Reimbursement and Procurement Team

Team Description

The Reimbursement and Procurement (RP) team initiates transactions in both Concur, ShopBlue and Amazon on behalf of faculty and staff for reimbursements and procurement needs within the College. This team also provides helpdesk services for all questions related to travel guidelines and reimbursement or procurement policies and procedures.

Team Members

Team Lead
Stephen Hart
Finanace Manager

Reimbursement and Procurement Specialists:

Kristen Guadagno
Madeline Milroy
Teresa Olverd

RP Team Tasks and Responsibilities

Reimbursement Support

Reimbursement and Procurement Team	CAS Department/Office
Summary of support: Preapproval Concur requests Reimbursement reports for travel and non-travel expenses in Concur Advise on reimbursement, procurement and travel policies and guidelines Back-up PCard support if the department administrator currently does not have a PCard Assists with procurement card reconciliations that go through Concur, such as the UBF AmEx or the NET card	Remaining in Department: Itinerary creation and travel arrangements Submission of receipts to RP team Cost/Supervisory approvals Set up of Delegate in Concur system PCard, NET, UBF and RF Card Holders (Department Administrator should hold all PCards on behalf of department) Non-employee reimbursement submissions
Prepares pre-approval travel requests and reimbursement expense reports on behalf of faculty and staff in Concur. Uploads the required itemized receipts and supporting documents to the reimbursement expense reports.	Contact team to assist with pre-approval travel request in Concur in advance of booking travel if traveling overnight. Set up RP team members as delegates in Concur under your profile settings. Refer to Assign a Delegate Instructions to assist with delegate set up.
Provide support for questions regarding Allowable Use of Funds and travel guidelines. Act as liaison between the department and Central Travel for questions pertaining to reimbursement and travel guidelines. Assist with any Policy Exception Requests that need to be completed for exceptions to the travel policy. Provides support for questions regarding non-employee (guest) travel.	Contact team in advance of booking travel with any policy and procedure questions. Requests for support can be made through email at cas-reimbursement-procurement@buffalo.edu, the RP Online Portal and by calling 716-645-1302. The department manages and facilitates all non-employee travel itineraries, bookings and payments. To book travel for non-employees using State or UBF funding, please utilize the outsourced travel agency, The Travel Team at online@thetravelteam.com or 877-592-3555. To book travel for non-employees using RF funding, please utilize Stovroff and Taylor travel agency (800-543-8616) after establishing a department Business Travel Account (BTA).
Back up card support in the event of department turnover or coverage gaps.	All Department Administrators should have all four university procurement cards to assist department faculty and staff with credit card purchases according to the Allowable Use of Funds policy.

Reimbursement and Procurement Team

CAS Department/Office

Summary of support:

Preapproval Concur requests
Reimbursement reports for travel and non-travel expenses in Concur
Advise on reimbursement, procurement and travel policies and guidelines
Back-up PCard support if the department administrator currently does not have a PCard
Assists with procurement card reconciliations that go through Concur, such as the UBF AmEx or the NET card

Remaining in Department:

Itinerary creation and travel arrangements
Submission of receipts to RP team
Cost/Supervisory approvals
Set up of Delegate in Concur system
PCard, NET, UBF and RF Card Holders (Department Administrator should hold all PCards on behalf of department)
Non-employee reimbursement submissions

Prepares pre-approval travel requests and reimbursement expense reports on behalf of faculty and staff in Concur.

Uploads the required itemized receipts and supporting documents to the reimbursement expense reports.

Contact team to assist with pre-approval travel request in Concur in advance of booking travel if traveling overnight.

Set up RP team members as delegates in Concur under your profile settings.

Refer to Assign a Delegate Instructions to assist with delegate set up.

Provide support for questions regarding Allowable Use of Funds and travel guidelines.

Act as liaison between the department and Central Travel for questions pertaining to reimbursement and travel guidelines.

Assist with any Policy Exception Requests that need to be completed for exceptions to the travel policy.

Provides support for questions regarding non-employee (guest) travel.

Contact team in advance of booking travel with any policy and procedure questions.

Requests for support can be made through email at cas-reimbursement-procurement@buffalo.edu, the RP Online Portal and by calling 716-645-1302.

The department manages and facilitates all non-employee travel itineraries, bookings and payments.

