Meals

The University pays reasonable and necessary meal expenses incurred in the course of University-related travel or meal expenses appropriate while conducting University business. Faculty and staff should show prudence and fiscal responsibility in their choice of restaurant. University payment for meals requires approval by the appropriate authority.

On this page:

Travel Meals vs. Business Meals

The primary purpose of a business meal is to conduct University business with guests or other employees of the University. Accordingly, business meals include two or more persons. Faculty and staff should show prudence and fiscal responsibility in providing Stanford-paid meals during the conduct of Stanford internal meetings during the work day. See Expense Guidance for Business Meals.

Travel meals are ordinary and necessary meal expenses incurred when traveling away from home for Stanford business. Content on this page refers primarily to travel meals, though some guidelines and procedures apply to business meals as well.

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Approval Authority

Authority and responsibility for approving travel by employees and guests of the University rests with the person responsible for the account (PTA) to which the expense will be charged. Meal expenses are payable only when all required approvals, including any required approval from government agencies or other project sponsors, are obtained. Employees may not authorize travel or approve expense payments for themselves or for a person to whom they report directly or indirectly.

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Preferred Payment Methods

Stanford Travel Card is the University's preferred method of payment for travel meals.

Stanford Purchasing Card is preferred for local business meals.

Whether you use a Stanford Card or request reimbursement after using personal funds, the same guidelines must be followed for meal expenditures and documentation.

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Travel Meal Costs

Stanford pays for reasonably priced and necessary meals during travel, and uses the U.S. Government's Domestic Per Diem Rates and Foreign Per Diem Rates to define reasonable.

Gratuities for meals must not exceed 20 percent of the cost of meals. Any tip expenses in excess of that amount will not be paid.

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Reimbursement Options

The traveler may be reimbursed for actual meal expenses or be paid a per diem rate for meals. The method selected must be used for the entire trip. Foreign travel meal expenses are reimbursable by the same methods as domestic travel.

See Resources: Per Diem Rates, including:

  • General Per Diem Information
  • Reviewing Per Diem Rates
  • Automatic Adjustments to Per Diem Rates

Departments may elect to pay per diem for fewer days than the actual stay and may decrease the amount of per diem to reflect actual expenses.

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Meals Included in Conference Registration Fees and Hotel Charges

When a meal is provided for as part of a conference or included in a hotel rate, a deduction must be made from the applicable per diem rate. The deductible amount varies based on the rate for the applicable city and may be found at the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) web site. Select the "FY XXXX M&IE (Meals and Incidental Expense) Breakdown" tab.

When reporting travel meal expenses in the Expense Requests system, check boxes are provided to indicate meals included in conference registration fees or hotel rates. The system will automatically deduct the applicable per diem rate.

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Non-Business Days

Weekends, holidays, and other necessary standby days may only be counted as business days only if they fall between business travel days. If a traveler chooses to arrive early or to stay longer for non-business reasons, the University does not pay for expenses during additional personal days. The only exception is when travel is at a lower total cost if the traveler stays over a weekend or holiday, with department approval. The traveler must document the total cost savings in order to support the non-business-day payment.

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Local Travel

Local travel is defined as less than 50 miles one way from Stanford or the traveler's residence, whichever is greater. Barring exceptional business reasons, the University does not pay for personal meals during local travel. A bona fide business meal is generally eligible for payment. Such meals should be reported as business meals, with number and names of attendees included.

If a trip exceeds the local travel limit but the traveler chooses not to stay overnight, personal meals will be eligible for payment. Per diem rates may not be used for local travel.

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Travel Expenses of Spouse or Other Traveling Companion

In general, the expenses of a spouse, family member, or other person accompanying the business traveler are not payable. Such expenses are only payable if the accompanying person has a position with the University and is traveling to make a significant contribution in furtherance of University business.

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U.S. Government and Other Sponsored Funds

On occasion expenditures may be incurred for University business or travel that may not be charged directly to restricted or sponsored awards (i.e., business entertainment and alcohol). In this case, these expenditures should be charged to the appropriate expenditure type on an unrestricted account.

Costs incurred by travelers that will be charged to federally-sponsored awards, including costs of lodging, meals, and incidental expenses, must be reasonable, allowable, necessary to the award, and consistent with University policies. The federal government has mandated that no alcohol may be charged as either a direct or indirect expense of federally sponsored projects. Consequently, alcohol should not be charged to a federal grant or contract account under any circumstances.

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Documentation of Expenses

Expense reports with relevant supporting documents attached must be completed for all expenses paid by the University. For expense reports that include meals, itemized receipts for meals costing greater than $75 must be provided. If no itemized receipt is submitted for a meal, traveler must indicate in the expense report, the portion of the expense for any alcohol included, or state that there was no alcohol included in the meal. See demo on allocating alcohol.

No receipts are required when per diem is claimed for meals.

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