Entertainment Policy-OOEF

Introduction | OOEF PowerForms | OOEF Routing Guidance | Blanket OOEF Guidance | Declined OOEF | OOEF as a student or Faculty | Entertainment Guidelines | SoHE Meal Limits | Process Overview

Policy and Procedure Introduction:

All entertainment expenses, funded by a university account, associated with an: official occasions; administrative/business meetings and business meals; on-the-job meals requires an approved Official Occasion Expense Form (OOEF). While the School of Human Ecology requires an approved OOEF  be on file prior to the event date, after-the-fact OOEF are permitted but will not be given processing priority over OOEFs submitted in advance of the event date. We ask that OOEFs be submitted two weeks before the event date, and one month prior for events where the estimated total cost exceeds $5,000.00 to allow ample time for processing. For detailed information on entertainment expenses and guidance, please visit UT's Handbook of Business Procedures 9.1.1.

A reimbursement or vendor payment request cannot be processed without an approved OOEF. Reimbursement requests submitted more than 60 days after the expense, if approved, will be treated as taxable income. The request for reimbursement must have reached the university's accounts payable (AP) office within 60 days of the expense in order to remain non-taxable. Entertainment expenses not complying with UT's Handbook of Business Procedures 9.1.1. can be returned and declined. AP has the right to deny reimbursement request for any expense out of compliance or deemed inappropriate.

OOEF's must be submitted via the college's DocuSign PowerForm by a department or program administrators. There are separate PowerForms based on the event's total budget, funding source, and participants. Each CNS OOEF PowerForms has its own unique approval routing making it very important to ensure you are selecting the appropriate PowerForm link for your event based on the total Official Occasion's budget, funding source, and participants. DocuSign PowerForms cannot be returned for corrections, they can only be declined.If you experience any issues with the below OOEF powerforms, please e-mail financials@cns.utexas.edu.

When completing an OOEF PowerForm, please be sure to only use an EID email addresses, the person's EID@eid.utexas.edu, in order for the OOEF to be associated with your UT EID account and to have access the OOEF and its history. All events with a budget totaling $5,000.00 or more require an itemized budget be attached to the OOEF PowerForm in order to be reviewed and approved. In cases, where alcohol is being served on campus you will need receive approval to do before proceeding with your OOEF as you will need to attach the approval to OOEF PowerForm in order to be reviewed and approved.

If the cost of your event changes by more than 10% of your approved OOEF, you will need to submit a new OOEF PowerForm with the new total. You must use object code "1309 – Official Student Occasions" for events charged to student fee or flat rate tuition accounts. You cannot use core CNS funded 19 accounts including start-up, retention, AUF, and ICR accounts. State funded 14 and 20 accounts also cannot be used for entertainment expenses. Some grant accounts do not allow entertainment expenses, please check with the PI regarding their grant account.

CNS DocuSign OOEF PowerForms:

OOEFs for Events/Meals/Occasions Using Department Accounts

• OOEF for Events Under $5,000 Unit Head/Chair/Director NOT Attending

• OOEF for Events Under $5,000 Unit Head/Chair/Director WILL BE Attending

• OOEF for Events Under $5,000 Unit Head/Chair/Director & Business Officer WILL BE attending

• OOEF for Events $5,000 and Greater (Note: Attachment of itemized budget is required)

OOEFs for Dean's sub-units, Undergraduate Education, or anyone using the Dean’s accounts

• OOEF for Events Under $5,000

• OOEF for Events $5,000 and Greater (Note: Attachment of itemized budget is required)
  
  

Each OOEF form contains identical data fields regardless of the above links, see sample OOEF Form for reference.  There should be one OOEF per event where the participant information and purpose of the event are identical. When the event is occurring at multiple locations or using multiple vendors, please enter "various" in these data fields on the OOEF

OOEF PowerForm Routing Guidance is Based Off Funding Source and Attendees:

All OOEFs using Department Accounts in a SoHE unit code must route through the school's Business Services Team for review and approval. Below are the OOEF PowerForm Contacts you will use with department account OOEFs where the CNS Dean is not attending. Depending on the OOEF powerform being used you may not have a all of the contact fields:

• CNS Contact/Requestor: department or program administrator's name ( YOUR EID@eid.utexas.edu )

• Department Optional Reviewer: Maria Acosta ( acostame@eid.utexas.edu ) Required by SoHE

• Authorized Account Signer: Arturo Flores ( arf56@eid.utexas.edu )

• Dean's Delegate: Arturo Flores ( arf56@eid.utexas.edu )

All OOEFs using Undergraduate Education 21st Century/Pathways grant funds below are the OOEF PowerForm contacts you will use. Depending on the OOEF powerform being used you may not have a all of the contact fields:

• CNS Contact/Requestor: department or program administrator's name ( YOUR EID@eid.utexas.edu )

• Department Optional Reviewer: Maria Acosta ( acostame@eid.utexas.edu ) Required by SoHE