To book travel for non-employees using State or UBF funding, please utilize the outsourced travel agency, The Travel Team at online@thetravelteam.com or 877-592-3555.

To book travel for non-employees using RF funding, please utilize Stovroff and Taylor travel agency (800-543-8616) after establishing a department Business Travel Account (BTA).

Back up card support in the event of department turnover or coverage gaps.

All Department Administrators should have all four university procurement cards to assist department faculty and staff with credit card purchases according to the Allowable Use of Funds policy.

Procurement Support

Reimbursement and Procurement Team	CAS Department/Office
Summary of support: ShopBlue procurement ShopBlue RF independent Contractor Submission of receivers in ShopBlue system Service center for all procurement questions Lab Animal Orders Back-up card support in the event of department turnover or coverage gaps	Remaining in Department: Obtaining W8/W9 from individual(s) or vendor(s) State Honoria UBF Disbursement requests Acquiring necessary quotes from vendors Pcard, NET,UBF, and RF pcard purchases Business Travel Accounts Amazon Business Account purchases
Handles the purchasing of all commodities and services on behalf of faculty and staff in the College utilizing various funding sources within the ShopBlue System or eReq. Assist with any Policy Exception Requests that need to be completed for exceptions to the Allowable Use of Funds Policy. Also assists with Confirming Received Exceptions for purchases made without a prior PO. Assist with directing staff and faculty to the correct Procurement Buyer to aid in receiving vendor quotes.	Contact the RP team before procuring items to ensure compliance with Allowable Use of Funds Policy, purchasing thresholds, allowable confirming received commodities, and all other procurement related questions. Requests for support can be made through email at cas-reimbursement-procurement@buffalo.edu, the RP Online Portal and by calling 716-645-1302.
Manage communications between departments and Central Procurement. Advise on Allowable Use of Funds Policy, as well as procurement guidelines and policies.	Utilize the team email, online portal or phone (716-645-1302) to contact with questions.

Reimbursement and Procurement Team

CAS Department/Office

Summary of support:

ShopBlue procurement
ShopBlue RF independent Contractor
Submission of receivers in ShopBlue system
Service center for all procurement questions
Lab Animal Orders
Back-up card support in the event of department turnover or coverage gaps

Remaining in Department:

Obtaining W8/W9 from individual(s) or vendor(s)
State Honoria
UBF Disbursement requests
Acquiring necessary quotes from vendors
Pcard, NET,UBF, and RF pcard purchases
Business Travel Accounts
Amazon Business Account purchases

Handles the purchasing of all commodities and services on behalf of faculty and staff in the College utilizing various funding sources within the ShopBlue System or eReq.

Assist with any Policy Exception Requests that need to be completed for exceptions to the Allowable Use of Funds Policy. Also assists with Confirming Received Exceptions for purchases made without a prior PO.

Assist with directing staff and faculty to the correct Procurement Buyer to aid in receiving vendor quotes.

Contact the RP team before procuring items to ensure compliance with Allowable Use of Funds Policy, purchasing thresholds, allowable confirming received commodities, and all other procurement related questions.

Requests for support can be made through email at cas-reimbursement-procurement@buffalo.edu, the RP Online Portal and by calling 716-645-1302.

Manage communications between departments and Central Procurement. Advise on Allowable Use of Funds Policy, as well as procurement guidelines and policies.

Utilize the team email, online portal
or phone (716-645-1302) to contact with questions.

Amazon Ordering

The R&P Team can process Amazon purchases on behalf of departments following the submission steps below.

Submit Amazon order submissions to: cas-reimbursement-procurement@buffalo.edu
Include all required information in the submission request to avoid delays.

Account number to be charged
Delivery address (campus building/room or approved location)
OEC Code – When using a state account
Include a clear business purpose for the purchase.

Examples of business purposes

Insufficient business purposes:
Purchase is for a class, I attended a conference for my research, the Department needs this software for general business.
Valid Business Purpose:
The Department of EVS purchased books and lab supplies in fall 2025 to enhace ecological education by developing immersive content that explores ecosystems around the world. This enables students to engage in diverse environments regardless of their physical or financial ability to travel, ensuring equitable access to experiential learning opportunities. Professor J. Smith will be attending the 2025 AAA Conference in New Orleans, LA from Nov. 1-3, 2025. Attendance will allow Professor Smith to present research in the field of photon lasers and engage in meaning full discussions with colleagues in the field.

