Hospitality

It is the policy of the California State University (CSU) that expenses may be paid to the extent that such expenses are appropriate, reasonable and serve a purpose consistent with the mission and fiduciary responsibilities of the CSU. The policy governs the manner and extent to which the CSU and its auxiliaries may provide hospitality to its employees, students, donors, guests, and volunteers.

Hospitality Forms and Guidelines

Hospitality Guidelines

Hospitality Quick Ref Guide Approvers

Hospitality Form

Hospitality Quick Ref Guide Requestors

Sample Hospitality Forms

Blank Hospitality Form

Blanket Hospitality Employee Meetings

Research Participant Gift Cards

Student Event

Student Giveaways with First Right of Refusal

Table 1. General Expense Matrix


GENERAL EXPENSE TYPE CATEGORY: Expenditures/Occasions	FUNDING SOURCE: All University CSU Trust/Operating Funds (excluding 496)	FUNDING SOURCE: Auxiliary Funds must comply with Auxiliary procedures (85xxx per written agreement)	FUNDING SOURCE: 496 Misc. Trust Funds	ACCOUNT CODE: Account codes to be used for purchase (see list below)	CHANGES
Alcoholic Beverages, including tax, gratuity and service charges.	No	Yes³	Per Written Agreement⁵	660927 or 660928
Awards/Prizes and Service Recognition (e.g., minimum 5 years of service, or awards presented during an official activity).	Yes²	Yes	Per Written Agreement⁵	660944
Bereavement Expenditures (e.g., flowers, plant, or card for employees or former employees).	No	Yes	Per Written Agreement⁵	660846
Community Relations/Outreach	Yes⁴	Yes⁴	Per Written Agreement⁵	Various	New category. No longer combined with Fundraising.
Donor Gifts – Gifts with the expectation of benefit or other bona fide business purpose.	No	Yes²	Per Written Agreement⁵	660846
Employee Business Meetings – Meetings which serve a bona fide business purpose and are administrative in nature.	Yes^1,6	Yes¹		660927 or 660928	New category.
Employee Morale and Team Building Events	Yes^1,6	Yes	Per Written Agreement⁵	660820
Fundraising	Yes⁴	Yes⁴	Per Written Agreement⁵	Various	New category. No longer combined with Community Relations.
Gifts for Personal Benefit (e.g., weddings, anniversaries, baby showers, get well, birthdays, and graduation gifts).	No	No	No	NA
Food and Beverage for business meetings, official guest meetings, events, and for employee-only meetings attended by official guests, employees from another campus, students, donors, individuals being recruited for employment, visitors, and volunteers. Meals for employees only must serve a bona fide business purpose, for example: working lunch	Yes^1,6	Yes¹	Per Written Agreement⁵	660927 or 660928	Combined meal category for all allowable events. There is no longer a distinction between the meal type. The distinction is made by the attendee type.
Official Guest(s) Meetings or Receptions - Meetings for recruitment candidates, students, donors, and meetings of other CSU-related groups.	Yes	Yes	Per Written Agreement⁵	Various	New category to align with P2P.
Participation Incentives – research-funded survey or study, student participation in events.	Yes	Yes	Per Written Agreement⁵	660962
Participation Incentives - other (Auxiliary funding only).	No	Yes²	Per Written Agreement⁵	660945	Account code change.
Professional Meeting, Business Meeting, Conference or Reception - Meetings or receptions of learned society or professional organization and meetings of other CSU-related groups. It does not include meetings or conferences of University-only or Auxiliary employees.	Yes	Yes	Per Written Agreement⁵	Various	New category. Combined categories for Professional Meetings and Receptions.
Promotional Items - (when the occasion is appropriate)	Yes⁶	Yes	Per Written Agreement⁵	660962
Recreational and Sporting Events - (Athletics only).	Yes	Yes	Per Written Agreement⁵	Various	New category that replaces Entertainment Events.
Student recruitment, student engagement, student recognition events - (subject to related policies/procedures such as the gift card purchasing procedures or student payment policy). Graduation gifts are not permissible.	Yes	Yes	Per Written Agreement⁵	Various

Revised 11/15/2024

FOOTNOTES:

Foot Notes:

¹Meals or light refreshments provided to employees may be permitted if the meal is integral to the business function, infrequent and modest. Meals or light refreshments (limited to no more than 12 times per year, per group) provided during an event may not exceed the maximum per person rate for breakfast ($35), lunch ($50), dinner ($75) and light refreshments ($60). These rates are inclusive of food, beverages, labor, sales tax, delivery fees, other service fees and gratuity (20% maximum).

²Cash and cash equivalent items such as a gift card and gift certificate, no matter how small, are always taxable to the employee. A non-cash award or prize may have a taxable consequence to the employee if it does not meet the IRS definition of de minimis and infrequent (Refer to IRS Publication 5137 for tax rules.) Monetary awards paid to employees or student assistants must be made through Payroll.

³Alcohol purchases for on campus events must follow the CSUSM Alcohol Use Policy. An Alcohol Approval Form must be submitted in addition to the Hospitality Form. Alcohol purchases for off-campus events must have a special circumstance approval . Please follow the Hospitality Guidelines for special circumstance approval.

⁴Payment or reimbursement for attendance at a community relations activity or fundraising event must include documentation of the individual names, affiliations, and direct or indirect benefit(s) to the CSU to be derived from the expense.

⁵Expense must be consistent with the original intent of the funding sources (revenue) as documented in the trust.

⁶For public relations considerations, consider using Auxiliary funding sources for employee items/events.

Account Codes

660944 – Other Awards/Honors
660927 – Other Catering
660820 – Other Hospitality
660945 – Other Incentives
660928 – Other Non-Catering Food
660962 – Promo Items
660846 – SupSrv Gifts and Acknowledgements

Need Assistance?

For assistance, please email hospitality@csusm.edu