Private Funds Procedure
Purchases made with private funds are subject to Virginia Tech’s procurement policies and procedures to ensure consistency, accountability, and responsible stewardship of university resources. While these funds are not derived from state appropriations, the same principles of fairness, competition, and fiscal responsibility apply. Departments using private funds are expected to follow established purchasing guidelines to support transparency and the university’s commitment to ethical and compliant procurement practices.
| Commodity / Procurement Type | University Funds | Private VTF Funds |
|---|---|---|
| Alcohol | Unallowable | Allowable if reasonable in relation to the event and location. |
| Awards & Recognition (Non-Cash) – Employee recognition awards for exemplary service, retirement recognition, etc. | Allowable in accordance with Policy 4335: Employee Awards and Recognition Programs. | Allowable |
| Awards & Recognition (Non-Cash) – Student recognition awards for extraordinary accomplishments or contributions to the university. | Allowable | Allowable |
| Awards & Recognition (Non-Cash) – Non-employees and volunteers with a bona fide business purpose. | Allowable | Allowable |
| Employee Clothing (non-uniform, e.g., polos, quarter zips, jackets, etc.) | Unallowable | Allowable – up to $100 per employee per calendar year |
| Employee Compensation- Salary, wages, and related benefits for university employees. Note: University employees may have all or part of their salary, wages, and related benefits charged to Private VTF Funds. |
Allowable | Allowable |
| Flowers / Plants – Public events (e.g., Commencement, Charter Day, public performances). | Allowable | Allowable |
| Flowers / Plants – Public or common areas to improve | Unallowable | Allowable – up to $150 |
| Flowers / Plants – Non-employees and volunteers with a bona fide business purpose | Unallowable | Allowable – up to $150 |
| Flowers / Plants – Death of an employee’s immediate family member (spouse, parent, step-parent, sibling, or child). | Unallowable | Allowable – up to $150 |
| Food (Catering, Business Meals, etc.)- Internal trainings, multi-department meetings, and planning events, and other university business activities. Note: Food for all on-campus activities must be purchased through America-To-Go. |
Allowable up to 150% of per diem (Procedure 20310a). Advanced approval required for E&G funds. | Allowable up to three times maximum per diem |
| Food (Catering, Business Meals, etc.)- Catering or business meals with external parties (e.g., candidates, donors, speakers) | Allowable up to 150% of per diem (Procedure 20310a). Advanced approval required for E&G funds. | Allowable up to three times per diem |
| Food (Catering, Business Meals, etc.)- Events with students | Allowable up to 150% of per diem (Procedure 20310a). Advanced approval required for E&G funds. | Allowable up to three times per diem |
| Food (Catering, Business Meals, etc.)- Retirement and employee appreciation events | Allowable in accordance with Policy 4335. Advanced approval required for E&G funds. | Allowable up to three times per diem |
| Goods and Services- Necessary goods and services supporting the university’s mission. Note: All purchasing activities must follow university procurement procedures. Private VTF funds may be used for official university business in compliance with donor intent. |
Allowable | Allowable |
| Gifts (Non-Cash)- given in appreciation for a donation, service, etc. | Unallowable | Allowable – up to $100 |
| Honoraria- Payment in appreciation for a service (e.g., guest speaker) Note: Honoraria may not be provided to current university employees or students. |
Allowable with appropriate documentation | Allowable with appropriate documentation |
| Office Beverages (coffee, tea, water for visitors and guests) | Unallowable | Allowable |
| Travel – Air and Rail Tickets (Economy) | Allowable | Allowable |
| Travel – Domestic airfare – upgraded class | Unallowable | Allowable for Business or Premium Economy class upgrades. First Class is strictly prohibited. |
| Travel – International airfare – upgraded class | Allowable per Procedure 20335e: Air Transportation | Allowable for Business or Premium Economy class upgrades. First Class is strictly prohibited. |
| Travel – Seat selection fees | Unallowable | Allowable |
| Travel – Baggage fees | Allowable | Allowable |
| Travel – Lodging for individuals (employees, students, and guests) traveling for a university business purpose. | Allowable up to 200% maximum GSA lodging rate in accordance with Procedure 20335b: Hotel and Motel Accommodations. | Allowable with documentation for rates exceeding three times GSA rate for that location. |
| Travel - Lodging cleaning, resort, and mandatory fees associated with booking | Allowable | Allowable |
| Travel – Parking and Tolls (parking and road tolls) | Allowable per Procedure 20335d. Receipts required for expenses over $75/day. | Allowable |
| Travel – Rental Vehicles (for employees, students, and guests traveling for university business purposes) | Allowable | Allowable |
| Travel - Prepaid refueling through the rental agency | Unallowable | Allowable |
| Travel - GPS | Unallowable | Allowable |
| Travel - Insurance | Allowable for employees only during international travel; non-employees may accept insurance for domestic travel. | Allowable for employees only during international travel; non-employees may accept insurance for domestic travel. |
| Travel – Taxi and Driver Services (maximum tip not to exceed 20%) | Allowable | Allowable |
In an effort to streamline service to the campus community, the university will process expenditures previously paid by the Virginia Tech Foundation beginning 7/1/25. This will enable the simplification of procurement and accounts payable functions and will lead to greater efficiency for departments. These funds will be known as Private Funds.
