Business Affairs

• The University generally considers entertainment and official occasions to be business meetings and social gatherings where food and beverage are consumed, events requiring venue rental and/or catering, associated invitation costs, flower delivery, and other similar expenses.
• To qualify for funding and/or personal reimbursement, entertainment and official occasions must meet specific criteria and follow both University and College guidelines. Details and requirements are available at the University’s Handbook of Business Procedures, Part 9.1.1. Entertainment and Official Occasions Expenses.
• Payment to vendors and/or personal reimbursement for expenses incurred at meals or events, require an itemized receipt and populated + signed Official Occasion Expense Form. An Official Occasion Expense Form (OOEF) must be submitted with every entertainment expenditure.
• Support populating an OOEF is available at cofadoba@austin.utexas.edu.

• The College of Fine Arts Dean’s Office has house accounts with vendors available to provide food and beverage, including HEB curbside. If you’re planning an event or meeting that requires food and drink, please contact cofadoba@austin.utexas.edu. A list of vendors and information required to place orders with them can be made available.
• If your event requires non-UT catering staff to be on campus, a purchase order or business contract is required. Please contact cofadoba@austin.utexas.edu with a minimum of two weeks’ notice prior to your event.
• If the vendor you select requires a signature (on anything), a contract is required. Staff nor faculty can sign, electronically or otherwise, on behalf of the university.
• The Dean's Office ProCard is available for entertainment purchases with select vendors. Please contact cofadoba@austin.utexas.edu for more information and access to the ProCard.
• Gratuities are allowed and must not exceed 20% of the food/drink subtotal.
• Serving alcohol on campus requires advance exception approval by an authorized COFA delegate (Nisreen Singharaj or Cecilia Arias-Boze) and the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost.
• Expenses for alcohol may not be the primary expenditure.
• All parties attending entertainment and official occasions must serve a bona fide business purpose.
   

Directly following entertainment an itemized invoice, copy of contract or purchase order if applicable, and a populated + signed OOEF must be provided to College of Fine Arts Dean’s Office INVOICE Submission-POs-Contracts-House Accounts Box folder to ensure timely payment.

SUBMIT YOUR VENDOR PAPERWORK FOR PAYMENT

The Dean’s Office ProCard is available for entertainment purchases with select vendors (Ex. Central Market, HEB & local bakeries). If your purchase was made with the ProCard, directly following entertainment, an itemized receipt + signed OOEF must be provided to College of Fine Arts Dean’s Office PROCARD Receipts Box folder. 

Questions? Email cofadoba@austin.utexas.edu.

The College of Fine Arts Dean’s Office encourages hosts of entertainment and official occasions to work with cofadoba@austin.utexas.edu to utilize the college’s house accounts and avoid personal payment for business entertainment expenses. In cases where direct payment to the vendor is not possible, personal reimbursement is allowed.

Directly following entertainment, please upload your request for reimbursement to the College of Fine Arts Dean’s Office  EXPENSE REIMBURSEMENT Receipts Box folder. Requests must be a single PDF that includes an itemized receipt, proof of purchase, and a populated and signed OOEF.  

SUBMIT YOUR PERSONAL EXPENSES FOR REIMBURSEMENT

Reimbursement for goods and services must be paid no later than 30 days after the receipt of goods or services. Late reimbursement requests require additional levels of approval and may be disallowed entirely or reported as taxable income to the payee.

Sales tax on entertainment expenses is reimbursable only if the expense was incurred at a restaurant. Sales tax cannot be reimbursed for delivery or take away food and drink orders. 

• Gain approval to travel no later than 3 weeks prior to your proposed travel dates (earlier arrangements are most cost effective). Approval processes vary by position. College of Fine Arts Dean’s Office staff, contact your supervisor.  
• Dean’s direct reports – requests for travel approval are granted by the dean via DocuSign template submission. Request access to the template by emailing jacqueline.tamayo@austin.utexas.edu.
• Faculty and staff outside of Dean’s Office should follow department/unit’s standard operating procedures.

Once permission to travel is granted a Request for Travel Authorization (RTA) must be submitted. RTAs are required for all UT employees traveling to conduct University business, regardless of cost to the university. An RTA is needed any time a person conducts University business off-campus for more than 4 hours (i.e., local conference, meeting, etc.).