• Authorized Account Signer: Kristin Patterson ( kdp74@eid.utexas.edu )

• Dean’s Delegate: Kris Powledge Gaddy ( knp254@eid.utexas.edu )

All OOEFs using a Dean's Office Account, or when the CNS dean is attending below are the OOEF PowerForm Contacts you will use. Depending on the OOEF powerform being used you may not have a all of the contact fields:

• CNS Contact/Requestor: department or program administrator's name ( YOUR EID@eid.utexas.edu )

• Department Optional Reviewer: Maria Acosta ( acostame@eid.utexas.edu ) Required by SoHE

• Authorized Account Signer: The list of authorized signers for a budget group can be looked up on DEFINE* - either on GBS or CA3 Screen 6. 

Blanket Official Occasion Expense Form (OOEF):

Blanket OOEF are only acceptable when all of the below conditions are met:

• an event is part of a recurring series over a period of time such as a semester or fiscal year

• total annual budget amount does not exceed $5,000

• the title and purpose of each event is identical for each occurrence

• the “host” and core audience/group of the events are the same for each occurrence

Please see "When to Use a Blanket OOEF" document for assistance completing the OOEF.

Declined Official Occasion Expense Form (OOEF):

If your OOEF is declined for any reason by the business services team they will enter notes explaining their declination. You can view these notes in docusign by following the instructions outlined in the "Find Out Why Your DocuSign Document Was Declined" guidance. When completing an OOEF PowerForm, please be sure to only use an EID email addresses, the person's EID@eid.utexas.edu, in order for the OOEF to be associated with your UT EID account and to have access the OOEF and its history.

Initiating an OOEF as a Student or Faculty Member:

Only department or program administrators should initiate an OOEF PowerForm. When you are planning to have an event or meeting where you anticipate having entertainment expenses please send your department or program administrator the below details in advance so that the may initiate the college's OOEF PowerForm on your behalf. Please remember, the school requires an approved Official Occasion Expense Form (OOEF) be on file prior to the event date to avoid processing delays. Also, we ask that department or program administrators submit OOEFs under $5,000.00 to  two weeks before the event date, and one month prior for events where the estimated total cost exceeds $5,000.00. A reimbursement or vendor payment request cannot be processed without an approved OOEF.

OOEF details to share with your department or program administrator:

• Account Number for the expense

• Event Name

• Event Date and Time

• Event Location

• Purpose of the Event

• Total Expense Estimate (Event Itemized Budget for Total Expenses $5K or more)

• Participant Information (For groups 10 and under include all participants Name, Title, and affiliation. For groups of 11 or more provide the name of each group, example 50 department faculty, staff, and undergraduates.)

Entertainment Guidelines:

Some general guidelines are listed below, but you are encouraged to read the Handbook of Business Procedures 9.1.1. in its entirety for guidance.

• Tips are only reimbursed up to 20% of the subtotal of the bill, unless a higher tip percentage is mandated by the venue or restaurant. Those instances will be need to be outlined in the request form and will be considered case-by-case.

• Itemized receipts must always be included. Proof of payment is required when no credit card receipts are available. Proof of payment can be credit card statement, cancelled check, or receipts showing "paid" status if cash was used.

• The per person limits include the cost of the goods plus any tax, tip, and service fees

• Alcohol may not be the primary expenditure (less than 50%)

• Alcohol is highly discouraged at any events opened to undergraduate students. If alcohol is provided at such an event, the university requires a TABC-licensed caterer/bartender be used

• Prior approval is required when alcohol is being served on campus and must be attached to OOEF

SoHE Meal Limits:

All faculty, staff, and students will only be reimbursed up to the set limits for entertainment expense from SoHE account. These per person limits include food/beverage, alcohol, tax, gratuity, and required service fees. Exceptions, if granted, required approval by the dean or vice president.

OOEF Process Overview:

1. Work with your department or program administrators to have an OOEF PowerForm submitted prior to your Official Occasion.

2. When the OOEF has been approved the department administrator will receive an email notifying them that their OOEF has been completed and the Business Services Team will upload a copy to the shared UT Box.

3. After you have received notice that the OOEF has been approved you have authorization to start placing orders and purchasing for your event.

4. After your Official Occasion has ended, complete section 6 (Post Event Information) your approved OOEF. You will not need to provided the Document ID data in section 6. You will also want to review and update section 4 (Participant Information) if any changes to your participant changed.

5. Gather your original receipts or invoices along with your updated approved OOEF and submitted via the Invoice and Receipt submission instruction to initiate the entertainment payment process. Please remember you must submit one request per vendor.

6. The Business Service Team will review the submitted Entertainment Payment Request Form and process the payment or reimbursement.

If you have any questions about payments related to an event, please send an email to he-business_services@utlists.utexas.edu.

If you have any feedback on this page or need to report a broken link please email arturo.flores@austin.utexas.edu.