Electronic Travel Overview

1. Electronic Travel Overview

2. Electronic Travel Overview Welcome: Tonya Brown

3. Electronic Travel Overview Agenda: Travel Policy Reimbursement Process *Define Overview Helpful Resources What’s Next?

4. Electronic Travel Overview Travel Policy Nancy Sutherland

5. Travel Policy • Purpose and intent • Who makes the rules? • Compliance • Conservation of funds • Authorization and notice

6. Travel Policy • U. T. System Travel Policy is intended to: • Provide for the reasonable needs of travelers • Control travel expenditures • Maximize negotiated rates with preferred vendors • Facilitate reporting and compliance

7. Who Makes The Rules? • Travel rules come from a variety of sources • State of Texas Travel Regulations Act • State of Texas Travel Allowance Guide • State Comptroller of Public Accounts • Internal Revenue Code • Regents’ Rules & Regulations

8. Policy and Compliance • Travelers and authorized signers must be in compliance with the Travel Policy • Lack of knowledge does not excuse or justify the employee’s failure to comply with applicable laws or rules • A department may adopt stricter guidelines than those stated in the Travel Policy • Travelers must be notified in writing before stricter guidelines are implemented

9. Conservation of Funds • Travel must be planned and conducted to achieve maximum economy and efficiency within the guidelines of the Travel Policy • Travel expenses must be reasonable, appropriately documented and properly authorized

10. Authorization and Notice • Each trip requires advance approval from: • a supervisor, and/or • Executive Vice Chancellor, or • Vice Chancellor • A travel approval form is required for out-of-state and foreign travel • A travel approval form may be required for in-state travel based on departmental rules

11. Authorization and Notice • The Office of State and Federal Relations and U.T. System Vice Chancellor for Federal Relations must be notified in advance of travel to Washington, D.C.

12. Electronic Travel Overview Reimbursement Process Jenny Murphy

13. Reimbursement Agenda • Relationships: • System Departments • U.T. Austin • Travel Services, and • APS • VE5, VE6, and VP5 Documents • Travel Reimbursement Checklist “walk through” • Limits and how to handle “excess” • In-house Experts & Resources • “Must knows” about electronic travel • Authorized Approver’s Review

14. Travel Services available for policy ?s APS available for reimbursement ?s Department (i.e., Health Affairs) Creates & Approves Electronic Travel Voucher **Supporting doc. for the electronic voucher is sent to: U.T. Austin Marcia Boling, Office of Accounting Campus Mail Code K5300 U.T. Austin reviews and returns the voucher if corrections are needed or approves and pays the recipient. Relationship ** Supporting documentation includes *DEFINE cover pages, the original, signed travel approval form, when applicable, and original receipts for everything except actual meals equal to or less than per diem, parking meters, and public transportation within a city.

15. VE5 VE6 VP5 Documents • VE5 – Approval • Completed before the reimbursement (VP5) is created. • Purpose: approves the employee being away from the office and the use of departmental funds. • VE6 – Correction • If a correction is needed, the VE6 is created after the VE5 and before the VP5. • VP5 - Reimbursement • Created to reimburse an employee for travel.

16. Travel Reimbursement Checklist • Use the Travel Reimbursement Checklist to assist in creating your Electronic Travel Voucher.

17. Excess Travel Costs – State Funds In-state • When State Funds are used for travel, excess to state limits can be reimbursed through creation of a second VP5 using official occasions or institutional money. Note: The VE5 will include both sources of funds. 1st VP5 2nd VP5 State Funds: $85/night – Hotel Actual cost up to $36/day - Meals • Official Occasions • or Institutional Funds: • Tips • Hotel Overage • Meal Overage (receipts are • required) Overage 1st VP5 Approved

18. Excess Travel Costs – State Funds Out-of-State • When State Funds are used for travel, excess to state limits can be reimbursed through creation of a second VP5 using official occasions or institutional money. Note: The VE5 will include both sources of funds. 2nd VP5 1st VP5 • Official Occasions • or Institutional Funds: • Tips • Hotel Overage • Meal Overage (receipts are • required) Overage State Funds: Actual costs for hotel and meals are limited to the Comptroller of Public Accounts locality-based rates. 1st VP5 Approved

19. Excess Travel Costs – Institutional Funds: In-State • When Institutional Funds are used for travel, excess to limits can be reimbursed through the original VP5 document. In State - 1 VP5 Inst./Official Occasions Funds: Maximum $220/ per day Combination of Hotel & *Actual Meal Costs Include Overage * Detailed Receipts are required when Actual Meal Costs >$41/day.

20. Out-of-State - 1 VP5 Inst./Official Occasions Funds: Combination of Hotel & *Actual Meal Costs Include Overage Excess Travel Costs – Institutional Funds: Out-of-State • When Institutional Funds are used for travel, excess to limits can be reimbursed through the original VP5 document. * Actual Costs for Hotel and Meals are limited to the locality-based rates published by the Comptroller of Public Accounts.

21. Resources & Experts Among Us • Questions about electronic travel procedures? • Call Becky Mendez • APS x4570 • Departmental Experts Janet Carpenter, OFPC Irma Zavaleta, OTT&R Teresa Garza, OFPC Chandra Renteria, RTT Chrissy Haas, Audit Jana Pankratz, OA

22. “Must Knows” • What you cannot do… • One person cannot create and approve a VE5, VE6, or VP5. • No one can approve their own travel voucher, not even a department head. • Alcohol & “No show” charges are non-reimbursable travel expenses, regardless of fund source. • If actual meal expenditures are equal to or less than limits in the Travel Policy, do not attach itemized receipts to the VP5. • This does not prevent an approver from requiring a traveler to provide him/her receipts prior to approving a voucher for payment.

23. “Must Knows” • What you can do… • Accepted practice: a department can adopt internal procedures for a person with signature authority to manually sign approval on the travel voucher, and the person whom he/she has delegated *DEFINE signature authority can then release/approve the document in *DEFINE. • Example: Javier Garcia’s, ORM, travel voucher is reviewed and manually approved with a signature by Phil Dendy. Brenda Chambers releases/approves the document in *DEFINE based on Phil’s signature approval on the paper document.

24. “Must Knows” • Miscellaneous • VE5, VE6, and VP5s are created and approved in component “0” • Reimbursement requests must be timely. • Receipts older than 60 days from the day the expense was incurred or paid could either be denied or added to the traveler’s W-2 and taxed as income, according to IRS Rules (Publication 463).  • A justification statement must be included to explain why the request is untimely. • Allowable mileage can be claimed at 48.5 cents per mile.

25. Authorized Approver’s Review • Review should include verification that: • Expenses were incurred while conducting business • Expenses comply with restrictions on the use of funds • Expenses are charged to proper account • Business purpose and travel dates are documented • Documentation is attached and matches request • For out-of-state travel, the traveler and approver have signed and attached the request form.

26. Electronic Travel Overview *DEFINEHow do I make it work? Becky Franklin

27. Getting Started – A Quick Hands-on Demonstration • Access to *DEFINE • VE5, VP5 and other unfamiliar language • Creating documents (VE5, VP5) • Printing documents

28. Electronic Travel Overview Summary Nancy Sutherland

29. Helpful Resources • Travel Services web site • Accounting and Purchasing Services web site • State Travel Allowance Guide • Travel Policy • Overnight travel in Texas • Overnight travel outside of Texas

30. Electronic Travel Overview • What’s Next? • Packet of information • One-on-one training for departmental contacts with Becky Mendez • System-wide training complete by 9/1/05 • Ongoing support via Accounting and Purchasing Services

31. Questions? Thank you for taking time to attend training! Have a good day!