October 11, 1994
 
 

To:         Deans, Directors, Chairs, Project Directors, Principal Investigators, Other
             Faculty and Business Administrators Concerned with Grants and Contracts.

From:    Ronald S. Thompson
             Assistant Controller

Subject: Travel and Business Expense Reimbursement (TABER) Guidelines Update

A. Requestor's Signature

In response to requests for clarification and modification of the requirement that the requestor sign the Travel and Business Expense Report (TABER), the following updates previous DGCA guidelines.

1. Many departments have developed their own travel and expense forms which contain most of the information required for reimbursement including the requestor's signature. If a requestor signed departmental form is attached to the TABER, we will not require the requestor to sign the TABER. However, the TABER must be submitted and, at a minimum, contain the name and address of the requestor and the appropriate accounts and amounts to be charged Other required details of the reimbursement need not be on the TABER if they are on the departmental form. If the requestor's signature is included on the departmental form, indicate "See Attached Departmental form" in the requestor's signature block of the TABER

2. The TABER was developed as an internal document for employee use only and should have limited use by non employees.

a. Consultants should include their expenses (to the extent allowed in their consulting agreement) on their invoices (see University Regulations & Procedure Manual [URPM] Section 6.1.4.A.5) rather than using TABERs or other internal use only forms. Their invoices should be reviewed and approved within the department and sent to University Accounting for payment against the purchase order on file. This streamlines departmental processing and shortens the time to payment. This also classifies the, expense properly as part of the consultant's fee with the consultant accountable to the IRS for it.

b. If the TABER is used for conference attendees or prospective employees, indicate "Conference Attendee" or "Prospective Employee' in the Requestor's Signature block.

B. Business Purpose

In the past, business purposes such as "Professional enhancement" "To attend conference" or "To present paper" have been routinely processed. Today, sponsors are more restrictive on charges to grants and contracts. As a result direct charging can be permitted only if the charge can be specifically identified with a grant or contract and the benefit to the grant or contract is described.

All other charges will be treated as normal departmental overhead.  Two approaches to avoid disallowance of expenses are:

1. Specifically include in the proposal budget items referred to in general terms in the past. For example, instead of "Travel - $3,000" have "Conference, Hotel, Airfare and Meal expenses to attend the XYZ annual conference $3,000." If it is specifically included in the proposal budget and subsequent award, there will be less need to justify the benefit to the grant or contract when reimbursement is sought.

2. Include in the business purpose a specific benefit to the grant or contract. For example, "To attend XYZ annual conference to present preliminary findings of Grant ABC research and get professional feedback to improve research effort."

 While the above refers to conference type expenses, all expenses require a business purpose which is specifically identified with the grant or contract and is a benefit to the grant or contract.

C. Receipts for Meals

A receipt is written evidence from a provider of goods or services that payment was received for a Particular Product or service at a specific place and time. The URPM Section 6.1.10.B.2 requires original (i.e. not photocopied) receipts. A cash register receipt or charge card slip that indicates the amount of expenditure, the date, and the restaurant name and location is an acceptable receipt. A restaurant receipt with the name and location preprinted, with the date and expenditure hand written and marked "paid!' is also acceptable. The bottom of a restaurant tab, however, is not an acceptable receipt. It is given, in blank to patrons who complete it. Thus, there is no third party confirmation of the expense. (2/11/04)

D. Itemizing Travel Meals

A typical meal request itemization is as follows:

Date                         XX/XX                  XX/XX                   XX/XX                    Total

Breakfast                                                     $                             $                            $
Lunch                            $                            $                             $                            $
Dinner                           $                            $                                                           $

Total                             $                            $                              $                           $

The reason for the above is that the first and last meal charged should be reviewed by those authorized to approve TABERs to insure they were consumed while in a travel status. As a general rule, if a person leaves prior to 6 AM on the first day of the trip or arrives home after 8 PM on the last day, it is reasonable to allow a charge for breakfast or dinner.  The best documentation of when a traveler leaves or arrives from a trip is the travel agency itinerary and the airline and train tickets. (2/11/04)