General Finance Policies for Faculty

Stanford’s fiscal year runs from September 1 to August 31. 

Submitting Receipts

  • Expenses must be submitted within 10 days after the expense date or the last day of travel to ensure sufficient time for verification and approval within the federally-regulated 60-day window. Expenses in violation of the 60-day policy will be reported to the IRS as taxable income, may incur additional clearing fees, and may lead to card revocation. 
  • Receipts are submitted via the department's webform system.
  • The Department of Art & Art History requires receipts for all purchases, regardless of value. Receipts must include:
    • Itemization of what was purchased
    • Credit card authorization or proof-of-payment 
    • The names of all the participants and their titles or other information establishing their business relationship

Business Purpose

Per IRS Regulation Compliance requirements, all expenses at Stanford must have a business connection.

  • Expenses must be reasonable and necessary based on facts and circumstances
    • Reasonable means that the nature and amount of the expense does not exceed that which a prudent person would incur under the same circumstances. A good test is whether the individual could defend the expense if it came under public scrutiny.
    • A necessary expense is one that supports and furthers the University mission and its ongoing operation.
  • The Business Purpose must clearly document this business connection to the University, its mission, and the funding source. A Business Purpose should be written so that someone reading it at a future time (e.g., an auditor reviewing the expense 2-3 years later) would have no questions about the activity. The Business Purpose must describe:
    • Who (all attendees and Stanford affiliation)
    • What (the purpose of the expense and the expected outcome)
    • When (date and time for a meal, or inclusive dates of travel)
    • Where (Restaurant/City, or all travel destinations and dates in each location)
    • Why (descriptive connection to Stanford business)

Purchasing Card Policies

  • Purchasing cards cannot be used for:
    • Travel-related expenses. Cardholders must write a check payable to Stanford University for any travel expense charged to a Stanford Purchasing Card.
    • Payments via PayPal or Ebay.
    • Purchases over $4,999.99, including tax, shipping, and other fees. Purchases should not include split transactions.
    • Payments to vendors for professional services.
    • Personal expenses. Cardholders must write a check payable to Stanford University for any personal, non-Stanford business-related expenses charged to a Stanford Purchasing Card.
  • All goods purchased using Stanford funds (including computers and specialty equipment) are owned by Stanford University, and must be surrendered to the University at the end of its useful life, or in the event that a faculty member’s employment with the University ends. Personal sales of Stanford property is strictly prohibited.
  • Purchasing cards may be retained after retirement until total available balance is below $100.

Travel Card Policies

  • Before using your Travel Card, please review Traveling for Stanford webpage. 
  • Travel cards may be used to buy travel and travel-related services required to conduct university business. The TCard is the recommended payment method for any travel costs that will not be reimbursed through the per diem method.
  • The TCard may be used for incidental personal expenses that cannot be easily separated from a business charge. The cardholder is personally responsible for repaying Stanford University for any non-reimbursable TCard charges after completion of travel.
  • Following retirement and any recall period, Travel Cards must be destroyed and may no longer be used.

Faculty Research & Teaching Accounts

Regular faculty members are asked to keep track of their spending and the available funds in their research accounts. This information is available in FFIT. Sufficient funding must be available to cover all pending liabilities, including uncleared PCard and TCard transactions and other hard commitments against faculty funds. Overdrafts are not permitted with faculty research accounts. Any faculty with an overdraft will be required to write a check to Stanford University to cover the overdraft.

Questions about your research account funding or expenses should be directed to the Assistant DFO or the Finance Associate.

Event Co-Sponsorships

Faculty may collect co-sponsorships from other Stanford units to support events or activities that are expected to occur in the current fiscal year. Unspent funding will be returned to co-sponsoring units before the fiscal year ends in mid-August in accordance with Stanford's fiscal year close requirements.

Please forward all commitment emails to the Director of Finance and Operations (DFO) and Assistant DFO so the commitments can be tracked appropriately. You will be provided with a summary and PTA(s) for allocating expenditures. If the project or commitment changes after the initial award, please notify DFO/A-DFO of the changes and co-sponsor approvals.

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