Expenses by OOEF Field
Food & Miscellaneous:
Includes food, non-alcoholic beverages, flowers, greeting cards, and miscellaneous supplies. Consider the “Delivery/Fees” field for other types of costs such as linens, A/V rentals, or facility rental fees.
Alcohol:
- Procard: A Procard cannot be used to purchase alcohol.
- Alcohol expenses at dinner are reimbursable, if the meeting or event is for recruitment or a developmental purpose and/or donors or distinguished guests are in attendance.
- Alcohol is not reimbursable for business meetings conducted during breakfast or lunch.
- Alcohol will only be reimbursed up to 50% of the food and drink subtotal before tax, tip, & fees. [Example: If food = $50.00, alcohol cannot exceed $49.99; Subtotal would be $99.99 and alcohol percentage would be 49.99%.] Per UT policy, Alcohol costs more than 50% of the subtotal before taxes, fees, and tips, will not be paid using UT funds.
- Unique exceptions require approval of the Dean.
- Serving Alcohol at Events in a Non-licensed Venue including a Private Residence: The vice president for legal affairs recommends that a TABC licensed caterer or bartender be used for all events. University employees should not be used as servers at an event unless it is in their official job description (even if they are TABC certified). If undergraduate students will be in attendance, a licensed TABC bartender is required.https://provost.utexas.edu/policies-and-compliance/serving-alcohol-on-campus).
- Alcohol on Campus: Generally, alcoholic beverages cannot be served on property and in buildings owned or controlled by The University of Texas System or UT Austin. See Board of Regents’ Rule 80102 and HBP 9.1.1 for additional details.
- For exceptions, a pre-approved exception must be attached to the OOEF.
- Guidelines to request an exception (for on-campus alcohol) provides more details, as well as the list of campus locations that are preapproved for alcohol.
- Students: If the event is considered a student event, alcohol is not permitted. That is, alcohol is restricted on accounts with Centrally Funded Fringes (CFF) report codes. Student Fee and Flat Rate Tuition Funded Accounts are an exception to the general policy. These funds must be used to support student academic services, events, or materials. Meals and refreshments are not allowed unless for events in support of student and/or academic services where most of the attendees are students. These accounts can never be used to purchase alcohol. Academic Excellence funds can be used for general entertainment (but no alcohol) expenses.
Tax:
An exemption certificate is available for state sales tax and mixed beverage sales tax. See Texas Sales Tax Exempt Information page for more details.
- Sales tax can be reimbursed for an employee who paid for a business meal with personal funds. Otherwise, sales tax is not reimbursable.
Delivery/Fees:
- Includes delivery fees and any non-standard charge(s) not applicable to the Food & Misc. category.
- Includes room & equipment rental fees.
See “Tips” instead for “service charges” that are meant to be a guaranteed/minimum tip required by the vendor. (See more information below on Tips/Gratuity/Service Charges.)
Tips / Gratuity / Service Charges:
- Tips/gratuity are reimbursable up to 20% of the pre-tax subtotal.
- Service Charges are most often meant to be a guaranteed minimum “Tip” required by the venue/vendor. Some vendors automatically charge a guaranteed amount for events or for a large number of guests, and some others charge a guaranteed minimum regardless of the number of guests. Review closely to avoid duplicating gratuity or conversely, not adding a gratuity if warranted. There is no need to add a manual tip if one is automatically charged as a “service fee.”
- This is not always clear, as not all service fees are guaranteed gratuity. [Example: a service fee may be for items such as plates, utensils, chafing dishes, etc.]; use your best judgement and/or confirm with the vendor what is included.
- If a service charge is listed together with delivery such as, “Service Charge/Delivery Fee,” the full amount may be placed in the Delivery/Fee field as the service charge, if applicable, is not discernable.
- If the venue charges a guaranteed minimum service charge that is greater than the allowable 20% gratuity, this is an unavoidable cost. Best practice is to document as follows for payment or reimbursement:
- Place 20% of the charge in the “Tip” field on the OOEF and place the overage percentage in the “Delivery/Fee” field with an explanation in the notes. [Example: For a $22.00 service charge added to a $100.00 food and drink bill, place $20.00 in the tip field (20% tip limit), and place $2.00 in the Delivery/Fees field with an explanation in the notes that the venue charges a guaranteed 22% minimum fee.]