What is a reasonable reimbursement time for conference travel from a department? In my job before grad school, I could expense items as soon as I had a receipt and I knew exactly when the money would arrive (typically the following pay cycle). In grad school, it seems to be a mystery when I will receive reimbursement. 


I bought tickets and airfare on day 1 of this scenario
I was not allowed to request reimbursement until 6 weeks later, after the conference
The conference ended, I requested reimbursement. 6 weeks later, still nothing!


So for the last 12 weeks, my account is down airfare and tickets, and for the last 6 weeks, I'm down the hotel, transportation, and meal costs. I've sent all the emails I can and have asked around -- the response I get is "The finance department does not give exact days of deposit."

Is this the norm in academic institutions? What is a reasonable reimbursement time for conference travel from a department?
Just my two cents.


Departments pay after they receive the necessary invoice from the student. So, they cannot pay hotels before you return from the conference.
In my department, buying the air tickets is not enough. I also have to provide the boarding passes that I actually used the tickets. That means you can only get the air tickets money AFTER returning from the conference. This makes partly sense, because if you got sick and cancelled the trip they would not have given any money to you in advance, so you would not have to return them back.
In many conferences (for CS), you get the registration invoice at the desk and not when you pay online. Again, this invoice is needed for getting back the money you paid, since most institutions cannot provide funding without invoices.
Logistically you might make a reservation in 2014 and the trip is going to be in 2015. Institutions cannot pay money in 2014 for an invoice issued on 2015. This might also occur for smaller logistic periods (every 3 or 6 months) as well, depending on the country's tax laws.


Bottom line. You should start counting time AFTER coming back from the conference. Expecting to be paid in advance without providing the proper invoices is simply not possible. After that, it depends on each department's bureaucracy on how soon you will get the money. And believe me six weeks does not seem that far fetched too.