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Procedure Listing

Procedure 20335v: Travel and Meal Expense Voucher

Introduction

The Travel and Meal Expense Voucher is the correct form to use for reimbursement of:

• Business travel expenses
• Meal Expenses for entertaining university visitors while on travel status
• Recruiting business meal expenses, and
• Moving and relocation expenditures.

The Travel and Meal Expense Voucher is available on the Controller’s Office web site (http://www.co.vt.edu/) and is the version that must be used. A voucher which is produced by a laser printer on white paper is acceptable. A copy of the signed voucher should be retained by the department and the traveler. After the voucher has been signed by the traveler and the appropriate authorized approver, the ORIGINAL signed voucher should be sent to the Controller's Office for payment.
Expenses for each day must be listed separately. No payment will be made for unspecified costs. The voucher must show all facts necessary to support the amount of the claim and to fully justify its payment. A brief explanation must be made of any unusual expense. Submit invoices or receipts whenever required to support expenses. Receipts are necessary when expenses are for recruiting new employees or entertaining university visitors in the Blacksburg area or official station.
If invoices are in foreign currency, the rate of dollar exchange and the amount of U.S. dollars must be entered on each invoice.
The voucher should be presented for payment by the employee to his/her supervisor within thirty (30) working days after completion of the trip, where overnight travel is involved, or in case if continuous travel, within thirty (30) working days of the last day of travel for which reimbursement is requested. In all instances, the voucher must be submitted to the authorized approver for signature and forwarded to the Controller’s Office within sixty (60) days after return from the business trip.  For all travel vouchers, the traveler's supervisor must approve the voucher and submit the voucher to the Covered Institution's fiscal office for processing within three (3) working days of receipt from employee. In the case of a non-state employee, the Covered Institution authorized approver must approve the voucher and submit the voucher within three (3) working days of receipt from non-state employee. Upon receipt of all vouchers, the Covered Institution's fiscal office must date stamp the voucher and submit it to the Controller's Office for processing within five (5) working days. The above processing includes time for mailing. If travel reimbursements are not claimed within the prescribed schedule, the Controller's Office may require an explanation for the delay.
The expenses will be paid by direct deposit usually within 7-10 days after being submitted to the Controller's Office.

Detailed Instructions

Detailed instructions for preparing and submitting the Travel and Meal Expense Voucher follow.

• Department: The name of the department in which traveler is employed or for whom the travel was performed.
• VA Tech ID No: The individual's Banner ID number is required.  Social security numbers should not be entered or written on the travel voucher under any circumstances. 
• Voucher Date: Please enter the date that the voucher was prepared.

• The name of the traveler or Treasurer of Virginia Tech (if an outstanding travel loan is to be paid) should appear on the first line inside this block.  The name should appear as it is to appear on a check or as it appears on an existing travel loan.  The complete mailing address (i.e. P. O. Box, Street number, Street Name, City, State and Zip Code) of the traveler must be included.

