This Financial Guide is meant as a resource for faculty and staff to reference for information and answers to common questions about purchasing and travel policy at UW. Please contact the Business Office if your question isn't answered here.

• Who to Contact
• General Guidelines
  • Travel
  • Airfare
  • Lodging
  • Meals & Per Diem
  • Mileage & Vehicle Rental
  • Ground Transportation
  • Registration Fees
  • Miscellaneous Expenses
• What Do I Need For My Expense Reimbursement?
• Hosting Events

  

Who to Contact

For questions about budgets, grants, and other high-level financial concerns, contact Jennifer Brokmeier.

For assistance making a purchase, or if you have questions about expense reimbursement, travel, purchasing policy, or anything related, contact Kevin Murphy.

For questions about student hiring, payroll, or disability accommodations, contact Kelly Hallmark.

The Business Office encourages the use of an Expense Data Entry Specialist for booking your travel and filing expense reports when applicable, since these individuals receive extra training in navigating UW's travel policies. For assistance with travel and purchasing, contact the following individuals based on the group you belong to:

• General Law School Purchasing & Supplies: Adam Bushcott
• Faculty: Jack Miller
• Dean's Office: Myra Sun
• Remington Center: Chelsea Gill
• Economic Justice Institute: Annie Haugen
• Office of Career and Professional Development: Jordan Smith
• State Democracy Research Initiative: Melina Nguyen
• Immigrant Justice Center: Darius Reddersen

  

General Guidelines

• Do not make any purchases of $5,000 or more without speaking with either Kevin Murphy or Jennifer Brokmeier first. Purchases over this amount must have a purchase order set up in advance.
• Do not sign any contracts or agreements with outside vendors. All contracts must be signed by UW-Madison Purchasing. Send your contracts to Kevin Murphy for processing.
• Do not make travel bookings through 3rd party sites (Expedia, Kayak, etc...). Travel reservations should be made through either Concur (UW's online travel booking portal) or Fox World Travel (UW's contracted travel agent).
• All purchases and reimbursements must have a business purpose justification. The business purpose should identify who the expense is for, what was purchased, and why the expense benefits the University's mission. There should be enough information included that someone who doesn't know anything about the Law School or your work can understand the reason why funds were spent. (Sample: "[Name] traveled to [City] on [Dates] to attend [Name of conference]. They presented a paper on [research topic] and made connections with potential future research collaborators in their field.")
• Most student travel expenses cannot be directly paid by the Law School. Students should instead receive travel awards, which will affect their financial aid. Student travel expenses may only be directly paid if they are traveling specifically on Law School business and the benefit to their academic career is minimal or incidental.
• UW is exempt from sales tax on purchases within Wisconsin. It is the purchaser's responsibility to inform the vendor and provide proof of our status. If sales tax is mistakenly charged within Wisconsin, it is non-reimbursable for expense reimbursements. For purchasing cards only, there is a tolerance of $20. If more than $20 in sales tax is paid, you are required to seek a refund.
• Expenses must be submitted within 90 days of the date of purchase to be eligible for reimbursement. The only exceptions are Registration Fees, Airfare and Lodging, which can be reimbursed 90 days from the last day of travel instead.
• Printing jobs of $50 or more must go through Digital Printing & Publishing Services due to our mandatory DOA contracts. See this guide for questions on printing: https://businessservices.wisc.edu/documents/how-to-purchase-a-printing-or-copying-job/
• Purchasing Card transactions always require itemized receipts regardless of dollar amount. Reimbursements and Shared Liability Card transactions up to $50 may be submitted without a receipt.
• Appliances (desk lamps, speakers, etc.) for individual offices are generally non-payable/non-reimbursable unless they are directly related to a core job responsibility of your position (for example, a white noise machine for an HR employee that conducts sensitive meetings in their office). Appliances for shared use are generally payable/reimbursable with justification, but must be kept in a space where they can reasonably be accessed by everyone, not in an individual office. 
• Exceptions may be granted if an employee has an approved disability accommodation on file. Purchases where an exception to policy is being sought due to an accommodation must be coordinated through the McBurney Disability Resource Center to avoid disclosing protected information. Guests visiting the Law School that require accommodations for their travel should also be directed to coordinate with the McBurney Center so they are not disclosing medical information to us.

