Expense Reimbursements

Find important information and guidelines for processing your expense reimbursements.

Quick Overview

For Purchase Reimbursements

  • Keep all your original receipts.
  • Purchases should be for academic and research purposes.
  • Alcohol, tobacco, and medical products are prohibited.
  • If purchase involves food, be sure to obtain an itemized receipt.
  • Report your expenses within 30 days of purchase.

Reimbursement Guidelines

Before Purchase

  • Before any reimbursement, make sure that your account still has funds for you to be reimbursed.
  • Make sure to know if your commitment or account can be used for the specific purchase you plan to do. Some may have restrictions on the charges that can incur.
  • For most cases, the purchase has to be for academic or research purposes. If it was for personal use, it is likely the item cannot be reimbursed.
  • No alcohol, tobacco, or medical products may be reimbursed by Financial Services Office.
  • If submitting reimbursement for a meeting where food is involved, please make sure you receive an itemized receipt describing each meal and drink purchased. Be sure to ask the restaurant for one if it was not provided. Financial Services Office will not reimburse your expense if no itemized receipt was submitted because there is no proof that alcohol was not purchased.
  • No reimbursement will be made for third party payments, such as paying for another individual's lodging. 

After Purchase

  • Be sure to keep all your original receipts and turn them in to the business manager as soon as possible. Receipts that are 30 days old will be reimbursed as "income" and subject to tax.
  • Attach original receipts to a piece of paper with top and bottom of the receipt taped (do not tape over the amount). On the space next to the receipt (on the paper, not the receipt) write down what was purchased and the reason.
  • When signing your reimbursements please use blue ink to prove more easily that it was an original signature.
  • If the reimbursement is associated with a meeting, guest lecture, or a conference, the Financial Services Office requires a sign-in sheet and a flyer for the event or the talk. The sign-in sheet must be originals for Financial Services Office to accept.
  • To avoid waste of resources, the business manager will not submit reimbursement requests for which it is known no reimbursement is possible (photocopied receipts, alcohol purchases, expenses incurred on the behalf of a third-party, etc.)