Expense and Resource Stewardship Procedures

View the Expense and Resource Stewardship Policy

Procedures

PROCEDURES

DOCUMENTATION

All purchases made on behalf of the College must be appropriately documented. This method of documentation must occur for all forms of payment (invoice, Payment Request, Hope Visa card, or Cash Advance). Documentation must report the following information:

鈥淲ho鈥� 鈥� For whom was this expense incurred? If this was a meal, who attended the meal?
鈥淲hat鈥� 鈥� What items were purchased?
鈥淲here鈥� 鈥� At what location did the expense occur? What restaurant? What store? What city?
鈥淲hen鈥� 鈥� What date was this expense incurred? Does this purchase relate to an event that already occurred or will occur?
鈥淲hy鈥� 鈥� What was the business purpose of this expense? How can we support that this was not a personal expenditure?
Six-digit fund (what bucket of money is paying for the expense, five-digit org (who/what department is paying for the expense) and four-digit account number (more general, what is the purchase? Account number listing found here.)
Itemized Receipt (if the charge is over $35). Business Services reserves the right to request receipts for purchases under $35.

The required documentation can come from the receipt, a written explanation, or a combination of the two sources. Original, itemized receipts are the preferred source of this information.

Documentation for all purchases must be returned to Business Services within 90 days of the date of the charge. The timeline for submitting expenses may be shortened at the end of the fiscal year. After this time frame, Business Services will be required to either not reimburse the expense or will report the expense as taxable income on the individual's W-2.

Documentation for all credit card charges should be submitted to Emburse and attached to the appropriate expense on an expense report within the software. For guidance on using Emburse please see 鈥淯sing Emburse鈥�. You may also contact the Accounts Payable Coordinator for additional guidance.

Sponsored Program Guidance

For 鈥減ost-award鈥� financial questions or guidance related to sponsored program accounting, please contact the Sponsored Awards Accountant. Please see 鈥淩eviewing Budgets鈥� in this policy for more guidance.

All costs related to sponsored programs must follow 换妻社区鈥檚 Expense and Resource Stewardship Policy as well as the guidelines, regulations, and policies issued by the awarding agency. In a situation with inconsistent policies between the college and the awarding agency, the most restrictive policy will apply. Any approved exceptions to the Expense and Resource Stewardship policy due to a sponsored program's terms only apply to that specific sponsored program. All costs must be reasonable, allocable, and allowable per the sponsored program鈥檚 budget and the awarding agency鈥檚 policies.

If a charge is later determined to be unreasonable, not allocable, or unallowable, an inter/intra departmental transfer form should be submitted to Business Services. Unallowable expenses must be moved from the sponsored program into a non-sponsored program fund, such as the operating fund and the Principal Investigator's [PI] home org. Please see the Inter/Intra Departmental Charge Form section of this policy for more guidance. Business Services may also require the purchaser to reimburse the college, and thus the sponsored program, for the purchase if the expense is deemed unallowable under the Expense and Resource Stewardship Policy.

The Sponsored Awards Accountant will review all sponsored program cash balances and request reimbursement at least on a quarterly basis or as needed. If a sponsored program fund has more expenses than possible revenues, the Sponsored Awards Accountant will address this concern with the Principal Investigator [PI] of the sponsored program with input from the OSRP, the Controller, and the PI鈥檚 supervisor, as needed. Sponsored program overruns will be the department or division鈥檚 responsibility.

The Controller must approve, in advance, applications for programs originally funded by a sponsored program that will need additional funding beyond the life of the sponsored program. The Controller will seek input from the CFO as necessary.The Director of the Office of Sponsored Research and Programs [OSRP] should be contacted when preparing sponsored program proposals and for general budget guidance. The Director鈥檚 responsibilities are primarily 鈥減re-award,鈥� and maintaining the ongoing relationship with the sponsor after the award, including compliance with all terms and conditions of the original award.

When an additional level of approval or certification is required for reimbursement requests, as is the case with National Science Foundation requests, the Controller (or designee) will approve/certify requests made by the Sponsored Awards Accountant.

The Deans of each academic division will be the primary org managers for sponsored awards in their respective division. The Assistant Directors of OSRP will be the secondary org managers.

Sponsored program files should be maintained for three years after the Final Financial Report is submitted to the awarding agency. Business Services and OSRP have primary responsibility to maintain these files, but PIs should maintain their files as well.

REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION

Employees seeking to make purchases above the outlined thresholds (which can be found in 鈥淧rocurement Thresholds鈥� under 鈥淧olicy鈥�) must complete a Request for Information (RFI). This document can then be distributed to the vendors. Significant agreements can only be signed by an authorized signatory (President, CFO, Director of Business Services and Controller) of the College. For recurring items, the college recommends completing an RFI process every several years.

For assistance with completing an RFI, please contact the Controller.

USING THE ARCHIVEs and Special CollectionS

Contracts can be dropped off to the Archives and Special Collections or sent via the campus mail. If you have questions please contact the 换妻社区 Archives and Special Collections (archives@hope.edu).

HOPE CREDIT CARDS

REQUESTING A HOPE CREDIT CARD

An employee may request a Hope credit card (with approval from their supervisor) at any time during their employment at Hope. All requests should be sent to businessservices@hope.edu and should include the employee鈥檚 name, department, and immediate supervisor. The supervisor will need to approve the credit card. On rare occasions, Business Services may approve the issuance of a credit card to expedite the process.

Credit cards take approximately two weeks to arrive. When Business Services receives the credit card, the employee will be contacted to pick it up and sign the Credit Card Usage Agreement.

Once an employee receives a college credit card, they must contact Business Services to receive training on Emburse, the college鈥檚 expense reporting software.

For policy information around corporate credit cards, please see 鈥淐orporate Credit Card鈥� in the 鈥淧olicy鈥� section of this policy.

SPENDING ON A HOPE CREDIT CARD

The Hope credit card may be used anywhere Visa cards are accepted (domestic or international). You may be required to use a four-digit pin. The address associated with the card may be required for online purchases. The address is as follows:

100 E. 8th Street, Suite 280
Holland, MI 49423

USING Emburse

Every expense charged on a Hope credit card will be automatically assigned to the cardholder鈥檚 Emburse account. It is the cardholder鈥檚 responsibility to document each charge and submit for approval.

Questions about using Emburse should be directed to the Accounts Payable Coordinator and/or to Emburse鈥檚 support team. Emburse鈥檚 support team can be reached at (888) 925-0510, option 2.

Emburse REMINDERS

Typically, weekly the Accounts Payable Coordinator will send reminder emails to cardholders with expenses that have not yet been submitted to an org manager. Below are the examples of reminders you may receive:

30 Days - a friendly reminder from Emburse.
80 Days - your supervisor will be CC'd on the email. This email will outline when you will exceed 90 days. If your expenses exceed 90 days your credit card will be deactivated.
90 Days - This is a notification that your credit card has been deactivated. Your supervisor will be CC'd on this email. Please see 鈥淐orporate Credit Card鈥� under 鈥淧olicy鈥� for more information.

FRAUDULENT CHARGES ON COLLEGE-ISSUED CREDIT CARD

If fraudulent charges are noticed by a cardholder, the cardholder should call the number on the back of their Hope Visa card and identify any fraudulent activity. Next, a Credit Card Dispute Form should be filled out immediately. Once the form is completed, the form should be emailed to a 换妻社区 program administrator. Fraudulent charges should be expensed to the individual鈥檚 most commonly used fund and org number, and to account 7988. If PNC/Visa resolves the dispute and a credit is issued, it should be credited to the same fund and account number, resulting in a net zero impact.

GIFTS & GIFT CARDS

Because the IRS and Department of Education outline strict rules surrounding gift cards, the college suggests the following options for acknowledging an individual when using college resources. See "Gift Card Expenses" and 鈥淕ift Expenses鈥� sections for the related policies. Additional suggestions for acknowledging an individual are below.

A chart outlining gift options for various people in the 换妻社区 community

PAYMENT REQUESTS

If an employee uses personal funds to pay for a business expense, the employee may complete a Payment Request form. Appropriate documentation (as included in the 鈥淒ocumentation鈥� section above) must be included with these types of requests.

Similarly, a Payment Request can be used to pay an outside individual or vendor, if necessary. A W-9 form will be required anytime the College pays an independent contractor for services performed.

Most weeks, Payment Request forms turned in to Business Services by Tuesday at noon will be paid the same week on Friday.

For more information regarding policies around payment requests, please see 鈥淧ersonal Payment and Payment Requests鈥� under the 鈥淧olicy鈥� part of the policy.

