Event Planning/Conferences

• Invoices: Many vendors/restaurants will invoice Virginia Tech for meals/events directly and nsifinance@vt.edu is happy to engage with any vendor/restaurant to guide conversation and action needed. When invoices include alcohol, those charges are separated out and funded on a VTF fund on the back end.

• Reimbursements: If you incur unavoidable personal expenses from a meal or event, nsifinance@vt.edu will submit your reimbursement request within 2 business days of receipt. The Controller’s Office procedure requires payment within 10 days of receipt of a reimbursement request once received by their unit. 

• Contracts: Every contract coming in to the university must be reviewed by legal counsel before signature, requiring an ample amount of lead time. The terms and conditions in contracts provided are often not acceptable to VT, requiring legal counsel to review/negotiation, and in compliance with the university signature authority policy. Please route contracts needing review to nsifinance@vt.edu and we will coordinate the review with university legal. 

• Options: With advance notice, the finance team can likely find a workable option to support desired events (i.e. vendor establishment and invoice, travel advance depending on eligibility, Bank of America corporate travel card). 

Having an individual cover any expenses is always the last resort.

Swag

For costs to be supported on Overhead (and E&G) funds, the event must include a form of programmatic activity/content. In addition, any tangible items received by the event goers must be less than $10 per recipient. For tangible items exceeding $10, Virginia Tech Foundation funds will be used to support the initiative. 

If approved and purchased, receipts must be submitted through the VTNSI HUB within 10 business days of the event in order to comply with prompt pay procedures. Receipts submitted after this timeframe will not be reimbursed. Individuals will be responsible for these amounts.

If unclear as to whether an expense is allowable or if there are concerns about resource balances, please contact nsifinance@vt.edu and the finance team will work with the Controller’s Office to navigate discussion on your behalf.

• Can we sign a vendor contract? If the vendor is in HokieMart, Virginia Tech can issue a Purchase Order off the quote and the VT terms and conditions will apply. The quote can be submitted through a Purchase Request in the VTNSI HUB. The PO will then be routed to the vendor for fulfillment. 

• Can I provide financial support for professional society's event (best paper competition)? Financial support would be considered a donation which is not allowable. However, if we are paying a sponsorship for the event we could get that approved on state funds if we were receiving something in lieu of the sponsorship such as conference/event registrations, a booth or table to promote VTNSI, or other similar items.

• Can I buy supplies for my project and be paid back? No. There are university purchasing procedures in place to prevent these types of transactions and we cannot guarantee you will be reimbursed for the expense. 

• How do I establish direct bill with a hotel? In Blacksburg, VTSNI has direct bill relationships with the Inn at VT, Hyatt Place, and the Residence Inn. In Arlington, we have the Westin Arlington and Holiday Inn Arlington at Ballston. If new direct bill relationships are needed, the finance team will contact the hotel directly to request a direct bill application. There is a portion for VTNSI and the Controller's Office. 

• If holding a division training, can I cover food costs? If all people in attendance are internal to NSI, catered meals are not allowable on state funds and food provided will need to be charged to the VTF.  If everyone is internal and no catered meals are provided, each individual can get lunch and be reimbursed per diems during travel reimbursement on state funds. If there is an outside guest or individual from another department, meals would be allowable on state funds (within per diem) with a food approval.

• Can we provide gift cards as various prizes? If the prizes stay under $75 each, we don’t need names of the winners/recipients. If over $75 each, a list of names of who received each prize and the prize amount must be provided. No employee should receive cash.   If anyone receives ANY amount of gift card, the name of each person and the amount received must be provided, which will be routed to payroll for taxation.   

• Are fellowship payments allowed on overhead? No, per policy 23800, section C, fellowships are not allowed on overhead funds.

• Can we charge business development to sponsored funds? No, sponsored budgets are specific to the awarded proposal and you may not charge expenses to the fund.