Procedure 20335a: Travel Overview

Quick Navigation: Introduction | 1.0 Approvals | 2.0 Reimbursement Rules | 3.0 Procedures | 4.0 Definitions

Introduction

This overview discusses the general regulations for university travel-related business expenses. Travel expenses while on official business for the University may be fully reimbursable. The procedures set forth herein have been established in accordance with the Code of Virginia. Reimbursements of travel expenses using the university guidelines meet the Internal Revenue Service conditions for an “accountable plan,” thus the travel reimbursement is not considered taxable income to the business traveler. Travel expenses for spouses, friends, or other individuals not traveling on official business of the University are not reimbursable.

Travel rates and allowances listed in the University travel procedures are the maximum amount the University may reimburse the traveler. Departments are permitted to reimburse travelers at rates lower than the maximum rates listed in the University travel procedures. When a department authorizes a lower rate, the amount of the lower rate must be listed for each day.

1.0 Approval of Travel Activity

The approval procedures listed below must be implemented before any travel expenditures are incurred. For planned travel, the traveler must be able to demonstrate, with documentation, that a reasonable effort was made to secure the most cost beneficial means of travel for the University.

ALL travelers (including presenters, students, visitors, and other business associates) whose travel expenses are to be charged to university public funds must prepare an estimate of the total cost of any proposed travel. (Total cost includes lodging, meals, conference registration, airfare, and any other travel costs or course fees.) When the estimate of the total cost of travel exceeds $500 and/or the lodging exceeds the allowable rate for the area traveled, the Virginia Tech Travel Estimate and Approval Form http://www.co.vt.edu/forms/index.html must be completed and presented to the department head prior to incurring expenses for the trip. For overnight employee business travel costing less than $500, State and University policy encourages advance approval and documented evidence of the business nature of the trip.
The Department Head or Chair is responsible for approving all travel, including travel involving more than three employees to domestic or international destinations. In accordance with the Virginia Tech policy, Department Heads must have Dean or Vice President approval for their own business travel. Departments must thoroughly document the business necessity for attending a conference, seminar, or training workshop when more than three employees travel to the same destination. When departments have knowledge that employees from other departments plan to attend the same event, it is incumbent upon the departments to present documentation supporting the business necessity of all attendees to their Department Head for review and approval. Such documentation must be available for review in the department travel files. The approved VT Travel Estimate and Approval Form must be attached to travel vouchers and any applicable direct-billed vendor payment vouchers for overnight travel exceeding $500.
Lodging up to 50% over the guidelines can be approved in advance of travel, by a Department Head or designee,on the Travel Estimate and Approval Form. Lodging that exceeds 50% over the guidelines must be requested and granted by the Department of Accounts in Richmond prior to the travel. Details of this requirement are available in our Procedure 20335b, Hotel and Motel Accommodations.
When 5 or more employees are to be trained, the department that needs training must document the comparative cost of sending employees to be trained versus bringing a trainer to the campus. The department will provide a cost comparison to Senior Management along with their Estimate of total travel expenses and Travel Approval Forms for 5 or more employees. When approved, travelers will attach a copy of the Approval form to their travel voucher.

2.0 Reimbursement Rules

Individuals traveling on official business of the University will be reimbursed for reasonable and necessary expenses incurred. The travel procedures are applicable to all faculty, administrators, staff, students, guests, interviewees, and other individuals traveling on university business. Travelers are expected to exercise prudent judgment when making travel arrangements and expenditures. Travel expense accounts are open to the public and must be able to sustain the test of public review.

The Appropriations Act of the Commonwealth of Virginia requires the university to reimburse travelers through direct deposit when an employee has more than two reimbursements within a year. Travelers may sign up for direct deposit by completing the Accounts Payable Direct Deposit Authorization form http://www.bursar.vt.edu/forms/documents/ap_direct_deposit_authorization.pdf

found on the Bursar’s web site.

