Expenses & Travel | Parsons Guide
Funding must be expended within the fiscal year (July 1 – June 30) in accordance with the university's Finance & Business procedures. Please note that any items purchased with university dollars belong to the university.
Concur & Travel
Concur: All travel and accommodations should be booked via Concur and subsequently reconciled in MyDay (see below) after the travel/accommodation has occurred. Only book Monday - Thursday so your trip can be approved on time.
Why book through Concur? Booking all travel and accommodations through Concur is important for many reasons, including increased buying power (better discounts) and cancellation refunds/credits posting directly to TNS (easier to rebook future travel). Most important is duty of care. If, god forbid, you are traveling and there is a disaster of some kind (natural or manmade), TNS knows exactly where you are and will reach out to make sure you are okay, coordinate resources to get you out if needed, etc. If we don't know where you are, we unfortunately can't help check on you!
Staff
Staff filling out the Concur application should use their department's operating budget unless instructed otherwise. When filling out the application, Home = Parsons, Fund = fund associated with your cost center (likely FN-01), Organization = the cost center code (CC....), Program = program code (PG....). You will be able to enter different worktags as needed when booking, but this should be your default worktag. Once you complete the application, please send it to parsonsops@newschool.edu for review and authorization. The Parsons Operations Team will then send to Finance once internally approved.
Full Time Faculty
Full time faculty filling out the Concur application must use their General Research Fund (GRF) worktags (see your notification email). When filling out the application, Home = Parsons, Fund = FN-01, Organization = the cost center code (CC....), Program = program code (PG....). If you have a gift code (GF.....), you can include that with the program code. You will be able to enter different worktags as needed when booking, but this should be your default worktag. Once you complete the application, please send it to parsonsops@newschool.edu for review and authorization. The Parsons Operations Team will then send to Finance once internally approved.
P-Card & Expense Reports
P-Cards
When you purchase on your p-card, you will need to fill out an expense report in MyDay. All expenses must be reconciled within 30 days with the exception of travel or conference expenses that have not yet taken place (those expenses must be reconciled after the fact). You will receive an email from MyDay once a new charge is posted that you must reconcile. TNS is tax exempt, so please use the Sales Tax Exemption Certificate when purchasing items with your p-card.
Staff
Staff who not have a p-card, complete the application and send to parsonsops@newschool.edu for review and authorization. Your worktags should be your department's operating budget unless instructed otherwise. Please coordinate with your manager to determine the type of card needed and your amount. The Parsons Operations Team will then send to Finance once internally approved.
Full Time Faculty
Full time faculty are highly encouraged to use their p-cards for purposes instead of submitting for reimbursement. If you do not have a p-card, complete the application and send to parsonsops@newschool.edu for review and authorization. Your worktags should be your General Research Fund (GRF) worktags (see your notification email). You should select the "Declining Balance" option, and the amount should be the amount of your GRF. The Parsons Operations Team will then send to Finance once internally approved.
NOTE: Your p-card funds and your TNS-issued funds are not directly linked (see below on how to track your expenses). You can get the current available credit on the card by calling the number on the back of the card. Please note that the available credit on the card does not necessarily connect with the amount of funds available if you have outstanding unreconciled expenses or have made My New Source purchases or service provider invoices against any of these funding sources. If you think you need an increase on your p-card, please email parsonsops@newschool.edu.
Expense Reports
P-card Charges
Please see Create and Submit an Expense Report for detailed instructions on how to reconcile your p-card charges in an expense report in MyDay. Since TNS is tax exempt, please use theSales Tax Exemption Certificate when making purchases whenever possible; in the long run, this also helps your budget go further!
Please note that if you receive a refund for an expense on your p-card, you'll also need to create an expense report for that refund.
Personal CHarges
If you accidentally use your p-card for a personal expense, overspend your TNS-issued funding, or make an ineligible purchase and need to reimburse the university, you'll still need to create and submit an expense report. Please view Reimburse TNS for a Personal Expense.
Reimbursement
If you need to submit for reimbursement after using a personal card instead of your p-card, please also fill out an expense report in MyDay. Please see Create and Submit an Expense Report for detailed instructions on how to add an expense purchases with a non-university credit card in an expense report in MyDay. We will need both a receipt and a bank statement showing the transaction.
Please note that since The New School is tax exempt, Finance will not approve reimbursement for sales tax on purchases over $100. To avoid covering the sales tax as a personal expense, use theSales Tax Exemption Certificate when making purchases.
NOTE: Your default worktag when filling out an expense report is your home department. Faculty must update the default worktag to their General Research Funding worktag (see email notification) or another worktag they have permission to use.
My New Source (MNS)
Purchases
The university has a lot of pre-approved vendors in My New Source (MNS), and we recommend that you use MNS as much as possible. When you use MNS, you eliminate the need for an expense report, and the tax is automatically deducted. My New Source should be used for any purchases from The New School’s approved vendors (Amazon, B&H, Apple, Verizon, Dell, etc.) and to process any invoices. MNS is also used for honorariums and guest lecture payments.
All computer purchases should be made through MNS and be approved by IT. Technology bought using university funding belongs to TNS.
