Faculty & Staff Reimbursement
TMU reimburses faculty and staff for reasonable business expenses in accordance with our policies and procedures, including the Travel and Other Business Expenses Policy and Travel and Other Business Expenses Guidelines. All expenses must be reasonable and cost-effective, supported with backup documentation and approved and authorized by your one-up approver and/or the individual with signing authority on the cost centre being charged.
Submitting a reimbursement request
Full-time faculty and staff
- Submit an electronic reimbursement claim through the Financial Information System (FIS or Oracle) (opens in new window) .
- Attach backup documentation (e.g. receipts, boarding passes, hotel folios) supporting your expense claim in the financial system
- documentation must be attached prior to submitting this expense for approval
- You must retain original receipts for 90 days from the date your claim is submitted in FIS, in case they are required to complete your reimbursement request. Receipts must be destroyed once the 90-day retention period has passed.
Non-full-time faculty and staff who do not have access to FIS can submit hardcopy reimbursement claims and provide supporting backup documentation using the following forms:
- travel-related reimbursements can be submitted using the Travel Advance/Expense Form
- all other reimbursements can be submitted using the Cheque Requisition Form
Once complete, submit your claim in PDF format to Financial Services at mvpa@torontomu.ca.
For questions specific to electronic reimbursement, please contact iexpadmin@torontomu.ca or 416-979-5000, ext. 554274.
Methods of payment
By default, reimbursements for out-of-pocket expenses are paid by electronic funds transfer (EFT) if you have access to iExpense.
Those who do not hold iExpense access will be reimbursed via cheque. However, you may request to receive an EFT payment by contacting TMU's Purchasing Assistant at vendors@torontomu.ca to request an EFT Registration link.
Frequent reimbursement requests
If you have frequent business-related expenses, we recommend applying for the TMU Purchasing Card (P-Card) to reduce the need for covering business-related travel and expenses out-of-pocket.
Find more about how to apply on the Purchasing Card page.
Allowable business expenses: Common questions
If your original receipt is lost, you can still submit your expense for reimbursement by completing a (PDF file) Supplemental Receipt Form as backup documentation.
This form should only be used when every effort to obtain a copy of a receipt has been exhausted. In many cases, receipts for online purchases are often available from the vendor's website.
The Travel and Other Business Expenses Guidelines describes when, for whom and how TMU will provide reimbursement for alcoholic beverages. Alcoholic beverages are considered acceptable expenditures where they are consumed in relation to university-related business and consumption is moderate.
- Expenses will be reimbursed for alcoholic beverages purchased for external hospitality if incurred at a moderate level appropriate to the circumstance.
- Alcoholic beverages will be permitted expenditures in accordance with the license requirements for the sale and service of alcoholic beverages for on campus and internal hospitality functions at special social events (e.g. holiday and retirement parties) and with the prior approval from the Executive Lead of the division (e.g. vice-president). Alcohol consumption at luncheon and departmental meetings between university employees only is not encouraged.
The standard for all alcoholic beverages is one to two glasses per person. Bottles of wine ordered should be chosen from the lower end of the price range and utilized when serving more than one person. Alcohol ordered should be reasonable in relation to the food component of the bill and should generally not exceed 30% of the total bill. The alcohol portion cannot be greater than the food portion and no receipts can be submitted with alcohol only. Alcohol, in most instances, is not an allowable expense for research grants or other funds from other external agencies.
Generally, eligible business travel expenditures include:
- transportation (air, train, bus, taxis, airport buses, car rentals, parking, public transportation, personal vehicle use)
- accommodations
- meals
- registration costs
- other expenditures deemed reasonable and prudent
Find out more in the Travel and Other Business Expenses Guidelines.
If your TMU Purchasing Card (P-Card) profile does not allow you to make travel-related purchases, you can request advance funding by completing the Travel Advance Form. Once your approver has signed off, submit your form to invoices@torontomu.ca.
After your trip, full-time employees must:
- submit your business trip expenses in FIS expense claims and reimbursements (iExpense) (opens in new window)
- upload all itemized receipts, including what was requested on the travel advance
After your trip, non-full-time employees must:
- complete the Travel Expense Statement section of the Travel Advance Form used to request the advance
- include all original receipts related to the business trip.
If your expenses amount to higher than the advance costs, you’ll be reimbursed the difference.
For assistance, contact the iExpense Administrator at iExpAdmin@torontomu.ca or 416-979-5000, ext. 554274.
All employees travelling on TMU business can choose between two options when submitting for reimbursement:
- By claiming actual meal costs with receipts to support the purchase.
- By claiming the maximum daily allowance, or per diem value, according to location and meal:
Maximum daily per diem |
Travel in |
Recommended per diem value |
|---|---|---|
$85 CAD |
Canada |
|
$85 USD |
United States or international |
|
If you're submitting via the receipt-based method, continue to follow the existing process and prompts in FIS expense claims and reimbursements (iExpense) (opens in new window) and on the manual Travel Expense Form.
When submitting for the per diem value in FIS expense claims and reimbursements, click the per diem expenses tab once you reach the cash and other expenses step. On the manual Travel Expense Form, enter the number of days you're travelling and the total per diem value you're claiming once you reach the final page.
Mileage is reimbursed at $0.57 per kilometre or $0.91 per mile.
When submitting for mileage claims in iExpense (opens in new window) , click the Mileage Expenses tab once you reach the cash and other expenses step. Enter the total number of kilometres or miles traveled per day and click the calculate button.
On the manual Travel Expense Form, enter the total distance travelled along with the rate you’re claiming and calculate the total amount owed. Please include a printout of your route from Google Maps to support the distance traveled.
Complete the Travel Expense Form and submit it for processing via the Financial Services dropbox at 1 Dundas Street West, 16th floor.
Complete one form per traveller, even when travelling as part of a research group. Please allow 15 business days for processing.
The balance for the Professional Development Reimbursement Fund for Members of the TMU Faculty Association (PERF) can be checked by your department administrator in the financial system.
Booklets of 30 taxi chits can be ordered at no charge from Receivables and Cash Accounting. To place an order, email your request to fsdeposits@torontomu.ca with your cost centre information. Once the booklets have been received, Receivables and Cash Accounting will contact you for sign-off and pickup.