July 2025 Policy Updates

Example

If you purchased a Concur airfare ticket for a conference on July 1, 2025, the 90-day clock starts on July 1 for the service fee only because it doesn’t record a departure or arrival date on the expense line. You would then have until Sept. 29, 2025, to submit the reimbursement for that airfare service fee, even if the conference doesn’t begin until December. You would not, however, have to worry about airfare, as that expense line records a departure and arrival date. That said, we recommend submitting an expense report for the entire transaction (airfare and service fee) as soon as possible, especially if the conference is scheduled for the future.

Other Updates

Although the Division of Business Services is still working to get these updated in the policy library, here are the other changes.

UW-3024 – Expense Reimbursement

• Receipt Requirements
  • Receipts are required for out-of-pocket expenses and Shared Liability Card transactions greater than $50. Recommendation: Do NOT attach receipts if they are not necessary by policy. It is meant to facilitate swifter creation and approval of expense reports with lower-dollar items.
  • Receipts are not required for the reimbursement of a traveler’s per diem allowance. (Unchanged from current state.)
  • Receipts will still be required for all purchasing card transactions regardless of dollar amount.
• Accountable Plan Updates

  • Expenses must be submitted with the required supporting documentation within 90 days from the date of purchase. Exceptions to this requirement are for the following Expense Items which must be submitted within 90 days from the “arrival date” listed on the expense line of an expense report in Workday:

    • Registration Fee

    • Airfare

    • Group Airfare

    • Lodging (Group, Student and Individual)

    • Tuition Reimbursement (the arrival date is the course end date)

    • Job-Related Training (the arrival date is the course end date)

    • The Accountable Plan submission requirements are driven by line-level dates in Workday. This is especially important with reference to PER DIEMS, Travel Agency Services, and everything that does not record a Departure and Arrival date; this means the Accountable Plan deadline for those Expense Items is calculated based on the line date, not the last date of travel. This is something to prepare your Divisions and Departments for, as they are used to header-level dates!

    • Late submissions for out-of-pocket transactions and shared liability card transactions will be taxed at 90 days. We are still recommending submission by 60 days. Note that the shared liability card starts assessing late fees at 60 days – so timeliness is especially relevant here to corporate cardholders.

UW-3017 – Lodging

• Collaborated with the Director of Risk Management and Director of Purchasing Services to update extended lodging policy.
• Removed the need for Divisional Business Office pre-approval for extended lodging (>30 days)
• Removed definition of extended lodging as >30 days, as more affordable options might be procured for stays shorter than 30 days.
• Added language specifying procurement steps if total payment exceeds $5,000 – Procurement Authority IS required, need simplified bid/sole source and approval from Purchasing Services (Dana Casey)
• Updated Policy Text (below)
  • Extended Lodging. Travelers may choose to find lodging at reasonable weekly/monthly rates if the university requires that they remain in travel status for an extended period of time. Affordable options may include leasing residential space (e.g., apartments, condos) through a property management compnay or rental service or utilizing an extended stay hotel. If utilizing one of these options, travelers must note the following:
    • Any lease procured for extended travel is considered personal in nature and must be signed by the employee/traveler
      • Required security deposits are the financial responsibility of the traveler and will not be paid or reimbursed with university funds.
      • The cost of necessary utilities (e.g., heat, electricity) is reimbursable when leasing accommodations.
    • The UW provides no insurance or other coverage related to these agreements and therefore the tenant and landlord have full responsibility for any necessary coverages and liability.
    • If the total anticipated cost exceeds $5,000, the employee/traveler must demonstrate procurement authority (e.g., Simplified Bid Process) and obtain preapproval from UW–Madison Purchasing Services. Relevant procurement authority documentation must be attached to the payment mechanism.

UW-3018 – Meals and Incidentals

• First/last day deduction of 25% is going away with Workday.
• Travelers will be eligible for 100% of per diem allowance on first/last day (less provided meals).
• Incidental amount included in total; provided meal deductions are linear/proportional; if ALL meals are provided, per diem amount for that day will be $0.00.
• The new Workday per diem calculator is available for any future-dated travel. There are no plans to keep historic rates in the Per Diem Calculator. If an employee has a need to go back to view historic rates, they can create a draft expense report in Workday and see the prior rates.

