Accounts Payable - Procedure 20310e

Procedure 20310e: Non-Travel Reimbursements

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Table of Contents

1. Procedure
2. Minimim Requirement
3. Guidelines for Payments
4. Best Practices

Procedure 

When procuring goods or services, university departments must follow Virginia Tech Procurement Department established policies and procedures, and utilize HokieMart as the preferred method or the university purchasing card in situations when it is the only payment option available. Employee or student reimbursement should only be used when another university procurement option is not available. 

Non-travel reimbursement requests must be an appropriate and necessary expenditure of the university and the purchased goods become the property of Virginia Tech. Non-travel reimbursement requests are processed in Chrome River. The request must include justification for the necessity of the expenditure (in the expense description field) and transaction receipts to verify the purchase. As a best practice, submitted receipts should only include business related expenses to be reimbursed.

Minimum Requirement 

Chrome River non-travel reimbursement request require a $10 minimum reimbursement amount. Chrome River will not allow a report to be submitted if the reimbursement amount is less than $10. Expense reimbursements can be combined in order to meet the $10 requirement.

Guidelines for Payments 

Non-travel reimbursement entered in Chrome River will usually be paid within 10 business days from final departmental approval.

• Per University Policy No. 3615, Electronic Delivery of Wages, Salaries, Reimbursements, and Refunds, employees and students are required to enroll in direct deposit to receive reimbursement. Please note, direct deposit setup for reimbursement is separate from payroll direct deposit setup. Employees and students enroll in direct deposit by going to the on-line enrollment system within Hokie SPA or OneCampus.  Once direct deposit information is submitted, it takes a minimum of 24 hours for direct deposit enrollment status to reflect in Chrome River. Chrome River requires direct deposit setup for employees and students before a reimbursement request expense report can be submitted.
• Reimbursement for virtual conference registrations fees must be processed after the conference takes place.
• Reimbursement of certification cost related to employee roles and responsibilities must include documentation of successful completion. 
• Fees for professional membership related to employee roles and responsibilities must be processed for a one-year membership period only.
• Taxable employee reimbursements (such as overtime meals, tuition reimbursement, etc.) are routed by Chrome River to Payroll. Payroll verifies the taxability of the transaction and processes payment on an upcoming paycheck.
• Business Meals and refreshments should be preapproved prior to purchase by submitting a food approval form via Food Approval Form website. Please allow up to 5 business days for your request to be processed. The form requires details of the business meal or refreshment request (date, time, location, individuals attending, business purpose, estimated amount and fund number). The America to Go program should be utilized for these purchases whenever possible. Approval from the Accounts Payable for the business meal or refreshments must be attached to the reimbursement request in Chrome River.
  • Pre-approvals are not required for meals involving interview applicants for employment and hosts (generally, no more than one or two hosts but determined by the Department Head). All applicable documentation must be included with the request for payment and meals must be within per diem. 
  • Pre-approvals are not required for food related purchases for classroom instruction and research.  
• Non-Travel Reimbursement requests in Chrome River can be split funded between university and Virginia Tech Foundation (VTF) funding. 

Best Practices

The following information provides best practices to university departments: 

• Software purchases must be processed directly through HokieMart, as these purchases require ITPALS approval and vetting of terms and conditions.
• Personal expenses must not be reimbursed: refer to Controller’s Office Procedure No. 20310, Invoice Payment, for additional information.
• Process conference registration payments directly through HokieMart or on a departmental purchasing card when possible

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