If five items or less: Links or screenshots of the exact Amazon items needed.
Quantity and any required specifications
When ordering over five items
Log into Shop Blue using you UBIT log in credentials
Once logged into Shop Blue, click into the Amazon Punchout (you may have to turn off your pop-up blocker for the site).
Once inside the Amazon punchout you will add all items to your cart and click on your cart.
Then click on “share items in cart” and copy the link. This link will be pasted into your email submissions as described in the steps above.

R&P team will process the purchase:

A R&P team member will place the Amazon order using a university P-card assigned to them and reconcile the account number provided.
Once the order is processed, the R&P staff representative will send the order confirmation to the person who submitted the ticket.
Charges will be reconciled to your account:
The charge will be reconciled against the account number provided in your submission.

Returns:

Will be processed in Amazon by the R&P representative who processed the order. The return slip will be sent to the department, and the department will handle the return shipping.

Additional reminders

Personal Amazon accounts should not be used for university purchases.
Whenever possible, combine items into one submission, this helps process your request more quickly.
All university owned devices, regardless of funding source, must be procured and set up by CASet. Therefore, all technology purchases must first be vetted by CASet, and then can be submitted to the CAS Reimbursement and Procurement (RP) Team, so that a RP Team member can purchase that in ShopBlue on your behalf. There are some peripheral items, like keyboards, monitors and mice that do not need to be vetted by CASet first. But when in doubt, please reach out to Martin Camacho, assistant dean for technology.
Minimum Security Policy

Things to Consider

RP Team members must be assigned as delegates to an individual’s Concur profile in order to submit reimbursement requests and travel pre-approval requests to the RP Team. Please refer to the Assign A Delegate Instruction sheet to assist you in setting up the team members as delegates.
The RP team can assist with travel policy guidelines and how to navigate Concur, but cannot book travel on the traveler’s behalf.
Travel and Non-Travel reimbursements cannot be processed without a funding source and account number, itemized receipts with proof of payment and any necessary supporting documentation.
All IT hardware and software purchases must be vetted by CAS Educational Technology (CASet). To purchase software, you must complete the Web-Based Services Software Form for either over $50,000 or under $50,000. Please see the Purchasing Software Website for these forms.
Amazon purchases that do not go through Amazon business accounts are a violation of the current procurement policies and will only receive a one-time Exception Request. Please contact your Department Administrator to make purchases on the department Amazon Business Account using a departmental pcard
All purchases must follow the Purchasing Thresholds according to the funding source being used. If more than one quote is needed, then multiple quotes must be forwarded to the RP Team or the Sole/Single Source Justification Form must be completed. Please refer to the Purchasing Thresholds website for guidance.

Submit a request

Reimbursement and Procurement Online Request Portal

Contact
Email: cas-reimbursement-procurement@buffalo.edu
Call: 716-645-1302

Helpful Resources

For all Procurement Requests, please include:

Your funding source and account number
Your shipping address, city, state, zip
The Supplier Name
The UB Business Purpose (you can find a complete list on ShopBlue under “Business Purpose”)
Necessary quote(s) or the Sole/Single Source Justification Form. Please refer to Purchasing Threshold website for guidance on the number of quotes needed.
Web-Based Services Software Form is purchasing software
Comment or email that your IT equipment has been vetted by CASet

For all Payment Requests, please include:

Your Invoice and the PO# the invoice needs to be paid from. The RP Team will forward your invoice to central Accounts Payable and create the receiver in ShopBlue on your behalf. Remember, all goods or services need a prior PO established to pay the invoice. If a prior PO was not established, then the goods or services must be on the Allowable Commodities List of Confirming Received in order to request payment in ShopBlue.
If you have already received the goods or services and have been invoiced, but these items are NOT on the list of Allowable Commodities and you did not have a prior PO established, then please let us know why you are requesting an exception and what funding source you are using. Only UBF and RF funding will accept a confirming received exception. If you purchased the items on state without a prior PO, then please contact the RP Team to assist you. Please also include the account number.