Over and Above

Over and Aboves may be given to employees for work beyond their normal job responsibilities they have performed. Over and Aboves are processed through Human Resources and will be added to the employee鈥檚 normal paycheck. Payroll taxes and other benefits will be added to the Over and Above. Over and Aboves must be approved by the payee鈥檚 direct supervisor, their divisional Vice President, the Office of Sponsored Research and Programs (for faculty), and the Assistant Controller (or designee).

If an employee is unsure whether an Over and Above is appropriate, they should consult the Director of Human Resources.

CASH ADVANCES

Individuals who wish to take cash while traveling (domestically or internationally) should fill out a Payment Request at least two weeks prior to their departure. Within 30 days of return, an Advance Reconciliation Report should be turned in. If the cash advance is used to pass out funds to survey or study participants or as a meal allowance, a listing of signatures of the receipts must be provided with the reconciliation.

INVOICES

Invoices may be submitted to Business Services for payment. If this is the first instance of 换妻社区 paying this vendor, please provide a completed form W-9 to Business Services with the invoice. The College will pay the invoices in the last check run prior to the due date, when applicable. Invoices must abide by the documentation requirements (see 鈥淒ocumentation鈥�).

INVOICING

When an outside party owes the College money, Business Services will create the invoice. Invoicing outside of Business Services is not permitted. Email businessservices@hope.edu and indicate the fund, the org, and account that the money should be deposited to, the reason for the invoice, and the amount. The fund, org, and account will receive the credit immediately. Business Services will handle collection activities.

Student Account Charges

Business Services must be contacted in order to add charges to a student鈥檚 account (which they will later be invoiced for). Email businessservices@hope.edu and indicate the fund, the org, and the account that the money should be deposited to, the reason for the charge, and the amount. The fund, org, and account will receive the credit immediately. Business Services will handle collection activities.

INTER/INTRA DEPARTMENTAL CHARGE FORM

Amounts can be moved between funds, orgs, and account numbers via an Inter/Intra Departmental Charge Form. The form must be completed using fund, org, and account numbers for each party. This form would be used for any fund type.

Fund/org viewers should be the ones initiating inter/intra departmental charge forms. Fund/org viewers should submit these forms to the org manager(s) for approval. Once approved, the completed form should be sent to Business Services. The Assistant Controller reviews the completed forms and provides administrative approval. The forms are then processed by the Accountant (or designee).

The form should be completed within 90 days of the original charge. Additional explanation must be provided if correcting an item that is older than 90 days. Business Service may deny the transfer if it exceeds 90 days.

Donations from one department to another may not be charged to an operating fund. However, donations made from a named discretionary fund will be permitted.

Submitting Expenses for Approval

The purchaser should initiate the process of submitting expenses for approval, unless Business Services has granted approval for use of a proxy. Please see the 鈥淒ocumentation鈥� section for more detail on what needs to be included when expenses are submitted.

APPROVAL PROCEDURES

WHO SHOULD APPROVE

The primary approver should approve all charges made to the orgs they oversee. The secondary approver should approve all charges made to orgs by the primary approver.

HOW TO APPROVE

Approvers should review expenditures and ensure they are in compliance with the Expense and Resource Stewardship policy, along with other applicable policies (i.e. federal cost-principles for federal sponsored programs). Approvers should consider the following items prior to approving an expense.

Hope_Expense_Policy_Flowchart

REVIEWING BUDGETS

MONTHLY BUDGET REPORTS

Monthly budget reports will be sent out at the beginning of November through May. A year-end budget report will be sent out shortly after the audit fieldwork is completed. One report will be sent near the beginning of October for the first quarter of the fiscal year (July, August, and September).

MID-MONTH REVIEW OF BUDGETS

Access to fund balance and activity for all funds/orgs is available in the Hope App and is available at any time. Business Services has created Instructions for Using the Hope App for all budgets. Additionally, a fund/org manager could contact Business Services for additional budget support or reports. The same individuals who receive monthly budget reports will have access to the Hope App budget information.

REVIEW OF BUDGET REPORTS

Fund/Org managers should review these reports for discrepancies and report any concerns to Business Services as soon as possible. Waiting until the end of the fiscal year is not advisable.

CHANGE OF FUND/ORG VIEWERS

The primary and secondary approver should receive monthly budget reports, as well as any individuals who oversee the area. Additional individuals may be included on the monthly budget reports, if requested. Please contact Business Services if you would like to update the names of the individuals receiving the monthly budget reports.