After Travel: Domestic Travel Reimbursement

Domestic travel is travel on university business to destinations within the United States of America. A Travel Request is always required, even if no reimbursement will be requested.

United States Territories such as Puerto Rico and Guam are considered international destinations by the Concur system and are not treated as domestic travel.

Travel Requests must be submitted at least 14 days before the departure date and are required for all domestic travel.

Before Travel – Travel Request
A Travel Request must be submitted at least 14 days prior to departure. The Travel Request documents all required approvals prior to the trip, encumbers funds for anticipated reimbursement, and ensures coverage under KU Travel Insurance.

After Travel – Travel Reimbursement
After travel has concluded, a Travel Reimbursement must be submitted to document all expenses related to the trip, including both pre-paid and out-of-pocket costs. Submission of the reimbursement initiates payment for out-of-pocket expenses and per diem.

Travel Reimbursement requests should be submitted promptly upon return. Requests submitted 60 or more days after the return date may be treated as taxable income.

General Trip Information
Submitters must provide funding information and approval, including identification of the specific source of funds that will be used to cover all trip-related expenses.

A detailed business justification is required. This must include the purpose of the trip, why it was necessary, and how it benefits the mission of the unit or a specific grant project.

Trip start and end dates, times, and addresses must be provided. All destinations visited during the trip must be listed, and if multiple locations were visited, the dates associated with each location should be included.

Travel and Movement Details
Submitters must document details of movement during the trip, such as transportation between airports, hotels, and event sites. Transportation methods must be identified, including whether the traveler used a personal vehicle, rental vehicle, rode with a colleague, or used services such as Uber or Lyft.

Any meals that were provided or included as part of the trip must be listed. Personal time taken during the trip must also be disclosed.

If a cash advance was provided, the total amount must be listed.

Expense Details
All expenses related to the trip must be detailed. Each expense must indicate how it was paid, such as P-Card, out-of-pocket, or third party.

Receipts are required for all trip-related expenses except meals. Receipts for pre-paid expenses must also be included prior to submission.

An Employee or Student Travel Reimbursement request should not be submitted if travel has not yet concluded.

If travel occurred within the United States of America (including United States Territories such as Puerto Rico and Guam as these are considered international destinations by the Concur system), the International Travel Reimbursement request type should be used instead. Do not submit a travel reimbursement when reimbursement is for mileage only or for virtual conference registration. In those cases, the appropriate Mileage-Only or Virtual Event Registration reimbursement request type should be used instead.

If the traveler is not a KU employee or student, do not submit an Employee/Student Travel Reimbursement. Instead, submit a Candidate, Guest, or Non-Employee Travel Reimbursement request.

Create a new Travel-Related Request in the Finance Service Portal. Complete the initial ticket fields, including the ticket title, the Primary Unit, School, or Department providing funding, and any additional ticket contacts.

Select Employee/Student Reimbursement for Travel as the request type and answer all questions related to travel booking and receipts.

Required trip and expense information may be entered directly in the ticket or provided by attaching a completed Travel Expense Reimbursement (TER) Request Form.

All receipts and supporting documentation, including those for pre-paid expenses, must be attached prior to submission.

Funding information must be identified before submitting a ticket. Finance SSC staff are not authorized to make funding decisions. Submitters should work within their unit to determine appropriate funding sources.

If someone else in the unit provides funding information, they should be included as a ticket contact. Written authorization, such as an email from a department chair or Principal Investigator, should be attached when applicable.

Minimum funding information includes: a Project Number for grant funding; a Cost Center and Fund for non-grant funding; or a KUEA Account Number for endowment funding.

For transactions using multiple funding sources, submitters must explain how the expenses should be split. Grant-funded split payments require justification for how each grant benefits from the expense.

After submission, the requester will receive a confirmation email that includes a ticket ID number. This ticket ID should be used when referencing the request outside of the system.

The Finance SSC may request additional information. Requests can be responded to by replying to the ticket notification email or by adding comments and attachments directly in the ticket.

Ticket status notifications will be sent as processing progresses, including notifications when work is complete or when action is required by the department or unit.

If a ticket has already been closed and an error is discovered, a new request must be submitted detailing the needed corrections.

If the ticket is still open, revisions should be provided by adding a new comment to the existing ticket.

Tickets may be withdrawn to remove them from workflow. A withdrawn ticket can be discarded and replaced with a new submission if needed.

When in doubt, submitters are encouraged to contact their assigned SSC Accounting Specialist.