1. Expenses claims

Read an overview of rules, how to submit an expense claim, and what to claim.

General rules

• Please make an effort to be clear and tidy.
• Please always download a fresh copy of the claim form from the link provided in the previous section. as the University of Edinburgh often updates their forms without notice.
• Only actual incurred costs, supported by proof of payment, can be reimbursed, which means that we cannot reimburse any claim without a receipt. Therefore, a receipt or an invoice for all the expenses claimed is compulsory.
• Please provide bank / card statement excerpts for:
  • All payments that involve any foreign currency (on foreign currencies, there is some guidance provided in section 4 of the claim form, please read that to get further clarity).
  • All payments made for accommodation bookings.
  • All payments made for booking conference tickets.
  • All payments made for booking international flights.
  • Part payments done from a group bill (e.g.: Dinner bill for 10 people is shown but the claim is for your dinner only).
• Please make sure you number all the receipts according to their receipt number in Section 4 of the claim form. If you need more lines please contact finance@software.ac.uk. 
• Please mention the correct currency in which you wish to be paid.
• Detailed instructions can be found in the official University of Edinburgh Policy [see 'Downloads' at the bottom of this page].

Examples of acceptable expenditure

• Reasonable expenses incurred in pursuit of UoE (which, in this case, means the Software Sustainability Institute) business will be reimbursed.
• Certain items of expenditure are subject to specified limits and conditions, as set out in the official University of Edinburgh Policy, which can be found on the Guidelines for reimbursement of expenses by the SSI.
• Before arranging your travel, please read the UoE Sustainable Travel Policy, which explains how to minimise our carbon footprint.This policy does not permit internal flights within the UK.
• Travel should normally be by the cheapest means of transport. Business or first class flights / train tickets are not permitted.
• Taxis are permitted.
• AirBnB is allowed but discouraged. Please double check the Policy or get in touch with your SSI contact.
• Alcohol will not be reimbursed.
• We cannot book travel insurance on your behalf.
• Equipment and subscriptions that support online activities are allowed; note this does not cover the purchase of computers, laptops, tablets, monitors or printers.
• Limit paying by cash as much as possible and always obtain a receipt for cash payments.

See also eligible expenses for SSI Fellowship funds.

Proof of payment

• For each item claimed, a detailed payment receipt must be provided.
• When purchasing goods or services from a VAT registered business, a VAT receipt must be provided.
• Credit or debit card slips are not sufficient on their own. An accompanying itemised receipt / invoice is necessary.
• Hotel booking confirmations are not accepted as proof of payment, even if they show an advance payment. Instead, a VAT invoice should be obtained after the stay and provided - and a bank / card statement excerpt should be attached for this payment
• Likewise, an online order confirmation is not accepted as proof of payment, even if it shows an advance payment. Instead, a VAT invoice should be obtained and provided.
• An extract of your credit card/bank account should be presented in the following cases:
  • All payments that involve any foreign currency (on foreign currencies, there is some guidance provided in section 4 of the claim form, please read that to get further clarity).
  • All payments made for accommodation bookings.
  • All payments made for booking conference tickets.
  • All payments made for booking international flights.
  • Part payments done from a group bill (e.g.: Dinner bill for 10 people is shown but the claim is for your dinner only).

• All receipts and proof of payment should be compiled as a single PDF document.

Submitting a claim

• SSI Fellows should submit their expenses claims on lowFAT.
• If you supported someone else using your Fellowship funds, they should email their claim to .
• Expenses claims must include the completed Expenses claim form, and the accompanying receipts (the receipts should be submitted as a single PDF file). Paper receipts should be scanned and attached). Also provide bank statement excerpts when needed.
• Any original paper receipt should be stored safely as we may require it to be posted to us for audit purposes. If all receipts in the claim are native digital, there will not be a request for paper originals.
• When possible, please try to group all expenses relating to one event in a single submission.
• All expense claims pertaining to a funding request should be submitted via lowFAT by the Fellow, including payments to non-Fellows.

Claiming part of a receipt / invoice and tips:

• This is useful when you are claiming partially from a provided receipt / invoice.
• When more than 1 person have a meal together and each one pays for their own meal and reimburses only their costs:
  • In this case, please provide the original receipt and mark the items you had ordered. Provide a corresponding credit card / debit card slip OR a statement excerpt showing what you had paid.
  • In case if you decide to tip the server, the payment slip or the statement should reflect that amount - and please ensure that the tip amount is not 10% over your total bill claimed.
  • If you’ve bought alcohol please mark that as well so that we can deduct the exact amount of the alcoholic beverage.
• In cases where registration fee or accommodation is booked for multiple people and a claim is made for your own accommodation or fee, it is compulsory to provide a bank statement. 

Foreign currency

• You should avoid using cash for a foreign currency payment, it is preferred if these transactions are made via account transfer or credit/debit cards. You must provide both the detailed payment receipts and the relevant extracts from your bank/card statement showing the conversion.
• If you don’t have a GBP value from your bank statement, please indicate the foreign currency (as per the receipt). See the instructions for currency conversion on the section 4 of the expense claim form and the advice given in previous sections

Expenses claim form

If your university is based in the UK and will claim directly from the Software Sustainability Institute (SSI), please do not use this form. Please contact SSI finance for assistance on this, because the payment will be made by a Purchase Order (PO) and invoice and it might take two months to set this up for new suppliers. Please make sure you contact SSI finance 2 months before you are starting the work as the University of Edinburgh would not allow work to begin before the Purchase order is received. 

For all other claimants, please carefully follow the steps below to ensure smooth processing of your expense claim.

• Please complete sections 1 – 5.
• Please insert your supplier number in the relevant box in Section 1 of  the form. You can find your supplier number on your Profile in lowFAT.  This will be issued after your first claim has been made.
• Insert your Name and Home Address (not your Work Address).
• Make sure you have filled out your bank details correctly and clearly.
• In Section 3, in the question ‘For the purpose of’, please insert the lowFAT ID of the expense claim, your name and the reason for the claim. E.g.: 777 J Smith - Travel to London for RSECon.
• Don’t forget to insert your name and the date you submit the claim form in Section 5.
• Save the form in the current MS word format, with the following name:
  • LowFAT ID-Initial Family name. E.g.: 777 J Smith
  • Please do not change the file format of the document.

2. Advance booking

• In certain cases, we can book more expensive travel and accommodation for you, such as long-haul flights.
• There are limitations to our capability of booking travel for you, due to the administrative overheads that this process generates.
• If you would like to discuss your case, please email fellows-management@software.ac.uk

3. Invoicing the SSI

You will be required to send an invoice to the SSI if you are to be paid for a service provided by you directly to the Institute and where you are not claiming an expense that you have paid to someone else e.g. an honorarium for a lecture. 

In this case, invoicing the SSI (the UoE) involves the following steps:

• Prior agreement of the amount to be paid
• Setting you up as a supplier on the University finance system
• Receiving a quote for the exact amount, dates and reason for payment
• Creation of a Purchase order
• Submission of an invoice
• Important note: you cannot start working for the SSI until you receive confirmation from SSI finance (finance@software.ac.uk).   

Downloads

Expenses Claim Form

Expenses Policy