Wednesday, February 23, 2011

dolla, dolla bill, ya'll

We all know how organizations have the potential for there to large amounts of bureaucratic red-tape, right? Especially when it comes to money?

I don't even know how many conferences I've gone to in the past 7years, but they all required reimbursement from a school. 

Let me share with you how it is done at Miami:
  1. For non-department funds, fill out application estimating costs. Get approved for $X. Nothing needed for department funds.
  2. Attend conference. Save all receipts, except for food.
  3. By end of the semester in which travel occurred, submit for reimbursement the following:
    1. Original receipts
    2. Canceled checks and/or credit card statement showing that receipts had actually been paid
    3. If sharing expenses (e.g., hotel room) with others, provide:
      1. Proof that you paid them/they paid you in form of canceled check
      2. Typed, signed letter stating that you paid/were paid by colleagues
  4. Wait for.ev.er to finally receive money.
(I happen to believe the items in blue are absurd.)

How it's done at Colby:
  1. Fill out application estimating costs. Get approved for $X.
  2. Attend conference. Save all receipts above $75.
  3. Within 30 days of travel, submit for reimbursement the following:
    1. Original receipts
    2. Handwritten note on receipt stating that you shared the hotel room
  4. Wait 2days to receive approval/money.

Whoa. WHOA. What? Only 2days?

That's right. I submitted my forms on Monday - hell, via campus mail they probably didn't even get to the correct office until Tuesday - and today, Wednesday, I got an email saying that my reimbursement had been approved and it would be deposited into my account by Friday. Awesome.

Of course, I still had to go through all of Miami's shenanigans because I shared a room with Miami peeps and in order for them to get money they needed the correct documentation... but I am amazed at how easily this whole thing went down with Colby. I was expecting a response saying they needed "proof" of payment or some other nonsense. WIN.

4 comments:

  1. I am jealous! I still have not recieved reimbursement from SPSP and am about to go to another conference. I'm glad other schools are better at reimbursement.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow. Am jealous. I'll have to do a post about how to get reimbursed from Cal. HOT. MESS.

    ReplyDelete
  3. i paid tuition at virginia tech AND george mason and have yet to be reimbursed! perhaps i did not fill out the correct forms.

    ReplyDelete