Expense Claims

Several staff members have had expenses claims refused during the last year. Often the cause is a simple, genuine mistake or misunderstanding. While every endeavour will be taken to recognise exceptions, this is not always possible. Please, to avoid any future claim rejections, take a couple of minutes to look at this simple summary of most common mistakes.

  1. Subscriptions
    1. The University does not reimburse employees for personal subscriptions to professional bodies (note, you can claim tax relief on these in your tax return).
    2. Subscriptions to journals, periodicals, software licences etc required for School, Research Institute or Administrative Service use must be paid for by purchase order or purchasing card. Subscriptions should be in the name of the University and not the individual.
  2. Time limit – expense claims must be made within three months of the expense being incurred. That means all receipts have to be dated within the last 3 months.
  3. 3rd party expenses
    1. Claims can only be made for your own expenses. Paying other peoples’ expenses and reclaiming them is not allowed.
    2. Claims cannot be made to reimburse payment to other people for work done. This should be processed via normal procurement routes.
  4. Currency not converted – e.g. receipt says $30 but expense claim submitted is for £30, check you are claiming for the correct amount.
  5. Missing receipts – where one could reasonably be expected. If you are missing a receipt, give an explanation.
  6. Relocation costs – visas / relocation expenses for new staff should go through the HR (recruitment) claim process and not employee expenses.
  7. Incorrect expense type in CORE selected – use the drop down list. Commonly used types are subsistence and taxi, note many types have a UK and a non-UK version, e.g. hotel Non-UK.
  8. Equipment and consumables such as laptops, i-pads, cameras, noise cancelling headphones etc. are not allowed. These must be purchased by purchase order or purchasing card. Please be careful with this one!

General guidance for purchases: is there a way to do this without me spending my own money and getting the University to pay it directly?

The University expenses procedure and guidance can be found here.