Tips for expedited expense claims

In October 2021, some finance services including travel, expense and professional expense reimbursement claims processing moved into the Shared Services unit.

As Shared Services sought opportunities for process improvements, we identified a few common issues that can delay the review and payment of claims, causing employees to go un-reimbursed for up to four weeks. Our goal is to expedite the time for reimbursement—and you can help us get there. The following tips will speed up the time it takes for Shared Services to review and process your expense activities.

Tips for all claims

• Include the business purpose or justification for the expense in the top details section of the claim.
• For each expense, attach an itemized receipt, which includes the supplier's name, a description of the item(s) purchased, the price paid (including GST if applicable), and the payment method (i.e. cash, credit card).
• Remember to click "Save" and "Submit" when you are finished entering your claim.

Tips for expense claims

• In the top details section of the claim, include a justification to support why personal resources were used instead of preferred, established university purchasing methods (e.g. purchase order, PCard or petty cash).
• Use a PCard or purchase order instead of personal funds to purchase goods/services
• The maximum reimbursable amount is $500 per receipt. Claims exceeding the maximum will be denied.
• The minimum expense claim total is $100; please save all small dollar receipts until they total $100 OR until 90 days have passed OR until March (fiscal year end), whichever comes first.
• Submit your expenses in the same fiscal year (April 1 to March 31) in which they were incurred. Expenses from a previous fiscal year will be denied.
• For hospitality or working session expenses, include the names of the attendees, in addition to the purpose of the meeting.
• The first 10 km (per trip) for local business is ineligible for reimbursement; provide a google map showing the total round trip kilometers from your regular work location to the event/meeting venue, but deduct 10 km in your claim.
• A maximum of 50% of the base plan of personal cell phone and home internet may be reimbursable. Include justification outlining how the expense supports university business activity and an estimate (%) of the actual usage used for university business.

As a reminder, expense reimbursement is not a supported purchasing method at the university, and should only be used for incidental expenses (parking, mileage, registrations), remote locations, cash economies, and emergency situations after SupplyNet, PCard and petty cash have been considered. For example, office supplies should be purchased through SupplyNet. The use of a personal credit card to complete a purchase of office supplies is ineligible through the expense reimbursement process. Effective April 1, non-compliant expenses reconciled in the PeopleSoft Expense template will be returned and not processed.

Tips for travel claims

• In the top details section of the claim, include:
  • A justification to support why personal resources were used instead of preferred, established university purchasing methods (e.g. purchase order, PCard or petty cash)
  • Description of the business activity
  • Who attended the event
  • Where and when the event occurred
  • For hospitality or working session expenses, include the names of the attendees, in addition to the purpose of the meeting
  • Submit the claim within 30 days of the completion of the trip
• Submit one claim for each trip and include all associated expenses.
• Include all non-reimbursable expenses paid by other university purchasing methods (TAP, HAP, PCard) and check the "non-reimbursable" flag on the claim. This helps approvers review the entire cost of travel.
• Include and upload supporting documents (e.g. conference/meeting agendas) that support your comments in the details section.
• Where personal travel is added to a business trip or when traveling with family or friends, demonstrate you are not claiming the additional airfare or accommodation charges for guests, extended flight/accommodation dates, etc.
  • Example: Attach a vendor quote/itinerary for airfare without personal travel dates added to demonstrate airfare is not more expensive by leaving several days after a conference ends.

Tips for professional expense reimbursement

• If claiming phone or internet, include all pages of the bill. You can redact/blackout parts of the bill you would prefer to keep private.
• Only the monthly internet base plan fee is reimbursable. Do not include additional service, fees or charges.

Watch for more

Stay tuned to the Quad and the Employee Digest for more updates. On April 1, 2022, the university will be adhering to the new procedures for travel and expense compliance. Those claims not in compliance will be sent back for correction, thereby delaying your reimbursement.

In case you missed it, take a look at an article we shared recently about the four methods available for purchasing goods and services at the U of A.

If you have any questions about expense claims, please reach out to the Staff Service Centre.