  

Travel

Quick Links:

• Concur
• University Travel Policy
• International Travel Policy
• Obtaining a Visa for International Travel
• CISI Travel Insurance (required for international travel)
• UW Risk Management Travel Insurance Email
• ETA Application (required for travel to the UK, including on connecting flights)
• OANDA Exchange Rate Calculator
• UW International Safety & Security
• Law School Business Office E-Reimbursement Form

Concur (Online Self-Booking Portal)

Sign-in Link
How to Use Concur
Designating Another Person As Your Travel Arranger

Fox World Travel (UW Travel Agent)

Phone: 608-710-4172
Email: uwtravel@foxworldtravel.com
Business Hours: Monday-Friday, 7:00 AM to 7:30 PM (excluding holidays).

Be aware that you will be automatically charged a (reimbursable) fee if you call the number and book a ticket. The fee will not be charged just for calling, only if there is a booking. They will charge an additional fee for booking outside of their listed business hours.

Policy Highlights:

UW travel policy is extensive and has many more provisions and exceptions than can be explained here. Below are a selection of the ones that are most important and relevant to our work. This is not a comprehensive overview of all travel policies. If you have specific questions about your situation, please contact Kevin Murphy.

  
 

What Do I Need For My Expense Reimbursement?

Depending on what you are claiming, you will need different types of documents. Specific documents you'll need by expense type are listed below, but in general, you will always need:

• An itemized receipt for expenses $50 or greater.
• A UW business purpose
• Conference or meeting agenda (for travel reimbursement)
• If someone else is filling out your expense report on your behalf, a Law School Business Office E-Reimbursement Form.

Airfare: Fox World Travel invoice. If you don't have this, use the Fox Invoice Search to locate your invoice (it will ask for your name and ticket number)

Lodging: Zero-balance folio. Travelers often receive this by email now, but not always. Always verify that you have either a paper or digital copy of your folio before leaving the hotel. This is especially important when traveling internationally, because it is often difficult to get a response from the hotel remotely over email or phone. You may need to specifically request a folio at checkout.

Mileage: Maps no longer need to be attached for mileage claims since Google Maps is integrated into Workday. The Law Building should be used as the point of origin for travel that began in Madison, even if you actually drove from your home address.

Car Rental: Car rental agreement (must be reserved through Concur or Fox World Travel).

Uber/Taxi/etc.: In the expense line memo, include the point of origin and destination of the ride to establish a link to the UW business purpose.

Meals: If only 1 attendee and/or no UW business purpose, they are non-reimbursable and no documentation needs to be saved, per diem should be claimed instead. If there are multiple attendees and a UW business purpose, it may be claimed as a Business Meal. An itemized receipt, list of attendees, Business Meal Calculator, and documentation of the UW business being conducted must be provided.

  

Hosting Events

When an event is hosted or organized by UW Law School, it generally falls under one of 3 categories, each of which has slightly different rules and policies.

• Business Meal - A breakfast, lunch or dinner with multiple attendees and an associated UW business purpose. For example, dinner at a restaurant with a speaker.
• Hosted Event - A UW or Law School-sponsored event that is not primarily social in nature. For example, a conference.
• Official Function - An event that is social in nature, but substantially advances or contributes to the Law School's mission. For example, Law School Class Reunions. Only gift funding may be used for Official Functions.

Unless you will be spending $5,000 or more with any single vendor, Business Meals and Hosted Events do not require pre-approval from the Business Office. Official Functions always require pre-approval regardless of the dollar amount, and an Official Functions and Expenses Pre-Approval Form must be submitted to the Business Office for signature before any expenses are incurred.

For events where the final cost is unknown but likely to be close to $5,000, the Business Office strongly recommends erring on the side of caution and having a purchase order issued. The consequences for spending over $5,000 without a purchase order are significant, including potential personal financial liability for the employee responsible, so it is always best to have one issued if there is any potential for the cost to exceed $5,000.

When submitting expenses for events, the following documentation should be included:

• Itemized receipt(s)
• Flyer or agenda that shows the date and location of the event
• List of attendees and affiliation (Employee, Student, or non-UW)
• Business Meals Calculator (if applicable)
• Official Functions and Expenses Pre-Approval Form (if applicable)

The table in the Business Meals policy shows the standard, allowable per-person rates for each meal based on the location, and these rates apply to all three types of events. Alcohol is non-reimbursable on standard UW funding.

However, if gift funding is available, alcohol may be reimbursed and per-person meal limits may be exceeded in some circumstances. For Business Meals on gift funding, there is a limit of $50/person for alcohol and a $150/person overall limit for the total reimbursement. For Hosted Events, the same gift funding limits generally apply. If a sufficiently large registration fee was collected, the $150/person limit can be exceeded, but only if the revenue from the registration fees completely covers the excess spending.

  

Last updated 9/8/26