Business Travel & Entertainment Policy

NBCUniversal’s Travel and Entertainment Policy defines the criteria governing the reimbursement of authorized expenses incurred by employees traveling and/or entertaining on behalf of NBCUniversal and its designated subsidiaries and affiliates.

This Policy provides guidance to employees, administrators, and expense report approvers regarding Company policies that pertain to business travel and entertainment expenses.

This Policy outlines the procedures for obtaining transportation, lodging and ground transportation, defines reimbursable vs. non-reimbursable expenses; and outlines the documentation required to prepare the NBCUniversal Travel & Entertainment Expense Report in order to obtain reimbursement for qualified expenses and comply with IRS standards. 

NBCUniversal’s Business Travel and Entertainment Policy applies to all employees and contractors engaged in business activities on behalf of the Company Preferred vendors, such as Citibank VISA, Concur (travel and expense) and BCD (the travel agency) must be used when possible. The procedures detailed in this Policy are intended to establish standards for the consistent treatment of all employees who incur business travel and entertainment expenses.

For security purposes, all air and hotel travel arrangements must be made using the Company designated Travel Agency where such requirements exist. All travel and entertainment expenses must be charged to the Citibank Visa Corporate Card when employees have been designated as eligible for the Corporate Card Program (see criteria set forth below). 

Business Leaders and Business CFO’s: Business leaders and CFO’s are responsible for the proper day-to-day administration and enforcement of this Policy.

Managers: Managers are required to review and approve all expense reports of their employees. It is imperative that the manager is familiar with the Policy and all required documentation for expenses. A manager’s approval of an expense report certifies to the Company the following:

  • All receipts have been reviewed and are complete, reasonable and attached to the expense report.
  • All submitted expenses are compliant with this Policy.
  • All submitted expenses are fully documented and the documentation is attached to the expense report.
  • The Missing Receipt Affidavit must be accepted by the employee and will be electronically attached to the expense report.

It is the sole responsibility of the manager to promptly review and approve within 30 days of receiving the expense report, or question and reject, any submitted expense that is not in accordance with this Policy. Failure on behalf of the manager to accurately review expense reports may result in disciplinary action, including termination of employment.

Employees: All employees shall conduct Company business with integrity and good judgment and shall exclude considerations of personal advantage when traveling or entertaining on behalf of the Company. Expenses shall always be reasonable and kept to the minimum amount necessary to perform authorized Company business. Employees are expected to comply with this Policy at all times and report all expenses promptly and accurately with the required documentation.

Employees are responsible to keep their T&E expenses up to date. Any Citibank Visa charges that are aged greater than 60 days and not submitted in an expense report will cause the Citibank Visa card to be suspended. Cash advances that are not settled by an expense account will also suspend the Citibank Visa card. Employees who have corporate cards suspended three times within a rolling 12 month period are in jeopardy of losing their corporate card privileges. Employees that do not return funds to the company for personal charges within 90 days will cause their card to be suspended. 

The Company shall reimburse employees for reasonable and actual expenses incurred while engaged in authorized Company business. All T&E reimbursement payments will be made via ACH (direct deposit) to the traveling employee’s bank account. Employees will be reimbursed for actual expenses allowable according to the parameters of this Policy upon submission of a properly completed and approved expense report accompanied by required supporting documentation. The destination and business purpose of each trip and/or mode of travel must be included on the expense report. Incomplete forms or forms lacking appropriate receipts, approvals, or other required documentation may result in reimbursement delays, denials, or unprocessed expense reports.

Expense reports must be submitted within 30 days following completion of a business trip or the occurrence of the expense event. Each employee must submit his/her own expense report. Failure to submit reports and have reports approved within 60 days will result in suspension of the employee’s Corporate Card and placement of a hold on all reimbursements due the employee. The Corporate Card will not be reactivated until the employee has submitted a report explaining the business purpose of the charges, the employee’s manager has approved the report, and the employee has paid any money owed to the Company.

Paying for the transportation, lodging and/or ground transportation expenses of a fellow employee is not encouraged except in rare instances where the fellow employee has not been issued a Citibank Visa Corporate Card and does not have the means to charge the business travel or entertainment expenses to a personal credit card. 

All food and beverage bills greater than $250.00 (inclusive of taxes and tips) require the submission of both a signed receipt and a detailed receipt. This includes business meals and/or business entertainment with clients, vendors or employees. You will need to submit the itemized receipt that shows what was ordered, plus tip, along with the credit card receipt with your signature. This is a global requirement.

All other receipt requirements for expense documentation can vary depending on the country where the employee is based (many countries require all receipts, regardless of amount). The guidelines below are for employees on the US payroll. Employees located in other countries should consult their country-specific policy addendum for guidance on receipt requirements. All hotel folios (must be in local currency) and itemized rental car receipts are required, regardless of the amount of the charges. Some vendors provide eReceipts, which eliminate the need for paper copies of these documents. For other types of T&E expenses, U.S. based travelers must provide all receipts, except for the following:

  • Domestic Corporate Card charges
  • Cash items less than $25

If receipt is lost or unavailable, employee must complete the elecetronic “Missing Receipt Affidavit” located under the Receipts tab in the expense report. This form can only be completed by the employee and not an expense delegate.

Receipts Incurred outside the US by US based Employees
Original paper receipts are required for VAT reclamation purposes. Concur will prompt you for receipts for required countries, view FAQs for details. All hotel bills must be addressed to NBCUniversal Media LLC - not your home address. All hotel, meal and car rental original paper bills with vendor VAT number and invoice number must be mailed to NBCUniversal Travel (30 Rockefeller Plaza, Campus 620 – Desk 465-3, New York, NY 10112).

No employee has the authority to have travel, lodging, meals, or entertainment expenses billed directly to the Company, except where the Company has established an existing account and granted consent to the employee to charge to that account.

It is the sole responsibility of the manager to question and reject any submitted expense that is not in accordance with this Policy. Failure on behalf of the manager to accurately review expense reports may result in disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment.