OVC Standard Operating Procedure Processing Expense Claims System Submission

Transcription

1 OVC Standard Operating Procedure Processing Expense Claims System Submission Document version: V0.1 Date: 05/16/2016 Contact Information : Judy Tack: jtack@uoguelph.ca

2 Summary Topic List The following contents are contained in this procedure: Revision History Reviewer and Approver Block Frequency Scope Scope Exclusions OVC Policy Reference Required Applications and Systems High Level Process Overview High Level Process Map Roles and Responsibilities Expense Claims Submission Process Revision History Version Number Change Summary Prepared or Updated By Effective Date 1.0 Initial Draft Marie Ducasse March 2 nd, Draft Review Jimmy Weng May 3 rd, Re-write based on draft review Jimmy Weng May 6 th, Processing Expense Claims System Submission validation Jimmy Weng May 10 th, 2016 Reviewer and Approver Block Document Contact: Judy Tack, Chief Financial Officer I confirm that appropriate subject matter experts from the Operations team were part of the review and testing of this document. Document Approver: Carol Ann Higgins, Chief Administrative Officer Judy Tack, Chief Financial Officer Financial Clerks responsible for this process should test the validity of this document on an annual basis to ensure this document remains current. In the event of High Value Purchase Requisition processing operations need to amend this process for whatever reason, an appropriate subject matter expert(s) will be empowered to make suitable changes.

3 Operations: I confirm that appropriate subject matter experts from the Financial Clerks team were part of the review of this document. Document reviewer: Judy Tack, Chief Financial Officer Process Subject Matter Expert/Team Leader: Sally Maclachlan, Operations Manager Bryan Potter, Operations Manager Frances Graziotto, Financial Clerk Karla de Uslar, Financial Clerk Lily Arpa, Financial Clerk I certify that in the event of increasing escalations in support of this document, I will raise the concern with the Chief Financial Officer to initiate an SOP review. I will also provide an appropriate resource to vet future changes to this document on a standard ongoing basis. Controls: I confirm that appropriate controls are in place for this process and that it will be tested for accuracy on a on an annual basis though quality reporting. Should an issue be identified through the quality reporting process, the concern will be escalated to the Chief Financial Officer. Process Integrity & Change Management: I confirm that this SOP has consulted all necessary parties to ensure an accurate depiction of the process today. All reasonable efforts have been made to eliminate any procedural gaps. I certify that in the event that a process gap is identified, I will identify the document owner that will be accountable to close the process gap. In the event of material process changes impacting work-flow, I am responsible to raise the issue in the form of a Change Request and seek agreement from the Chief Financial Officer. Frequency The frequency of the procedures in this SOP document is as follows: Daily Weekly Monthly Quarterly Annually

4 Scope This SOP scope includes the complete expense claims submission process, managed by the Financial Clerks, from the reception to an initiated claim to its submission and the sending of the original receipts to the Treasury department. Only expense claims with a global amount superior to one hundred CAD and processed through ECS are part the scope. Scope Exclusions The steps perfomed by the ESC user to initate the claim are excluded from the scope of this SOP, as this document has been designed for the use of the Financial Clerks. All the steps to perform the claim initiation will be detailed in a dedicated Quick Reference Guide (QRG ECS Claims). All the expense claims with a total amount greater than $100 CAD will fall under the petty cash expense claim process (refer to SOP Processing Petty Cash Expense Claims). University Policy Reference The Travel Policies can be accessed here. The Safety Shoe policy can be found here. This SOP follows the steps explained in the OVC Travel Policies and should reflect any updates to those Policies. Required Applications and Systems Application or System Name ECS (Expense Claim System) Used For : Initiating and submitting travel and expense claims above $100. High Level Process Overview The following process highlights all the steps to be performed by the Financial Clerks in order to submit travel and expense entries in ECS.

5 High Level Process Map Travel & Expense Claims University Treasury TE.5 Reimburse Claim Initiator FRS END Department START Request PCard payment for eligible expenses? No TE.2 Incur Reimbursable Expenses Total claim >$100? No Yes TE.3 Initiate Travel & Expense Claim ECS Yes Financial Clerk TE.1.1 Receive PCard Expense Requisition form with faculty signature TE.1.2 Incur eligible expenses on PCard TE.4 Process Claim ECS TE.6 Process Petty Cash Claim END Note: This map is for context only; detailed procedures are provided below.

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7 Roles and Responsibilities Travel & Expense Claim Stakeholder Technician/Student Submit ECS Form R Process ECS Claims Internal to OVC Faculty Accounting Intern Financial Clerk C R Operations Manager A A Stakeholder R - Responsible A - Accountable C - Consulted I - Informed Description Who actually completes task Ultimately responsible, has yes/no authority To be consulted prior to final decision or action To be informed after action decision or action is taken Expense claims submission process Purpose Travel and expense claims are submitted for costs incurred in the course of conducting University business-related activities. The Department members must follow a defined process to initiate the travel and expense claims reimbursement process through a system called ECS (refer to QRG ECS Claims). Once the claims have been initiated, the Financial Clerks must review and submit them to Treasury Operations in order to process the reimbursement. Please note that two different processes must be followed, depending on the total claim amount. The following process will only address the claims for a value above $100. For more information about the process related to the amounts below $100, please, refer to the SOP - Processing Petty Cash Expense Claims. Step Action 1 Log in Footprints to review the list of tickets that has been assigned to you

8 1. Fill you user name and password unsing your central UofG login credentials 2. Click on the Login button Select My Assignments to see the tickets that has been assigned to you Click on the ticket number to open it. The ticket will open in a new web page. 1. Click on the Correspondance/Description tab 2. Then click on View Complete Correspondence/Description to look at the description of the Expense Claim submission request. 2 If an Expense Claim ticket has been created in your list, access the Expense Claim System (ECS) here. Note: if this is your first time on ECS, please refer to the ECS guide, tutorial and FAQs. Please do not hesitate to ecs@uoguelph.ca for further assistance Enter your credentials. 2. Access the Home page by clicking on the Log In button.

