Frequently Asked Questions | Travel | BYU-Idaho

# Travel FAQs

Questions about spend authorizations, expense reports, fleet vehicle rentals, reservations, and more.

## Spend Authorizations

An approved Spend Authorization is required for employee overnight travel, guest travel, and all student travel prior to making travel arrangements and commitments. Employees traveling for a day trip should only fill out a Spend Authorization if they need a Fleet Vehicle.

To submit a Spend Authorization or Expense Report, start on the Workday homepage and choose the Expenses Application. In the left column under Actions, choose Create Spend Authorization or Create Expense Report. You may also choose View in the righthand column or access tutorials on this page.

An employee in the group must submit one Spend Authorization for University covered expenses for all participating students, no matter if it is same-day or overnight travel. The employee submitting for the students can include their own expenses on the same Spend Authorization. Each additional employee (not student employee) traveling must submit an individual Spend Authorization if the travel is overnight.

Student employee travel (even when traveling as an "employee") should always be submitted as student day/overnight travel and the Spend Authorization must be submitted by a supervising employee.

Employees do not need to create a Spend Authorization for same-day travel unless they need to request a fleet vehicle. To request a fleet vehicle, create a Spend Authorization with I:Fleet Vehicle Rental as the business purpose. However, if students are traveling with the employee for a day trip, an employee must create a Spend Authorization for Student Day Travel.

You will receive a notification in Workday. (The bell ICON located next to your Workday Inbox.) You may also view all of your Spend Authorizations and their approval status by going to the Expenses Application and clicking on View Spend Authorizations.

A trip number is a reference number showing your trip has been approved. You will need this number to book travel and reconcile your Expense Report.

Your trip number can be found in your Workday notifications (bell icon) when your Spend Authorization is approved. The trip number is the numbers portion of your I:SA****12345**** number. The trip number can also be found by viewing your Spend Authorization and looking for the I:SA number at the top of the screen.

You can find your Spend Authorizations by clicking on the Expense Application on the Workday homepage and choosing View Spend Authorizations. You can also type My Spend Authorizations in the search bar of Workday. Once your Spend Authorizations come up, click on the three dots next to the magnifying glass on the far left to see your Spend Authorization details. To view where the Spend Authorization is in the approval process, choose the Process History tab.

Yes, employees need to submit a request so that supervisors can approve time away and University Administration knows where the employee is traveling in case of an emergency. (Duty of Care) The process is the same as a regular Spend Authorization with a change on the expense item. Choose ****No Charge Associated with Travel**** as your Expense Item under the Spend Authorization Line section.

Each employee is required to fill out their own Spend Authorization. This gives the University an accurate accounting of each traveler and allows the employee to reconcile their own credit card expenses or seek mileage reimbursement.

## Fleet Vehicle Rentals

Fleet Vehicles are requested through the Workday Spend Authorization process. If you are an employee requesting a vehicle for day travel only - choose the I:Fleet Vehicle Business Purpose. For all other requests choose Employee, Student Day, or Student Overnight Business Purposes and add fleet vehicles as an expense item. If you need multiple vehicles, add (+) an additional expense item for each vehicle. To view or modify a vehicle reservation once your Spend Authorization is approved, go to the Fleet Services Reservations page.

To cancel a fleet vehicle reservation, you will need to contact Fleet Services at (208) 496-2561

To view or modify a vehicle reservation once your Spend Authorization is approved, go to the Fleet Services Reservations page. If you need to change a date for your fleet reservation, you will need to consider two things. IF your Spend Authorization is approved, you will need to change the date on the Vehicle Reservation Page. If you are changing dates or cancelling your trip, your Spend Authorization will also need to be modified. If you are changing or editing a Spend Authorization it will go back through the approval process. Contact Travel Administration (208-496-1974) for date changes or cancellations on your Spend Authorization.

## Booking and Reservations

All airline reservations must be booked through the I-Travel online booking tool or booked with a Travel Specialist (ext. 2340). You should never book your own airline ticket with a personal card or through the internet unless you have been given a written exception approval from a Travel Specialist to do so. The specialist will compare your internet fare quote with the fares in our system and with our contracts. If we are unable to match the internet fare the specialist will email you approval to purchase the airfare. Include a copy of that email with a receipt on your Travel Expense Report.

Contact the Travel Office if you are traveling to multiple destinations, internationally, group travel, guest travel, and all student travel. When traveling domestically to a single destination or city, employees should use the I Travel on-line booking tool to make airline reservations. If the I-Travel online booking tool is not working, please report to the Travel Office. (ext. 2340).