• Contact: Please enter the name, telephone number, and e-mail address of the travel voucher preparer.
• Traveler Certification and Authorized Approval: Indicate whether or not the traveler is a State employee by selecting Yes or No from the dropdown box. Indicate whether a fleet service vehicle was available by selecting Yes or No from the dropdown box.  The traveler should sign his or her name in ink as it appears on Name line, on each copy. The traveler should put the date signed to the right of their signature. A signature stamp cannot be used. His or her title should be typed or printed in ink on the next line. The reimbursement voucher must be signed and dated by an authorized approver to authorize expenditures against the account. The authorized approver signature is needed when the voucher includes reimbursements for such items as travel more than 100 miles outside the state boundary and/or the rental of an automobile. In addition, if the individual who authorizes payment is also the recipient of the travel reimbursement, the next higher level of supervision must sign the voucher as indication that the expenses have been reviewed. (See Policy 3205 for more information about approvals.)
• Date: Each day's expenses must be shown separately. Indicate the year in which the expenses were incurred at the head of the column. Enter the month and day in the space provided on each line describing each day's expenses.
• Description: This column is to be used for a description of the expense items and the location at which they were incurred. All allowable miscellaneous business expenses, such as telephone, telegraph, and postage, must be itemized in this column.  Please ensure all important details of travel are included in this column.
• Mileage: The miles traveled between each point visited must be stated whenever claim is made for reimbursement for mileage.
• All travel must be over the most direct route unless it is necessary to go another way. Whenever it is necessary to go by any route other than the most direct, the travel voucher must show clearly the actual route taken. The reason for the longer trip should be given along with the statement which explains the purpose of the trip.
• Mileage claimed over any route should be by actual odometer readings and not estimated.
• It may be necessary to travel in and about a given location, stopping at individual residences or scattered points of business within an area. It is obviously impractical in these cases to show all the points between which the travel was performed. In these cases, the voucher should read: "Travel in and about ___(location)___ Virginia, __(number)__ miles."
• Mileage Rate: Please select the mileage rate from the drop-down box in accordance with travel policy 20335d: Automobile Travel for the applicable travel dates.  If your department has elected to use a lower rate, manually input that rate and click okay when error message appears.
• Mileage Reimbursement Amount: Excel will automatically compute this based on input total mileage and the rate for that excel row.
• Meals and Incidental Expense (M&IE): For each day, make one entry for the M&IE per diem corresponding to the location of the related overnight lodging. The maximum M&IE rate can be claimed for a full day or a lower M&IE rate based on actual expenditures can be authorized by the department. M&IE cannot exceed the allowance set forth in Procedure 20335c and must be paid directly to the traveler. Each traveler must submit his/her own travel reimbursement voucher.  If no-cost meals are provided during travel please indicate in description box for that date.
• Other: Show in this column the dollar amount claimed for bus, air, or railroad fares.
• Railroad fares reported in this column cover only the actual transportation costs. Pullman charges (berth or seat) must be itemized separately and the amount shown in the "Lodging" column.
• Tolls and parking fees must be itemized and the amount claimed in the column headed "Other." Toll facilities must be named.
• Receipts for bus, air, and train travel must be attached to the voucher for audit.
• Receipts for toll and parking expenses must be attached in accordance with Procedure 20335d, "Automobile Travel".
• Purpose of trip: Please include the business purpose of trip (conference travel, recruitment, fieldwork, training, business meeting, workshop, etc.)
• Justification for lodging exceptions (when applicable): Circumstances requiring that lodging rates be exceeded for overnight travel must be presented for authorized approver’s review in this box for all vouchers that have lodging expenses exceeding CONUS/OCONUS per-diems for that location.  Authorized approver can only approve exceptions within the limits established in University policy.

When meals are provided at no cost in conjunction with travel events, the applicable M&IE per diem must be reduced by the dollar amount shown for the applicable meal in the M&IE Rate Table. When meals are included with registration or lodging expense as part of a package plan please record the number and type of meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) on the travel voucher in the description box for that date.
On a departure or return day, 75% of the total Meal per diem (plus $5 Incidental Expenses) is allowed based upon where the night was spent as follows: (See Procedure 20335c for more detail.)

• Departure Day: Where you spend the night.
• Return Day: Where you spend the night before returning home.

When meals are provided at no cost in conjunction with travel events on a travel departure or return day, the full Meals per diem reimbursement rate is reduced by the full amount of the appropriate meal(s) followed by a 75% prorating of the balance (plus $5 Incidental Expenses).
In cases where the traveler returns to his official station on the same day as he leaves, no reimbursement will be made for meals except when on overtime or official* documented business. The voucher must state the time of departure and return to the official station. Traveler must leave before 6:30 a.m. and arrive after 7:30 p.m. to qualify for breakfast and dinner respectively.

• To be eligible for reimbursement or payment, business meals* must:

• be essential to the University mission;
• be a business necessity;
• involve substantive and bona fide business discussions; and
• be approved by the authorized approver; and
• be supported with an ITEMIZED receipt for the expenditure.

* See P20310a posted on the Controller’s Website for more information regarding business meals

• Lodging: Report in this column all expenditures for lodging. Attach the original itemized bill or the itemized receipt to support amount claimed. Enter name of hotel or the word “lodging” in description column.

Some hotels/motels will give a commercial discount to state employees traveling on official business of the Commonwealth. The traveler should inquire about any deductions and take advantage of the lower rates whenever offered.

• Other: Charge in this column all expense items that have not been covered in the preceding columns. A description of each item must be given in the space provided in the second column on the sheet.
• Totals: Each line must be totaled at the bottom, and the total of all columns must equal the sum of the totals of the individual lines.
• Recapitulation of Sheet Totals: The total amount claimed on each additional sheet must be carried forward to the recap provided in the lower right-hand corner.
• Amount Certified for Payment: The grand total of the sheet totals must be computed and entered on the bottom line of the recapitulation.
• Purpose of Trip: Check appropriate listing or add purpose in this space.
• Organization Number: Enter traveler's organization (department) number in front of the fund code.
• Fund Code: The proper University fund code should be listed in the appropriate columns.
• Account Code: Use the correct account code to properly classify the type of travel expense. The full description of travel account codes (128XX) are found under the Controller's Office Simplified Account Code Listing (Travel).