Frequently asked questions

• Reimbursements, scholarships, and all non-wage related payments are issued from the Accounts payable department.  Payroll payments are issued to employees of the University who hold an active appointment at UVic.

No, the University does not accept payments through e-Transfer^® via email notification.   

• Tuition fee payment options
• Residence (Housing) payment options
• Continuing Studies and English Language Centre payment options

Payments to the University for goods and services, other than tuition fees and residence services, may be made by cheque drawn on a Canadian bank account, credit card (VISA, MasterCard, AMEX), international bank wire or cash. Please contact the selling department to discuss your payment options.

• All reimbursement claims require the original, detailed receipt; indicating how the amount was paid (proof of payment) attached to the Business expense reimbursement or Travel expense reimbursement form
• Debit and/or credit card slips by themselves are only allowed for taxi, shuttle, gas and parking expenses
• Restaurant receipts must show the items ordered, otherwise per diem maximums will be paid
• All other expenses require the till receipt or invoice supplied by the seller
• Hotel folios and flight itineraries that do not acknowledge payment can not be used as proof of payment
• Some research granting agencies require supporting documentation beyond UVic requirements.  Please be aware of any specific documentation requirements of the grant to which you are charging expenses.
• Please refer to the travel and business expense policy for more specific information
• We may ask for a copy of your credit card statement – see the question below for more information.

Your credit card statement may be requested to show:

1. Proof of payment when the original receipt does not show that payment has been made (ie. Hotel folios, web receipts. Etc.)
2. Actual foreign exchange rate charged by the credit card provider.  Accounts Payable will apply the Bank of Canada exchange rate as at the purchase date but if you want to claim the exact amount charged by your credit card company, a copy of your statement is required to confirm the amount.

In order to protect your privacy, all information on the credit card statement other than your name, last 4 digits of the card number and the transaction in question should be fully redacted and not readable.   

• For expenses incurred:
  • business travel or
  • staff relocation
    • Travel expense reimbursement
  • conducting UVic business or
  • petty cash replenishments
    • Business expense reimbursement
  • faculty home internet services Faculty home internet services
  • hospitality event Hospitality event participant form
  • faculty or library pro D Professional expenses reimbursement pre-approval
• If original receipts are lost, complete the Missing Receipts declaration form and submit it with your reimbursement form
• If the claimant is physically not able to sign the completed reimbursement form, complete the Absentee Claimant

There are three approval fields on the business expense and travel expense reimbursement forms:

Claimant's approval:

The claimant should always approve the form taking responsibility for the expenses being claimed.

If the claimant is not able to be present when the form is prepared, a signed or emailed declaration form should be attached.

Account holder's approval:

The account holder (or their delegate) is required to approve the form as the party responsible for the budget of the account and to ensure they are aware of the charges.

Delegates cannot exceed their assigned dollar threshold.

Claimant's one over one approver approval:

If the account holder is not the claimant’s one over one supervisor, the one over one supervisor must also approve the form.

If the claimant is from outside the University and does not have a one over one supervisor, the account holder is the final approver and no one over one approval is required.

If the one over one supervisor is not available, typically the supervisor's one over one supervisor should approve the form (i.e. the next level up).

• Employees who cannot reasonably finance the cost of their trips can request an accountable advance or apply for a University commercial credit card (c card) to obtain credit in support of UVic travel.
• Student and non-employee travel and accommodations can be arranged directly through Purchasing Services

• No, under no circumstances should an employee pay for the expenses of another person.  All claims must be paid to the person who incurred the cost so that the amount can be reported correctly under the Financial Information Act.  Further, no one should be extending credit to another person with the expectation of reimbursement from UVic. Contact Accounts Payable or Purchasing if you need information about making purchases or claims.

• Yes, for the convenience of the traveler meal per diems are allowed without receipt and the rates are listed on the travel expense reimbursement claim.  The amount includes taxes and gratuities. 
• You cannot claim a per diem where meals were provided by another party, included as part of your itinerary or are outside of the travel period.

• List the expenses in the currency you paid and apply the exchange rate to convert the amount to Canadian dollars.   If more than one foreign currency was paid you should group together the expenses of the same currency to use one exchange rate.
• Enter the exchange rate you actually paid, or an average of a number of rates you paid. This information can be taken from your credit card statement (provide copy of supporting line item(s) with your claim) or can be found at the Bank of Canada website.
• Send the approved claim to Accounts Payable for processing. 
• All employee claims will be reimbursed in Canadian dollars.
• Non-employee foreign currency claims can be converted to be paid in their home currency upon request. 
• It is best if foreign currency payments are sent electronically, therefore, obtain the recipient's banking information on this form and attach it to the claim.

• For audit purposes, Accounts Payable requires original receipts to be submitted for reimbursement
• If you have lost a receipt, contact the supplier for a copy
• If a receipt replacement is not available, complete a declaration form - missing receipts  
• Granting agencies may have other requirements and you should follow up with Research Accounting if you are charging expenses to a 3XXXX/5XXXX FAST account

• All direct deposits made by Accounts Payable have a corresponding email notification sent to the active preferred email address in your Banner profile.
• Check the Online tools page to ensure the email address you have listed is the one you are expecting to receive the notification. 
• Also, check your spam or junk folders since some computers may block the email depending on your security settings. 
• Lastly, you can contact Accounts Payable to get more information.

• Faculty and Librarians are required to fill out a professional expense pre-approval for faculty & librarians and have it authorized by their Dean or Chair prior to making the purchase.  When making the reimbursement claim, attach a copy of the pre-approval form and the authorized travel or business expense reimbursement claim and submit it to Accounts Payable for processing.
• Management Excluded and PEA members must discuss the purchase in advance with their supervisor and get prior approval, no form is required.  The supervisor who is approving the purchase is responsible for authorizing the reimbursement claim before submission to Accounts Payable.

• Professional development account allocations and balances are available for viewing on the UVic Online tools-Employee Services-Pro-D page.
• Balances are updated each academic year with your Pro-D allocation.

• No, supplier invoices normally contain sufficient information for processing. 
• Proper authorization to pay the invoice can be written on the invoice and should include the account holder approval, FAST account to be charged (if not on a PO) and any other information that may be required under specific policies (Hospitality Policy, Purchasing Policy, etc).
• Payment requests are used for requesting non-invoiced payments such as subject fees and sponsorships.  When in doubt, contact Accounts Payable.

Yes. You can book yourself or use purchasing’s preferred supplier Direct Travel to book for yourself, guests and non-employees.

To maintain the travel insurance coverage included with your c card, the traveler must be the cardholder. 

When booking for non-employee extra insurance should be purchased in the name of the traveller.

Yes.  You can book yourself or use purchasing’s preferred supplier Direct Travel to book for guests and non-employees.

The hotel may request a credit card authorization form.  If so, please fax the form, email is not a secure way to send credit card details.

Be advised the hotel may request a credit card of the guest to keep the number for a potential damage deposit. 

1. If the expense report is created by a Emburse Enterprise delegate on behalf of the faculty/staff member, the report will route to the faculty or staff member for approval first
2. Route to pre-approver (if there is one for the department)
3. Route to FAST account holder/delegate (if the faculty member is the account holder then this step is automatically approved)
4. Route to one over one (if this is the same as the account holder, approval routing will skip this)
5. Route to Accounts Payable / Research Accounting

You can refer to the approval routing process maps for expense reports and C Card reconciliations for more detail.