Expense Claims

Concordia University of Edmonton is in the process of developing its internal Policy and Procedure for Responsible Use of Funds, which will align to a large extent with the procedures and requirements from the Tri-Agency, with respect to financial compliance and research funds. The Tri-Agency is phasing out their Financial Administration Guide in favour of principle-based compliance review. Research expenditures must adhere to all of the following four principles:

1. Contribute towards the direct costs of the research/activities for which the funds were awarded, and the benefits should be directly attributable to the grant; and,
2. Not normally be provided by the administering institution to their research personnel; and,
3. Be effective and economical; and,
4. Not result in personal gain for any member of the grant team

Research Trust Compliance Review

Concordia University of Edmonton defines research as: a process of purposeful inquiry that generates new insights or knowledge involving scholarly, scientific, or creative activities in a field of specialization. It typically results in quantifiable outcomes such as journal articles, books, conference presentations and creative performances that are communicated to a broader academic community, field practitioners or the public.

If your expense claim is being submitted using a research account (60-XXXX-XXXX), you must first obtain Research Trust Compliance Review for all expenses paid from such account. This service is provided by the Office of Research Services.

All expense claims relating to research activities must be signed by the claimant, the Budget Control Officer (usually the grant holder, or one-over-one approver, if the claimant is the account holder), and finally must be approved by the Vice President Academic and Provost. Examples of claims that require this approval are:

• External research grants (for example, SSHRC, NSERC, and all others).
• Internal research grants (including Seed and Explore, SSHRC-SIG grants, ASU grants, student research grants, small research needs grants, and all other internal grants).
• Any claim related to funds related to research activities, regardless of the source of funds.

Submitting an expense claim

The procedure for submitting claims related to research activities is as follows:

1. Ensure that the claim is consistent with the eligibility of the expenses. Each awardee is provided with specific instructions for the award when notified. There are additional resources to assist claimants:
   • Expense claim forms
   • CUE policies and procedures
   • List of eligible expenses
   • CUE procedure relating to travel expenses
2. Prepare your claim using the correct and latest version of the form. There are 2 forms for employees (one for Travel-related expenses, and another for any expense other than travel), and one for non-employees (for all types of expenses). The form must be current or the claim will not be processed. The form must be signed by the claimant, and by the recipient of the award, in case the claimant is not the actual funds holder. If the claimant is the holder of the award (BCO), one-over-one approver signature is required. Current forms can be found under Employees, in the Finance folder in Alfresco. Students can request the forms directly to the Office of Research Services.
3. Ensure that you have provided all supporting documentation in original, including:

• all receipts, stapled to the claim in the same order that they are listed in the claim form;
• expenses must have occurred during the effective term of the award; any expense that occurred before the start of the award, or after the end of the award is ineligible and cannot be claimed from the award funds;
• receipts must be under the name of the claimant, or be supplied with a letter from the owner of the receipt granting authorization to the claimant to claim the expense, and explicitly stating that the expense is not, and will not, be claimed elsewhere;
• in case a receipt is missing, it must be replaced by a lost receipt declaration, found in Alfresco; a maximum of one declaration form per claim can be accepted.
• in case any expense is not in Canadian dollars, an exchange rate must be supplied for the exact date of the expense; acceptable rates can only be provided via a credit card statement showing the expense and exchange rate, or through printouts obtained from the Bank of Canada for the specific date that the expense was incurred;
• for air travel, include all original boarding passes (QR codes alone are not acceptable) and invoices. Flight dates are only eligible when they correspond to the those of the attended event, plus travel time. Any trip that spans beyond these dates is considered personal, and can only be claimed if a quote for a similar flight corresponding to the correct dates is provided; in such case, the lowest amount will be the one that can be claimed; in particular circumstances, an exception can be requested in writing;
• separate list with the itemization for per diem expenses per day, and in total, including dollar amounts; any meal provided by accommodations and/or conferences cannot be claimed as per diem; per diem rates are available in CUE Travel Procedure. Per diem expenses can only be claimed for the eligible parts of a trip (please refer to the Travel Procedure for details). Per diem cannot be claimed when accommodations are provided by a host (not a hotel);
• in the proper fields of the claim form, please include full descriptive information on the purpose and nature of the expense claim and how it relates to the funded research;
• if the expenses are related to a conference attended by the claimant, the claim must also include the badge provided by the conference organization, the letter of acceptance of abstract for presentation, invoices for registration, the program at-a-glance or in full showing the name of the claimant, and any other document that can support the attendance and presentation by the claimant; attendance to conferences without presentation of research is not allowed for internal research grants;
• copy of any travel advance received for the trip (all expenses for travel advances must be included in the claim, and identified as pre-paid expenses); there are no travel advances for Internal Research Grants;
• copy of the award letter;
• if any part of the trip was paid using a corporate card, please retain a copy of all invoices for reconciliation;
• at the front of the claim, please attach a copy of corresponding checklist, properly filled. Checklists are available for Employee Travel and Non-Travel claims, and for Non-Employees.

It is essential that your claim contains the current form, adequate and full documentation such as receipts and boarding passes, and adequate descriptions as to the nature and purpose of the expense. Claims that do not provide this or do not follow the procedure outline above will not be processed.

Questions may be directed to the Office of Research Services.

Current Forms and Links

Current forms, policies and procedures can be found in Alfresco. Non-employees and students can obtain the forms via email from the Office of Research Services.