Frequently Asked Questions

We have put together some questions and answers we think you might have about the Research Finance at Providence, St. Joseph’s and St. Michael’s Healthcare.

If you have any questions that are not addressed in this section, please contact researchfinance@smh.ca 

Please note, all reimbursements must be in accordance with the Research Expense Policy (Intranet Access Only). Please see below for the frequently asked questions.

Reimbursements & Requisitions

Always include proof of purchase for reimbursement (i.e. Transaction receipts and credit card statement (especially if purchase is of foreign currency)

Reimbursement must have itemized original receipts included. Lost receipts will not be reimbursed.

Gifts to staff must include staff name and Employee ID number along with relevant supporting documentation regarding the event. CIHR grants are not allowed to be used to fund Staff Appreciation Events.

Volunteer and Visitors are not required to provide Employee ID.

Gifts or honorariums given to non-staff (including TTC tokens) must include name of recipient, amount of tokens distributed and other relevant supporting documentation (i.e.. Receipt of purchase of TTC tokens and honorarium logs)

Please refer to Forms for Honorarium Log Templates

As per guidelines and policy, we do not reimburse on gas. Reimbursements for mileage must include screenshot of Google maps highlighting the distance traveled.

($0.45/km traveled will be reimbursed)

Business dinners & staff events must have names of attendees along with the corresponding receipts. Catering events must also have the list of all attendees and must include details of the business event.

Meal reimbursements can be claimed up to $100 per a day of travel without receipts, amount for initial date of travel can be prorated. The daily limit for $100 must match the travel dates & anything in excess will require receipts to be reimbursed.

St. Michael’s Hospital Research activities cannot be used to reimburse alcohol.

Flight cannot be booked with external travel sites, it must be booked with the hospital travel agency.
Please follow the following- How to Organize Travel Arrangements and complete a Travel Request Form.

If you flight is cheaper through an external site than the estimate provided through the hospital travel agency, please feel free to book your flight through the external resource. However, the estimate MUST be provided when completing a reimbursement and boarding passes must also be included.

Do not forget PI’s signature. Signing Authority is required in order to process the requisition.

Wet ink signatures are required but under special circumstances, e-mail approval from the PI will suffice. Be sure to include all the details of the requisition in the email so that your PI is well-informed of the type of expense. (i.e.. Including vendor name, amount, activity being used and details of the expense). Be sure to print the email and attach to your requisition.

When being reimbursed for Registration fees, the receipts indicating the amount spent must be submitted, along with proof of attendance like name badge or email confirmation as proof that you had attended the event.

Conferences that are future dated cannot be reimbursed until the conference has taken place.

Credit Card Statements are used to verify foreign currency conversions and when receipts provided do no show a zero balance. The credit card statement must be used to verify how much was spent.

If you do not have your credit card statement available, you may use OANDA.com to convert the expenses. Please always provide the print out to match the expense of the foreign currency.

Under special circumstances, wires to the individual can be done but you must still complete and fill out all the sections in the requisition forms (including mailing address) along with the Wire payment request form.

Due to tax purposes, if your participant is receiving more than $500.00 in the given fiscal year from any honorarium payments, you must provide the SIN number of the recipient to the accounts payable department. This may be filled on the requisition form.

In Section 105 of the Income Tax Regulations – a 10% withholding tax for the first $5000.00 paid to a non-resident in respect of services rendered in Canada is required. Services may include consulting, seminar/conference presentations or honorariums. Anything over $5000.00 is a 15% withholding. Please be sure to adjust your payments accordingly.

i.e. $1000.00 is paid to Mrs. XYZ, $900.00 will be paid directly to Mrs. XYZ, and $100.00 will be used for withholding.

 


Invoices

If this payment is not a one-time payment to an external service provider (ex. Transcription service, consulting, manuscript editing, etc.) and accumulates to over $500.00, a Service Provider Agreement (SPA) must be executed before the invoice can be processed. Please visit the Service Provider Agreement (SPA)  to complete an SPA or contact researchcontracts@smh.ca to set up an SPA.

For more information about invoice please contact us.

For more information regarding research contracts – Research Contracts

All invoices must be invoiced to St. Michael’s Hospital in order to be paid from a research activity.

Please be sure to have the vendor include the following:

Providence, St. Joseph’s and St. Michael’s Hospital
30 Bond Street
Toronto Ontario
M5B 1W8
Attention: PI or Coordinator’s name

Submit a completed Staff Change Form signed by the incoming and outgoing Network Lead Applicant and/or Site Investigator.

All invoices must include the following:

  • Title of document (i.e.. INVOICE)
  • Date of Issued Invoice
  • Invoice number
  • Details regarding event
  • Payee address and information
  • Total amount

Accounts payable cannot pay a portion of the invoice. AP is able to pay the invoice from several different activities, however cannot make partial payments on separate dates for the same invoice.

(ie. 50% of Invoice# 001 paid May 1, 2018 and then 50% of Invoice# 001 paid on June 1, 2018)

If vendor requires partial payments, vendor must provide several invoices with unique invoice numbers

(ie. 50% due on first milestone – Invoice 001, 50% due on final milestone – Invoice 002)

 


Payment Processing Guide

The table below is a general guide for processing payments. This estimate does not include additional time needed for requisitions that require additional follow up or approvals. Please note: depending on the delivery method, standard processing takes approximately 2-3 weeks before funds are received by vendor.

 

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
Week 1 Forms Dropped Off at Research FinanceReviewed By Co-op Student Reviewed By RFA
Week 2 Given Back to Student and Submitted to APRequisition at APPrinted Cheques or EFT Sent
(Pick-up 1- 4 PM)

Cheques are mailed out
Week 3 Cheques to be received from Mail by VendorCheques to be received from Mail by VendorCheques to be received from Mail by VendorCheques to be received from Mail by VendorCheques to be received from Mail by Vendor