Reimbursements

Employees are encouraged to use a purchase order or procurement card, as opposed to personal funds, when procuring items for the university. Purchase orders should be initiated and approved before the expenditure is incurred.

When employees purchase items on behalf of the university from personal funds, they usually are required to pay the sales tax. The employee may be reimbursed for the cost of the item as well as the sales tax, but the university has expended approximately 6.75% more for the item because of the sales tax. For this reason, personal reimbursements should be minimized, or the employee should provide a tax exemption certificate [pdf] to the vendor whenever feasible. Please visit the Expenditures Policy [pdf] web page for complete information.

All reimbursements should be supported by the Chemistry Request for Reimbursement [pdf] form.

Reimbursement must be requested within 6 months of the date the cost was incurred. Failure to meet this deadline will cause your request to be treated as an exception and it will be sent to the college office for approval.

US Citizens and Resident Aliens, Non-employee

Vendor information must be entered into Purchasing vendor database before payment can be processed. If the person is a new vendor, request vendor to complete the AP compliance [pdf] form and turn it in to Chemistry Accounting.

Non-Resident Alien:

Reimbursement must be processed by sending original paperwork to AP. Use paper OSU Request for Payment [pdf] form. Must include copy of visa, passport, (and form 8233?) if paying for services. No AP Compliance form is required. Contact AP before mailing items to confirm requirements. If payment is to be made either by foriegn draft [pdf] or  wire transfer [pdf] the apropriate form must also be used.

At a minimun the Org and fund must be listed on the form for University reimbursements. OSURF reimbursements will also require a project.

All reimbursements must include a business purpose as to why was the purchase made This must be descriptive enough so that a third person reviewing the form would understand the business reason for the expense. See special requirements for business meals, meetings and events where food is served.

The documentation attached to the Reimbursement form must have an original, itemized receipt from the vendor showing the method of payment

For credit card payments: The blurb, "method of payment: MC, Visa, etc", is not sufficient. The x'd out credit card number with the last 4 digits showing (xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-1234), or a balance due of $0 or marked "Paid in Full" must appear on the document. A receipt printed from the internet is also not sufficient.

If the receipt is insufficient to document the purchase was paid with a credit card, then a copy of the monthly credit card statement or documentation of the transaction from the card vendor will be needed as proof of payment.

If original receipts (or other documentation) are not available, the request becomes an exception and must be sent to the College for approval along with a memo/e-mail from the payee to support the request. The memo must explain what was purchased, the cost, the business purpose and why the originals are not available.

If there is more than one receipt, group receipts with related supporting documentation and, if possible, prepare an adding machine tape to document the total of multiple items.