Costs and Travel/Entertainment Guidelines

• Timeliness:
  • Reimbursement requests should be submitted within 30 days of purchase or travel end date.
  • Because Rice has adopted the IRS Safe Harbor for a “reasonable time” to substantiate business expenses, reimbursement requests submitted more than 60 days from purchase will be treated as compensation to the employee, subject to tax withholding.
     
• Expenses must have a clear business purpose. The business purpose should be written with enough detail that an independent auditor can understand the business connection without seeking additional information or clarification. Documentation must include a general description of the business topic(s) discussed and the relevance to the University.
  • Examples of sufficient documentation: “Travel to Boston to present research at Harvard,” or “Business lunch with [fill in blank] to discuss annual strategic planning.” 
  • Examples of insufficient documentation: “Research travel,” or “Business lunch.”
     
• Receipts/Documentation:
  • Must be legible, identify the vendor, and have a date.
  • Must show proof of payment, and not just the amount due.
  • Must include an itemized detail of the charges, including food/meals/beverages purchased.
    • Receipts lacking itemized details are not acceptable.
  • Attendee names must be provided when the business meeting or event includes fewer than 10 individuals. For larger groups (10+ persons), a description and count of persons attending may be provided instead.
  • Imaged or electronic itemized receipts are ALWAYS required for the following:
    • Hotel, airfare, and rental car expenses regardless of the dollar amount.
    • Conference registration fees.
    • Toll charges passed along from the rental car company or sent from the toll road authority.
    • Out-of-pocket charges equal to or greater than $25.
    • Alcohol or entertainment expenses included in the bill, regardless of the amount.
       
• Sales Tax:
  • Rice University is tax-exempt and therefore employees should make every effort to avoid payment of any State of Texas sales tax.  The University’s federal tax exemption number along with a list of states that exempt Rice from sales tax and/or hotel occupancy tax can be found on the University’s State Tax Exemption Card.
  • Rice reserves the right not to reimburse for sales tax charges for purchases or hotel stays in states where Rice's tax-exempt status is recognized. Please contact Rice Business Finance with any questions.
  • Rice is exempt from paying the Texas Hotel Occupancy Tax. To claim the exemption, employees must present the Texas Hotel Occupancy Tax Exemption Certificate. As noted above, there are additional states that extend this benefit to Rice – see the State Tax Exemption Card for more details.
  • Under no circumstance will the University reimburse for Texas hotel occupancy taxes.
     
• Missing Receipts:
  • If a receipt is lost or missing, an explanation is required when submitting expense reports for approval.  A Missing Receipt Affidavit (MRA) must be completed in the event an imaged receipt cannot be obtained for expenses over $25 or where receipts are required regardless of dollar level, including when an itemized receipt is missing. (For faculty, your faculty support specialist will be able to complete the MRA on your behalf.)
  • Please note that frequency of use of the MRA will be tracked; MRAs should only be submitted infrequently for lost/missing receipts and NOT as a substitute for submitting required documentation.

• Per Diem/Travel Allowance:
  • In most circumstances, only economy class airfare is reimbursable; Rice cannot reimburse airfare purchased using miles or points.
    • Economy Plus or Business class may be reimbursable, but requires special circumstances AND preapproval from either the Dean, Deputy Dean, or CBO.
    • Economy Plus or Business class flights taken without preapproval will NOT be reimbursed under any circumstances.
  • Travelers MUST select between reimbursements for actual expenses or per diem rates and CANNOT commingle per diems and actual expenses during a trip.
  • Per diem rates include both the cost of meals and incidental expenses.
  • Travelers are eligible for 75 percent of the total per diem rate on the first and last days of travel.
  • Receipts are NOT required for per diem meals and incidental expenses.
  • In certain limited instances, a more expensive meal may exceed the per diem (e.g., a working group at a conference dining together, or a group meal with a donor). If electing a per diem, an additional reimbursement for these meals is allowable up to a maximum of $75.00, with anything above $75.00 being the responsibility of the traveler.
  • When meals are offered as part of a conference fee or when the traveler hosts or is hosted by another party, the traveler must indicate which meal(s) were provided when completing the expense report and reduce their per diem accordingly.
  • Per diems may NOT be requested for same-day travel.
  • Itemized receipts must be provided for all meals when actual costs are reimbursed.
     
