Business Meals
Adding Business Meals
Business Meals are a distinct category separate from per diem. When out on conference travel, typically most meals will be reimbursable under per diem. However, in many instances where University personnel host guests over a meal to discuss official University business, that meal can be considered a business meal. Please note that a meal claimed under per diem CANNOT be also claimed as a business meal and vice versa.
There are some restrictions imposed on business meals depending on how the meal is being funded. Any reimbursement being processed using a State or Grant CFOP will almost NEVER allow alcohol charges to be included in the business meal (CFOPs beginning with a leading ‘1’ for State Funds or ‘6’ for Grant Funds such as in the CFOPs 1-100025-xxxxxx-xxxxxx or 1-612345-xxxxxx-xxxxxx). Sales tax is also typically not reimbursable for most other charges as the University is considered a tax-exempt entity. Business Meals are a special case, however, so taxes featured on receipts are indeed reimbursable as well as any tips or gratuity charges.
After clicking Create New to add an expense to your reimbursement request, select the Meals/Per Diem expense tile and then select the Business Meals sub-tile. Then follow the instructions shown below.
Step 1: Adding Business Meal Details
Date: Date of the Business Meal (typically the same day as printed on the receipt).
Number of Attendees: Enter the number of participants for the Business Meal.
Allowable Amount: (Automatically calculated based on the number of attendees, $75/person.)
Spent: Enter the amount spent on the meal as listed on the receipt, including taxes, tips, and gratuities. This can be changed to different currencies if required.
Business Purpose: This will automatically populate what you entered at the header level.
Description: You must include the name of ALL attendees including both University and non-University personnel.
Search for and enter your CFOP(s). If you do not have a CFOP to use, you will need to request one from your supervisor or departmental head.
Please note that the Allocation field will automatically fill in with the CFOP provided in the first expense completed. It will do this for all following expenses entered but can be changed manually.
Click Add Attachments to add the receipt and/or backup documentation for this expense.
Please note that the file must be either an image format or a PDF, Chrome River will not accept Word documents. You can either click the Add Attachments button and browse to the location where you have the receipt saved or you can simply drag and drop the receipt into the Attachments section of the report.
Click Save in the top right-hand corner.
If you have additional expenses to add to this travel reimbursement report, return to Step 3: Add a New Expense.
If you have entered all of your expenses related to this travel reimbursement report, go to Step 4: Submitting the Report.