Expense Reporting Training
February 18, 2015
Expense Reporting
Presentation Overview
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When Submitting An Expense Report
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Approving Expense Reports
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Acknowledging Responsibility
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Expense Reporting Exceptions and Training Reminders
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Additional Training Resources
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More Information
When Submitting An Expense Report
Expense Reporting
When Submitting An Expense Report
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For the purpose of review, approval and processing, the report must be informative to
the:
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Report owner (user, delegate)
Approver/reviewer (in school, in OVPR)
AP audit team, if it is selected for audit
Periodic external auditors
Employees submitting an expense report must be knowledgeable of and comply with the
policies and procedures set forth in the policy document. Employee responsibilities also
include:
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Using the University sponsored credit card appropriately.
Submitting expense reports no less frequently than on a monthly basis.
Safeguarding and retaining all receipts until final approval has been processed.
Attaching legible and readable itemized receipts that fully support expenses incurred to each
submitted report.
Exercising economy when incurring business expenses on behalf of the University.
Ensuring that all expenses submitted for reimbursement are necessary and incurred in the
course of doing business for the University.
Approving Expense Reports
Expense Reporting
Approver’s Responsibilities
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Approvers are required to enforce and adhere to the policy and have the following
responsibilities in connection with their approval of an expense reimbursement or PCard
purchase:
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Requiring employees who incur expenses on behalf of the University to follow the governing policy.
Verifying the purpose and the reasonableness of the expense(s).
Reviewing the receipts and ensuring expenses incurred are actual business expenses; not personal
expenses that should be incurred by the employee.
Rejecting an expense that does not comply with the policy.
Approvers should review the:
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Business purpose and comments for sufficient information to aid the downstream
approvers/reviewers, including external auditors.
Coding to ensure it is accurate for the expense/purchase.
Receipts for legibility/readability and adequacy as support for the expense/purchase.
• Reimbursement claim amount is equivalent or less than the related receipt.
• Missing receipts are properly handled, as per policy.
Acknowledging Responsibility
Expense Reporting
Acknowledging Responsibility
The expense report preparer e-signs the expense report acknowledging responsibility:
“By signing I acknowledge I have read, understood, and complied with the current GW Travel,
Entertainment and Business Expense Reimbursement Policy and the current Procurement Card (P-Card)
policy. The expenses included in this report are consistent with those policies. If these expenses are being
charged to a sponsored project, I certify the expenses are allowable under the sponsored project
agreement".
The expense report approver e-signs the expense report acknowledging responsibility:
"By approving this expense report, I certify I am authorized to approve the expenses on this report, the
expenses comply with current GW policies and the expense have been substantiated with adequate
documentation. If these expenses are being charged to a sponsored project, I certify the expenses are
allowable under the sponsored project agreement".
Expense Reporting Exceptions and Training Reminders
Expense Reporting
Exceptions and Training Reminders
• Policy exceptions must have the pre-approval of the appropriate vice president or dean.
• Submit expense reports no less frequently than on a monthly basis. If you use your PCard frequently
throughout the month, submit your reports on a weekly basis.
• Itemized, detailed receipts for single purchases/expenses in excess of $35 are required. Each receipt
must show the date of purchase, vendor/supplier name, itemized list of purchases, and total amount.
Individual schools or departments or projects may require receipts for all transactions, please check
with your supervisor or OVPR for exceptions to the $35 rule.
• A receipt must support the amount claimed for reimbursement. Reimbursement for an amount larger
than the receipt will not be honored.
• Business purposes should give sufficient information to clearly identify the reason for the purchase or
business trip.
• For example, “working lunch” is not informative. Provide additional information, such as, the
topic being worked on or being discussed.
• Repeating the same business purpose on every transaction included on the report is not useful.
Identify the purpose of the transaction.
• For example, local transportation while at a conference could be identified as taxis –
instead use “conference name – taxi”.
• The information should be sufficient to allow downstream approvers/reviewers, such as AP, to
understand the necessity of the purpose and, more importantly, what was purchased.
Expense Reporting
Exceptions and Training Reminders (continued)
• Legible and readable receipts are required. Each receipt must be displayed in its entirety. AP encourages
a review of the receipt images prior to report submission.
• Take reasonable care when using Smartphones, as AP has encountered the following issues:
• Pictures taken at a distance from the receipt are too blurry or too small to be properly
viewed.
• Some pictures crop from the bottom, right or left of the receipt. As a result, the receipt is
not fully displayed.
• Lost receipt memorandums should be infrequent and unusual, as receipts can be reprinted or easily
requested (i.e., hotels, catering, restaurants if the date is provided) and should generally be for small
dollar amounts.
• When a receipt cannot be provided, the Missing Receipt Acknowledgement and Approval Form
signed by both the employee and his/her supervisor should be attached to the report.
• Too often the form is submitted without any attempts to obtain a copy of the missing receipt.
