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Expense Reimbursements
Overview
Employee Expense Reimbursements
Visitor Expense Reimbursements
Special Non-resident Visitor Considerations
Reimbursement from Petty Cash
Resources
Contact Information
Overview
Employee Expense Reimbursements
It is the policy of Northwestern University (NU) to reimburse NU faculty and staff and to pay outside vendors for necessary, appropriate, and approved travel, entertainment & courtesy, and other expenditures required to advance the academic mission of the University. In order to obtain reimbursement for personal funds expended, and to account for any amounts expended using a travel advance, all expenses must be documented on the NUFinancials Expense Report which can be accessed via the NUPortal.
Upon completion, the Expense Report should be submitted to Accounts Payable for processing. A complete Expense Report must include:
- Original detailed receipts or other acceptable documentation for all expenses submitted on the Expense Receipts page(s) of the Expense Report
- An Expense Policy Exception Request if any expense submitted for reimbursement is not in accordance with University policy
- An employee check to Northwestern University for a refund of any unspent portion of a non-corporate card advance
- All required signatures and approvals including ASRSP approval for sponsored project expenses
Refer to the Job Aid: Expenses Quick Entry Sheet to review the steps in the NUFinancials Expense Report process.
Reimbursement will be made via the employee’s normal payroll payment method, either direct deposit to the employee’s primary payroll bank account or by check. For special situations, an employee may contact Accounts Payable to request a check rather than a direct deposit reimbursement.
Visitor Expense Reimbursements
It is the policy of Northwestern University (NU) to reimburse individuals who are not University faculty or staff, but who have incurred expenses for University-approved, business-related expenses, including transportation, lodging, and other travel or non-travel costs. These individuals include guest lecturers or researchers, consultants, prospective faculty or staff, and non-employee students.
The department/school is responsible for informing the visitor of the University's expense reimbursement policies prior to his/her incurring of expenses, providing the visitor with the Visitor’s Expense Report form to document expenses, collecting from the visitor the vendor information required for processing the reimbursement, and having all visitor forms properly completed and processed.
Follow these steps to reimburse a visitor for expenses:
- The visitor provides vendor information, completes the Visitor’s Expense Report form, attaches all original detailed receipts, and submits the information to the department.
- The department determines if the visitor vendor information already exists in NUFinancials. Refer to NUFinancials training materials, Submit Request to Add/Update Vendor for details on looking up a vendor.
- If the vendor is not in NUFinancials, the vendor information must be added. Scan receipts and/or the completed Visitor’s Expense Report form to be attached to the vendor code request entered through the NUPortal. Refer to NUFinancials training materials, Submit Request to Add/Update Vendor for details on adding or modifying a vendor.
- The W-9 form is not required for reimbursements/refunds. (The W-9 is required for individuals for payment of services, a speaker fee or an honorarium.)
- Once the new vendor code has been processed, Accounting Services will send an e-mail containing the new vendor code to the individual who requested the new vendor.
- The department submits the original approved and signed Visitor’s Expense Report form, receipts for all expenses, and an Expense Policy Exception Request for any expense submitted for reimbursement that is not in accordance with University policy to ASRSP (for sponsored projects) or to Accounts Payable for reimbursement to the visitor.
- Reimbursement will be made via check to the visitor.
Special Non-resident Visitor Considerations
Note that non-resident independent contractor travel reimbursement is via Payroll when travel expenses are being paid in addition to an honorarium or a speaker fee.
Reimbursement from Petty Cash
No single expenditure of more than $100 may be reimbursed through the petty cash fund. Amounts in excess of $100 must be reimbursed using an Expense Report. Petty cash disbursements may be made for:
- Emergency purchases
- Freight, C.O.D.s, postage due
- Authorized local travel or entertainment under $50
- Payment of research participants up to $50 cumulative for the calendar year (with prior grant authorization from Accounting Services for Research and Sponsored Programs (ASRSP)).
- Food purchases under $50 (note that tax is not reimbursable)
- Card Sale refunds up to $25 each
An employee seeking reimbursement from petty cash should fill out a Petty Cash Pay-Out Form and submit it to the fund custodian with original detailed receipts. The custodian will make the payout directly to the employee for approved requests.
Procedures for petty cash funds including fund custodian responsibilities are outlined in Cash Handling Policies & Procedures.
Resources
Contact Information
Questions about…
Processing of Employee and Visitor Expense Reports and reimbursements?
Contact Guy Wilson, Manager of Accounts Payable, at gwilson@northwestern.edu or 847-491-4445
Allowable expenses for sponsored programs?
Contact Jany Raskina, ASRSP, at y-raskina@northwestern.edu or 847-491-4697
Special considerations for non-resident visitors?
Scroll down to contact list on Payments to Individuals web page http://www.northwestern.edu/finsys/payment/paypeople.html
Contact Angie Gwinn, HR Tax Compliance Supervisor, at 847-491-7204 or a-gwinn@northwestern.edu
Vendor maintenance?
Contact Elizabeth Gladic, Accounting Services Transaction Processing, at 847-491-5338 or e-gladic@northwestern.edu
Petty cash?
Contact Polina Khait of Accounting Services at 847-491-3870 or p-khait@northwestern.edu, the Bursar’s Office, or Accounting Services at 847-491-5337
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