DAR Guidance for Purchasing Needs

One of the goals of the DAR Finance Team is to support the division’s purchasing needs. The team wants to ensure that individuals making purchases are aware of appropriate purchasing methods and requirements. This helps ensure that employees are protected and that transactions are processed promptly. To that end, please review the following guidance from UGA’s Finance Division that reflects purchasing and reimbursement requirements for entities of the State of Georgia.

• Focus on business purpose: All expense reports must contain a clear business purpose. Please include information such as people involved, business topics covered, and a brief explanation of duties performed to explain the business purpose of an expense or reimbursement. This information is critical to demonstrate responsible stewardship of funds. This information can be provided at the line level or at the header level using the “Notes” field on the expense report.
• Select the best purchasing method: Employee reimbursement should not be used for purchases when a procurement card, purchase order, or payment request can be used. Choosing employee reimbursement where other methods exist can lead to issues with tax reporting, asset management, and spend reporting. This webpage includes a table with the best purchasing method, along with other procurement fundamentals and links to get help.
• Focus on the benefit to the university: Keep in mind that all purchases should benefit the university. The policy manual of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia states, “Property owned by an institution shall be used only for institutional purposes. No employee in the University System shall permit such property to be removed from the campus of an institution for use on either a rental or loan basis for personal use.”
• Submit receipts, not confirmations: Confirmations and receipts are not the same, but they can be easily confused. Please do not attach confirmations to expense reports. Receipts must be itemized and show where the transaction occurred, when it occurred, what it was for, how much it was for, and who incurred the charge. Purchases deemed personal in nature cannot be reimbursed. Also, to be in alignment with the UGAF Alcohol policy, all restaurant receipts must be itemized.
• Use the Allowable & Unallowable Expenditures by Fund Matrix: This matrix helps determine whether a purchase will benefit the university’s mission and support university programs. This is not intended to be comprehensive but contains common expenditures and guidance.
• Not sure? Ask your expense manager in advance: Requests that do not adhere to the Employee Reimbursement Policy may not be reimbursed. Contact your expense manager(s) before you start the purchasing process if there are questions about the best approach for a purchase or whether an expense is reimbursable. They will be happy to help. The Finance Team (Tonya Witcher, Pansy Bond, Melinda Hobbs, and Stephanie Harrison) serve as expense managers for DAR.

The DAR Finance Team is always available to answer questions about the above and support staff with any other purchasing questions. They appreciate everyone’s time and the opportunity to support DAR teams.