Queen s University Policy Related Frequently Asked Questions Travel and Related Expenses Policy 1. I'm very disappointed that Queen's will no longer allow me to claim "per diem" for meals when I travel. Is this really being enforced by new Ontario Law? The requirement for receipts is mandated under the Broader Public Sector (BPS) directives. Queen's University must abide by the BPS directives. The administrative burden was recently recognized by the Don Drummond report which recommended that the Province allow per diems - we do not know which of Drummond's recommendations will be acted on, but if this one is, the travel policy will be amended. 2. I lost the receipt for my lunch. How can I claim this as an expense? If original receipts are lost, destroyed, or stolen, a written explanation of the circumstances must be provided by the claimant and approved by the approver before the claim will be processed. Please fill out the appropriate section in the travel expense claim form. See section 3. 3. The Approver is responsible to ensure expenses are in accordance with applicable granting agency guidelines or with the terms of the specific award. How can an approver be expected to have sufficient knowledge of the terms of every grant? If the Approver is not familiar with specific terms of an award funding travel, he or she should ask appropriate questions to assure themselves that the individual submitting the claim has complied with the applicable requirements. See section 5. 4. I was travelling for a full day and did not have time to eat lunch. Can I claim a higher amount for dinner? Yes. If travelling for more than one meal period, the maximum daily reimbursement will be applied using the total for all applicable meals, rather than by individual meal. Therefore, if an individual does not have time for lunch, the daily maximum would be applied to the meals consumed during the day (in this case, breakfast and dinner). See section 11. 1 of 8
5. I was at a conference and took advantage of the conference meal time to meet with colleagues about an important topic. I therefore missed the meal provided and had to buy a meal separately. Will the university reimburse me even though the conference provided a meal? Section 11 of the travel policy indicates that when meals are included in the transportation fare, or in the cost of the conference fees, no claim for meals should be made. In limited circumstances, it may be appropriate to purchase a meal separately. In these cases, an explanation of the circumstances should be provided and submitted as part of the travel claim so that it may be reviewed and approved by the Approver. 6. Are incidental per diem claims allowed under this policy? Broader Public Sector guidelines do not permit reimbursement of per diems. The travel policy allows for reimbursement of reasonable and necessary travel expenses while conducting university business. Incidental expenses would be approved based on receipted amounts at the discretion of the approver. 7. The travel policy states that only one expense claim reimbursement form per trip is permitted. I am not leaving for a month, but I want to book my airfare and conference fees now to save money. What do I do? With respect to airfare, a travel advance may be requested to cover the cost of the airfare. Requests for travel advances should include the dates and location for travel. Conference fees should be charged to a Procurement Card. 8. Are passports an eligible expense? Passports are a personal document and in most cases are used by individuals for personal travel. In an exceptional circumstance where an individual does not have a passport and is required to apply for a passport to travel on Queen s business, it may be approved at the discretion of the approver. 9. I want to keep my original receipts, can I just send in photocopies with my claim? Credit card receipts/statements and photocopies are not eligible as proof of expense. If you require your original receipts back please indicate this and they will be stamped ( spoiled ), dated, and initialed and sent back to you after your claim has been reviewed. 10. For travel in Quebec, which taxes do I claim on the Travel Expense claim form? For provinces, such as Quebec, that do not participate in HST, the GST (only) should be entered on the claim. 2 of 8
11. I m using my own vehicle to travel to Toronto; do I claim the mileage and the gas? For a personal vehicle, only mileage can be claimed. When renting a vehicle, claim the gas purchased for the rental vehicle. 12. How do I show that I received a travel award on my Travel Expense claim form? Enter the travel award as a line item and put a negative sign in front of the amount (e.g. Travel award -$300.00). This will deduct the amount of the travel award from the total of the claim. 13. I have receipts from travel two years ago; can I be reimbursed for them? Travel expense claims must be submitted within sixty days following completion of each trip. It would be unreasonable to expect reimbursement more than one year after related expenses have been incurred. 14. Does this new policy apply to travel funded by SSHRC or other external agencies? The new policy applies to travel funded by all sources. 15. The new policy states that individuals staying with friends or relatives can be reimbursed $30 in lieu of accommodation costs (e.g. with family or friends) but a faculty member wants to use the Joint Council rate of $50 for International. Is this acceptable? The rate is $30, regardless of the location at which an individual stays. 16. A faculty member indicated that there are a number of areas of the world (e.g. Thailand, China) where a number of restaurants do not issue receipts - everything is done on a cash basis with no documentation. What would we do in this case? In this case, the claimant would be responsible to document why they are not able to provide receipts, and preferably provide alternative documentation supporting the expenditure (i.e. a credit card bill if available). If a high number of expenditures have been incurred without receipts, the approver would then be responsible to perform appropriate due diligence on this matter prior to signing off on the claim. 17. A number of countries do not issue any receipts for public transit. For example, in Japan, there is no receipt for using the subway but a subway ride both ways would be ~ $6. In other countries, there are no receipts for using taxis. What should be done to claim these expenses? Section 13(ii) of the policy specifically acknowledges the difficulty regarding obtaining these receipts. In such cases, individuals should document the amount paid for the public transportation and document that no receipt was available. This would then be approved at the discretion of the approver. 3 of 8