Travel expenses must be reasonable and reimbursements cannot exceed the allowances set forth in Procedure 20335b and Procedure 20335c. Public transportation rates must not exceed those for coach class accommodations. Receipts are required for taxi, shuttle vans, and other forms of transportation if the claim exceeds $10. Occasionally, business class air travel is permitted on international flights (see Procedure 20335e for details).

Travel routing, whether by public transportation, privately owned vehicle, state-owned vehicle, or for-hire conveyance, shall be by the most-direct practicable route. Any deviations from a direct route must be explained on an attachment to the travel voucher. In the instance of a less direct air travel route being taken because it is less expensive, a statement of this fact should appear as the explanation. When travel is by automobile, the total transportation expenses reimbursed (including meals and lodging) shall not exceed the cost of the most economical public transportation fare available.

When an overall net cost saving to the university results from extending the business trip to use lower excursion-rate airfares, the university can reimburse for one additional night and one additional day meal expenses. The cost of the additional meals and lodging and the excursion airfare must be measured against the lowest available airfare, not involving a Saturday night stay, for a direct flight. Such cost comparison must be made at the time the trip is booked.

The Controller's Office may question reimbursements requests. If reimbursements are made and later deemed to be inappropriate, the traveler may be required to reimburse the unallowable expense.

Travel regulations and approvals apply to all funds deposited to the State Treasury, whether appropriated by the Commonwealth or funded by a sponsored project or grant. The U.S. Government Office of Management and Budget is responsible for issuing policy for expenditures funded by a sponsored program. Their Circular A-21, Section J states that travel expenses must be “in accordance with the institution’s travel policy” and practices “must be consistently applied to all institutional travel activities.” Travelers should review grants, contracts, and departmental policies to determine if more restrictive policies are applicable to the particular funds to which the travel is charged.

Travel credits, reduced rates, or free services received from public facilities (i.e., airlines, car rental agencies, motels, etc.) by persons for whatever reason, accrue to the Commonwealth. Any such credit, reduced rate, or free service must be deducted from the amount of travel expenses claimed. Failure to comply with this requirement may result in disciplinary action.

2.1 Exceptions

The University Controller administers exceptions to policies or procedures.

Exceptions that allow for expenditures in addition to these regulations should be referenced on the Travel Expense Reimbursement Voucher under "Purpose of Trip/Miscellaneous Justification."
For financial or budget control purposes, the academic department may establish lower maximum limits for expenses than the amounts listed in these procedures.
Certain classifications of travel may be reviewed periodically.
The University Controller may communicate temporary procedural changes by memoranda or through “The Ledger” publication.

2.2 Reimbursement Approval

Vice Presidents, Deans, Directors, and Department Heads are responsible for approving travel reimbursements for travelers within their administrative units as set forth in Procedure 10305 Accounting Approvals.

2.3 Corrections

Rather than delay the total reimbursement requested, the Controller's Office will make an adjustment where there is an obvious error or conflict with university and state regulations. The original travel voucher will be processed for payment and a copy of the corrected voucher will be returned to the traveler. Should additional changes be required, a supplemental voucher may be submitted to claim additional reimbursement due the traveler. If a supplemental voucher is submitted, the department should attach a copy of the first voucher submitted. This will enable the Controller's Office to verify the validity of the second voucher without a delay in processing time.

2.4 Other Travel Expenses

Reimbursements for official telephone calls, facsimile transmissions, and telegrams made and paid for by the travelers may be made on the Travel Expense Reimbursement Voucher. The name of the parties, business purpose, and points between which the calls were made or wires sent must be stated to document the business necessity of the expense. (The IRS requires this documentation to support these expenses.)
Traveler's checks, passports, and visa expenses are reimbursable. Vaccinations and medications required for entry to some countries are also reimbursable. Receipts are required.
Expenses incurred for conferences, registration fees, field trips, copying costs while on travel status, and other business expenses will be paid if they are a reasonable and necessary part of the staff member's travel.

