Travel & Entertainment expense reimbursement (T&E)

This page is intended for:

EECS Faculty, Students, Staff and Visitors to the Department who seek reimbursement of travel and/or entertainment expenses

For further clarity, please refer to the NU Travel Services Policies and Procedures (updated May 2008)

The policy outlined on this page incorporates the revisions made by Dean Ottino on 1/28/08.

1. How soon after the trip should I turn in my T&E report?
2. Are receipts always required?
3. Where can I get the FORMS?
4. What exactly should I submit?
5. Instructions: how to complete the T&E report.
6. TIPS to avoid delay of your reimbursement
7. Notes on foreign travel
8. Dean Ottino's clarification of MEAS expense policy (updated 1/28/08)
   
   
   
   

Within 10 30 calendar days after returning from your trip. (Revised 1/23/08)

Has it been more than 90 days since your travel?
An "Exception Form" is required. Provide your support staff person with a detailed reason why it has taken this long to submit your receipts.

Are receipts always required?

(Revised 1/23/08) Receipts are required for expenses over $40 (up from $25). For expenses under $40, receipts are required and should be obtained whenever possible, but an exception form is not needed for an occasional missing receipt.

If a receipt is missing for an expense over $40, email the explanation to your support staff who will then generate an "exception form" which will be printed on goldenrod paper and signed by you and authorized by department administration.

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Click these links to get the latest forms:

T & E Report Form (01/08 revision): PDF | Excel

Visitor's T & E Report Form (1/08 revision): PDF | Excel

Vendor Code Request (aka Attest Form): PDF

The "90 Day Rule Exception Form" (obtain this form and accompanying Memo and FAQ here.)

Or go to the Travel Services Forms page: http://www.univsvcs.northwestern.edu/travel/reimburse.htm

For EECS Faculty and Students, a complete T&E report packet consists of:

1. T&E Report Form
2. All receipts including corresponding credit card statements

If the trip was to a foreign country, include:

1. Printouts from a currency exchange website (more on this)
2. Conversions of each expense written on each receipt

If you are a visitor to the department, replace the T&E with the following two forms:

1. Visitor's T&E Report Form (in lieu of the standard T&E report)
2. Vendor Code Request Form
3. All receipts including corresponding credit card statements

If your report is submitted 90 days or more from return from travel, include:

1. The "90 Day Rule Exception Form" (obtain this form and accompanying Memo and FAQ here.)
   

1. Download the T&E report form.
2. Itemize all expenses. For instance, your hotel bill may lump your telephone calls, parking and meals with your room costs, but these must be listed as separate expenses in their appropriate cell. Room tax and fees should be included in the per night room cost.
3. If your trip was longer than one week, create a page 2 (on the excel form) by copying page 1 (right-click the tab at the bottom). Trip information must appear on each page. The total amount you are to be reimbursed should be brought forward to Page 1.
4. All expenses for a trip must be on a single T&E, that is, not submitted separately.
5. If you entertained others, complete the section "Additional Business Expenses" and enter the amount you are claiming in line 13, not in a "meal" cell.
6. Your EMPL ID must be on your T&E, in the designated spot at top right.
7. Provide a grant account number to charge.
8. If your report is more than one page, the total amount you will be reimbursed should appear on page 1, in the box near the top right, next to the fund account number.
9. Print the report. When printing, be sure that the columns are wide enough so the amounts do not print looking like this: #####, but not so wide that the report spills over to a second page.
10. Sign and Date each page of the report; make a copy for your records.
11. Give the entire completed T&E packet to your support staff person or directly to Carol Surma.
12. Your reimbursement check will be sent to you in 2-3 weeks, unless there is a delay. Follow these TIPS to help avoid delays.

1. What constitutes a proper/acceptable receipt? It must include the last four numbers of your credit card AND your name AND the amount paid. A printed acknowledgement of purchase or flight reservation is not a receipt unless it lists this information.

2. For a foreign trip, you are required to provide a printout of the currency exchange rate that was current during your travel, in addition to the receipts and credit card statements. Also see "notes on foreign travel" on this page.

3. Make sure your expense is reimbursable by the type of funding account you will use. See the full list on the NU Policy website. A few typical expenses are listed here:
--- YES (OK for sponsored accounts): travel booking fees, taxes, bus fare, tips, tolls, parking fees, telephone and fax calls, hotel Internet charges.
--- NO (OK for sponsored accounts): visa fees, air travel upgrades, dry-cleaning, in-room movies, alcohol.

4. Alcoholic beverages are not reimbursable using federal fund accounts. You may use your startup account to pay for alcoholic beverages and certain non-sponsored accounts.

5. Tape your receipts on all four sides. Each of your receipts must be taped on all four sides to sheets of 8.5" x 11" paper, on one side only, so that when it is run through a photocopier it will not clog the machine. Fit as many receipts as possible on each sheet, and organize them generally by date. Circle the expense with black ink. Never use a highlighter marker.

