Finances and Purchasing

Supplies, equipment, travel, and other needs related to your position at Rutgers should be ordered through our purchasing system by asking staff to create a purchase order. This will prevent you from having to pay out-of-pocket and needing reimbursement.

Please see our purchasing guidelines written for SC&I faculty and staff. Related forms are:

• Faculty Purchase Request Form
• Staff Purchase Request Form (replaces current SC&I Purchase Request Form attached to requisitions)
• Food and beverage request form (replaces current form and should be attached to requisitions)
• Software Purchases: please contact the IT office to determine if a Software Risk Assessment Form is needed. If needed, they will assist you with completing and submitting the form.
• Accessing the expense management system to get reimbursements 

If you do need to hire someone to assist you, please complete the form below, allowing at least two weeks to process the hire. Please do not allow the person to begin working until the hire process has been completed

• New Hire Request Form

If you do need to make a purchase yourself, please read our helpful checklist for submitting expense reports. Be aware that the limit for reimbursement of incidental purchases is $500 (Amazon purchases are not reimbursable), with travel as an exception.

Before purchasing information technology with your own funds, please be aware of our school’s technology policy. ** Software is not reimbursable **

All requests for reimbursement or out-of-pocket travel and business expenses must comply with the Rutgers University Travel & Business Expense policy. Please review the full policy and the travel information website.

Current COVID travel regulations:

Travel expenses will NOT be reimbursed if the Travel Exception Request is not approved and attached to your Expense Report upon return from your trip. Please be sure to complete the appropriate DocuSign forms found at https://academicaffairs.rutgers.edu/travel-guidance.

** When completing this form, please be sure to include the project/task you want to charge in the Purpose of Travel section of the form. This information can be found by going to your on-line financial report or FY22 GL-Project-Task list.

All travel reservations (air, train, hotel, & rental car) must be made through Direct Travel. Once all approvals are received through the DocuSign process

• RU Travel will advise the travel agency of the approval and forward all approvals and forms
• RU Travel will contact traveler with the directions on how to book their approved travel
• Travel agency will create and send the reservation to the traveler for review
• After traveler reviews and approves the reservation, a ticket will be issued
  • REMINDER: all approvals and forms must be attached to expense report for any reimbursements for this trip.

To notify your delegate that there is an expense report for review, please complete the appropriate Purchase Request Form.

In accordance with university policies, please do not ask for reimbursement on items such as:

• personal travel added onto a business trip
• travel for your family when they accompany you on business trips
• travel or purchases whose business purpose cannot be substantiated with documentation

The university policy states that “Employees who improperly submit and approvers who improperly authorize the use of university funds are subject to disciplinary action.”

Whenever you travel outside of the U.S., you must register the trip on the International Travel Registration Site via the International Travel Registration Form found on the International Travel page. This form provides the university the information needed to locate you and deliver resources to you in the event of an international emergency.