Revised 2/9/2007
POLICY: Under North Dakota SBHE Policy #806.1, staff members should pay for their own meals in the community in which they are employed, except as otherwise noted within the policy.
PROCEDURES: Please refer to the Food and Beverage Purchases Procedures/Criteria for additional information. When food is not purchased from UND Catering, an Attachment for Purchases of Food may be submitted with the Voucher. The Attachment for Purchases of Food may be obtained from the Accounting Services web site. Also note that regardless of whether or not this attachment is used, all information requested should be submitted with a Voucher. You may also contact Dining Services at #7-2756 with additional questions regarding this matter.
Criteria for Food and Beverage Purchases
Employees must pay for their own meals in the community in which they are employed. Exceptions to this policy are provided for functions listed below. The functions are subject to the following:
• The primary purpose must be business related.
• The employee must either be required to attend or attendance was approved by his/her supervisor/employer.
Funding Sources
Funding Sources may include the following:
• Local - fund numbers 20000 - 28999
• Appropriated - fund numbers 30000 - 39999
• Grant or Contract - fund numbers 40000 - 49999
• Agency - fund numbers 82500 - 84999
• Student Organization - fund numbers with department number 5140
If the function is to be paid from a grant or contract fund, the appropriate Grant & Contracts Officer in the Grants and Contracts Administration Office should be contacted prior to making the arrangements to discuss the items below. Federal awards are more restrictive and normally do not allow food , although some agreements may allow food for a conference, symposium, or seminar.
Criteria to determine whether food and beverage purchases are allowed on a grant or contract fund include :
• who is the sponsor of the agreement?
• how restrictive are the terms and conditions of the agreement?
• was food/beverage provided for in the proposal budget and budget justification?
• what is the nature of the project?
• how does the food/beverage purchase directly benefit the project?
Please refer to the attached Summary of Allowable Food and Beverage Purchases for more information on allowable funding sources.
Catering Agreement
Effective July 1, 2001, the Catering Agreement and the Food Purchase Approval form have been combined, which is now called the Campus Catering Agreement and will be completed at the time the function is booked at Dining Services. At the time the function is booked with Dining Services, the department will be required to provide all necessary information to Dining Services. After the function has been held, Dining Services will initiate a Journal Entry to charge the departmental fund indicated on the Catering Agreement. Please refer to the Dining Services web page for helpful information needed for booking a UND Campus Catering event.
The department is responsible for ensuring that the function is allowable and that the meal rates do not exceed the allowable GSA rates. If a function is held that is determined to be unallowable from the selected source of funding, it is the department's responsibility to find an alternate source of funding. If a department is unsure whether a particular function is allowable, Dining Services or Accounting Services should be contacted for clarification prior to making arrangements for the function. Please refer to the Summary of Allowable Food and Beverage Purchases for additional information.
Allowable Meal Allowance Rate
Meals are allowed to be paid for or reimbursed at the current GSA rate for the location in which the function was held. The final rate per person may not exceed the maximum rate allowed per person (total actual costs divided by actual or guaranteed number of participants equals rate per person). Please refer to the current Out-of-State Meal Allowance Rate listing.
The percentage breakdown of the GSA allowance rate and the rate per person for functions held in North Dakota are as follows (please refer to the current GSA Rate listing for functions held outside North Dakota):
Meal % of GSA Rate North Dakota Rate
Breakfast: 20% $ 7.80
Lunch: 30% $ 11.70
Dinner: 50% $ 19.50
Break rates are one half (1/2) of the per diem of the quarter preceding the break time. If the amount exceeds this, the items being served and the location (city) of the event will be reviewed to determine if it is reasonable.
The total costs used to calculate the rate per person should include the following:
• charges for food and beverage
• charges for set-up
• delivery charges
• tips
• any miscellaneous charges
The total costs used to calculate the rate per person should NOT include the following:
• Room rental charges
• tent rental
• linen charges
• equipment rental
Also, please note that if changes are made to the original catering agreement, these changes may increase the rate per person, which then may exceed the amount allowed per person. The department is responsible for ensuring that the GSA is not exceeded.