6. Paying for others' meals: First, please read Julio Ottino's message about this, see below. You are required to provide the name and affiliation of each guest and the reason you paid for their meal. This is an audit issue. These details are to be listed on page 2 of the T&E report in the “Additional Business Expenses” section (click the tab at bottom of the report to see this section). Then on page 1 of the report, line 13, enter the dollar amount you are claiming (including your own meal). Do not list this amount in the standard breakfast, lunch or dinner line. Students must have authorization of their Faculty Advisor before hosting others.

7. Faculty cannot be reimbursed for entertaining students. If you treat your students to a meal, it isn't reimbursable from a grant account or a non sponsored account -- it is against university policy.

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Use the regular T&E report. (download from "forms" above). The foreign currency T&E is no longer acceptable.

Make the conversion for each expense and write the amount in USD (United States dollars) on each receipt.

On the T&E report list only the USD amounts.

Credit card expenses: The credit card company makes the conversion, and you will be reimbursed for the amount that appears on your statement. A copy of your credit card statement must be provided along with your receipts.

Cash expenses: Go to a currency exchange website (such as http://www.xe.com or http://www.oanda.com) and print the exchange rate that was current on the day of the expense. This printout must be submitted as part of your T&E packet.

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Receipt Requirements
Original itemized receipts are requested for T&E expenses of any magnitude on any sources of funds. The threshold above which original itemized receipts must (as in there is no other alternative) be submitted for reimbursement is $25 $40 At or above $25 $40, original, itemized receipts must be submitted for T&E expenditures.

While an original, detailed itemized vendor receipt for purchases under $25 $40 is desired, and will usually avoid questions about expenses, original credit card receipts or credit card monthly statements are acceptable alternative forms of receipts on an occasional basis when itemized receipts are difficult to obtain, as long as the T & E form clearly explains the purpose of the billing, and the vendor identification on the receipt supports that explanation. If there is doubt about the purpose of the expenditure, the requester will be required to provide a more detailed explanation of the expenditure or submit an exception report.

Care must be taken in seeking reimbursement for meals.

• First, costs for alcohol must be eliminated from any reimbursement request to be paid from federal or other sources specifically excluding payment for alcoholic beverages.
• Second, when meals are bought for others, a clear identification of the name and business affiliation of those others must be provided on the T & E report. This identification must reveal the university business and connection of the person(s) whose meals were bought.
• Third, until further notice, the upper limit on costs per meal, including tips, remains $50. This limit is currently under review by the university.
• Itemized receipts, whenever possible, should be provided. It is noted that itemized receipt cannot be obtained at Cohen Commons, but I understand that the Allen Center will now provide them on request.
• Finally, it is university policy not to buy meals for other university employees, with exceptions listed in the NU travel and entertainment policies.

Occasionally T & E expenses are shared with other travelers (e.g., shared meal costs) or with other funding agencies (e.g., paid by Northwestern and an agency or other university). In such cases it is likely that all institutions involved will ask for original, detailed receipts. Because these sharing arrangements are usually advantageous to the traveler and Northwestern, submitting a copy of a receipt is acceptable if it is accompanied by a signed exception report explaining the sharing arrangement. It is usually a simple matter to split a bill “n” ways, with each member of the dining party paying separately and getting his/her original (credit card) receipt. That is a preferred reimbursement option in cases of group meals where separate checks are not available.

Exceptions arise when an original itemized receipt is not available for a receipt-required expenditure, when expenses are shared, and in other cases. When this happens, the T & E report must be accompanied by a completed and signed exception report . To facilitate submittal of exception reports, a new check-off exception form has been developed for McCormick travelers, and we are currently seeking advice on the best design of this form. Exception reports must always be reviewed and signed by a department chair, dean, or other unit manager.

Travel and entertainment reimbursement request that do not follow these guidelines will be returned for correction.

The NU T & E guidelines are reasonably comprehensive in their description of what costs will and will not be reimbursed. These are at the website listed above.

I personally do not regard any of above are terribly complicated. I am willing to make public all the T & E expenses I have submitted since I joined Northwestern. Doing this right is just a simple matter of habit.

Monitoring Ourselves
Occasionally (i.e., in ~2-3% of the cases), a request is made that stretches or exceeds the boundaries. When such requests do not meet the policies, they will be returned to the originator. If a faculty or staff member does not agree with the return of his or her T & E expense report, the report will be vetted by a standing finance/auditing committee consisting of four or five faculty members who will review these cases approximately twice a quarter and will advise the School as to the appropriateness of the request. We anticipate that in time this review process will be invoked only rarely, but faculty and staff should know that exceptional requests for reimbursement may be subject to scrutiny by a committee of peers.

Bottom line, from now on, until further notice:

• No receipt needed for expenses below $25 $40 (but if you have it will be a plus)
• Itemized receipts for meals are highly preferred (but, if not available, exceptions can be made).

In short, more documentation is always better .

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