Business Expense Policy

Purpose Statement

The Business Expense Policy and Guidelines is intended to assure fair, consistent, equitable, and judicious use of university funds. The business of the university is teaching and research. Expenditures of any type paid by the university should occur in the furtherance of this mission. Each person responsible for making decisions concerning these expenditures should always ask whether the expense represents a worthy use of university funds.

Policies and Procedures Reimbursable expenses are for incidental costs incurred during the course of business. They are non-taxable payments to individuals that further the mission of the university. The university is a tax-exempt organization; therefore any sales tax that has been paid will not be reimbursed. To determine which of your expenses are reimbursable please refer to the Business Expense Guidelines .

Purchasing Goods and Services

The Business Reimbursement process is not intended to be used for the purchase of goods or services (such as computers, computer peripherals, office supplies, and furniture). The university has established procurement processes such as strategic supplier relationships, the Procurement Card, the Tufts Marketplace or Requisitioning through the Purchasing Office to purchase goods or services. A feature of the Tufts Procurement Card program is that it can be utilized to directly pay for business related expenses saving the employee the need to pay with their own cash. Please refer to the Finance Purchasing web site for additional information regarding the proper process to purchase goods and services: http://finance.tufts.edu/purchasing/?pid=12

Scholarships

The Business Reimbursement Process is also not meant to be used as a means to process scholarships for students. Scholarships that are used for tuition and fees are not considered taxable to the recipient and should go through the Financial Aid Office; all others are taxable and should be processed on a check voucher through Accounts Payable. Click here for more information.

Payments

The Business Reimbursement Process should also not be used for payments to individuals for services rendered, or reimbursement for such expenditures. The payment for these services is taxable to the individual performing them.

Original receipts for the amount of the expense must be attached to the form. Photocopies will not be accepted. The university has what is known in IRS terms as “Accountable Plan.” This means all expenses must be substantiated with actual receipts. Failure to provide actual receipts could jeopardize our plan status with the IRS and/or result in the reimbursement being considered taxable income to the individual.

Individuals seeking expense reimbursement are not allowed to approve their own expenses and must secure approval from an authorized approver. This is typically their supervisor. In some instances, such as an expense incurred by a Department Chair, the supervisor would be the Dean of Academic Affairs.

Accounts Payable reviews approved reimbursement requests and applies practical guidelines to enforce policy and ensure fair and consistent treatment in the allow ability of expenditures. They are responsible for making final authorizations for payment. Accounts Payable has been instructed to withhold reimbursements and to request a review of expenditures in cases where there is reason to believe the expenditures may be inappropriate or extravagant in relation to our guidelines. Expenditure requests for unallowable items will be rejected pending justification, and requests lacking required approvals will be returned to requesting departments for approvals.

How to be Reimbursed

Petty Cash Voucher versus Business Expense Reimbursement Form

Petty cash vouchers may be used to reimburse employees for minor, out-of-pocket expenses incurred on behalf of Tufts. Petty cash reimbursements should not exceed $50. Expense reimbursements above $50 should be processed via a Business Expense Form. Individual expenses in excess of the $50.00 may not be split to accommodate the Petty Cash limits.

Petty cash may not be used to reimburse the following types of expenses:

Meals in restaurants or entertainment expenses of ANY amount. (A Business Reimbursement Form must be used)
Over-night or out-of-town travel expenses. (A Travel Reimbursement Form must be used)
Cell Phone Reimbursement

The Business Expense Reimbursement Form can be used for any non-travel related reimbursable expenses incurred while conducting university business. If the reimbursement is for travel, use the Travel Authorization/Travel Advance and Expense form. The Business Expense Reimbursement Form may be used to reimburse for mileage, parking and tolls.

Completing the Petty Cash Voucher

To receive a petty cash reimbursement, the employee must complete a Petty Cash voucher. The voucher must include a full description of the expense. For example, for local transportation, identify the purpose of the trip, date of travel, destination, mileage, itemized parking expense etc. Vague explanations such as ‘supplies’ and ‘office expense’ etc. are not acceptable, and the reimbursement will not be honored. A four digit account and Dept ID must be supplied on the voucher. The voucher must be completed in ink or typed.

The Petty Cash voucher must be signed by the requestor and approved by the requestor’s supervisor. Refer to the section on approvals. The person receiving the cash must sign the slip at the time of reimbursement. He or she may be asked to present their university identification card.

The requesting department must keep the duplicate (yellow) copy for its records.

The Bursar’s Office is the primary source of petty cash. Completed and approved petty cash vouchers, along with the appropriate supporting documentation, should be presented to the Bursar Office on your campus for reimbursement.

For directions on how to fill out the Business Expense Form, refer to these step-by-step instructions.

Meals: IRS regulations require that the date, business purpose, place of meeting and attendees are clearly noted. The purpose noted under Business Purpose of Meal should state how the meal is associated with university business. "Business Meal" is not an acceptable purpose. Itemized receipts from meal expenses must be submitted for reimbursement.

Routing
Submit your completed and approved form accompanied by original receipts which indicate that the expenses have been paid, to Accounts Payable, TAB 310, Medford Campus.

How to Obtain Petty Cash Voucher and Business Expense Forms

The Business Expense Reimbursement Form can be accessed here. Please note that you may not return this form electronically to Accounts Payable. The form is not designed to accept or transmit information electronically. Upon completion, you must print and mail them. You may select Print from the File Menu to print.

Click here to request Petty Cash Vouchers or envelopes

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