SUBMIT A REQUEST FOR TRAVEL AUTHORIZATION 

Directions for filling out RTA

1. Click "Create" for "Travel Authorization Request"
2. Enter Travel Information Account Info. Please be sure to select whether a UT account will be used for travel and add the account number or select “NO COST TO UT.” 
3. Add an estimated cost for your travel or a default travel cost will be added for accounting purposes.
4. Select “Continue”.
5. On the next page, "Choose Assignee", use the drop box in “Assign to” and choose “UT EID” and Assign to Sebastiana Maldonado-Espinoza, UT EID: se4997. Your RTA request will now be finalized by a cofadoba@austin.utexas.edu team member. 
6. Upon RTA processing completion you will receive an email with your RTA document ID.  
7. Next, reserve your flight, hotel, and rental car with your RTA document ID  
   at Anthony Travel or Concur’s Online Booking Tool.

Good to know

Personal payment of allowable travel expenses (airfare, lodging, car rental) may be reimbursed after travel is completed. Please be advised, without an approved exception, UT does not reimburse upgraded airline seating.

For out-of-state travel in a personally owned vehicle, reimbursement is limited to the lower average of coach airfare and related expenses or mileage plus allowable meals and lodging. 

• International Travel must be registered with Texas Global.
• Please consult UT’s Information Security Office’s page for important information about international travel with UT’s computers and other IT devices.
• Any business travel to a restricted region requires the dean’s approval and approval by the International Oversight Committee (IOC). This process requires a minimum 3-month timeline.
• Please contact cofadoba@austin.utexas.edu if you have questions or need help with domestic or international travel. 

Any University of Texas at Austin employee is entitled to reimbursement for travel expenses incurred while conducting official university business for only his or her travel expenses and not for any other individual, regardless of who paid the travel expense.

Upon your return, please combine all travel receipts into a single PDF and upload to College of Fine Arts Dean’s Office TRAVEL Receipts Box folder. 

SUBMIT TRAVEL RECEIPTS

• Travel must be complete before travelers are eligible for reimbursement.
• Travel reimbursement must be final approved within 60 days of travel. Receipts should be turned in within 30 days of your last day of travel. Reimbursement may otherwise be considered taxable income. 

You can use UT Market for office supplies, furniture, printing at UT’s Document Solutions, etc.

Office supplies

When possible, please use UT’s mandatory contract with Office Max/Office Depot for office supplies by visiting Today’s Business Solutions “Office Supplies” at the UT Market. 

1. Search for items in the “Products" search field.  
2. Add selected items to your cart. 
3. When you’re ready to check out, select the “CHECK OUT”  button at the bottom right-hand corner of the page.
4. You will be taken to a page that includes a summary of your purchase and fields to enter information.
5. In the “Pay-from comments” field please enter the account number for your purchase and the purchase approver’s name.
6. Please include any other information the buyer processing your cart should know.
7. Now you are ready to assign your cart. At the top right hand corner of the page, please select "Assign Cart” and assign your cart to Britt Sanchez, EID: BJS3773.
8. You will receive notice to collect your order upon its arrival at DFA 2.4.

Alternative methods to acquire goods including furniture and printing exist. Please contact cofadoba@austin.utexas.edu (before ordering) for more information and purchase order requests. 
 

Amazon Business Prime can be used to purchase miscellaneous supplies.

• Please send the link(s) to your requested item(s) to cofadoba@austin.utexas.edu along with the purchase approver’s name and the account number for your order.
• Frequent Amazon Business Prime shoppers may be eligible to join the college’s account. Contact cofadoba@austin.uexas.edu for more information.
• All food and drink ordered at Amazon Business Prime require an OOEF. 
   

• Per UT’s Handbook of Business Procedures, the ProCard is to be used only for the purchase of low-dollar and low-risk goods and services for University business purposes when other methods of procurement are not more appropriate. Purchasing alternatives should be evaluated prior to the utilization of the ProCard. These items are disallowed for purchase by ProCard.  
• If the item approved for purchase is eligible for ProCard use, with a minimum of 48 hours’ notice, please email cofadoba@austin.utexas.edu to request temporary access to the Dean’s Office ProCard.
• Directly following ProCard purchase, receipts and any other required supporting documentation must be uploaded to the College of Fine Arts Dean’s Office PROCARD Receipts Box folder. 

On occasion a UT-approved procurement option (ProCard, purchase order, UT Market) is unavailable. In cases of incidental purchase, personal reimbursement may be allowed.

As soon as possible following a personal purchase made on behalf of UT, please submit the paid, itemized receipt, including the account number to be charged and a note stating the reason why use of a purchase order or ProCard was not practical, to College of Fine Arts Dean’s Office EXPENSE REIMBURSEMENT Receipts Box folder. 

