GAP 200.021, Miscellaneous Reimbursement Payments to Employees and Students

I.    General

II.   Special Approvals

III.  Completing the Form

IV.  Receipts and Documentation

 

 

I. General

The Miscellaneous Reimbursement Form should be used to request payments to employees, and students. Authorized uses of the form include the following:

• Personal reimbursement for business expenses of Duke University.
• Miscellaneous mileage reimbursement.

Employees who submit reimbursement requests on a regular basis (i.e. at least once per quarter) should accumulate their expenses until the sum of the amount owed to the employee equals $25 or more before submitting a reimbursement request.
The Miscellaneous Reimbursement form should not be used for the following items:

• Travel reimbursement - Use the Travel Expense Form except for miscellaneous mileage reimbursement.

• Payments to experimental subjects - Use the Experimental Subject Payment form.

• Payment or reimbursement for purchase of capital equipment. These must be made through the Purchasing system.

• Registration fees for conferences that have not yet occurred. Individuals should pay conference registration fees using the corporate card or pay with personal funds and request reimbursement by completing and submitting the Travel Expense Form. Employees cannot be reimbursed for conference registration fees prior to attending the conference.

• Payments for any type of service to a current Duke employee. These must be made through the payroll system.

• Payments for scholarships and fellowships. These must be made through the non-compensatory payroll system.

 

II. Special Approvals

Certain types of reimbursements require special approvals. These approvals should be obtained before the form is sent to Employee Travel & Reimbursement.

• All gifts must be approved by a Dean, Director, or Department Head.

• All contributions over $25.00 in value must be approved by a Dean or Administrative Officer.

• All Length of Service awards (retirement gifts) must be approved by a Dean, Director, or Department Head. Awards in excess of $400.00 require submission of a Length of Service Award Form for proper tax reporting purposes.

• All payments for memberships and dues must be approved by a Dean, Director or senior department administrator. Note the following related to reimbursement for memberships and dues:
  • Only professional memberships and dues related to an employee’s discipline are eligible for payment.
  • Membership and dues payments may be charged to non-sponsored funding sources only.
  • Approval must be from someone other than the employee for whom the payment is being made. 

 

III. Completing the Form

The Miscellaneous Reimbursement Form and instructions are available to be downloaded. Following are general guidelines for completing the form. For details on completing the form, use the Miscellaneous Reimbursement Form instructions.

A. GENERAL INFORMATION

The General information area of the form contains information about the payee and the nature of the expenses.

The Duke Unique ID
The Duke Unique ID is required. For assistance in determining an individual’s Duke Unique ID see directory.duke.edu on the Duke Website.

Is the Beneficiary of the Payment a Non-Resident Alien (i.e., not a U.S. citizen or permanent resident)?
Check yes or no. Payment cannot be made unless this section is completed.
Payments to foreign nationals must include:

• Country of citizenship
• A copy of the Passport with Visa stamp
• A copy of the I-94 card, front and back (shows actual current Visa status).
• J-1 Visa (also requires a copy of form DS-2019)
• F-1 Visa (also requires a copy of form I-20 - Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant Student). F-1 Visa holders can only be reimbursed for substantiated expenses.
• Form W-8BEN, for royalty payments to foreign national employees.

Direct Deposit
Employees and student employees receiving payroll payments via direct deposit will receive miscellaneous reimbursements the same way. They will receive an email notification when the funds will be deposited or transferred to their bank or credit union account.

Check Pick Up
Employee and student checks may be picked up at the University Cashier's office located in the Smith Warehouse, 114 S. Buchanan Blvd., Bay 8, Room B103.  Employees and student employees will receive an email notification when checks are available for pick up.  The individual picking  up the check must present a valid Duke Identification.

B. DISTRIBUTION OF CHARGES

This section identifies the Cost Object(s) to be charged. For each Cost Object to be charged include the following:

• Cost Object
• Distribution percentage
• Cost Indicator (C for Cost Center, and W for WBS element)
• Company Code (four digit).

