Most events at MIT Sloan require making payments, whether for food, facilities, decorations, or other items. Below, you'll find detailed information on the four options you have for making payments. Additionally, you'll find MIT's tax exempt forms, so you can ensure you are taking advantage of MIT's tax exempt status, and information on navigating travel expenses, contracts, prize payments, and non-profit donations.
1.
MIT's procurement system
Pros: Shop, buy, pay and view transactions, direct invoicing. (Easy to purchase)
Cons: It's slow! We recommend starting the payment process at least two weeks in advance.
3.
Pay with SLO credit card
Pros: Relatively quick and easy
Cons: Under $1,000 only, limitations on use
2.
Pay out of pocket for small dollar purchases and request a refund
Pros: Quick (no advanced paperwork)
Cons: You are gambling that you will be reimbursed; some reimbursements may take a while to process
4.
Transferring money between accounts
Pros: Quick, easy, no limit to amount of money, doesn't require a form
Cons: Only for moving money between MIT accounts
Buy-To-Pay is MIT's procurement system, which provides you with direct access to online catalogs of many suppliers as well as preferred vendors. Use Buy-to-Pay to access/create requisitions, purchase orders, invoices, and reports. MIT standard payment terms are net-30, it is recommended to begin the purchasing process at least two weeks in advance.
✅ Pros: Shop, buy, pay and view transactions, direct invoicing. (Easy to purchase).
🚫 Cons: It's slow! We recommend starting the payment process at least two weeks in advance.
If you pay for something yourself and need to be reimbursed by your club or MIT, please follow the below instructions to learn about obtaining a proper receipt and how to submit an RFP.
Check out the full guide here!
Club Finance Leads are responsible for submitting all requests for club members' reimbursements on Atlas. This allows your club more oversight of expenditures and streamlines the approval process. The Club Finance Lead can submit an invoice on behalf of any student.
Once your reimbursement has been approved, you should receive a reimbursement check or direct deposit within 7-10 business days. If your reimbursement is complex or a high dollar amount, a reimbursement may require additional information and time.
We recommend setting up direct deposit for your reimbursement. Please do so before you submit your RFP by follwoing the directions below:
1. Go to atlas.mit.edu/
2. Click on My Reimbursements
3. Click Direct Deposit Preferences
If you would like to receive a check instead, the check will be sent to the address on file in Websis.
MIT cannot and will not reimburse you for any of the following charges:
Note: Always use B2P for large purchases to avoid unnecessary risk and delays. Paying out of pocket should be a last resort—especially for any payment of $1,000 or more. If you proceed with a large personal payment, expect significant delays: Large personal payments face significant delays and require several approvals by MIT Accounts Payable. You may also be required to provide a detailed justification for not using the preferred B2P process.
In order to be reimbursed, you need to submit a copy or photo of the itemized receipt. The document must be clear and legible and must contain the following:
The Student Life Office manages an Institute credit card with a strictly enforced $1,000 purchase limit. Splitting a purchase so its components are each under $1,000 is not allowed. If your club's account is in good standing, then you are entitled to use it for certain types of purchases, typically food. Ask Student Life in advance if you can use the card by filling out the form below. *For purchases over $1000, use Buy to Pay.
A Journal Voucher (JV) is a quick and easy way to transfer money between two MIT accounts. All you need to do is complete this online form.
1. Account number money should be transferred from
2. Account number money should be transferred to
3. Amount of money to be transferred
4. Brief description of why the transfer is taking place
A travel expense is any expense incurred while traveling on MIT business. This may include hotels, airfare, restaurants, gas, reimbursement of personal vehicle mileage, etc. While "traveling" and "trip" may sometimes be difficult to define, there are some expenses that will ALWAYS be defined as a travel expense: airfare, hotel, rental cars, gas for rental cars, personal vehicle mileage, or interstate train or bus fare. MIT will not reimburse you for any travel expense until after the trip takes place.
For more detailed information on the Institute Travel Policies, please visit the VPF Website.
Students are permitted to use the Student Life Travel Card for group travel for official student organization business. The travel card should not be used for individual travel.
MIT is exempt from paying state sales tax, which means you can save money on food and other items. Be sure to inform your vendors of this in advance.
When traveling on MIT business, there is a difference between “occupancy tax” and other local taxes and fees for hotel stays. This is reimbursable, as it is not sales tax. If you are traveling on MIT business and incur occupancy taxes on your hotel bill, you should include them on the travel expense report. All other sales tax is not reimbursable, and you will need to use the tax exempt form (per state). If you are traveling in a state that does not recognize MIT sales tax exemption, you may also be reimbursed for any taxes paid out of pocket.
Here is the link to find the sales tax list per state, and that recognize MIT’s sales tax exception and to download the corresponding form: Sales Tax Exemption Listing.
First and foremost: DO NOT SIGN CONTRACTS! Contracts may only be signed by designated employees of MIT. If you personally sign a contract, you may be liable for any resulting debt and legal liability.
Notify the Student Life Office as soon as you know that a vendor will want a contract or agreement (includes any document that discusses liability or indemnification, or that uses the word "contract"). This should be done prior to making any arrangements with the vendor. All contracts must be submitted through Buy-to-Pay and payment should be made via purchase order.
Prize money is awarded to people individually, not as a group, is taxable income, and therefore follows certain rules. As a tax exempt institution, there are some people MIT cannot pay at all and others to whom MIT can only pay a percentage. It is important that you set and manage the expectations of all entrants in your competition - they are competing for the prestige of winning an MIT Sloan competition; prize money will be paid if legally possible. U.S. citizens with a SSN will receive the whole prize, but non-U.S. citizens will have approximately 30% tax withheld from the prize.
In order to evaluate each winner and pay any prize money we can legally pay, you will need to provide the following information about the winners. Please fill out the winner's information and return it to Rebecca Bourke in MIT Sloan Student Life Office. Do not send this spreadsheet to the winners. Collect the information and fill out the spreadsheet yourself.
Approval is needed for your MIT Sloan Student Organization to donate funds to another non-profit organization. The donation funds need to come into your organization's account with the specific purpose of being donated to the charitable organization. Typically, student organizations host events to raise these funds. Please complete the proposal found here to apply for approval to donate funds to a non-profit organization. Please send completed proposal to slquestions@mit.edu.