Obtain estimates for your Spend Authorization for single destination travel through Etta/Deem, BYUI's online booking tool. Etta/Deem will provide estimates for airfare, car rentals and hotel pricing. Contact the Travel Office for estimates if you are traveling with a group, internationally or multiple destinations. Estimates are just that, they are a fluid piece of information and can change often and frequently. A price is not guaranteed until the booking in complete and confirmed. The Travel Office will research options and provide pricing that fits your travel needs.

You will need to speak with a Travel Specialist (2340) to determine the current airfare costs to your destination. You will be able to seek reimbursement for whichever is less based on the following criteria. 

- Airfare equivalent (which includes airfare, a round trip to the airport, airport parking, and ground transportation in your destination city if needed)
- Actual round-trip mileage between Rexburg and your destination at the current mileage reimbursement rate

The rental companies through our contracts with the Church offer limited liability insurance. For University business travel, our contracted insurance is sufficient. If you are taking non-employees, family, or may use the rental for some personal travel; you should consult with your personal insurance company for questions.

If you have an emergency while traveling on university business, contact the appropriate local authorities or go immediately to the nearest physician or hospital. For after-hours assistance, call ****208-496-TRIP (8747)****. This number is available for booking assistance as well as emergency or non-emergency medical incidents, hospitalization, accidents, credit card issues, and security information. As soon as possible, call the ****Travel Help Line 208-496-TRIP****to notify Travel Administration of an itinerary change, emergency, or incident.

If your flight has been cancelled or severely delayed, get in line at a help desk as soon as possible for rebooking. It is also a good idea to call us at 496-2340 and let us give you some options while you are in line. If this is after hours and/or emergency, please call 208-313-5660 or 208-496-TRIP.

## Expense Reports and Reconciling

You will need to fill out a Spend Authorization and get approval before registering for conferences or committing funds for any part of travel. Once your Spend Authorization is approved, then you can purchase the registration. All credit card transactions made with a university credit card must be reconciled and approved by or before the 15th of the month following the purchase date. You may have travel expenses that will need to be reconciled before you travel.

You can apply for a University credit card by going to the home page of Workday and typing in the search bar "Create Request." Any employee who travels or purchases items for the University should have a University Credit Card. View available types of University credit cards.

Yes; student employees are only able to use Department Cards and Society Cards when purchasing items. Department Cards will still need to be used on campus in many areas and also have the flexibility to be used by multiple employees. NOTE: Travel is blocked on Department Cards.

Breakfast - $12, Lunch - $17, Dinner - $30. If the employee stays within the capped amount (even if the charges come from multiple transactions) AND use a University Credit Card, they will not need to attach a receipt. To comply with IRS regulations regarding travel expenses, meals during same-day travel are not reimbursable.

The meal limits are the expectations of the University, but if you are in a location that these limits are unreasonable you may spend over the limit. You will need to provide a receipt and an explanation as to why the meal cost is more. It will be up to the manager approving the Expense Report to determine if spending above the cap is appropriate.

Purchase groceries using your university credit card, then tag the transaction with any meal Expense Item in your Expense Report. You will need to provide a receipt and an explanation if your meal went over the cap. Your manager will be able to review and approve your Expense Report.

If you stay under the cap for the two transactions you do not need a receipt. You will need both of your receipts if the two transactions combined exceed the meal cap amount. It is recommended to save both receipts when two transactions are used for one meal in case there are questions.

To submit the mileage, select ****I:Personal Mileage Table**** as your Expense Item, and put the estimated mileage of the trip in Quantity. Workday will calculate the per unit amount and total amount for you. Fuel is not reimbursable for a personal vehicle, only mileage.

The traditional Business Meal Documentation is no longer required; however, Workday will require more information when you reconcile meals in an Expense Report. This information is the same as was filled out in the original Business Meal Documentation: if 12 or less, list every attendee of the meal, if 13 or higher, use the Create a Guest option to create a name for the group of people who partook of the meal and the total number of Attendees.

Yes; all expenses will need receipts to reconcile except for individual meals if the user stays within the approved capped amounts and uses the University Credit Card.

If your circumstances require you to request cash advances, you will need to contact the Accounting Office for specific details about your situation. On your Spend Authorization, select****I:Travel-Employee-Cash Advance****as your Expense Item to begin the process for requesting a cash advance.

All business-related expenses for travel should be paid for using a University Credit Card excluding airfare. Airfare should always be booked through I-Travel or the Travel Office.

The Workday mobile app allows you to upload photos of receipts to be used in an Expense Report while reconciling your University Credit Card purchases.

Purchases made with a university credit card must be reconciled and approved by or before the 15th of the month following the purchase date. To reconcile a university credit card purchase, the associated credit card transaction must be selected on the first page of an Expense Report. Depending on the timing of the merchant and the bank, the transaction may take 2-5 days to load into Workday and be ready for reconciliation.