Entertainment Process

Before starting the process, get acquainted with Entertainment Policy. Once you have become familiar with the do's and don'ts of event reimbursements, follow the steps listed below:

• See Meetings and Entertainment: Overview to help you determine which policies apply. You'll consider such factors as the participants and their relationship to UCSD, and the purpose of the event.
• Request a Travel & Entertainment Card to avoid out-of-pocket expenses.
• If the vendor is requiring a contract to be signed, do not sign it as you risk personal liability. Send the contract to HospitalityContracts@ucsd.edu for Procurement to review and sign. For more information, consult the Hospitality Contracts Blink page.
• Obtain approval to hire an outside caterer and submit a Concur Event Request if the event is a Full Service On-Campus Catering event and UC San Diego Catering is unable to provide services. For more information, consult the Catering & Bar Services Blink page.
  • Once the Event Request has been approved, you will receive an email with the Catering Services Confirmation that you must send to the outside caterer/bar service provider to initiate services.
• Invite non-employee payees to register via PaymentWorks if the payee receiving payment is not a UC San Diego employee.
• For on-campus events where alcohol will be served, a Campus Events with Alcoholic Beverages Form needs to be submitted to the UC Police Department for their review and approval prior to the event. 
  • For more information on the policy/procedure regarding events with alcoholic beverages, consult the Alcoholic Beverages Blink page. 
• If there are travel expenses such as airfare, or lodging outside the vicinity of the participant's residence or headquarters, it is considered to be business travel. Submit a Travel Request through Concur (login required), and follow travel policy requirements.

Note: Once a Travel or Event Request is approved, it becomes active and can be attached to an Expense Report. The Request will stay active until one of two things happen:

• The Request is manually closed by the Concur user or their delegate
• 120 days pass after the Business Travel End Date or Event Date that was listed on the Request

Per policy, all expenses must be submitted after 45 days of the trip or event. If you need assistance reopening a Request, please contact us via Services & Support.

Once the event occurs, make sure to obtain the following: 

• An itemized receipt/invoice showing a detailed description of what was purchased.
• The number of attendees who were present during this event and a participant list that includes the names, titles, and affiliations. 
  • A full participant list is generally required (Concur Business Purpose Types: Business/Technical Meeting, Employee Morale Building, Fundraising/Tickets).
  • For programmatic activities, or for groups over 100, a clear description of who attended (e.g. all UCSD students) is acceptable.

Additionally, please acknowledge the method of payment as there are separate steps in Concur for the different Payment Types: 

• Travel & Entertainment Card (UCSD T&E Card)
• Out-of-pocket expense (Payment to Employee)
• Direct payment to the supplier/vendor (Payment to T/E Supplier)

Once the event has finalized and you have collected all the necessary information, you can begin the reimbursement/reconciliation process by creating a Concur Expense Report.

If you are going to create the Expense Report on behalf of the Concur user (i.e. employee payee/host), make sure that the host/user has first added you in Concur as their delegate. Concur users and delegates have the ability to claim different expenses within a single Expense Report. Some examples of expenses claimed in Concur are: 

• Reconcile T&E Card charges
• Issue payment directly to the caterer/bar service provider
  • The vendor needs to first register in PaymentWorks to be set up as a non-employee payee in Concur
• Request reimbursement for event out-of-pocket expenses
  • To get reimbursed for an out-of-pocket expense, submit an Event Expense Report in Concur

Once you have added the expenses and attached all the required documentation, the user/delegate must submit the Event Expense Report to start the approval process. To add attendees to an expense report, follow the step-by-step guidance on the How to Add Attendees to an Event Expense Report Knowledge Base Article.