Gift Cards
All gift cards for research participants must be purchased through MNS. There is a limit of $50 per recipient in the vast majority of cases. Gift cards cannot be issued to any active employees on university payroll or used to compensate for services rendered. Amazon gift cards are purchased through the Amazon punch out in MyNewSource. You must specify your business reason in the Comments field when making the requisition, which will be reviewed by AP. Requisitions will be processed once approved by AP. The distribution process depends on the format of the gift card, physical or electronic.
- Electronic Amazon gift cards are the preferred option, which are sent directly to the recipient's email. These cards can be tracked, even if they have not been redeemed, and can be resent to the recipient in cases of email issues. You must provide recipient names before submitting the requisition, and list the supplier name as "THE NEW SCHOOL PURCHASING."
- Amazon physical gift cards are generally shipped to a single location. The list of recipients should be uploaded in the requisition after distribution for auditing purposes.
You CANNOT use gift cards as a form of payment for reportable transactions:
- Using gift cards to pay for goods or services circumvents the IRS regulations that have been put in place. For honoraria payments (see below), we require that all transactions be made through AP so that we can properly report the income to the IRS and collect the required information, such as a W-9/W-8BEN, to ensure that we comply with IRS regulations. We are also required to ensure that we are working with legal workers. By issuing gift cards, we would be unable to perform the due diligence that is required by the IRS. Therefore, gift cards cannot be used as a valid option for honoraria payments.
Honoraria
What is an Honorarium?
Honoraria are token payments to individuals for service they performed, for which payment is optional. By token payments, the University means a modest payment that reasonably equates to nothing more than a nominal payment in partial recognition of the person's actual worth and intended to cover incidental expenses associated with the provision of the non-compensated services.
Who can receive honoraria?
Anyone still listed in The New School records as an employee (faculty, staff, student) CANNOT receive honoraria.Honoraria can only be paid to external individuals who are legally authorized to work in the United States.
You must clarify the immigration status of visiting guests before inviting them to engage in work. As we recognize this can be a delicate subject, we ask that you approach this outreach with care, and we have included sample language below for your reference.
Sample language:
As individuals with certain visas are ineligible to receive payment for guest critic and lecture work, please let us know which, if any, of the following apply to your current status. We're requesting this information to make sure that you can, in fact, receive payment for this work.
- Not a Foreign National
- A Foreign National who performs a service in their country
- A Foreign National who performs a service in the U.S. If that's the case, we need to know which type of visa you currently hold. (*Please note: some visa holders are not allowed to work for a non-sponsor employer e.g. O-1, H1B, J1.)
The only scenario in which an institution can be paid honoraria is if we are paying the sponsor of an O1 or H1B Visa-holder. If your guest is visiting Parsons with an O1 or H1B Visa, please additionally provide us a copy of their I797 and I94, and please also indicate if The New School is listed as their sponsor. If TNS is not their sponsor, we will additionally need an invoice and W-9 from their sponsor. Due to federal regulations, payment can only be issued directly if folks are sponsored by TNS. Otherwise, payment can be made to their sponsor or agent.
How do I request an honorarium?
In all cases, please allow approximately 6-8 weeks for processing after the guest's visit.
Faculty must coordinate with their school's Associate Director of Operations for all approvals and processing of program-based honoraria. For non-program honoraria (general research, RSCP, external grants, etc.) faculty must contact the Parsons Operations Team for processing. Please see Key Contacts | Parsons Operations.
Staff must familiarize themselves with the Honorarium Policy to ensure all requests are in compliance when submitting.
Hiring
Research Assistants (RAs)
Research Assistants: Faculty can hire a research assistant (RA) with Student Research Assistant Funds (SRAF) or other funding sources. If not using SRAF, please note when budgeting that you need to calculate fringe which is an additional 7.5%.
Student Workers (Non-RAs)
Please see Student Worker Hiring
Service Providers
Please see Service Providers (Independent Contractors & Vendors) for details on hiring an Independent Contractor or paying a Vendor.
Temp/Misc. Employees
Please see Temporary/Miscellaneous Employees (Temp/Misc.) for details on hiring a Temp/Misc. employee.
Full Time Faculty Supplemental Pay
Please reach out to the Parsons Operations Team (parsonsops@newschool.edu) for current rates and processing information before engaging in any work.
Part Time Faculty MOU
An MOU is needed before engaging in any work.
- If you are a full time faculty member using research funding for the MOU, please reach out to the Parsons Operations Team (parsonsops@newschool.edu) and cc' your school's Associate Director of Part Time Faculty Affairs to begin the process.
- If you would like to use operations funding for the MOU, you must receive prior approval from your Program Administrator. Once approved, work with them and your Associate Director of Part Time Faculty Affairs to begin the process.
How to Track Your Expenses | Faculty
To track your expenses, please write down every charge you make and subtract it from your balance. Faculty are highly encouraged to use the below template tracker (make a copy). You can always cross-check your own list by doing the following:
- You can type "My Expense Reports" into the MyDay search bar to view previous reports you submitted within a certain date range. This does not include purchases you made on your p-card that you haven't created expense reports for, however.
- For MNS, you can click on the drop down on your name (top right) and click "My Recently Completed Requisitions" to find the requisitions you recently completed.
Please reach out to parsonsops@newschool.edu with any questions.