Hospitality Policy 1. Further to the requirement to obtain pre-approval for expenses related to internal meetings over a meal, does a Dean or Department Head require pre-approval? No. Further to Section 4 of the Hospitality policy, anyone who can provide pre-approval for these meetings (Department Head, Dean, or Vice-Principal) is not required to obtain preapproval. Once the expense has been incurred, the expense claim must be approved by someone one administrative level above the claimant. Procurement Policy 1. I usually order goods from XYZ supplier over the phone and they invoice me which I pay by cheque requisition. Do I really have to issue a purchase requisition for the purchase of goods over $5,000? Yes. It is now a requirement that all purchases of goods and services are processed on a PeopleSoft requisition. The exceptions to this requirement will be; Inter University payments Payments to KGH Payments to Hotel Dieu T4 payments Payments for provision of utility services (Electricity, Gas, Water) Payments to the City of Kingston 2. For purchases over $10,000 it says I need three quotes. Can these be emails? Yes. The new legislation allows for an informal process for requesting quotes when the total value of the contract is less than $100K. You may seek quotations by inviting selected suppliers to provide you with a quote. This invitation may be sent via e-mail. 3. Do I still need to issue a purchase requisition if I use a preferred supplier for purchase of goods or services greater than $5,000? Yes, you must still use a purchase requisition to order goods and services from a preferred supplier. 4. If I place an order with a preferred supplier and the amount is over $10K do I still need to obtain three quotes? No. Preferred suppliers have been the subject of a competitive tendering exercise already and as such you do not need to obtain three quotes. 4 of 8
5. How does my PCard transaction limit get increased to $5,000? No action is required by card holders to increase the transaction limit to $5,000. This will be taken care of by the card program administrator. 6. There is mention of the BPS Procurement Directive in the policy. Does this apply to all procurement activities? One of the purposes of the BPS Procurement Directive is to ensure that publicly funded goods and services are acquired by BPS organizations through a process that is fair, transparent and competitive. We are required to incorporate the requirements of the BPS Procurement Directive into our policies. For designated broader public sector organizations, the BPS Procurement Directive applies to the purchase of any goods, construction, and services, including but not limited to information technology and consulting services made using public funds. Only exemptions, exceptions or non-application clauses existing under the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT) or other trade agreements apply. Furthermore, the BPS Procurement Directive also applies to these goods and services purchased jointly with other organizations. 7. Looking at the definition of consulting as strategic advice, legal and audit seem to fit into this definition. Are they? The Directive defines consultant as a person or entity that under an agreement, other than an employment agreement, provides expert or strategic advice and related services for consideration and decision-making. Further, the Directive defines "consulting services" as the provision of expertise or strategic advice that is presented for consideration and decisionmaking. Whether a service in question is deemed consulting service should be determined by the nature of the service being procured and not by the designated profession being represented. Services provided by the licensed professionals may constitute consulting services. Where an organization is seeking to obtain expertise or strategic advice for consideration and decisionmaking, notwithstanding the designated profession providing the service, the organization is seeking to obtain consulting services. Under these circumstances, organizations must utilize competitive procurement irrespective of the value of the procurement. At the same time, procurement of services that in Ontario may, by legislation or regulation be provided only by any of the following licensed professionals: medical doctors, dentists, nurses, pharmacists, veterinarians, engineers, land surveyors, architects, accountants, lawyers and notaries, does not constitute consulting services. Organizations should still clearly delineate 5 of 8
between professional services that are providing expertise or strategic advice for consideration and decision-making and professional services that fall outside this scope. It is up to each organization to determine whether the services they require are consulting services or not and if there is any doubt you should contact the Director of Strategic Procurement Services for advice. 8. Does the Principal have to sign off on every non-competitive procurement even if the exemption falls under the AIT exemptions? For non-competitive procurement, the Principal must approve ALL consulting service contracts under $1M; the board of trustees must approve ALL consulting services for $1M or more. The Principal may only approve non-competitive procurement of consulting services where there is an applicable exemption, exception, or non-application clause under the trade agreements. 9. What are the new rules for the acquisition of consulting services? A competitive procurement process must be used for all consulting services, irrespective of the value of the contract. In addition, consultants will not be paid for any hospitality, food or incidental expenses. They may be paid for travel and accommodation but this must be stipulated in the RFP for the services and the agreement covering the services and must be pre-approved. 10. Is an invitational competitive process still permitted for consulting services? Yes. You may use an invitational competitive procurement process for services valued at under $100,000. This process requires a minimum of three (3) qualified vendors to submit a written proposal in response to your written requirements. The BPS Directive requires that you to ensure that only qualified vendors are invited to participate in an invitational competitive procurement process. 11. Do the dollar limits include all applicable taxes? The dollar ranges shown in section six do not include taxes as per section 6.0 in the BPS Procurement Directive. 6 of 8
