Reimbursements

Topics Covered

• What is Not Allowed
• General Information
• Access
• Best Practices
• Documentation
• Approval Process
• Payment Methods/Timeline

What is an eReimbursement?

eReimbursement is a form in ARIBA used to reimburse individuals for purchases of goods they have made on behalf of the UW.

Reimbursements are for rare occasions when other procurement methods are not an option. Seeking reimbursement for UW purchases of goods made with personal funds should be done only as a last resort.

As with other procurement methods, you must have department approval.  It is not best practice for individuals to use their personal funds when making purchases related to UW business. This should be done only as a last resort, and with express prior approval of your administrator or dean (whichever is appropriate).

eReimbursements can be identified in MyFD with the unique identifier prefix "XR."

What is NOT allowed on eReimbursement

All individuals seeking or approving reimbursements should be familiar with our What is Not Allowed on eReimbursement Guide below.

General Information

• Make sure your budget has Funding Approver set up in ASTRA before you initiate an eReimbursement. If there is no Funding Approver the reimbursement will be rejected back to the department.
• Reimbursements are subject to review and audit, and some cases may result in non-reimbursement or request for repayment.
• Any XR that is pending approval for 20 days will have reminders sent out. After 30 days the system will reject the XR.
• It is the department's responsibility to make sure purchases being reimbursed are appropriate and allowable per budget or grant requirements.
• Account codes are limited in eReimbursements; 04 account codes are not available in eReimbursements because they are travel codes and must go through eTravel.

Access to eReimbursement

eReimbursement is open access, meaning anyone with access to Ariba will be able to view an eReimbursement and initiate one to themselves or another individual.

Best Practices

• University Bookstore- Departments can create their own policy on how they manage the  10% rebate earned  through University Book Store purchases.  If your department policy requires the purchaser to pursue the rebate from the UW Bookstore, then this amount must be deducted from the amount of the reimbursement.
• Departments should be familiar with the University's food policy. Ensure forms for food purchases are kept on file in your department.
• Taxability determination is responsibility of the department.
• Users should not include personal information (bank accounts, credit or debit card numbers, etc) and should take care to block out personal information on the receipts.
• Departments should make themselves familiar with record keeping and tax reporting responsibilities when making research subject payments. See Research Subjects page.

 Documentation

• Documentation is required for every expense made on behalf of the University of Washington. Examples include receipts and invoices. These documents support accounting and reconciliation best practice.
• A receipt is a written acknowledgment of having received, or taken into one's possession, a specified amount of money, goods, etc. A receipt is not a confirmation notice or quote.
• Receipts should be itemized to show exactly what was purchased. For example, if a meal is being reimbursed, include the itemized receipt showing the food and beverages being purchased at that meal. 
• If the purchase is food related, include a list of attendee names. This list will demonstrate adherence to the per diem limit.
• Make every attempt to retrieve a receipt from the supplier for the purchase. If a receipt cannot be collected, have supporting documentation available such as a bank statement, confirmation email of purchase, packing slip etc and an itemized list of what was purchased.
• Receipts should be electronically attached to the eReimbursement form within Ariba as the document of record.
• The size limit for an attachment in Ariba is 4MB.
• For destruction of receipts after scanning, each department must create a scanning policy that is in compliance with Records Management.
• If a receipt is in a spouse or someone else's name, reimburse the person whose name the receipt is in using eReimbursement for a Non-UW Employee.

To read more about the UW receipt policy, click on the link below:

UW Receipt Policy Information

Approval Process

Once the eReimbursement is submitted, the system automatically sends the Funding Approver an email notification that contains a link to access Ariba directly for approving the request.

Optionally, the approver can:

1. Login to Ariba from the Procurement Services home page
2. Click on the eReimbursement Tab
3. Click on the eReimbursement ID or Title link under To Do
4. Review and click Approve or Deny
5. Provide comment and click OK

 If the individual being reimbursed did not prepare the eReimbursement then they will also need to login to approve before payment is released. By initiating or approving your reimbursement you are indicating the purchases were made on behalf of the University of Washington.

eReimbursment approver roles must be designated in ASTRA (Access to Systems, Tools, Resources and Applications) by department authorizers. Each department has one or more individuals who may authorize users.

Funding Approvers are a required role and can approve reimbursements based on budget or organization code. Funding Approvers cannot approve their own reimbursements.

Compliance Approver and Watcher roles are optional and available for departments to establish through ASTRA.

ASTRA authorizations that are designated by 6:00 pm become effective in eReimbursement the following day.

Additional approvers can be added to each eReimbursement on an ad hoc basis. Please note that these added approvers are additional and do not replace the approvers that are already part of the approval graph.

Routing for Reimbursements:

• The Funding Approver is a required approver for every reimbursement.
• If the payee is a UW Employee, and they are not preparing the reimbursement, the payee will need to login to Ariba to approve reimbursement before payment is released.
• If the payee is a Non-UW Individual, central office (Reimbursement Approver) will be added to the approval graph to review the payment for compliance. Please allow 48 hours for this review to be completed.
• If the reimbursement is for equipment, Equipment Inventory Office may be added to the approval graph for review and approval.
• Reimbursements over $3,500 will require central office (Reimbursement Approver) review for compliance.

Payment Methods

Employees who currently receive their payroll by direct deposit to their bank account will be able to choose to receive their reimbursement by direct deposit to the same account, or a different bank account.  The banking information from Payroll does not default.

New employees will need to set up their banking information for Travel and E-Reimbursement in Workday.

You should check the ‘Pay' section in Workday and verify that your account is set properly for Travel and E-Reimbursement under “Payment Elections."

If a bank account is not set up, the reimbursement will default to check and be mailed to a designated campus box number.

Payment Status

For reimbursements to employees under $3,500, the eReimbursement should be available through Direct Deposit to the employee within five business days of all approvals.

For reimbursements to employees over $3,500 and to non-UW employees including students, the funds are released the day after a properly completed eReimbursement is approved. Central office approvals should occur within five business days.