FAQs & Who to Contact

No.
Access to this menu is automatic when you have the Student/Employee/Finance tab in Minerva. For casuals, options in the Employee menu are only available after they receive their first paycheque.

Both menus are exactly the same - it is your choice.

If you incurred expenses relating to your studies in your student role, use the Student Menu. If you incurred expenses in your employee role, use the Employee Menu.
Note: Requests for advances may only be submitted through the Employee menu.

All expense reports created through this menu option will be completed and submitted by a Reviewer assigned within your department/unit. Your department contact will provide you with all necessary information, and will direct you to which Reviewer you are to select in the “To Be Completed by Reviewer” drop-down list on the first screen of the expense report.

Units who decide to use the "Reviewer" option must submit the Reviewer Authorization Form. This form is used to establish the Primary Reviewer within a Unit who is delegated to oversee the expense report review process.

Contact the Administrative Assistant/Officer in your Unit/Department.

Consult the Professional Development Fund for Eligible Academics (Guidelines) published by the Academic Personnel Office.

No.
It is possible that a Claimant may need to submit a request for more than one type of advance. This is done by submitting multiple requests in Minerva - only one advance category may be chosen per request. Also, each Third Party Prepayment must be done on a separate advance.

No.
Advance requests may only be issued to employees (academics, researchers, and administrative staff) and students. However, you may request a Third Party advance request, on behalf of a visitor to make payments for conference registration or to make payments directly to travel agencies.

ELABORATION: Each individual paid for a portion of the expense OR one individual paid an expense in full on behalf of both parties. How does this get entered on an expense report?

Each McGill person will submit their own expense report with each expense report referencing the other(s) in the Description field.

If one individual paid a portion of the cost directly to the other individual:

• Both expense reports will include an explanation of this in the Description field and both will have a line item for this expense claiming the portion paid.
• A signed note must be attached with the amount paid to the other individual - it must be dated.
• One expense report will have the original receipt with proof of payment and the note.
• The other expense report will have a copy of the receipt with proof of payment and the note.

If each paid their own portion:

• Both expense reports will include an explanation of this in the Description field and both will have a line item for this expense claiming the portion paid.
• One expense report will have the original receipt with proof of payment for the portion being claimed.
• The other expense report will have a copy of the receipt with proof of payment for the portion being claimed.

If one individual paid the expense in full:

• Both expense reports will include an explanation of this in the Description field.
• Only the individual who paid will have a line item for this expense claiming the full amount of the receipt.
• Only one expense report will have the original receipt with proof of payment.

ELABORATION: The event took place outside of Quebec.

For Research Grants and Contracts:

• Confirm with the Fund Administrator if this is an allowable expense – there may be geographic restrictions.

For all other Fund Types:

• It is up to the Fund Financial Manager. If it is related to being a guest lecturer/for speaker remuneration – refer to the Policy.

ELABORATION: A traveler plans to attend a conference in Washington. At the end of the conference, they plan to fly to Vancouver for some personal time off.

When booking the travel arrangements, the traveler will:

1. Obtain a quote for the Montreal-Washington-Montreal flight. This is the ‘business’ portion of the trip. The quotation for the itinerary purely related to University business must be obtained at the same day and time the actual airfare ticket was booked. The quotation must include the travel agency name/website, the day and time, and must be for the lowest logical airfare.
2. Book the travel arrangements for the Montreal-Washington-Vancouver-Montreal flight segments.

When submitting the expense report, the original invoice for the cost of the airfare booked along with the quote for the "business" portion should be submitted.

• The quote for the ‘business’ portion will be the reimbursable amount unless the actual amount paid for entire trip was less.
• Ensure that the quote and the actual invoice are comparable and represent the same booking conditions, i.e. both amounts were obtained on the same day, etc.

ELABORATION: If you have not received an official credit card statement, and log in online to view your transactions, it will not display your name etc. on that page – it just shows a list of transactions. Will the Travel Desk accept that print-out as proof of payment?

As long as there is some identifier on the print-out (name, partial credit card number), the Travel Desk will accept it.

Note:

• Statements containing credit card numbers should never be submitted - ensure to black out everything except for the last four digits.
• You only need to submit a statement when a receipt does not show a zero balance.

No.
The Expense Reports Menu is used for requesting reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses for University related travel or business.

Students:

• Consult the Student Accounts website for more information.

Employees who are also studying at McGill:

• Consult the Educational Assistance Policy on the Human Resources website: Administrative and Support Staff | Academic Staff

No.

If you leave a required field (marked with a red *) blank, Minerva will not allow you to enter data in the next field. You will also be prompted to make corrections to a date if the entered format is incorrect.

Otherwise, Minerva does not check for content accuracy nor does it check if entered data conforms to University policy and/or guidelines.

Enter the "landing destination" in the Destination City field and in the Purpose indicate the other destinations.

A non-Canadian resident is someone who:

• Resides outside of Canada;
• Is not a McGill employee;
• Has no ongoing responsibility to the University;
• And, has incurred expenses during University business.

For more information about Non-Canadian Residents, refer to the Guest Lecturer and Speaker Remuneration Policy.

Note: Identifying a claimant as a non-Canadian resident ensures that the Payroll Office, Human Resources, fulfills the University’s taxation regulatory responsibilities. The University bases its policy and procedures on the Income Tax Guide issued by CAUBO for Canadian Universities and Colleges.

Enter the face value of the receipt (including taxes) in the Transaction amount field and then select the appropriate currency. Minerva will calculate the equivalent amount in Canadian dollars.

In the Describe Purpose field, enter the names and McGill IDs of recipients which are full time employees, otherwise enter Non McGill employees. The name of the store and the items purchased must also be indicated. Always choose the Expense Type Gifts and make sure that account code 700506 is displayed in the FOAPAL Information section of the expense item.

Minerva assigns a unique reference number for each request. It is displayed on the screen when you review and print the request. This reference number will allow you to track the status of your request along the approval process using the View All Requests menu item (instructions).

Yes (instructions).

• Finance Menu and Employee Menu users may look it up by using the View All Requests menu option.
• Student Menu users may look it up by using the View Expense Report History menu option.

No.
The Finance Help Desk or the Travel Desk will need to disapprove your request for you to be able to make changes to it.

Contact the Finance Help Desk by phone at 514-398-3463 or contact the Travel Desk by traveldeskhelp.acct [at] mcgill.ca (email). Be sure to provide the reference number of your advance request or expense report.

• When an advance is disapproved, you may access it using the menu option "Open an Advance Request You Started and Saved" (instructions).
• When an expense report is disapproved, you may access it using the menu option "Open an Expense Report You Started and Saved" (instructions).

You may only delete expense reports which have not been submitted - they must appear in the listing of expense reports you see when selecting the menu option "Open an Expense Report You Started and Saved" (instructions).

If you need to delete an expense report which does not appear in your listing (you already clicked on the Complete-Submit Request button), contact the Finance Help Desk by phone at 514-398-3463 or the Travel Desk by traveldeskhelp.acct [at] mcgill.ca (email) to have your request disapproved. Be sure to provide the reference number of your expense report. Once disapproved, you will be able to open it and delete it.

Contact the Travel Desk by traveldeskhelp.acct [at] mcgill.ca (email). Be sure to provide them with the reference number of your expense report. Once they re-open it you will be able to complete and submit it.