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This guide will cover:
Information
This guide covers Expense Reports that are submitted for: 1) Personal reimbursement of travel-related or business-related expenses and 2) P-Card transactions.
The Expense Report Processing Business Process Guide is a reference tool to assist campus personnel in understanding the university’s Expense-Related processes. It is found on the Financial Affairs website>Policies and Reference Material>Procurement and Payment Services>Payment Services.
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If you are submitting an expense report on behalf of someone who has delegated this access to you, you will see a drop down menu next to Travel and Expenses. You will first select this employee’s name from this drop down menu.
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If you would like to assign someone as your delegate, please see Manage Delegates for Expense Report Submission.
Step Two
For personal reimbursements, begin the process by creating a new expense item. In this guide, we will be expensing items related to Travel; however, the same process can also be used for any type of employee reimbursement.
Step Three
Complete the required fields for the expense type.
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If you are creating an expense item for Per Diem or Mileage, or if the expense item will need to be itemized, see the Appendix section.
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Amount – Amount to be reimbursed for expense item
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Attachment – You must include an attachment providing proof of expense and it is recommended to attach in the order the fields are shown on the screen (i.e., attach a receipt after you’ve completed the Amount field and before you fill in the Description and Merchant Name). Otherwise, be sure the Merchant Name or any other field does not reset to blank if you add the attachment at the end.
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Description – Include detailed description of the expense and business purpose
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Merchant Name – Merchant name the original expense was paid to
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Passenger Name – For airfare and bags only, include the passenger name the expense relates to
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Departure City – For airfare and bags only, include departure city of flight
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Arrival City – For airfare and bags only, include the arrival city of flight
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Review that the Account value that auto populates corresponds with the expense item you selected from the Type field dropdown. If the selection you made in the Type field is not similar (i.e., airfare corresponds to travel) use the Expense Item Natural Account Codes Crosswalk to verify what the Account value should be and change the account value segment. This crosswalk is available on the Financial Affairs Website > Chart of Accounts > Expense Item Natural Account Codes Crosswalk
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If charging to a grant, the Project Number and associated POET information should be entered in the lower right corner of the screen. The Account should reflect the account the project is held in. Verify the account for accuracy and update the expense class 999.
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After all pertinent information has been entered, select Save and Close if you are done with all expense items you need reimbursed for. If you have additional expense items to create for reimbursement you can create another expense item by clicking Create Another and follow the same steps from above. When you have created all expense items, click Save and Close on your last item.
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After selecting an option from above, some users may see an additional pop-up screen if the system detects the expense item just created is a duplicate of another expense item (either recently created or submitted on a prior expense report). Users have the option to keep both expenses or to delete an expense item. After selecting an option, you’ll be returned to the screen based on your selection at the top
Example 1:
Example 2:
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Some fields on this screen allow you to make changes to the line item directly from this screen. For example, if you selected the wrong expense type, you can use the drop-down arrow to select the correct one. Or review the description and make edits.
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You can add additional expense items by clicking the + Create Item under Expense Items and repeating the above steps.
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Add expense item(s) to an expense report to submit for approval.
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Once you’ve added all expense items you wish to submit for personal reimbursement, you need to add the expense items to an expense report. To do this first select all expense items you wish to add to one report.
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Use the check boxes to the left of the expense item to select all expense items you would like to add to a single expense report.
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It is recommended not to mix personal reimbursements and p-card transactions on the same expense report. A single expense report should include only personal reimbursement lines or only p-card transaction lines.
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Confirm the Payment Method. The system defaults to Electronic; however, you must have direct deposit for expenses (this is separate from Payroll) set up for this method. See the Direct Deposit Quick Reference Guide for details. Alternatively, this drop-down selection can be changed to Check to receive a printed check.
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Check the box “I have read and accept the corporate travel and expense policies.”
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Click Submit to begin the approval process.
Table of Contents:
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Per Diem Rates are set by the U.S. General Services Administration and are found at http://www.gsa.gov/perdiem; the Meals and Incidentals Expense Breakdown is found at http://www.gsa.gov/mie. For foreign locations or Alaska, Hawaii and U.S. territories and possessions (OCONUS), see the university’s Travel Policy for additional information.
Meals & Incidentals (M&IE) Breakdown:
- M&IE Total: The full daily amount received for a single calendar day of travel when that day is neither the first nor last day of travel.