Information Required
The following information is required for the Campus Catering Agreement or on the Voucher, for those functions not catered by Dining Services.
• Type of Function and Purpose - for grant/contract funds, please refer to information in the "Allowable Funding Source" section of this policy .
• Location of Function (city and state)
• Date of Function
• Meal Served (breakfast, lunch, dinner, break)
• Number of Actual or Guaranteed Attendees
• List of Those Attending - specify those that are UND employees and those that are not UND employees
• Itemized, original receipt. A receipt is needed to show what was charged, and a receipt is also needed showing proof of payment (if not shown on the itemized receipt). (this is for those functions not catered by Dining Services)
• Additional information as required by Dining Services to book/plan for the function (for those functions catered by Dining Services)
SUMMARY OF ALLOWABLE FOOD AND BEVERAGE PURCHASES:
FUNCTION |
ALLOWABLE FUNDING SOURCE
|
CLARIFICATION |
Recruitment of Faculty and Staff |
Appropriated, Grant or Contract, Local, and Agency funds
|
Staff members may be reimbursed for meal expenses incurred in the city where they are employed while recruiting staff and faculty. The expenses for the candidate's spouse/guest and the spouse/guest of the institutional host(s) are allowable. |
Business-Related Functions |
Local, Grant or Contract, and Agency funds
Appropriated or Grant or Contract funds allowed only when hosting dignitaries, guests, seminars, and conferences. For Grant or Contract funds, it is only allowable when specifically approved by the sponsoring agency. The department should review the criteria in determining whether food purchases are allowed on the grant or contract fund .
|
The employee must either be required to attend or attendance was approved by his/her supervisor/employer. The purpose may include communicating with colleagues or meeting with participants from outside the university. A departmental staff meeting within one department is not considered to be an allowable business meal.
Appropriated funds are not allowed for institutional meetings or other employee functions.
|
Retreats |
Appropriated, Grant or Contract, Local, and Agency funds
Allowable on Grant or Contract fund only if prior approval is obtained from the sponsoring agency.
|
|
Departmental Activities, including departmental staff meetings |
Agency funds
Unallowable on Appropriated, Local, Grant or Contract funds. |
Purchases of food and beverage are not allowable for departmental activities, including coffee breaks, periodic departmental staff meetings within one department, and departmental entertainment (ex. employee reception that is not a campus-wide function, holiday parties, etc.).
These may be paid for from Alumni or Agency funds.
|
Staff Meetings involving Multiple Departments |
Local and Agency funds
Unallowable on Appropriated or Grant or Contract funds |
Purchases of food and beverage are allowable for staff meetings involving multiple departments when paid from local or agency funds.
Appropriated and Grant or Contract funds are not allowed for institutional meetings or other employee functions.
|
Non-Business Functions |
Local and Agency funds
Unallowable on Appropriated and Grant or Contract funds. |
Expenses associated with hosting receptions, employee recognition functions (open to entire campus), and other non-business institutional functions are allowed when paid from local or agency funds.
Appropriated and Grant or Contract funds are not allowed for institutional meetings or other employee functions.
|
Alcoholic Beverages |
Unallowable on Appropriated, Local, Grant or Contract and Agency funds .
|
Alcoholic beverages are not to be paid for from institutional funds regardless of the source of funds. |
Spouses/Guests of Employees/Non-employees |
Agency funds
Allowable on Appropriated, Grant or Contract, or Local for recruitment purposes . |
Purchases of food and beverage for spouses or guests of employees/non-employees are not allowable, except when the purpose is for recruitment. Expenses may be paid for the candidates spouse/guest and the spouse/guest of the institutional host(s).
For all other purposes, these may be paid for from agency funds or alumni funds.
|
|
