Tips for travel, expense claims, and PCard reconciliation
31 March 2022
The processes for booking travel, claiming expenses, and reconciling PCards may be new to you.
To support you in these areas, Shared Services would like to share the most common (and risky) travel, expense, and PCard errors, the impacts to you, how to avoid them, and additional tips for clarity and expedited processing.
Most common travel error: booking business flights with a personal card and expensing it
Business travel must be booked using the suppliers, processes, and programs outlined by Travel Management. For business flights, this means you cannot book with your personal credit/debit card.
Risk/impact: Effective April 1, 2022, as previously communicated in the Quad and information sessions, the university will strictly adhere to the procedures for travel compliance.
Your travel claim may be returned (for correction, or even denied), if it was not booked through a preferred supplier or because it does not comply with the Travel Processes & Expense Procedure. Any returns for correction or denials will be clearly communicated to you.
Solution:
- For Flights: Complete a Travel Authorization Payment (TAP) Form and book flights via the self-service online booking tool (Concur)
- For hotels and/or other travel: Review the Travel Management page for preferred supplier information prior to booking
Resources:
- Travel Management page
- Procurement page (details increased governance on Preferred Suppliers effective April 1, 2022)
Most common expense claim & PCard reconciliation error: duplicate claims
Duplicate claims are created when you start a brand new claim instead of modifying the existing claim when trying to make a change or update.
Risk/impact: Duplicate claims are added work for you, can result in a duplicate payment you need to return, and increases the time for you to be reimbursed.
Solution: If you need to change your claim/reconciliation, or if it was returned to you by your approver for corrections, you can modify the original claim/reconciliation. There is no need to create a brand new claim.
Step-by-step instructions to modify a claim:
Tips for clarity and expedited processing
Expense Claims: This recent Quad Article notes key tips for expedited expense claims including:
- Tips for all claims
- Tips for expense claims
- Tips for travel claims
- Tips for professional expense reimbursements (PER)
PCard Use and Reconciliations: This recent Quad Article includes key tips for the new PCard reconciliation process that was introduced in Fall 2021.
NEED MORE INFORMATION?
These pages hold important information and additional context to the information in this article:
- Travel: Travel Management | Travel Processes & Expense Procedure (UAPPOL)
- PCards: Corporate Purchasing Cards, UAlberta Travel Cards (Diner credit card)
- Expense Claims: Travel & Expense Claims page