JANUARY COUNTY FINANCIAL UPDATES
Educators: If you have newer staff members who may not be signed up for the ALLCNTY listserv, please share this information with them.
2013 Nebraska Sales Tax “Thank-You”
The county office “sales tax” contacts recently received a thank you email from Sarah Divis, GNBC, for their sales tax reporting efforts during 2013. I also want to extend my appreciation to these Extension support staff for their cooperation in helping UNL meet the Department of Revenue’s January reporting deadline. Kudos to you all!
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Travel
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Conference Agendas
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Please ensure conference and seminar agendas and/or schedule of events are submitted with reimbursement requests.
Gratuities
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Travelers will be reimbursed for reasonable gratuities. The amount of the tip should reflect the quality of the service received and/or the prevailing custom for that particular service. A tip of 15% for a meal is customary. If service fees are included in group dinner bills or room service charges, no additional gratuity is necessary. UNL’s policy is to reimburse for actual gratuity paid. If an employee has not included gratuity on the receipt, gratuity should not be included in the request for reimbursement.
Calculator for Meal Adjustments
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An online calculator is available to assist in calculating deductions for alcohol and/or meals you are not claiming. The calculator is available in SAPPHIRE (https://sapphire.nebraska.edu/gm/folder-1.11.24226?mode=EU).
New Mileage Reimbursement Rate for 2014
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The University of Nebraska mileage reimbursement for miles driven beginning January 1, 2014 has decreased to 56.0 cents per mile from the previous 56.5 cents per mile. UNL adheres to the federal mileage reimbursement rate. Please make sure you are using the new mileage rate on your employee expense vouchers for 2014. The expense voucher form has been updated on the Extension website and can be found at: http://www.extension.unl.edu/financial_reference_guide_forms.
Should you have problems accessing the employee Resource link using Internet Explorer, please try another web browser such as Firefox.
Tips to help expedite expense reimbursements
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• Original receipts are required. (Copies, stamps, faxes or scans are not accepted.)
• Original signatures are required. (Copies, stamps, faxes, emails or scans are not accepted.)
• If you are not claiming all items on the receipt, circle the items you are claiming and draw one line through each of the items you are not claiming (so that they are still legible).
2014 Travel Expense Deadline Calendar File Available in SAPPHIRE
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State statute requires that all expense reimbursements be received in the UNL Accounting Office (401 Canfield) within 60 days after the final day of the trip or the date of purchase. To better track these deadlines, you can add a daily reminder to your calendar with the 60-day cutoff date listed for each day. (See attachment for instructions.)
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Spring Workshop Reminders
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Here are a few helpful reminders that may help your workshop payment processes flow smoothly:
Obtaining Certificate of Liability Insurance Prior to Event Vendors performing services (i.e. caterers) for UNL are required to provide a Certificate of Insurance form naming “the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska as an additional insured." This certificate must be on file in the UNL Procurement Services office prior to ANY commencement of services performed. Mail the insurance certificate to your business center contact. To check whether a service vendor has a certificate on file, go to the UNL Vendor Insurance Lookup Form website (http://scsapps.unl.edu/vendorlookup/VendorInsurance.aspx).
Please do not sign any contracts for room rentals. Contracts and grants must be reviewed and signatures obtained from University officers who have authority to sign on behalf of the University. Contracts should be sent to your respective GNBC support person for processing. Any contract signed without proper authorization is not valid or binding on the University.... (See full Statement of Delegated Signature Authority at http://bf.unl.edu/policies/Signature%20Authority%20-%20FINAL%202013_08_19.pdf).
Are the vendors you are working with in the UNL vendor system? Having the vendor information in the University system will expedite payments back to your vendors.
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Other
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UNL Holiday Schedule/Closedowns for 2014
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The holiday/closedown schedule for 2014 is available at: http://hr.unl.edu/general/holidayschedule.shtml .
UNL Marketplace
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Copies of the 2013 Farmer’s Tax Guides available for distribution and are now available for ordering through the Marketplace. For your convenience the link below will take you to the tax guides.
http://marketplace.unl.edu/extension/featured/tax225.html
These will still be a free publication, you will only have to pay for shipping as you currently do. This will make it easier to bundle it together with other items that you currently purchase through the marketplace.
In case you have forgotten how to order from UNL Marketplace, step-by-step instructions for setting up accounts and purchasing for both counties and councils can be found at:
http://4h.unl.edu/unlmarketplaceinstructions
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Questions
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If you have questions about any of the processes above, please contact your respective GNBC support person:
Pat Neben
UNL-WCREC
402 West State Farm Rd
North Platte, NE 69101
308-696-6722
pneben2@unl.edu
Serving NEREC, PHREC, WCREC
Sarah Divis
UNL-ARDC
1071 County Road G, Rm. A
Ithaca, NE 68033
402-624-8035
sdivis5@unl.edu
Serving SEREC