Purchase Orders and Reimbursements

Purchase Orders

Vendors/suppliers that frequently work with the University of Pennsylvania are on Penn’s purchase order system. If a vendor is on the purchase order (PO) system, a purchase order should be used for payment.

• All PO system vendors/suppliers
• Approved apparel/promotional-item vendors/suppliers (Use of other vendors is prohibited.)
• Preferred caterers

To pay a vendor that is on the PO system, please follow these steps:

1. Request a quote/invoice from the vendor. Please make sure the quote does not include tax.
2. Complete and submit a Purchase Order Form at least 3 days before the day of the event. (You will need to upload the quote as well as an event flyer or attendees list)
3. The Undergraduate Division will process the request and provide you with a PO number that you must then provide to the vendor.

Please keep in mind that meal limits are $25 (breakfast/lunch) and $45 (dinner).

Purchases $250 and under can be made through reimbursement using the Concur system; however, tax will not be reimbursed if the vendor is on the PO system. Also note that this limit is per event and not per invoice.

Reimbursements

Students with out-of-pocket expenses that do not fall into the non-reimbursable categories below must submit expense reports for reimbursement through the Concur Travel & Expense Management (TEM) system within 5 business days of the transaction. Instructions can be found below.

If you have never submitted a reimbursement request, please contact the Undergraduate Finance Office at ug-finance@wharton.upenn.edu to be added to the system. You will need to include your full name and Penn ID in the email request.

To receive a payment through Concur, you will need an active United States bank account available for direct deposit. After the Expense function is added to your account, you can go to your profile Settings in the upper right-hand corner, then to Bank Information to complete the process. If you try to submit a reimbursement before your banking information is validated, you will receive an error message.

Please note that only current students may be reimbursed through Concur for purchases they have personally made. If a family member or other individual needs reimbursement for a payment made on a student’s behalf, they will need to be reimbursed via a non-PO payment method and will be subject to tax.

When submitting a reimbursement through Concur you must include the following:

1. Itemized receipt
2. Proof of Event
   • For Supply Purchases:  An Attendees list or event flyer
   • For Meal Purchases:  An Attendees list
3. Proof of purchase such as an image of the card used with only your name and the last 4 digits of the card showing or a bank statement showing both your name and the expense may be used.  (Note that the bank account or credit/debit card must be in the name of the person submitting the reimbursement request.)

The Undergraduate Finance Office will reject reimbursements that are missing any of these requirements.

Non-reimbursable items

Non-reimbursable items include but are not limited to the following, please make sure to visit this site for a more complete list:

• Any expenses in amounts over $250 per event—These must be procured using a PO; reimbursement requests up to $250 will be rejected if the receipt total is over $250. Splitting charges to avoid this limit is not permitted, e.g., Paying for a $300 bill with two $150 credit card transactions.
• Meals that exceed these limits—above $25 (breakfast/lunch) and $45 (dinner) per person including tip and tax.
• Flights (when booked outside of Concur)—Please use the travel tab in Concur to reserve air travel. You will need to select Frank De Francis as your travel approver (navigate to profile settings, travel preferences, company information).
• Out-of-town retreats or team-bonding events—Only travel and expenses related to out-of-town events that have a clearly delineated business purpose such as case competitions, business treks or trips to meet with alumni are permissible.
• Campus Copy—Please provide the code-192-directly to a Campus Copy representative. When picking up the order, Campus Copy will give you a yellow receipt; write the club name and your name on the receipt, take a picture, and send it to ug-finance@wharton.upenn.edu and copy aarobbin@wharton.upenn.edu and your treasurer.
• University Club—Please ask your assigned staff member for a local account form and the appropriate account number/card and for this vendor at least 3 business days in advance.
• Tax (Some tax is reimbursable, but Penn is tax-exempt in almost all cases. If a Concur reimbursement is done for a PO vendor, the tax will not be reimbursed.  Tax on digital goods/services and on allowable dues/memberships is also not reimbursable.)
• Alcohol
• Gifts of any sort—Wharton- and Penn-branded items of less than $100 may be purchased from approved promotional-item PO vendors or the Penn Bookstore. Gift card purchases are never permitted.
• Honoraria for speakers or payments to independent contractors—Payments to individuals cannot be reimbursed through Concur.  Please contact ug-finance@wharton.upenn.edu if you are planning an honoraria or a payment to an independent contractor.  (Please see Independent Contractors section for more information).
• Deposit holds for future events—Wharton never provides vendors with deposits.
• AirBnB, HomeAway/VRBO, Flipkey rentals—Students should use the Concur travel tab to book hotel lodging.
• Vehicle rentals—Students are not permitted to drive for University business. Please use a PO transportation supplier. 

Assigned Staff Members

Student Group	Assigned Staff Member
Clubs	Ariel Robbins
Cohorts
	Lisa Podolsky
JWS Society	Isabelle Glass
WAB	Jen Murphy
WEDIG	Teran Tadal
Wharton Ambassadors	Amanda Simpson
Wharton Council	Ariel Robbins
Wharton GUIDE	Lisa Podolsky
Wharton Wellness	Lisa Podolsky

Resources

Instructions for submitting a Concur reimbursement request

Instructions for booking travel using Concur

Concur Travel & Expense Management System

Ben Helps Portal – Travel & Expense Management

Ben Helps Ticket – submit a ticket for help with the mechanics of creating a report/updating banking information or general how to. Help Line Concur Travel & Expense – 215-746-4357 Option 3; doftemsupp@pobox.upenn.edu