Purchasing Process

As a Registered Student Organization (RSO), you can request and receive funding from the Student Activity Fund (SAF) by submitting a request on LUCommunity during the allocation cycles. Once your Budget Request is approved, your RSO can submit a purchase request. Below are the different types of purchase requests your RSO can submit. 

Regardless of the purchasing method, requests must be submitted via a Purchase Request form (found in the Finance module) on LUCommunity by the relevant deadlines. CSE does not operate with checkbooks and/or cash, and the currency of all purchases/reimbursements must be in US dollars. 

Check Payment Request/ ACH – This form is used to request a check for performers, vendors, or other externally contracted services. Check requests must be completed at least four weeks in advance of the event date. For a check to be generated for your payment, all contracting materials must be uploaded in their entirety with the check request before the deadline. (See the "Contracting" section for more details on the required components of a contract.) 

Credit Card Payment Request – This form is used to arrange pre-event purchases. Payment requests must be submitted at least seven days before the date of purchase. All items requested via a credit card payment request must be obtainable via phone or online. CSE will not go to a store or vendor to make purchases.

• The date of purchase is often before the actual event date. The organizations must factor in order size, tax exemption, and shipping time when deciding when to submit their payment request.
• Only businesses found on the CSE Preferred Vendor List will be approved for CSE credit card use. If using a non-preferred vendor, Reimbursement is the only payment option unless noted in the Vendor List. 

Reimbursement Request – This form is used to reimburse students for any approved expenses incurred on behalf of their organization. An executive board member can submit one form per student, not per expense. Please note that Loyola does not reimburse sales tax; reimbursements may take up to 6 weeks to process.

Internal Billing (IBF) – This form is used to record payment for internal University expenses (Aramark catering, Ireland's, Digital Media Lab, LUC Copy Center, Campus Safety requests, etc.). It is imperative that students record these costs to maintain an accurate budget on LUCommunity. Contact CSE for your university account number, if necessary. 

Paying for Parking Passes for Vendors -If the event has a vendor on campus who will need a parking pass. Please include parking-related expenses in the Budget Request. Once the budget request has been approved, please submit a purchase request for parking passes. All parking-related expenses will be taken from the Revenue account. If the RSO does not have funds within this account, a parking pass purchase request will not be approved.