acceptance is the preferred method, however, if the recipient is located in the U.S. and would still like to be paid by check, they may contact Candex.
- When recipient has registered and accepted payment, Candex will pay the recipient within 3-5 business days.
- Candex notifies Stanford that the recipient has been paid.
- The ERS transaction status changes to “Paid.”
- Funds are sent to Candex (listed as payee in the transaction), by Accounts Payable.
