The Travel Pre-Approval process is getting a facelift. These enhancements are a direct result of your participation and feedback over the last year!
Travel Pre-Approvals are required for all international travel and are highly encouraged for domestic travel.
This guide will highlight the areas of change and provide some examples of how to complete the improved Travel Pre-Approval Request.
Upon clicking Create New Request users will be taken to the header where trip information is captured.
The enhancements include:
- Travel Type – The addition of this field brings the Travel Request and Expense Report into better alignment and will ultimately ease user data entry.
- Main Destination City is a required field – This field is required to assist in the calculation of Fixed Meal Per Diems when estimating total trip costs. The Main Destination City should be entered for the location the traveler is staying (lodging location), not the arrival location (airport).
- Main Destination Country will automatically default to the Country/Region of the Main Destination City entered.
- Does this trip include personal travel? – The addition of this field provides transparency by distinguishing between University business travel and personal travel.
- Personal Travel Dates – If responding Yes to Does this trip include personal travel?, it is important to know which of the travelers trip days are personal vs. business. Dates should be entered using the MM/DD/YY format.
- Removal of the Estimated Total Trip Amount field – Costs will be calculated at the expense level.
Once all the appropriate information is entered in the header, click Create Request. If any errors are found an Alert indicator will be presented to notify users of any issues that may require correction and/or possible action.
Expected Expenses are the expenses that need to be entered on the Request to not only assist with the booking of travel but also to estimate the total trip cost.
To enter the traveler's Expected Expenses, click on the blue Add button from the Expected Expenses page.
The Add Expected Expense window will pop up with a list of available expense types travelers/users can select from.
Travelers/Users should enter an expense for each of the anticipated expenses that will be incurred as a result of the trip.
Airfare, Lodging Rates and/or Rental Car should be entered to support the traveler's travel booking including the estimated amount of each of the applicable expenses.
Fixed Meals will automatically calculate upon clicking Save. The estimate will calculate the maximum allowable amount based on the Trip Start/End Dates and Main Destination City entered on the header. Actual expenses can be reduced upon submitting them for reimbursement on the Expense Report.
Other Costs are entered as a lump sum estimate for other miscellaneous travel costs, including but not limited to: parking, tolls, ground transportation, baggage fees, etc.
Official Events is limited to estimated costs for Registration Fees-Conference/Event that may be the reason for travel or for attendance while on travel.
Official Functions can be used to estimate the cost of any allowable University Official Function if such function is hosted or attended as a part of the trip. The specific Official Function will be identified when reconciling the actual charges incurred on the Expense Report.
Additional Expense Information can be entered on any of the Expected Expenses and if additional space is needed the Comment field can also be used.
Once all expected expenses have been entered the Travel Pre-Approval Request can be submitted. To review or add an approver to the workflow click on the Request Details drop-down link and select Request Timeline.
For additional information on how to complete the User Added Approver step, please refer to Concur Request: User Added Approvers.