UW-3020 – Long-Distance Ground and Local Transportation

• Tips are no longer limited to 20% of the total fare.
  • Goal: Reduce time-consuming follow-up on low-dollar overages. Central audit notes average overage beyond 20% is $1.90.
• Excessive tips may be subject to approval by the Expense Operations Lead

UW-3026 – Non-Payable/Non-Reimbursable Expenses

• Added the following non-payable/non-reimbursable item: Flowers for employee life events (e.g., death in the family, birth/adoption of child, hospital visits, marriage).  Other business cases for the purchase of flowers are allowable as follows:

  Allowable on UW–Madison Funding Without Official Function Pre-Aproval	Allowable on UW–Madison Funding With Official Function Pre-Approval	Allowable on UW Foundation Funding OR UW–Madison Gift Funding	Not Allowable on UW–Madison or UW Foundation Funding
  Retirement of a UW employee (pursuant to USA Policy 330); Graduation ceremony decorations; any other flowers purchased with a UW business-related benefit	Death of a UW employee (past or present) — requires additional Office Function Pre-Approval from UW–Madison AVC for Business Services/Controller	Flowers for donors	Flowers for employee life events (e.g., birth/adoption of child, hospital visits, illness, death of employee’s family member

UW-3039 – Business Meals and Hosted Events

• This policy now encompasses business meals and hosted events.
• Higher limits effective 07/01/2025! Also, doing away with in-state/out-of-state limits and only identifying Continental U.S. or other locations. Just two rate tables! Note: Any hosted meals entered in Workday are subject to the below rates! Utilize the new Business Meal and Hosted Events Calculator.

• Updated business meal calculator is available and posted. Note: For any hosted meals/events entered in Workday, use the NEW business meal calculator and rates. This is to simplify entry in Workday. 
• To align with Universities of Wisconsin policy, we have updated policy regarding meal maximums for hosted receptions. Previously, “reasonable” costs were allowed and no per-person limit.

  • Reception costs must be within the meal maximums for the time of day the reception is held. Reception costs are subject to the same per-person meal, overage, and alcohol payment limits as Business Meals/hosted events. If a reception is held between meal periods, the maximum rate applies to the higher of the two meal limits.

  • NOTE: This applies to food/beverage/catering. Room fee, AV, etc. are considered separately.

• Allowing use of gift funds and/or Foundation funds for meal overages. Alcohol must still be put on Foundation regardless of funding source.
  • If gift funds are available, recommending meal overages be put on gift funds in lieu of billing to Foundation.
  • If gift funds are used for meal overage, add separate expense line (Hosted Meal) with description “allowable meal overage on UW gift funds.”
    • Use of Gift Funds and/or Foundation Funds
      • Amounts exceeding the allowable per person limits may be charged to UW gift funds or to UW Foundation funds, if available. Alcohol may only be charged to UW Foundation funds. Payees must consult the UW Foundation affiliated with their campus to determine allowable limits for overages and alcohol.

UW-3075 – Official Functions

• Effective July 1, 2025, the following allowance will be removed:
  • Nominal gifts—excluding gift cards and cash equivalents—related to employee major life events such as weddings, births, or death in a family. Nominal gifts must be:
    • Flowers; or
    • UW-logoed items less than $50
• Reasons for the update:
  • Effort to standardize with Universities of Wisconsin policy.
  • Increased budget restrictions.
  • Should be personal/pass-the-hat purchases.
• However, the following allowance will be added: Flowers, in the event of an employee’s death.
• Note: This allowance will require an additional approval from David Honma, Controller/AVC for Business Services. A field for David Honma’s approval will be added to the Official Function form for this specific exception.
• For Official Functions in Workday at Go-Live, we will have an FY26 version of the PDF form. We have plans to launch PowerAutomate for Official Functions Approvals in Fall 2025.
• NOTE: Prizes, Awards, and Gifts will still be allowed pursuant to the requirements/stipulations of Universities of Wisconsin Policy 330: Prizes, Awards and Gifts.

Purchasing Cards: Policy/Procedure Updates (Policy UW-3013, Purchasing Cards)

• Transaction reconciliation timeframe increased to 60 days:
  • Purchasing cardholders must reconcile purchasing card transactions within 60 days of the Credit Card Transaction Load Date, or the date the transaction is loaded into Workday.
• Tax Tolerance level decreasing to $20:
  • If sales tax is paid in error in an amount greater than $20, contact the vendor to obtain a refund. Document the date and action taken on the supporting documentation for the charge.
• Allowance UW Foundation expenses on the purchasing card:
  • The purchasing card may be used to incur costs that are intended to be allocated to UW Foundation funding.
  • >$5000 across UW/UWF – requires procurement authority, simplified bid, single purchase limit increase.