The total must be split by percentage rather than by specific dollar amounts. If specific charges are to be posted to cost objects different than those listed in Section B, indicate so in the Optional (grey) portion of C - Daily Expenses.

C. DAILY EXPENSES

Mileage Reimbursement
For each day in which mileage is to be reimbursed indicate:

• Reason
• Day
• Destination
• Number of miles

The Excel version of the Miscellaneous Reimbursement Form will calculate the reimbursement amount based on the indicated mileage reimbursement rate. The mileage log should be used to document local business mileage or mileage associated with one day business trips.

Personal vehicle expenses are reimbursed at the current IRS mileage rate that covers all expenses except parking fees and toll charges.

Expense Type & Description
The expense type determines the G/L account that is charged. It is important that care is used when determining the proper expense type. The Miscellaneous Reimbursement – Expense Types details the various expense types. When using the Excel spreadsheet, the Expense Type cells have dropdown menus allowing the user to select the appropriate code.

For assistance in determining the appropriate expense type, contact Employee Travel & Reimbursement at (919) 668-3877.

Specific Expensing of Individual Items
For items to be specifically expensed to a cost object(s) other than that indicated in section B - Distribution of Charges, enter:

• In section C – Daily expenses, enter a receipt number in the field indicated.
• In the Optional (grey) section, indicate the receipt number, distribution percentage, cost object to be charged, cost indicator (C for Cost Center or W for WBS element) and company code.

Entertainment/Business Meetings
Entertainment and Business Meetings (expense types Entertainment Exp and Business Meetings) require additional information. List the names of persons attending, their business relationship to Duke and the business purpose in the space provided.

Note: In order for a meeting to be considered "business related," the meeting must be properly planned with a specific agenda and defined business objectives. Meals or refreshments that are incidental to and a continuation of the business purpose of the meeting are allowable charges to expense type Business Meeting. These costs are not allowable in support of federally sponsored projects unless they have been specifically approved by the funding agency.

D. TOTAL CHARGES

Total Charges
Indicate the total charges from each daily column. The Excel worksheet will calculate the total.

Less excess of departmental allocation
Enter the amount of expenses that will not be covered (example: amounts reimbursed by non-Duke sources or amounts not authorized by the department).

Total Reimbursable Expenses
Indicate the amount owed to the employee (Total Charges less excess of departmental allocation).

E. SIGNATURES AND APPROVALS

Payee Signature
The payee must sign the certification statement. Enter the payee's department and date signed. If the payee is unavailable, someone with first hand knowledge of the expenses incurred may sign.

Prepared By
Print and type the name and telephone number of the person to contact for questions.

Approved By
The Miscellaneous Reimbursement Form must be approved and signed by the person to whom the payee reports or, for grants, the principal investigator. The Payee or a person who reports up to the Payee can not approve the form.

Special Approval
(see Section II above)

• Payment for all memberships and dues for must be approved by a Dean, Director or senior department administrator.
• Payments for gifts and contributions must be approved by a Dean, Director, or Department Head.
• Length of Service Awards must be approved by a Dean, Director, or Department Head.

F. FORM DISTRIBUTION

Send the completed and approved form with required receipts to Employee Travel & Reimbursement, Box 104144 Durham, NC 27708.
If the expense is charged to a 3xx WBS element (except 36x and 39x), send a duplicate copy of the form and retain a copy for department records.

 

IV. Receipts and Documentation

Employees and students are to retain all receipts for expenses incurred on behalf of Duke University. The following list indicates the type of backup that should be submitted with the Miscellaneous Reimbursement Form.

• Equipment Rental - Original receipt/contract
• Registration fees - Receipt, cancelled check, or a registration form stating the fee
• Meals - Original receipt
• Other expenses - Original receipt

Lost Receipts

If a receipt is lost, the payee must complete a Lost Receipt Form. The use of this form is expected to be on an exception basis and not a common occurrence.