April 19, 2011

Reimbursement for Library Materials Purchased with Personal Funds

There will be instances where UF Libraries’ faculty and staff have been authorized to purchase materials for the collections. They must follow the following procedures in order to be reimbursed for those expenses. Note that these same procedures apply to any UF employee authorized to acquire library materials on our behalf, and who seeks reimbursement from library-controlled funds.

To be reimbursed for personal funds:

• Such acquisitions require pre-authorization; in such cases, documentation of authorization must accompany the request for reimbursement.
• If this involves non-library faculty or staff, there must be documentation of the library’s agreement to reimburse the purchase(s)
• These transactions must clearly benefit UF Libraries.
• It must be demonstrated that the Libraries cannot enjoy the same or better economic benefit by having Acquisitions Department staff do the purchase.

The following documentation is required when submitting a request for reimbursement for library materials acquired with personal funds. Purchaser means the UF employee acquiring for The Library. Vendor is the person or entity selling library materials to purchaser:

• When requesting reimbursement, purchaser must provide an itemization with:

1. Date of purchase.

2. Purchaser name, campus address and phone number.

3. Description of purchased items, including:

o quantity,

o unit price,

o total itemization amount,

o all currency converted to US dollars if necessary.

4. Vendor name, address and telephone number, and URL/email address if available.

· Prior authorization documentation for acquiring materials with personal funds must also accompany the reimbursement request.

• In all cases, purchaser must provide hardcopy receipts from vendor.

1. A receipt must identify purchaser (received from) and vendor,

2. “ “ show date payment received and amount received,

3. “ “ make reference to items for which payment was made.

4. “ “ be on vendor’s letterhead or vendor’s standard receipt form.

o If purchaser cannot secure this type of receipt, a photocopy of the front and back of purchaser’s cancelled check, or a credit card statement showing the entry for the purchase, must be provided.

When this type of acquisition is done outside the United States:

• If in foreign currency, all monetary information from the vendor must be converted to US dollars at the rate in effect on the date of purchase
• If the purchase includes VAT tax, that tax can be included for reimbursement.

Materials and itemization with receipts should be submitted to Acquisitions staff for proper check-in and invoicing in the LMS.

• This will usually be the Acquisitions liaison for the particular subject area or
• the Head of the Print & Media Unit in Acquisitions.

When Acquisitions processing is finished, the itemization and receipts will be forwarded to the Library Fiscal Service Office

• Fiscal Services staff will process the reimbursement from library funds through the Travel & Expense System