Student Life

Student Reimbursement Process & Timeline

For a student to be reimbursed for an eligible PRE-APPROVED expense (ex: pre-approved Dean’s Council funding, Wellness Grants, i2i grants, etc.), they must complete the Student Reimbursement Request google form.  As a best practice, students should submit this form as soon as possible – once they have the receipt(s) and attendance info. At the latest, we ask that the reimbursement request is submitted within 14 days of the purchase / event. 

The Reimbursement Process

The Pritzker Student Programs Admin (Kate / Candi / Alyssa) process the Student Reimbursement Requests, which are then submitted to the University’s Payroll Office for payment. The Payroll Office operates on a bi-weekly payday schedule, with paydays every other Friday.

Check your Workday account to ensure that you are signed up to receive payment via Direct Deposit. If you are not signed up for direct deposit in Workday, then Payroll will mail a physical check to the address on file, which can take 2-4 weeks after the payday to reach you.

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT TAX EXEMPTION

Pritzker cannot reimburse tax paid, since we are tax exempt. It is your responsibility to check in advance with the vendor / business / restaurant / etc. that you will be purchasing from to confirm that they can process tax exemption with the Notice of Tax-Exempt Status letter found here.

If you do end up paying tax, you will not be reimbursed for it (you will still be reimbursed for the eligible pre-tax spending and tip – as applicable).

If you have any questions about this, please reach out to us before making any purchases. Email: pritzkerstudentaffairs@bsd.uchicago.edu Walk-ins: BSLC 104R
Reimbursement Schedule

The Timeline - Reimbursement Request Deadlines

To help students more accurately anticipate the payday of their reimbursement, we’ve developed the following deadlines for the Student Reimbursement Request google form, following Payroll’s own processing deadlines Pritzker Admin has to abide by. 

Using the chart to the right

  • If the Student Reimbursement Request google form is submitted by (or before) 2/12/24 at 11:59pm, they will receive their reimbursement from Payroll on the 2/23/24 pay-date*.
  • If the Student Reimbursement Request google form is submitted on (or after) 2/13/24 at 12:00am, they will receive their reimbursement from Payroll on the 3/8/24 pay-date*.

*This timeline is assuming the correct information has been provided in the Student Reimbursement Request google form. If the correct information was not provided (i.e. if the student needs to be contacted for additional information), then there is likely to be a delay in the pay-date the reimbursement would be processed in time for.

Preparing for the Student Reimbursement Request Google Form

The following information will assist you in completing the google form correctly. If additional information is needed, it will delay the processing time of your reimbursement request, and in turn, impact timeline (chart above) of when you can anticipate receiving the reimbursement payment.

To ensure the purchase you make will be eligible for reimbursement, please review the information below in advance of making any purchases. 

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT TAX EXEMPTION
Pritzker cannot reimburse tax paid, since we are tax exempt. It is your responsibility to check in advance with the vendor / business / restaurant / etc. that you will be purchasing from to confirm that they can process tax exemption with the Notice of Tax-Exempt Status letter found here. If you do end up paying tax, you will not be reimbursed for it (you will still be reimbursed for the eligible pre-tax spending and tip – as applicable). 

If you have any questions about this, please reach out to us before making any purchases!

For reimbursement, your receipt(s) MUST:

  • Be the ORIGINAL receipt(s);
  • Contain an itemized list of your purchases (including added Gratuity / Tip not exceeding 20% for in-person dining); and
  • Show that a payment was made for the full balance owed (ex: VISA, PAID). Expenses paid with SNAP benefits or other state/federal programs are NOT eligible for reimbursement through the University of Chicago. 
    • If you pay with CASH (we don’t recommend this), you must have a detailed invoice marked PAID by the vendor, and a memo that indicates that you are not seeking payment from any other source.
    • Cash tips would not be reimbursable without documentation from the vendor verifying the cash payment.
  • Track the attendance (first and last name of participants) of those that attend – the reimbursement form will require this information. If there are 10 or less attendees, you’ll need to report the first and last name of all attendees. (If more than 10, only the number of attendees is required).
  • Complete the online reimbursement request within 14 days of the event. As a best practice, students should submit this form as soon as possible – once they have the receipt(s) and attendance info.
  • If your event has funding coming from multiple sources, please indicate the sources and their contributing amounts within the form in the space provided.

Note: If your reimbursement is not from an event, you’ll still need to complete the Student Reimbursement Request Google Form within 14 days of the purchase, filling in the form with applicable information.

Checking your Receipts

As mentioned, students will need to upload a clear copy/photo of their receipt(s) via the Student Reimbursement Request Google Form. Per the requirements set by the University of Chicago's Payroll Office, for the reimbursement to be processed: 

  • The receipt must be the ORIGINAL receipt;
  • The receipt must contain an itemized list of your purchases;
  • The receipt must show that a payment was made. (ex: VISA, PAID);
    • If you pay with CASH (we don’t recommend this), you must have a detailed invoice marked PAID by the vendor, and a memo that indicates that you are not seeking payment from any other source.

As a best practice, it's recommended that students snap a quick (and clear) picture of any/all receipts right when they get them, for any purchases they will be seeking reimbursement for (even receipts that are signed and handed back to delivery drivers). This is to ensure all required information for reimbursement is adequately documented. 

Below are visual examples of receipts that include the required information to process reimbursements.

If you have any questions about the Student Reimbursement Process, please email us at pritzkerstudentaffairs@bsd.uchicago.edu.

-Process as of 2/1/2023-