• Engaging a third-party vendor, hosting a guest speaker, artist, photographer all require purchase orders.
• A minimum of two weeks, ideally one month, prior to your guest speaker, artist, photographer’s service, or the event for which you need a purchase order created, please contact cofadoba@austin.utexas.edu.
• The Dean’s Office Business Affairs team will work with you to determine if your vendor is in the UT system with current information and profile requirements.

To initiate the vendor setup process 

1. Contact cofadoba@austin.utexas.edu to request access to the COFA DO Guest/Vendor Information Form DocuSign template and other details.
2. Receive your vendor's electronic identification (EID).
3. Prepare your guest’s Employee/Independent Contractor Classification (EICCC) and report any issue you encounter to cofadoba@austin.utexas.edu. (Example: Contact us if EICCC notification says vendor is a UT employee.) Per UT’s Accounting and Financial Management Services, the EICCC must be prepared before any work begins and before issuing a purchase order.

Locating and Routing the COFA Do Guest/Vendor Information Form DocuSign template

In case a quote is not provided by vendors, documentation must be provided to the Business Affairs team for preparation of the requested purchase order. Populating the Guest/Vendor Information Form provides the required information. 

1. Locate the form at your DocuSign account, under Templates, select Shared with Me.
2. Please be sure to select "USE" to initiate use of the template. Any other choice will make unintended updates to the template.
3. Once “USE” is selected you will be delivered to the “Add recipients” page. You or the person populating the form is the Requestor.
4. If you need departmental approval, please include the Approver in the following “Approver” field. You may otherwise use the little trash bin icon to remove the “Approver” from the routing.
5. Please leave the Processor 1 & 2 fields as they are.
6. Once all details of the Guest/Vendor Information Form are complete, select “SEND” at the bottom right hand of the page.
7. Your DocuSign envelope will route to the Business Affairs team.
8. Following receipt of your Guest/Vendor Information Form, the Business Affairs team will contact you with any questions and process the requested purchase order.
9. You will receive an email with your guest’s purchase order and post-service/event invoice and payment requirements within five business days. 

Following the event/vendor’s service date please upload the vendor’s professional invoice and EICCC as a single pdf to the College of Fine Arts Dean’s Office INVOICE Submission-POs-Contracts-House Accounts Box folder.

Per Accounting and Financial Management Services, if the vendor is unable to provide a professional invoice, one of the other following invoice requirements must be met:

1. An email from the vendor stating that the services were performed and completed, with the service dates and amount due. (This email may be initiated by the department, but a confirmation response is required from the vendor.)
2. An invoice created by the department with service dates and the amount due, signed by the vendor after services are complete. A DocuSign invoice template is available upon request at cofadoba@austin.utexas.edu.

A purchase order should be used for printing services, furniture orders, miscellaneous goods/services.

With as much notice as possible, ideally two weeks, please provide: 

• Vendor quote for good/services. 
• Vendor representative’s contact information. 
• Account number to be used for the purchase. 
• All other relevant details – ex. event date, ideal timeline for delivery — to cofadoba@austin.utexas.edu

As soon as possible following receipt of all required information, the Business Affairs team will begin processing the requested purchase order.

You will receive an email with the requested purchase order and information regarding obligations post-service/goods received, within five business days.

• Business contracts are required in these cases.
• A minimum of three weeks, ideally one month, prior to your vendor’s service or the event for which you need a business contract executed, please contact cofadoba@austin.utexas.edu.

• Directly following receipt of goods, delivery of an invoice to the College of Fine Arts Dean’s Office INVOICE Submission-POs-Contracts-House Accounts Box folder is required. 
• Please be sure to include all details requested at the link: vendor name, purchase order and/or contract number, and the date the goods/service were received. Failure to meet these requirements may result in late payments and additional fees.  

All invoices and payment requests must be submitted to the appropriate UT Box folder to be paid.

Please upload your expense reimbursement receipts here. This includes reimbursements for entertainment and miscellaneous incidental purchases. This does not include travel expenses. Please provide travel reimbursement requests to the travel receipts folder, linked below. 

Please upload your invoices from vendors related to Purchase Orders, Contracts, or House Accounts for completed services to this Box folder.

All Dean’s Office ProCard receipts and their required supporting documents should be uploaded to this Box folder.

Receipts for personal reimbursement for travel expenses should be uploaded to this Box folder.