9 4 To access to a claimant s expenses to be processed, perform the following steps: Click on the Dept tab on the top right of the page: Click on the All Dept Claimants button and write the name of the claimant you are looking for in the Search Last Name case. You can also search a claimant per Department or Department code. 5 Select the expense claim line that you need to review in the New or Returned Claim section (see framed section in the screenshot below). Note: This screen allows you to follow-up on all the expense claims entered by the claimant: The new claims The claims that you have submitted and that are waiting for the Treasury to review The claims reviewed by Treasury A recap of all the payments for the claimant s expense claims.

10 6 You can now start to review the expense claim that has been initiated before you can submit it. Please, ensure that the following cells are properly filled: 1. Contact information. 2. Supervisors / Chair / Dean who has approved the expense (in case of Tri-council expense, a second Supervisor or Chairman must be filled). 3. Expense dates and destination when applicable. 4. Ensure that all claim details have been filled properly : Number of the receipt Date of the receipt Description of the receipt Expense category Location tax Amount of the receipt Currency of the receipt Exchange rate (A credit card statement should be provided) Foreign amount Equivalent in CAD. Note: If the claimant has provided a credit card statement then the fields for Exchange Rate and Foreign Amount will be empty. Ensure that the original receipt reconciles with the credit card statement. 5. Please, save the claim by clicking on the Save Claim button and validate it by clicking on the Validate Claim button.

11 Note: When incorrect information is filled, or insufficient receipts are provided, please reach out to the claimant to ask them to perform the needed adjustments. Send an to the claimant through Footprints for them to print out the pdf report and gather the necessary signatures and information: Claimant signature Faculty signature Grant coding A "Tri-Council Certification Form" must be signed by the Chair or Acting Chair for Tri-Council expenses. This form can be found here. Any claimant response will be automatically inserted within the Footprints ticket. Notes: Where the approver is not available in person an authorized form can be faxed or scanned back to the claimant or departmental administrator. Any other signature type must be rejected. With regards to the four sections of the Tri-Council Certification Form (Conference Participation, Field Trip, Consultation and Other) please ensure that the claimant fills in the appropriate section(s) with sufficient details, and all the necessary documentation is attached. This is a mandatory requirement by the Federal funding agencies. Ensure that previously paid expenses are entered on the final claim to capture the entire trip's cost and to meet Tri-Council requirements. Important: In some specific cases, the claimant will need to provide you with supporting receipts evidence: For mileage expenses the claimant must provide you with a Google Maps print out detailing the start point, destination and distance; this will be considered as a receipt. The claimant must provide the date and purpose of the trip in the Auto Trip Description field. Note: If it was a round trip, Round Trip X2 should be specified beside the distance. For round trips to Pearson International Airport, the claimant can enter 140km without providing a Google Maps printout In case of expense claimed in a foreign currency, the claimant must provide you the original receipts along with a print out of the credit card statement showing the expenses.

12 Note: If a currency exchange service was used, the receipt, provided along with the travel claim, can be used as a supporting document. Regarding the hospitality expenses, please, ensure that the claimant has provided you with adequate details on the receipt or the claim that includes names of attendees, their affiliation and purpose of the meeting/function. In the case of hotel expenses: Meals and room service charged to the hotel bill must be supported by a copy of the itemized receipt. All travel incidentals (ex. Parking, Telephone charges, Internet Service) that show up on the hotel bill must be entered into separate lines on ECS. Note: valet parking should not be reimbursed. In case of airfare expense, the claimant must provide you with the boarding pass with the invoice/receipt for the air fare. Please ensure that the location tax code has been properly filled (you can refer to the Airfare Help on the claim). Please ensure that alcohol (including tax and gratuity) has been deducted from the receipt. Previously paid expenses should be documented on granting agency claims (i.e airfare and conference registration need to be documented to meet the "one-trip one claim" policy for Tri- Council). Ensure that a Shoe Subsidy Form is provided in case of safety footwear expense claims. If a receipt is missing, ensure that a Missing Receipt Form has been provided with the details that would have been on the receipt. It must be signed by the claimant and the faculty member and a proof of payment must be attached. Note: When in doubt, please do not hesitate to refer to the Travel Policies & Agreements. 7 Once the claimant has provided you with the required signed documents and grant coding: Fill the grant coding in the appropriate table depending on the expense location : Coding in Ontario Expenses (Ontario HST Paid) Other Province Expenses (within Canada non Ontario) Coding Outside Canada (no GST &/or HST Paid) 8 Obtain signature of the Operations Manager on the ECS Claim Form 9 Once the Operations Manager has approved the claim, log into ECS, access the claim and click on the Final Submission button.

13 Important: Please ensure to save a soft copy of all the original receipts (this should have been provided by the claimant via ) before you send them to the Treasury. It is recommended to save all soft copies on the shared drive in a folder named from the unique claim number in ECS, so that any member from the Financial Clerk team can access them in a timely manner in case of need. 10 Send all the required documentation to the Treasury : The Travel and Business Expense Claim form signed by the claimant and the faculty All the original receipts and additional documentation to support them If applicable, the "Tri-Council Certification Form" signed by the Faculty Chair. 11 Close the ticket in Footprints by selecting the Closed status within the ticket: Click on the SAVE icon to save and to notify the requester that the request has been completed