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner, incidentals: Separate amounts for meals and incidentals. M&IE Total = Breakfast + Lunch + Dinner + Incidentals. Sometimes meal amounts must be deducted from the report if already paid for (e.g., a conference registration fee paying for a meal).
- First & last day of travel: Amount received on the first and last day of travel and equals 75% of total M&IE.
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Entering Per Diem charges will follow a similar process as the one previously described in Steps 1 through 4. In addition, Per Diem requires providing the Per Diem Calculator Spreadsheet as an attachment. This calculator is located here.
When entering Per Diem as an expense item, follow steps below:
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After selecting + Create Item from the Travel and Expenses homepage, on the Create Expense Item screen, complete the Date field first.
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Select the relevant type of Per Diem from the Expense Type drop down.
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The University's Travel Policy details Per Diem (M&IE) information pertaining to university travel, as well as overarching policies.
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Note: Per the Travel Policy, if the travel is being funded by a grant that does not allow for the use of per diem (M&IE), per diem will not be used and expenses will be claimed as actual expenses and a receipt will need to be included when submitting an expense report. See the Policy for details.
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Mileage
Another commonly used expense type is Mileage. To enter mileage as a new expense line item, begin as you have in previous examples Step 1 through 2 above.
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NOTE: When entering mileage on an expense report, you cannot select split funding as an option.
If you want to itemize mileage, you must add individual lines specific to each account you wish to charge the mileage to.
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After selecting + Create Item from the Travel and Expenses homepage, on the Create Expense Item screen, complete the necessary fields as indicated; choosing the Type of Mileage from the drop-down list.
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Complete the remaining fields and Press Calculate to calculate the reimbursable amount. Mileage Rates are derived from the university’s Mileage Reimbursement Rate document found on the Financial Affairs website>Polices and Reference Material>Procurement and Payment Services.
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Once all fields are completed on the expense item, click Save and Close or click Create Another if you have additional expense items to create for reimbursement.
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Then follow Step 4 from above to submit the expense item(s) to go through the approval process.
Mileage Field
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Description
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Start Date
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Required. Enter the beginning date of your trip.
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Type
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Required. Enter the type of expense. For example, we are using "Mileage – Domestic.”
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Expense Location
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Enter the primary location for this expense. For Mileage, the starting location is typically used.
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End Date
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Final date of your trip.
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Reimbursable Amount
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Press Calculate when fields are completed.
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Description
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Add a short description justifying the trip.
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Starting Odometer Reading
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Not required, but if available please provide.
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Ending Odometer Reading
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Not required, but if available please provide.
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License Plate Number
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Required.
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Attachments
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No attachments are required.
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Starting Location
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Required. Originating point of the trip.
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Destination
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Required. Final location of the trip.
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Trip Distance
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Enter Number of Miles.
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Account
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As with previous expense line items, ensure the account string is accurate. Update if necessary.
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Project Number
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May not be applicable. If the expense can be charged to a project or award, provide the number.
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Overview: Itemization is only required when itemizing a given transaction to be charged to more than one account and/or grant OR if the expense item needs to be broken out into multiple expense types (ex. Hotel and Parking). The same concept applies to both personal reimbursements and p-card transactions; however, see how to begin the p-card process in the section below for Processing/Reconciling P-Card Transactions.
Personal Reimbursement
To complete itemization on a Personal Reimbursement expense item, begin as you have in previous examples Step 1 through 2 above.
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Within the itemization section, begin by entering the Type for your first funding source, transaction date and amount for that portion.
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Then, complete the Merchant Name and Description information.
P-card transactions must also be processed as a part of the Expense Report process. Transactions must be reconciled within 30 days of the transaction posted date or the p-card will be placed on hold. See the Procurement Card Policy and Procedures Manual for further details regarding the p-card policy located on the Financial Affairs Policies and Reference Materials website under the "Procurement Card Information" heading.
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Do not mix personal reimbursements and p-card transactions on the same expense report. A single expense report should include only personal reimbursement lines or only p-card transaction lines.
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Itemizing P-Card Transactions
After you have completed all information for the p-card transactions you are ready to submit, the next step is to add the p-card transactions to an expense report.
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Confirm the Payment Method. The system defaults to Electronic, however you must have direct deposit for expenses (this is separate from Payroll) set up for this method. See the Direct Deposit Quick Reference Guide for details. Alternatively, this drop down can be changed to Check to receive a printed check.
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Check the box “I have read and accept the corporate travel and expense policies.”
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Click Submit to begin the approval process.