Division of Business Services

3024.7 How to Process an Expense Report Not in Compliance with the University’s Accountable Plan Procedure

Procedure #3024.7; Rev.: 1 (Effective May 8, 2017)
Related Policy: UW-3024 Expense Reimbursement Policy
Functional Owner: Accounting Services, Division of Business Services
Contact: Expense Reimbursement Program Manager – Allie Watters, expensereimbursement@bussvc.wisc.edu, (608) 263-3525

Contents

  1. Procedure statement
  2. Who is affected by this procedure
  3. Procedure
  4. Contact roles and responsibilities
  5. Definitions
  6. Related references
  7. Revisions

I. Procedure statement

All expense reports must be submitted within 90 days. Divisional approving authorities can approve payments submitted after 90 days by attaching a signed approval form to the expense report. Upon approval, these expense reports are reviewed by Accounting Services and reported as taxable income to the recipient, unless the documented circumstances surrounding the expense report made timely submission impossible.

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II. Who is affected by this procedure

Employees who seek reimbursement for out-of-pocket or Corporate Card expenses; alternates who prepare expense reports in the Shared Financial System (SFS)/e-Reimbursement; Approvers and Auditors; Divisional Business Officers and others who have approval authority.

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III.   Procedure

  1. Expense report submission
    1. Employees submit non-compliant expense reports in the same way as compliant expense reports.
    2. SFS/e-Reimbursement requires a note justifying each expense line that is over 90 days old.
  2. Accountable plan exception request form
    1. For extenuating circumstances, Deans, Divisional Dean’s Office Directors, or Divisional Business Office Leadership have the authority to grant exceptions for employees to allow for expense reimbursement, under the Accountable Plan, if expense reports are submitted later than 90 days. Extenuating circumstances for employees may be defined as a serious illness or other unforeseen emergency out of the control of the employee. Employee negligence is not considered an extenuating circumstance. Employees are not entitled to reimbursement after 90 days.  Reimbursement requests should be denied without documented extenuating circumstances.
      1. The Accountable Plan Exception Request form must be signed by the claimant and divisional leadership.
      2. The form must be electronically attached to the expense reports.
  3. Accounting Services’ review
    1. Once fully approved, all expense reports submitted after 90 days get reviewed by Accounting Services.
    2. All non-compliant expense reports are reported as taxable income to the recipient, unless circumstances surrounding the expense report made timely submission impossible. Extenuating circumstances must be documented to the extent possible.
  4. Non-employees
    1. Expense reports cannot be submitted for non-employees after 90 days. These payments must be processed on Payment to Individual Reports (PIR) and will be taxable to the recipients.

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IV. Contact roles and responsibilities

  • Traveler (employee)/claimant: responsible for submitting expense reports in a timely fashion.
  • Dean’s/Divisional Business Office Leadership: responsible for approving or denying non-compliant reimbursement requests.

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V. Definitions

  • e-Reimbursement: the Expenses module of the Shared Financial System (SFS), used to create, submit, and approve expense report claims.
  • Expense report: An expense report contains a categorized and itemized list of expenses that were made on behalf of University of Wisconsin-Madison. This report helps the employer or finance team determine what money was spent, what was purchased, and how much of the expenditure is approved for reimbursement.

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VI. Related references

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VII.  Revisions

Procedure Number 3024.7
Date Approved May 8, 2017
Revision Dates Jan. 19, 2021 – Updated Procedure Number to 3024.7 from 320.7

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