Transportation between places of lodging or business and places where meals are taken are covered under the meals and incidental expense per diem (M&IE). Public transportation from the place of lodging to restaurants is allowed only for official business needs.
Funeral attendance expenses are reimbursable for (1) employee selected by the Agency Head to represent the University, provided the employee must travel outside of his/her official station. No reimbursement will be made if the services are held within the employee's official station.

Each traveler must submit his/her own travel reimbursement voucher. See Procedure 20335c for reimbursement of business meals.
Gratuities are included in the M&IE per diem. All service fees or tips (including but not limited to bellhops, skycaps, maids, waiters/waitresses, taxi and limousine drivers) laundry expense, personal telephone calls, and transportation between places of lodging or business and places where meals are taken are reimbursed through the incidental expense portion of the M&IE per diem. On a day trip where no per diem is reimbursed, a maximum of 15% of the taxi cab or shuttle service fare is reimbursable as a tip. For reimbursement, the Travel Expense Reimbursement Voucher must be divided into one amount for the fare and one amount for the tip. Receipts are not required for the tip reimbursement. Actual expenses incurred during overnight travel for these expense categories are not permitted.
Expenses for personal necessities and entertainment are not reimbursable. Examples of non-reimbursable expenses include:

Lost or stolen articles;
Alcoholic beverages;
Excessive meals and lodging;
Damage to personal vehicles, clothing, or other items;
Services to gain entry to a locked vehicle;
Movies charged to hotel bills;
All expenses related to the personal negligence of the traveler, such as fines;
Entertainment expenses;
Towing charges;
Expenses for children, spouses, and companions while on travel status;
Lodging in excess of the allowable room rate for the area.

Business Travel and Vacation Leave may be combined if prior approval is obtained from the Department Head. In such cases, reimbursable transportation and accommodation expenses will correspond with a round trip to the designated area of official business. Reimbursement will be appropriate only for the time during which official business is conducted. If the traveler leaves the designated area after business is concluded, there will be no reimbursement from that moment on, except for those expenses relating to the second half of the round trip. The university will not be responsible for any expenses related to accident or injury while the employee is not on official business.

2.5 Recruitment Expenses

Employee recruitment is considered official university business. Therefore, reasonable expenses incurred by prospective employees or university employees who are directly involved in the recruitment process are reimbursable. Generally, guests or spouses of prospective employees are not required during the recruitment process and their expenses are not reimbursable. However, the inclusion of the prospective employee's spouse is allowable for the positions of President, Provost, Vice President, Dean, Department Head, and faculty. This exception does not extend to other "guests" or to other positions within the university. Expenses of university employees' spouses involved with the interview process are not reimbursable using public funds.

Please clearly identify the spouse expenses and the specific position name under recruitment on any related reimbursement vouchers.

3.0 Procedures

3.1 Travel Expense Reimbursement Voucher

Claims for reimbursement are presented on a Travel and Meal Expense Reimbursement Voucher as outlined in Procedure 20335v Travel Expense Reimbursement.

Travel reimbursement requests should be submitted to the Controller's Office within the time period explained in Procedure 20335v. If travel reimbursement vouchers are not submitted timely, US Treasury Regulations require the University to report the travel reimbursement as taxable wages and withhold taxes.

4.0 Definitions

As used herein, the following terms shall have the stated meanings:

In State -- within the borders of Virginia.
Out of State -- all locations outside the borders of Virginia.
Out of Country -- anywhere except the 50 United States.
Official Station -- within 25-mile radius of base point of operation where an employee is employed.
Public Transportation -- commercial scheduled airline, rail, bus, or taxi (when necessary).
State Employee -- any elected or appointed faculty or classified employee of Virginia Tech or other state agency.
State Funds -- any funds deposited with the State Treasurer, whether derived from appropriation, grants, contracts, or general University receipts.
Travel -- all activities involving expenses for transportation, lodging, meals or registration, which are authorized to be paid from State funds or involve State vehicles for transportation.
Travel Status -- travel away from the employee's official station, except when engaged in daily travel as part of regular routine.

Return to Skip Menu

Footer

Controller's Office
Southgate Center (0312)
Blacksburg, VA 24061