Yes, going forward all purchases of goods, services, IT, and construction are expected to comply with current Virginia Tech Procurement policies and procedures requiring competition and requisition through HokieMart. Authorized approvers will be the same as those of record for your department in HokieMart. See the Matrix of Allowable Expenses above.
Yes, Virginia Tech and the Foundation have developed a new procedure to govern Private Fund expenditures. There are new thresholds for travel, meals, and other categories. See the Matrix of Allowable Expenses above.
Authorization to process a purchase through the Foundation can be requested on an exception basis through the Director of Procurement.
There will be a grace period to allow departments to transition active projects to the new procedure; however, any new expenditures should be completed in University systems. VTF will communicate with the departments if there are any transactions that were sent to the Foundation before June 30th and will now need to be processed on the university side.
For each VTF fund number with spendable resources in VTF Banner, a VT Banner Private und will be established. For example, VTF fund number 888888 on the foundation side, will become F88888 as a university Private Fund number under the same organization code. These new Private Fund codes will be utilized in existing systems such as Hokiemart and Chrome River.
A fund set up request can be submitted to General Account through the Controller’s Office New Fund Request Form. The new fund will be established as a sub-fund of the original VT fund. For example, the department would have VT Private Fund number F88888 and also the new sub-fund. Budget assigned to F88888 can be distributed to FS0001 and FS0002 using VT Banner page FZABDGT.
Yes, NSF checking will be in place on Private Funds. The NSF checking process in Banner will use the individual balance in each fund. Balances will not be combined for NSF checking.
At the beginning of each fiscal year, the Virginia Tech Foundation will establish a new budget balance that will be loaded into the VT Banner Private Fund based on resources available in the VTF Banner fund. After the initial budget load, the Foundation will provide weekly budget files that will be loaded to the VT Banner fund each Monday. For VTF cash based funds, the budget loaded into the VT Banner Private und will equal the cash available in the VTF Banner Private Fund. For VTF income funds, the budget loaded into the VT Banner Private Fund will be the cash balance plus estimated annual spend.
Yes, Private Funds can be combined with other university funds. For example, if a travel reimbursement is entered in Chrome River and there is a business meal with alcohol charges. The allowable cost of the food could be allocated to your university E&G fund and the cost of the alcohol would be allocated to the Private Funds.
Yes, Private funds will be included in university reports and FINTRACS. FINTRACS will flag transactions for review using established university rules based on transaction type.
Will I still need to review and certify the Foundation funds monthly? Yes, because revenues and transfers recorded at VTF are not being recorded at the university, authorized department staff will need to review and certify Foundation funds activity each month.
No, Private Funds will not use the foundation approval process. The activity posted to Private Funds will follow the approval queue structure as established by each department for the related university system, i.e. HokieMart, Chrome River, Labor Redistributions.
Yes, additional workflows in HokieMart and Chrome River to route the transaction to the foundation for review to ensure the transactions align with donor restrictions.
Yes, summarized private fund expenditures will post to the VTF fund semimonthly upon cash reimbursement to the university.
No, the University Controller’s office will submit a semi-monthly batch expenditure file for payment from the Foundation.
To initiate a transfer, you must submit a transfer request form to the foundation. This process remains the same as it was previously.
Yes, payroll and fringe cost can be charged to University Private Funds.
The University strongly advises against non-travel personal reimbursements over $2,000 will be expected to follow existing procedures.
America-To-Go will continue to be the primary system for ordering catering for university functions. Transitioning to the private fund series in lieu of the previous process supports expenditures to multiple Private Funds more efficiently.
Yes, Hokiemart requisitions, once approved and a purchase order is established, will encumber the budget in the new Private Fund series just as they do with any other university banner fund that is budget controlled. These encumbrances on the university side do not encumber the balances in VTF funds on the Foundation’s ledger.
Departments may enter manual encumbrances on funds indicating the intended purpose and ensure the budget is not spent on other expenditures. More information about departmental encumbrances is available on PageUp.
Yes, purchases made with the University p-card will follow the same reconciliation process currently in place.
The existing departmental approval workflows within Hokiemart will serve as approval to spend Private Funds. If your department would like to add additional approvers to hokiemart please contact General Accounting.
Privately funded scholarships and awards will continue to be awarded according to Policy 3400. Scholarships and awards must be processed through Scholarship Central and payments will be charged directly to the university private fund (FXXXXX), rather than the foundation fund. To address scholarship and award NSF concerns, total annual estimated income will be loaded so that scholarships can be awarded along enrollment management timelines. Beginning cash balances will be loaded for operating accounts. Questions can be directed to University Scholarships and Financial Aid.
Virginia Tech Foundation (VTF) has established Friday, June 13, 2025 as their year-end cut-off for processing of invoices through the current VTF request for payment (RFP).
From June 13 through July 18, 2025, all invoices for payment of goods and services received on or before June 30, 2025 (i.e. invoices dated 6/30/25 and prior) need to be processed through the current VTF RFP system to support VTF year-end reporting requirements. These invoices will be paid in FY26, affecting FY26 balances, but still need to flow through the VTF accounting systems. All invoices for goods and services received on or after July 1, 2025 and forward (i.e. invoices dated 7/1/25 and forward) need to be processed through Virginia Tech’s systems.