• Purchases must not be split to avoid the single purchase limit or other limits assigned to an employee’s
PCard.
• No monetary reimbursement when points on an rewards program are redeemed will occur.
Expense Reporting
Exceptions and Training Reminders (continued)
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When including a comment, ensure it gives meaningful information to substantiate the purchase or
expense.
• For example, use the Comment field to describe any difference between cost incurred and
itinerary /reservation.
Provide a justification for charges resulting from travel itinerary changes.
Include tips related to meal charges on the receipts or provide an explanation in the Comments field.
Expenses should be recorded in the currency in which they were incurred. This will be equivalent to
the currency of the receipt.
• Concur‘s functionality handles foreign currencies and provides the exchange rate. Therefore,
manual conversion of foreign currency to USD is not necessary.
Reimbursement amounts for cell phone service should be pre-approved by the Department Chair or
Finance Director.
Invoices received after goods or services are provided should to billed to GWU and submitted with
coding and approval to AP for payment. A PCard should not be used to pay such invoices, especially if
a PO is involved. Service related invoices may require review by the Tax Department.
Individuals should not be paid by PCard.
Expense Reporting
Exceptions and Training Reminders (continued)
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Lodging/hotel expenses must be itemized.
• In-room dining or hotel dining should be expensed to meals; not lodging.
• Taxes associated should be expensed to lodging. It is not necessary to record taxes on a
separate line during itemization.
Use proper account coding.
• Expense alcohol consumed with meals to Entertainment – 52611.
PCards should not be used for personal purchases. Should a personal purchase occur, reimburse GWU
within ten business days, following the date of the purchase. Identify the report key or report name
on the memorandum section of a check. Send the reimbursement to George Washington University,
AP Lockbox, PO Box 826600, Philadelphia PA 19182-6600
Carefully review receipts for personal charges. Mark any such charges as personal within Concur. For
example, if you purchase a movie during a hotel stay, ensure the movie purchase (and related fees,
including taxes) is marked as personal. It should not be included with lodging expense.
List of attendees with each attendee’s title and name of company identified should be provided when
meals are attended by two or more employees or business guests.
• Using the Attendee field is required.
Expense Reporting
Exceptions and Training Reminders (continued)
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Multiple receipts must not be “lumped” into one expense line item. Acceptable if from same vendor
and same day. Unacceptable if any of the following criterion are met: different vendors, different days,
different types of expenses.
When claiming reimbursement for personal car mileage use the CONCUR mileage calculator tool
(preferred) or submit a printout from GoogleMaps to substantiate mileage claim.
If you attend a group dinner but are seeking reimbursement for yourself only, obtain a separate
receipt.
Expenses incurred for family members who accompany an employee on business travel are not
reimbursable, except in unusual circumstances and, with advance, written approval from the
employee’s Vice President. Evidence of the approval must be submitted with the expense report.
• An employee’s expenses subject to reimbursement must be clear. The reimbursement claim
should stand on its own and be supported by receipts.
• It is recommended that reimbursable expenses for the employee be segregated via separate
receipts, when/where reasonable.
• An allocation should not be used to determine the portion that should be reimbursed.
• For conferences and/or other related events in which a block of rooms are reserved at a
negotiated rate, reimbursement of lodging/hotel expense cannot exceed this rate. Provide the
document from the conference/event showing the negotiated rate and the receipt.
Additional Training Resources
Expense Reporting
Additional Training Resources
Skillport
iBuy Concur: Introduction to Travel and Expense – Duration 5 minutes
https://gwu.skillport.com/skillportfe/assetSummaryPage.action?assetid=elo_eexp_concur_intro&fromSha
re=yes
iBuy Concur: Updating Your Expense Profile – Duration 3 minutes
https://gwu.skillport.com/skillportfe/assetSummaryPage.action?assetid=elo_eexp_concur_profile&fromS
hare=yes
iBuy Concur: Creating a New Expense Report – Duration 5 minutes
https://gwu.skillport.com/skillportfe/assetSummaryPage.action?assetid=elo_eexp_concur_newexp&from
Share=yes
iBuy Concur: Print and Submit an Expense Report – Duration 2 minutes
https://gwu.skillport.com/skillportfe/assetSummaryPage.action?assetid=elo_eexp_concur_submit&fromS
hare=yes
iBuy Concur: Reviewing and Approving an Expense Report –Duration 6 minutes
https://gwu.skillport.com/skillportfe/assetSummaryPage.action?assetid=elo_eexp_concur_approve&from
Share=yes
More Information
Expense Reporting
For More Information
Travel, Entertainment and Business Expense Reimbursement Policy http://my.gwu.edu/files/policies/TravelEntertainmentFINAL.pdf
Procurement Card (P-Card) Policy http://my.gwu.edu/files/policies/ProcurementCardFINAL.pdf