Review Expense Reports Before Submitting

What's the best way to help your expense report move through the system quickly? Make sure you thoroughly review the report before submitting it for approval. Here's what to check for to help ensure a complete report:

• All expenses are entered completely and accurately
• Expenses are appropriately categorized
• All necessary receipts and supporting documentation are attached
• The funding is entered accurately and split distributions are correct
• The appropriate approvers are selected
• Ensure that you include any necessary essential travel approval documentation following UCSF COVID-19 Travel Guidelines

If you find anything missing from your expense report, please make any necessary changes before submitting the report. Accurate reports save time and prevents them from being returned for corrections and edits.

Late Expense Reports Considered Taxable Income

Expense reports should be submitted in MyExpense within 45 days of the expense to avoid reimbursements being reported to the IRS as taxable income. Employee expense reports submitted to an Approver in MyExpense more than 60 days after the trip end date or last purchase date will be reported as taxable income for the employee. 

This policy is not limited just to travel or meetings/events expenses; it applies to any reimbursements for any purpose, including out-of-pocket purchases of supplies that are unable to be purchased through BearBuy. Note: BearBuy is used by UCSF Campus for purchases and is not used by UCSF Health.

This is an IRS requirement, not a UCSF or University of California policy. Even if you have a legitimate reason to submit a reimbursement request after the 45-day window, the University's hands are tied and there is no way to retroactively waive this policy.

To avoid this penalty, please make sure that you and your staff are aware of this policy and submit expense reports promptly. If the fund from which reimbursement will be requested has not been set up yet, you should temporarily use a different fund within the time window and then work with your department financial team to process a cost transfer when the desired fund is set up.

For more details, please visit our Claim Expenses for Reimbursement web page.