For all Standing Order Requests, please include:

The start and end date for your standing order
The funding source and account number you are using
The full amount you want encumbered
If it is replacing an existing PO, please provide the PO# that is being replaced
The reason why you need a standing order

For all Lab Animal Requests, please include:

Your Project-Task-Award number
Your IACUC number
The lab animal description (species, strain, age/weight and gender)
Indicate if it is a standing order or one-time order
The dates of the standing order if applicable
The amount encumbered for the standing order if applicable
If it is replacing an existing PO, please provide the PO# that is being replaced

For all ShopBlue receivers, please include:

The PO# that you need the receiver(s) created for
The date you received the goods or services
If you only received a partial order, or the order was received damaged, please indicate what was received or what was damaged.

For all Travel Pre-Approval Requests, please include:

Your funding source and account number
Your requested dates of travel
The purpose of your UB Business travel (such as a conference, seminar, development, etc)
The travel destination address, city, state, zip, country
Estimated travel costs for things such as airfare, hotel, parking. This only needs to be an estimate and your final expense report does NOT need to match the amount you requested.

For all Travel Reimbursement Requests, please include:

The name of the pre-approval travel request on your Concur profile
If you did not submit a pre-approval travel request in Concur prior to your overnight travel, please let the RP Team know. The team will guide you on what form must be completed and the Exception Request to the travel policy that needs to be made.
Your funding source and account number
Your travel start date and time
Your travel end date and time
The purpose of your UB Business travel (such as a conference, seminar, development, etc)
The travel destination address, city, state, zip, country
All itemized receipts
Supporting documentation for your reason for travel, such as an agenda, flyer, itinerary, invitation, etc.
Indicate if you are taking the meal per diems or you have included your itemized meal receipts. Please remember, you cannot submit for per diems AND meal receipts. Only breakfast and dinner is reimbursable. Lunch is not.
Indicate if you need to exclude any meals (breakfast or dinner) from your meal per diem and the date you are excluding that meal.
Any useful notes, for example, you are requesting partial reimbursement for something.
All travel receipts must be submitted within 120 days of the end of your travel. If it is past the 120-day mark, then please let the RP Team know the reason it is late because an Exception Request for the travel policy will need to be filed.

For all Non-Travel Expense Reimbursements, please include:

The date and time of your purchase
Your funding source and account number
The itemized receipt
If you are requesting reimbursement for a non-travel meal (such as a candidate lunch, or guest speaker dinner), please list all the attendees and their affiliation (faculty/staff; guest; partner).
Supporting documentation for a non-travel meal (like an agenda, flyer, invitation)
All non-travel receipts must be submitted within 120 days of the purchase date. If it is past the 120-day mark, then please let the RP Team know the reason it is late because an Exception Request for the Allowable Use of Funds will need to be filed.

State

	UB Employee	Non-Employee
Airfare	Pay out-of-pocket and be reimbursed via Concur 100% before trip*	Pay with NET (Non-Employee Travel) card
Lodging	Pay out-of-pocket and submit for reimbursement via Concur upon conclusion of trip*	Use one of the UB sponsored hotels for local lodging only to set up a direct bill and book reservations with that hotel. They will direct bill the department after the visit*
Car Rental	NYS has contracted with Enterprise and National. This contract can be used for UB business travel. Employees can obtain a discount by booking directly on UB’s car rental website. They must pay out-of-pocket and can submit for reimbursement via Concur upon conclusion of trip*	Department Contact can use Enterprise Rent-A-Car or National Car Rental and have them direct bill the department for non employee’s rental car. -or- Pay out-of-pocket and submit for reimbursement via Department upon conclusion of trip
Parking	Pay out-of-pocket and submit for reimbursement via Concur upon conclusion of trip*	Pay out-of-pocket and submit for reimbursement via Department upon conclusion of trip
Mileage	Accumulate Mileage and be reimbursed via Concur upon conclusion of trip	Accumulate Mileage and be reimbursed via Department upon conclusion of trip
Meal Per Diem	Collect Per Diem for breakfast and dinner upon conclusion of trip and submit in Concur. See CONUS website for destination per diem amounts.* Concur will automatically calculate the per diems based on the destination city.	Obtain Pre-Paid Meal Card to pay Per Diems
Registration Fee	Use State Pcard or pay out-of-pocket and be reimbursed via Concur upon conclusion of trip*	Use State Pcard or pay out-of-pocket and be reimbursed via Department upon conclusion of trip

RF

	UB Employee	Non-Employee
Airfare	Set up BTA and contact the travel agency Stovroff & Taylor, to book reservation. Don't have a BTA? Set one up with Meg Mitchell, Director of Travel Financial Management	Set up BTA and contact travel agency Stovroff & Taylor. Don't have a BTA? Set one up with Meg Mitchell, Director of Travel Financial Management
Lodging	Pay out-of-pocket and submit for reimbursement via Concur upon conclusion of trip*	Use one of the UB sponsored hotels for local lodging only to set up a direct bill and book reservations with that hotel. They will direct bill the department after the visit*
Car Rental	NYS has contracted with Enterprise and National. This contract can be used for UB business travel. Employees can obtain a discount by booking directly on UB’s car rental website. They must pay out-of-pocket and can submit for reimbursement via Concur upon conclusion of trip*	Department Contact can use Enterprise Rent-A-Car or National Car Rental and have them direct bill the department for non employee’s rental car. -or- Pay out-of-pocket and submit for reimbursement via Department upon conclusion of trip
Parking	Pay out-of-pocket and submit for reimbursement via Concur upon conclusion of trip*	Pay out-of-pocket and submit for reimbursement via Department upon conclusion of trip
Mileage	Accumulate Mileage and be reimbursed via Concur upon conclusion of trip.	Accumulate Mileage and be reimbursed via Department upon conclusion of trip
Meal Per Diem	Collect Per Diem for breakfast and dinner upon conclusion of trip and submit in Concur. See CONUS website for destination per diem amounts.*Concur will automatically calculate the per diems based on the destination city.	Obtain Pre-Paid Meal Card to pay Per Diems
Registration Fee	Use RF AmEx or pay out-of-pocket and be reimbursed via Concur upon conclusion of trip*	Use RF AmEx or pay out-of-pocket and be reimbursed via Department upon conclusion of trip*

UBF

	UB Employee	Non-Employee
Airfare	Use UBF American Express Card or Pay out- of-pocket and be reimbursed 100% via Concur before trip*	Use UBF American Express Card or Pay out-of-pocket and be reimbursed 100% via Concur before trip*
Lodging	Use UBF AmEx Card or Pay out-of-pocket and be reimbursed via Concur upon conclusion of trip*	se UBF AmEX Card or use one of the UB sponsored hotels for local lodging only to set up a direct bill and book reservations with that hotel. They will direct bill the department after the visit*
Car Rental	NYS has contracted with Enterprise and National. This contract can be used for UB business travel. Employees can obtain a discount by booking directly on UB’s car rental website. They must pay out-of-pocket and can submit for reimbursement via Concur upon conclusion of trip* -or- Use UBF American Express Card	Department Contact can use Enterprise Rent-A-Car or National Car Rental and have them direct bill the department for non employee’s rental car. -or- Pay out-of-pocket and submit for reimbursement via Department upon conclusion of trip -or- Use UBF American Express Card
Parking	Use UBF American Express Card or Pay out- of-pocket and be reimbursed via Concur upon conclusion of the trip*	Pay out-of-pocket and be reimbursed via Department upon conclusion of trip
Mileage	Accumulate Mileage and be reimbursed via Concur upon conclusion of trip	Accumulate Mileage and be reimbursed via Department upon conclusion of trip
Meal Per Diem	Collect Per Diem for breakfast and dinner upon conclusion of trip and submit in Concur. See CONUS website for destination per diem amounts.* Concur will automatically calculate the per diems based on the destination city.	Receive advance from UBF to pay for per diems.
Registration Fee	UBF American Express Card or Pay out- of-pocket and be reimbursed 100% via Concur before trip	UBF American Express Card or Pay out- of-pocket and be reimbursed 100% via Department before trip*

*Use the Reimbursement and Procurement (RP) Team to submit your travel reimbursements or pay the hotel direct bill on your behalf.

Download PDF of Travel Reimbursement Quick Guide According to Funding Source

Training Sessions

The College’s Finance and Training Manager offers various training sessions. All training sessions are conducted over Zoom and are one hour in length. View training topics, dates and registration information for each session below.