Recently Returned Travel Reports

An up-tick in Concur Travel Expense Reports being returned for lack of business purpose has been recognized. To alleviate unnecessary returns, it is strongly encouraged that Travelers, Supervisors, and Approvers ensure that a clear business purpose is included with each transaction within a Concur Expense Report prior to submitting to APS for review.

A business purpose is a statement that adequately describes the expense as a necessary, reasonable, and appropriate business expense. When using University funds, documentation of a clear business purpose is required so that an approver, reviewer and/or auditor may reasonably conclude and agree that the expenditure supports or advances the goals, objectives, and mission of the University. Providing a valid business purpose is a requirement for Uniform Guidance and University policy. The 5 “Ws” (Who, What, When, Where, and Why) can be used to determine if the documentation and business purpose meet the University standards.

Another notable item resulting in an increase of returned Concur Travel Expense Reports includes mileage being incorrectly submitted. Employees claiming mileage for business travel should claim mileage from their work address. Mileage from a home address can only be claimed if the distance to the business destination is shorter from the home address.

Please refer to the Procurement Card Manual for further detail regarding the necessary criteria of a clear business purpose, and Reimbursement of Travel Expenses BPM E-5-1 for guidance related to mileage reimbursement.

 NED TRAVEL REPORTRS    

Remaining Compliant and Avoiding Suspension

Cardholders must fulfill their responsibility of ensuring that all available transactions are submitted on an expense report, continue to follow the transactions throughout the workflow process, and promptly address any issues or comments that are noted within the report to ensure that all transactions are fully posted into SAP in a timely manner.

General Expense reports can be submitted with an unlimited amount of transactions, and generally submitted once per month. However, when deemed necessary by the department, multiple reports for a single cardholder may be submitted in one given month. It is expected that departments continue to be mindful of potential additional costs incurred by the University when processing multiple reports in a month. To continue to operate as good financial stewards, reasonable discretion should be exercised when choosing to do so.

Procurement card transactions associated with a General Expense report should adhere to the Concur Procard Transaction/Report Deadlines, ensuring procurement card transactions on a General Expense report are submitted to Accounts Payable Services by the 15th calendar day of the following month. Transactions more than 60 days past due will result in temporary suspension or cancelation of the procurement card.

Travel Expense reports created for day trips (mileage only) should be submitted monthly. All other Travel Expense reports should be submitted by the traveler directly after returning from a trip. Reports submitted after 60 days from the last day of travel are subject to taxation of reimbursement.

To further improve efficiency and timeliness of expense report processing, it is recommended that when an individual (department or processor) rejects/returns a report that clear, concise direction as to why the report is being returned is included in the comments section. It is equally important that when the user receives the returned report that they fully address all items presented in the comments section prior to submitting the report again. Fully employing this recommendation will reduce multiple returns for a single report and improve both timeliness and efficiency for all those involved.

It is also recommended that cardholders and/or delegates continue to build their report(s) throughout the month, not waiting until an approaching deadline is near. By doing so, this eliminates the rush to complete a report and provides ample time to address corrections and/or possible fraudulent activity.

Refer to Procurement Cards BPM E-7-16, Procurement Card Manual, and Reimbursement of Travel Expenses BPM E-5-1 for any additional guidance regarding to the frequency and timeliness of reports.