An original receipt is written acknowledgment from a vendor that provides essential information to support a transaction and enable the proper recording of the transaction in the university general ledger system. Collection of original receipts helps to reduce the likelihood of duplicate payments. A receipt should include the date of the purchase; the vendor's name; a description of item(s); and the quantity, unit price, and total cost of the item(s).
Receipts vary in appearance and type of information provided. If relevant information is not included on a receipt, the cardholder should write that information on it. Third-party billing companies such as PayPal generally do not include detailed information about the item(s) purchased. In such cases, the cardholder should provide a copy of the Web page that identifies the items purchased, as well as the Web receipt from the third-party billing company.
Some of examples of receipts include, but are not limited to the following:
In addition to a receipt, sufficient documentation must include a business purpose. When the business purpose is not obvious, cardholders should write an explanation of the business purpose on their receipt. Cardholders should provide additional information to support the business purpose when an item lends itself to personal use, such as CDs, videos, meals, etc., or when the business purpose would not be clear to an external reviewer. The cardholder also should list the attendees at business meals.
