Reimburse Employees #2

The university has transitioned all reimbursements for employees, students, and guest to the Mason Finance Gateway. Click here to learn more about the Gateway and access resources.

There are limited circumstances in which a personal payment (cash, credit/debit card) is the appropriate method to conduct university business. Most purchases must be made through eVA and/or with a Mason P-Card. Mason employees and students may occasionally incur non-regular or emergency expenses while conducting official university business. Please follow the guidelines below when requesting an employee or student reimbursement.

Eligible reimbursement expenditures are limited to:

  • Emergency office supplies while traveling on university business
  • Postage, shipping or photocopying
  • Business meals (See Food & Beverage Overview)
  • Entry fees
  • Student event and business supplies (when approved by the Department)
  • Research Subject Payments
  • Professional Membership Dues
  • Publication fees
  • Other expenses when approved, in writing, by Purchasing or Accounts Payable

Purchases not eligible for reimbursements include:

  • Routine office supplies to include printers, toner, paper, etc.
  • Computers, monitors or accessories
  • Computer software
  • Magazines, periodicals or books
  • Any payment to an individual for the performance of services
  • Routine food and beverage with the exception of business meals
  • Grocery store/department store/wholesale club purchases
  • Consulting Services
  • Academic Testing fees
  • Employee Training Course fees
  • Lab Supplies
  • Storage Facility Leases
  • Space Rentals
  • Equipment Rentals

First time vendors who are not employees or students must submit a COV W-9/W-8 through Mason’s Vendor Portal.

Request Travel or Non-Travel Expense Reimbursement

The Mason Finance Gateway, powered by Chrome River, is our new travel and expense management system and used to process all reimbursements. In February 2021, it replaced the Travel Request System and several manual reimbursement forms (Food & Beverage, Payment Request) processed through Accounts Payable. 

Individuals are responsible for presenting legitimate and complete Expense reimbursements through the Mason Finance Gateway. Reimbursement requests and all supporting documentation must be submitted through the Mason Finance Gateway within 60 days of trip or event completion. Reimbursements submitted more than 60 days after trip or event completion are subject to taxation.

Please refer to the Getting Started Guide, Delegate Guide and/or Approver Guide for assistance with navigating the Mason Finance Gateway. Information, step-by-step guides, and videos are available on the Mason Finance Gateway webpage to assist users with processing travel, food and beverage, or other business expense reimbursements. When logged into the Gateway, extensive resources are available within the system under Help Center.

Request Petty Cash Reimbursement

When the petty cash custodian determines that cash on hand is low, the fund may be replenished.

The custodian must:

  1. Complete the Petty Cash Reimbursement Request form, sign, and date.
  2. Send the form to their supervisor or Principal Investigator (PI) to approve the reimbursement request.
  3. Attach all receipts/or log of payments to the request.
  4. Submit the form to the Petty Cash Officer, Accounts Payable, MSN 3C1.
  5. Allow five business days for the reimbursement request to be processed.

Accounts Payable will:

  • Charge the replenishment check to the grant/fund as processed.

If a petty cash account has no activity for 90 days or more, the petty cash account should be reconciled, verified and closed.

For Questions: