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TRAVEL POLICY UPDATES
ABA
March 2008
Office of the Comptroller
Agenda
Goals of revised policy
Internal and external requirements and
recommendations
Highlight specific policy revisions
Communication vehicles and target
effective date
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Office of the Comptroller
Goals of revised policy
Ensure that Penn’s resources are spent prudently
Ensure that IRS Accountable Plan and Sponsored
Program requirements are met
Clearly define roles and responsibilities for the
travelers, approvers and central processing
Ensure T&E reimbursement requests are properly
documented, reviewed and approved prior to
submission for processing
Foster the use of recommended payment
mechanisms and reduce unnecessary advance
requests
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Office of the Comptroller
External Requirements
IRS compliance requirements – “accountable
plan”
Internal control requirements as an outgrowth
of Sarbanes/Oxley and SAS 112
Federal Travel Regulations and Sponsored
Research requirements
Trustee interest in ensuring we have adopted
strong controls for sound business practice
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Office of the Comptroller
OACP Recommendations
To improve policy compliance:
– Clarify roles and responsibilities
– Eliminate inconsistencies and clarify expectations
– Create training classes and improve procedural
materials
– Improve advance reconciliation process
– Define “acceptable” timeline for expense report
submission
– Introduce “Best Practices” for travelers and business
administrators
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Office of the Comptroller
Policy Review Process
Gathered input from the following
sources:
OACP – Audit and Transaction Review
Tax Office / Research Services
OGC
Peer institutions
BAB
Travel Services Advisory Committee
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Office of the Comptroller
Policy “Look-and-Feel” Updated
Format changed to mirror other financial policies
Procedures moved to procedure manual
Each policy section now contains:
Purpose / Scope
Responsibilities (traveler, TAC holder and higher level
approvers)
Policy
Links to forms and procedures
Policies re-ordered and re-numbered
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Office of the Comptroller
T&E Reimbursement - Key Policy Changes
Policy #2351 – General
Restates roles and responsibilities
Expands “one-up” approval requirements implemented previously for University executives to all levels
with the introduction of a new role – Higher Level
Approver
– Schools and Centers responsible for creating their own
hierarchy
Policy compliance rests with every school and center
– Travel Administrator responsible for the communication of
policy and procedures, training opportunities and
answering questions
– Central processing organization responsible for processing
T&E forms in a timely manner
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Office of the Comptroller
T&E Reimbursement - Key Policy Changes
Policy #2352 – Payment Methods
Defines preferred payment methods as:
– AMEX Airline Billing Account for airline tickets, and/or
– AMEX Corporate Credit card
Travelers and entertainers are expected to personally
incur T&E expenses
Use of preferred payment options and timely T&E
reimbursement requests reduce carrying out-of-pocket
expenditures for extended periods of time
Use of preferred payment increases the University’s
ability to leverage travel spend
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Office of the Comptroller
T&E Reimbursement - Key Policy Changes
Policy #2353 – Advances
Advances are funds (cash or check) advanced to an
individual prior to a trip or event
– Prepaid expenses (airline, conference fees, etc.) will no
longer be handled as advances
Recommends the limited use of advances for T&E
payment
– New Advance Justification (C-7A) Form to support all
advance requests
Defines the requirement to account for advances with
ten (10) days of the trip or event
– Unreconciled advances after 120 days become taxable
income
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Office of the Comptroller
T&E Reimbursement - Key Policy Changes
Policy #2354 – Reimbursement Process
Defines the general expectation for documentation,
review and approval
Defines timely submission as within 10 days of the
ending date of the trip or event
Defines 182 day (six month) cut-off for expense
reimbursement
Introduction of Reimbursement Justification (C-5) form
for any out-of-policy requests
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Office of the Comptroller
Best Practices and Training
Best Practices
Best Practices being developed for Penn travelers,
Schools, Centers and all University Divisions
“Know Before You Go” pamphlet being
developed for travelers
Training and Procedure Manual
Working with financial training to create new training
opportunities
New Procedural Manual to accompany policies
Expanded policies and procedure information to be
available on the web
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Office of the Comptroller
Timeline for Updated Policies
Presentations to Senior roundtable, Business Advisory Board
and Senior BA meeting have already been done
Announcement of policy changes in the current issue of
The Bottom Line
Additional announcements in The Almanac and the Daily
Pennsylvanian forthcoming
Effective and complete communication always requires
the help of School/Center business administrators to trickle
down the messages to faculty and staff
Effective date for new policies and procedures –
**July 1, 2008**
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Office of the Comptroller
Organizational Changes
In order to improve operational efficiency and
enhance value-added services, the following
changes will be made:
Effective May 1, 2008, the functions of T&E
reimbursement and advance processing will become
the responsibility of the Payroll Office
Effective July 1, 2008, the following functions will
become the responsibility of Purchasing Services:
Travel card administration
Travel service management
Travel procurement/supplier management
Travel policy and training
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Office of the Comptroller