• Business Meals/Recruiting Meals/Departmental Gatherings:
  • Business lunch costs should not exceed $30 per person and dinner costs should not exceed $75 per person; all costs include food, beverages, taxes, gratuities (not to exceed 20% of the pre-tax total), and other related expenses such as room setup and wait staff charges.
    • Business meals must include a clear business justification (e.g., lunch to discuss annual strategic plans), should not occur frequently (e.g., regularly scheduled weekly or monthly meetings should not always include food), and are typically meals that only include Rice University employees.  
    • PhD recruitment meals, when approved by the PhD Program Office, follow these guidelines as well. PhD recruitment dinner attendees should only include faculty and PhD admits, and should not include guests, such as spouses, partners, or family members.
  • Faculty recruitment lunches should not exceed $50 per person, and dinners should not exceed $150 per person; all costs include food, beverages, taxes, gratuities (not to exceed 20% of the pre-tax total), and other related expenses such as room setup and wait staff charges.
    • Expenses exceeding these higher limits will be the responsibility of the individual(s) participating in the meal and will not be reimbursed unless a pre-authorization is received from the Dean or Deputy Dean and is included in the expense report.
    • Requests to exceed these higher limits must include a detailed business justification, be done before the expense is incurred, and be infrequent in nature.
  • Meals involving donors, dignitaries, or other high-profile guests, including special seminar speakers and symposium guests may also follow the higher $50 per person lunch and $150 per person dinner guidelines.
  • Meal participants, including at recruitment meals, must either be the prospective employee or employed by Rice University, in order for Rice Business to cover the cost of their meal; spouses, partners, family members, etc., attending a business meal, including a recruitment meal, must cover their own expenses using personal funds.
  • Departmental gatherings, including holiday parties, end-of-year celebrations, retirement parties, etc., should be reasonable in cost and based on the size of the department/area, the purpose of the event, and appropriate for an educational institution.

Rice University’s purchasing processes prioritize timeliness, efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and professionalism in serving faculty and staff. These guidelines aim to streamline hardware and software procurement for optimal efficiency and cost-effectiveness while maintaining the best interests of Rice Business and the University.

Hardware

• Rice University has an approved preferred vendor list for most requested hardware/peripherals including Apple, Best Buy, CDW-G, and Dell. These accounts are set up to include our tax exemption, EDU pricing, and required warranty options.
• All items purchased with Rice University funds are considered the property of the University. This includes items that you request reimbursement for. Technology equipment that requires a “Property of Rice University” red tag to be entered and tracked in our inventory management system includes laptops/desktops, tablets, monitors, printers, webcams, etc.
• For hardware requests please complete the form here, or for all technology-related questions or concerns, email jgshelp@rice.edu.

Software

• Rice University’s Central OIT provides university-wide software. Please review the Software Available for Faculty and Staff or Software Available for Students Knowledge Base pages for more information, which includes licensing for both Rice-owned and personal systems. Please check with the Office of Technology before completing any personal purchases.
• For software requests please complete the form HERE or email jgshelp@rice.edu.

Home Office Wi-Fi/Internet Connectivity Costs

• Home Office Wi-Fi/Internet connectivity expenses may be reimbursed to faculty who utilize their home office for instructional or research purposes; costs will be reimbursed proportionate to usage.
  • For example, a faculty member occupying a house with two other individuals could get 33% of their home internet bill reimbursed.
• When submitting a request for home office Wi-Fi/Internet costs, unless already stating what percentage should be reimbursed, the requestor must indicate their percent of usage, including clarifying how many other individuals are in their home using the services.
• Other home office needs are generally not reimbursable unless prior approval is given due to very unique circumstances.

Rice OnTheHub: Software/Hardware – Personal Purchases

• Faculty, staff, and students may be eligible for Rice discounts on hardware purchased with a PERSONAL credit card (not a Rice purchasing card or Rice fund /org). To purchase, follow the links below.
  • Apple
  • Dell
• Rice University offers academic software discounts through Rice on the Hub for personally owned systems at a discounted rate. For more information, click here. (Please Note: Rice IT is not responsible for the purchase or installation of software on personally owned computers.)

Amazon Purchases and Other Supplies

• Computers and monitors are excluded from Amazon purchases. For assistance, please contact Phalon or reach out to jgshelp@rice.edu.
• Your faculty support specialist can make tax-exempt purchases on your behalf for items from Amazon and Office Depot. Most orders are eligible for 2-day shipping.
• Once you have identified the supplies you want to order, send the link to your faculty support specialist via email and request the quantity to be ordered.
• Items are ordered and paid for with the p-card and re-allocated to your faculty support budget.

Research Costs

• For reimbursement of expenses related to payments to research participants, including the use of MTURK and Prolific, a list of the research participants is required in addition to the receipt requirements and IRB number.  Some vendors require that all funds be exhausted before providing the participant list. Please note that partial reimbursements cannot be processed unless accompanied by a participant list.