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Disbursements' Reminders

Visiting Scholar Fellowship Payments
When submitting a Visiting Scholar's Fellowship/Scholarship Payment Request Form, http://financialoperations.berkeley.edu/Forms/disb/VSP.pdf, please attach a copy of the University's award/offer correspondence. The recipient must meet the Visiting Scholar criteria defined at http://vspa.berkeley.edu/vsdef.html. Please be aware that such payments cannot represent remuneration for services provided to the University. If this is the case, a BFS purchase order would be the appropriate transaction method. The request form should now be submitted to Visiting Scholar and Postdoc Affairs Office, 699 Barrow Hall, #2572 for approval.

Donations and Contributions
The University generally cannot make cash donations nor contributions to non-employees per Business and Finance Bulletin G-42, http://www.ucop.edu/ucophome/policies/bfb/g42.pdf (page 4). However, an exception exists under the University Entertainment policy, http://www.ucop.edu/ucophome/policies/bfb/bus79.pdf, page 7, to allow for a nominal cash donation associated with an employee's meal or registration fee for a non-profit community or charitable event. Such a reimbursement is subject to exceptional approval and cannot be charged to state funds and, if charged to federal or local government contact or grant funds, must be specifically allowed in the funding terms. (Note: the employee's participation in the event must have a documented business purpose or fulfills the University's role within the community. The amount of the donation must be proportional to the corresponding benefit accruing to the
University.)

Approvals
Both employee and non-employee non-cash awards and gifts, http://www.ucop.edu/ucophome/policies/bfb/g41.pdf and http://www.ucop.edu/ucophome/policies/bfb/g42.pdf, respectively, are subject to at minimum the department head approval level unless otherwise stipulated in the award policies. The signatory must have a current signature authorization form http://financialoperations.berkeley.edu/Forms/disb/SignatureAuthorization.pdf
on file at Disbursements.

Internet Travel/Vacation Packages
Itemized expenses and supporting documentation are required when requesting reimbursement for University business travel expenses. Travel or "Vacation packages" purchased from internet vendors generally do not itemize expenses. Consequently, no University business travel may be booked nor reimbursed through such vendors unless the traveler has confirmed that every aspect of the package will be separately itemized (e.g., explicit hotel charges, airfare, etc.).
This is addressed in section XII, "Reporting Travel Expenses" of the University Travel policy, http://www.ucop.edu/ucophome/policies/bfb/g28.html.

Travel Advances
Travel advances represent an exceptional transaction type and should generally only be requested in circumstances where the traveler would not qualify for a University corporate travel card (e.g., a non-University employee traveling on behalf of the University) or use of the travel card would not be practical such as travel to remote or undeveloped destinations or other exceptional circumstances, http://www.ucop.edu/ucophome/policies/bfb/g28.pdf, pages 13-15. Any travel advances outstanding or unsubstantiated for more than 120 days may be considered employee income and subject to tax withholding and W-2 or 1099MISC reporting, http://www.ucop.edu/ucophome/policies/bfb/g28.pdf page
15 and http://www.ucop.edu/ucophome/policies/acctman/d-371-12-1.pdf, page 5.

Subject Payments
Subject Payments are payments issued to individuals as compensation for participating in research studies. They may be paid directly to the individual or they be paid as a reimbursement to a petty cash custodian or study coordinator. Subject payments are tax reportable on form 1099MISC if payments to any one individual aggregate to $600 or more in any calendar year. If paid as a reimbursement, departments must track individual payments and inform Disbursements of those individuals (name, social security number, and total amount) that reach the $600 reporting threshold by December 15 (note this requires projecting any payments that are issued during the final 16 days of December).

Timely Voucher Approvals
It is extremely important to approve purchase orders and vouchers on a timely basis. As the fiscal year end approaches, this function is critical to ensure that funds are encumbered and expenses recognized in the appropriate fiscal year.

If you have further questions or comments regarding the above topics, please contact Dwight Hendrix at 642-3129 or hendrix@berkeley.edu.

Last updated: June 4, 2007