Accounts Payable

The Iowa Chart of Accounts for Counties is a Department of Management document that counties follow for line items.  The excel chart linked below has notes and suggestions on where items should be placed.  If you have an item that is not listed or have questions, please reach out to Finance with your questions.

PDF Version of the Iowa Chart of Accounts for Counties

Excel Version with notes of the Iowa Chart of Accounts for Counties

When a vendor has not been paid for two consecutive years, they will be inactivated in our system and a new W-9 may be required.  Contact Accounts Payable to find out if a new W-9 is required when you see a vendor inactive in Tyler.  Claims may be rejected and returned to the department submitting the claim if a new W-9 is required.

For Accounts Receivables:

Below is a W-9 form completed with Pottawattamie County’s information. This is for use when a vendor is paying us and needs our W-9 form. The DBA spot is fillable in case they will not accept the form without your specific department listed, along with line 7 if there is an account number to reference. The date is also fillable and must be completed before providing the form to a vendor. Please print and rescan if sending to a vendor by email so the form is no longer fillable.

Pott County W-9 Form

For Vendors:

The Blank W-9 form is to be given to Vendors to complete and return to us. If a vendor has any questions on completing the form, please direct them to the IRS website for answers. A W-9 is required for every vendor a payment is issued to.  There is also a Policy attached here to refer to for more information.

Blank W-9 Form

Vendor and Employee W-9 Policy

On Hold or Inactive Vendor Status

If a vendor status is On Hold, this means that AP needs information before they will accept a claim for this vendor.  Contact Accounts Payable to find out what is needed.

If a vendor status is Inactive, this means that AP needs information before they will accept a claim for this vendor.  Contact Accounts Payable to find out what is needed.  A vendor is made Inactive if we have not paid them in the last two years.  Accounts Payable would need a new W-9 and if the vendor wants paid via EFT new EFT paperwork will be needed.  We also want to make sure we have the correct address and contact info from the vendor and that the company has not been sold to another company.

Tax Exempt Form

• Pottawattamie County is exempt from Iowa sales tax for any items purchased on a County credit card or paid for with a County check.
• Pottawattamie County is not exempt if an employee pays with their own check or credit card, even if the employee will be reimbursed by the County.
• Pottawattamie County is exempt from Iowa sales tax for items purchased inside of the State of Iowa, and for items shipped to the State of Iowa. This includes the entire State and not just Council Bluffs.
• Pottawattamie County is not exempt from taxes other than Iowa Sales tax. Examples of taxes we are not exempt from would include Federal tax, Use tax, any Excise tax, and LOST (local option) sales tax. We are also not exempt from Nebraska Sales tax if we go to Nebraska and purchase items there and take them with us (instead of the item being shipped to us in Iowa).

Be sure to let all vendors know when you are placing the order or establishing an account that we are IA tax exempt.

Contact the vendor if you see tax on an invoice and ask the vendor about short paying the invoice the amount of the tax and having the tax removed from our account. Do not short pay unless the vendor agrees, and see if they will provide a new invoice without the taxes before submitting your affidavit claim.

For credit card purchases, we cannot short pay the credit card company for taxes; these issues must be taken up with the vendor the actual purchase was made with. Be sure to be clear when making a payment with your County issued credit card that we are IA tax exempt. If it is noticed after the fact, the vendor should issue a credit for the IA tax that will appear on your credit card statement.

Due to Accounts Payable not being able to access Payroll information, a W-9 needs to be completed for employees who receive reimbursements. To be compliant with the IRS, we need a W-9 for anyone we make a payment to. This does not automatically mean they will need to claim the payment on their taxes. Reimbursements or refunds will not be issued a 1099 at year-end. We just need the W-9 for IRS compliance.

This also means if you change your direct deposit information or address with Payroll, Accounts Payable is NOT notified of the change.

To notify Accounts Payable of an address change, please email the change to Accounts Payable or at ext 3088. 

To enroll in EFT/Direct Deposit for your reimbursements or to change/update your information, please complete the EFT Form below and submit it to Becky Lenihan in the Auditor’s Department.  The form you would use is the same form a vendor would use so the link will be below in the Vendor EFT information.

There are forms below for mileage amount entry (be sure to use the correct year so the correct amount is calculated) and a form for other expenses, such as meals, tolls and travel (itemized receipts must be attached).  This form is to be used as an attachment for the Affidavit Claim Form below.

• 2024 Employee Mileage Reimbursement Form
• 2023 Employee Mileage Reimbursement Form
• Misc. Expense Affidavit Reimbursement Form
• Meals, Tolls, & Travel Form
• Out of State Travel Request

If a vendor has not been paid (or employee received a reimbursement) for two consecutive years, they will be made inactive and their payment method will be changed back to check in case there has been a change to account or account is closed.  A new EFT form will need to be submitted.

EFT Form

If a vendor requests to be paid via EFT, please provide them with the above EFT form for them to complete and return.  Forms are not accepted by email, and a voided check or letter from the bank is required.

The same EFT form is used for employees, the same rules apply, that forms are not accepted by email and a voided check or letter from the bank is required.  Accounts Payable does not have access to Payroll information regarding EFT information and is NOT notified of changes given to Payroll.  Please be sure to notify Accounts Payable when a change is needed.

Below is the Claim Affidavit form that is to be completed for each claim.  Be sure it is signed by the authorized person in your department.

Affidavit Claim Form

Below are some other reminders when submitting your claim.

Be sure to provide an itemized invoice with your affidavit claim. An itemized invoice will have the vendor’s invoice number along with a detailed explanation of the charges.

We cannot accept a quote, order confirmation, or pro forma invoice as these are not actual invoices and do not always include all fees or the same number and could cause a short payment or duplicate payment to be made.

This also goes for receipts for meals, these need to be the itemized receipt that shows a breakdown of what was purchased.

If you send a photocopy of a receipt or any back-up info for your claims, please be aware you must keep the original copy in case it is requested by the State Auditor. If a copy is received with your claim, the Auditor’s office will automatically assume you keep the originals and if the State Auditor requests the original, we will refer them to your department for the original. If you do not want to keep the originals, you must send them with the claim affidavit to the Auditor’s office. The Auditor’s office keeps the original receipts with your claim for five years.

If you are missing a receipt for a credit card purchase, please complete and physically sign the receipt affidavit below and submit in place of the vendor's original receipt.  This form can also be used if the vendor states they cannot give you and itemized receipt, submit what the vendor did issue you, along with the receipt affidavit.

Receipt Affidavit Form

Claims needing BOS approvals cannot be entered the last two business days of the month. If your claim is one that must go to the Board to approve, please be advised if it is received the last two business days of the month, it will not be entered or sent for approvals until the first business of the following month in order to avoid issues for the Treasurer closing the month.

If a department issues a credit card to one of their employees, please have them complete the form below per the Employee Handbook Policy number 303.

Employee Credit Card Agreement

If there is not a US vendor to purchase a product from, please see the attached form to follow for foreign vendor purchases.  Also be ready to justify why a purchase outside of the US was made.

Foreign Vendor Purchase Procedure

The form below is an option form that departments can list their info on to provide to vendors and also have a vendor complete and return for our use.  You can provide this information to the Accounts Payable department and the info will be input in Tyler.  It is the department's responsibility to let Accounts Payable know when the information changes or needs updated.

Optional Vendor Welcome Letter