12. Under 6.0, table 1 says issuance of an RFP for purchases $50K-$99.9K is optional and depends on good or service being purchased. Is this optional decision up to the faculty? Can you give examples of goods or services that fall under this category? This should be treated on a case by case basis. Typically goods can be subject to an informal Request for Quote approach. Services on the other hand may better be managed through a formal Request for Proposal. As such, we would recommend that services over $50k should go through the more formal process. Faculty and staff can decide whether or not to go through the formal RFP process when ordering goods. 13. We often have to host events at hotels that are in excess of $10,000. What constitutes 3 competitive quotes in this case? If we request 3 quotes from 3 venues that have the capacity to host our event and 1 of the venues respond that their venue is not available on the requested date, does that qualify as a competitive quote? Yes. If you request three quotes from suppliers (this includes hotels) who are capable of supplying the goods or services you are seeking and one or more decline to provide a quote you should keep a copy of their notification not to respond and may proceed with the order as if you had received three quotes. 14. I do not see a requirement to choose the lowest quote in the competitive process. Is it a requirement to do so? There are a number of cases where the lowest quote may not be the desirable option. The competitive process may use one of three options; Request For Quote (RFQ) with no evaluation criteria Request For Quote (RFQ) with evaluation criteria Request For Proposal (RFP) When an RFQ with no evaluation criteria is issued you would typically select the supplier who provided the lowest quote. However, if you have reasons why you do not want to use this supplier you may select a supplier who had a higher quote but YOU MUST DOCUMENT your reasoning for this decision on a Form P0001H High Bid form. All documentation must then be submitted on a PeopleSoft requisition for approval by Strategic Procurement Services. When an RFQ with evaluation criteria is issued you must select the supplier who is awarded the highest number of points NO EXCEPTIONS. It is preferable that this process is managed by Strategic Procurement Services in order to ensure full compliance with current legislation. When an RFP is issued you must select the supplier who has been awarded the highest number of points NO EXCEPTIONS. All RFP s must be managed by Strategic Procurement Services. 7 of 8
15. We receive invoices from accreditation bodies on an annual basis and the invoices can be greater than $10,000. The invoices are sent directly to us for payment. How do I deal with the requirement for Purchase Order if we already have the invoice from the supplier (accreditation body)? Also, given it is over $10,000, how do I deal with the competitive quote requirements of the purchasing policy? You should still raise a Purchase Order to cover payment of the invoice. You will also need to complete a sole source form stating that this accreditation can only be provided by one organization. 16. I m attending a professional development program that Queen s is paying for directly. The registration fees for the program are greater than $5,000. Do I have to issue a purchase order for this? You should raise a Purchase Order for this requirement and if the total value is in excess of $10k should consider tendering this requirement if possible. If it cannot be tendered you will be required to submit a sole source form with the Purchase Order. Procurement Card 1. Are there any exceptions allowed for the Procurement Card? Cardholders may complete a form P0004 found on Strategic Procurements Services (SPS) website under Forms to request an exception. Once completed forward the form to the Director of SPS for consideration. If approved, the cardholder must keep the approval in visa file with appropriate transaction receipt. 2. Can the Procurement Card be used to purchase furniture or computers? The Procurement Card cannot be used to purchase furniture or computers or any type of peripherals pertaining to furniture or computers (chairs, tables, ink cartridges, software, speakers, etc). Please see SPS website on How to Buy. 3. Can the Procurement Card be used to purchase Gift Certificates/Cards or gifts for employees? No the Procurement card cannot be used. Please refer to Financial Services website, Policies, University Restricted Expenditures. 4. If I have a purchase of over $5000 can I split the transaction in order to be able to charge the purchase to my card? 8 of 8
Any transaction totaling over $5000 (including taxes, shipping and exchange) must be entered on a Requisition/Purchase Order. Splitting a transaction will be deemed as a serious offence by the University which will result in the cardholder s card being cancelled. 5. If someone else reconciles my card am I still responsible for it? The cardholder may appoint another person to do the monthly reconciliation process for them, but it is up to the cardholder to assure that the reconciliation process is completed on time and accurately as per the Procurement Card Policy. 6. How do I increase the limits on my Procurement Card? No action is required by card holders to increase the transaction limit to $5,000. This will be taken care of by the card program administrator. 9 of 8