Concur Travel Guidelines

While you wait for funding approval, you can submit a Travel Request and add the “Liability Only/Unfunded” expense type with a $0 amount.  

Include context in the comments--for example, how you plan to apply for funding and the approximate total cost you anticipate for the trip.

If you receive funding, you can later submit the Expense Report with your actual reimbursable expenses, up to the amount of funding you receive, even though the original Travel Request was approved at $0.

If you do not receive funding and will not be submitting any expenses, you can go back into the Travel Request and follow the instructions in the Concur User Guide to “Close/Inactivate Request.” Closing it lets Concur know there are no expected expenses and will stop the reminders to submit an Expense Report.

A faculty member must submit the Concur Travel Request and subsequent Expense Report on behalf of any students or non-employee they are sponsoring.

Before travel:

The student or non-employee must:

1. Complete the Travel Certification Form and return it to the faculty sponsor.
2. Complete and submit a 204 Vendor Data Form through the secure upload link.

The faculty sponsor must:

1. Confirm that Accounts Payable has processed the 204 Vendor Data Form.
2. Email apinvoice@sonoma.edu with the traveler’s name and request that the supplier be made available in Concur.
3. Create and submit the Concur Travel Request before travel occurs.

After travel:

Within 30 days of returning from travel, the student or non-employee should provide the faculty sponsor with all required receipts and travel information needed to complete the Expense Report.

The faculty sponsor will then:

1. Create the Expense Report and link it to the approved Travel Request.
2. Enter the appropriate travel expenses and information.
3. Attach the required receipts and supporting documentation.
4. Submit the Expense Report for reimbursement.

See the Concur Non-Employee Travel Guide for further details.

Not necessarily. Student airfare and hotel accommodations can be prepaid by the University so the student does not have to pay these larger expenses out of pocket.

To arrange prepayment, department staff must submit a requisition to Procurement through CSUBuy. This process can take several weeks, so faculty should work with their department staff well in advance of the travel date if they would like airfare or lodging to be prepaid.

Other travel expenses will need to be paid out of pocket by the student and submitted for reimbursement after travel.

Students will not use the per diem expense type and will be reimbursed for actual meal and incidental expenses up to $92 per day.  Receipts are not required for expenses under $75.

Blanket mileage requests can be used for recurring activity for monthly or semester travel.  

Enter general information about the activity and note the time frame, such as August through December for semester travel. Note the Trip Purpose as “Mileage Only” and in the destination field select “Multiple Locations (Mileage Only), CA”.

No additional expense types can be added to a blanket mileage claim other than mileage.

Travel dates should not exceed 1 day before and 1 day after the official conference/event dates.

Any additional dates must be included in the Travel Request header as Personal Dates of Travel.

If personal days are involved, a Concur Cost Comparison form (found under SAP Concur Forms) and screen capture of the flight comparison will need to be added.  

Expense Reports with personal days will not be approved without a valid cost comparison attached.
 

If personal days are involved, a Concur Cost Comparison form (found under SAP Concur Forms) and screen capture of the flight comparison will need to be added.

In cases where the traveler did not obtain a cost comparison screen capture prior to travelling, the only option is to "recreate" the circumstances. Determine how much in advance you purchased the ticket that was used, and then from today search for flights out about the same amount of time.

For example, if you booked your flight 3 months in advance, then from today search 3 months out, for the same route, and use that to base the comparison on. There is no way to go back and get an estimate at this stage. It is important to use the same route.

Or, if anyone else went to the same event without personal time, then you can ask them for a copy of their airfare and add notes to the auditors that this would have been the cost comparison.
 

Yes.  After a Travel Request is approved, requestors can use the TripIt feature in Concur to book a flight.  

When completing your Expense Report, you will still need to add that flight expense to your claim.  You will do this by creating a new expense using the Available Expenses tab to link the flight expense to your claim.

The agenda is required for both the Travel Request and the Expense Report.

• Travel Request: Attach a copy of the conference/event agenda to your Travel Request.
• Expense Report: Add “Agenda” as an Expense Type from the dropdown menu and attach the agenda to that line item.

Important: Simply having the agenda included with your receipts/attachments on the Expense Report is not sufficient. It must also appear as an Agenda expense line.
 

Faculty do not need to keep or submit receipts for meals. Meals and incidentals are reimbursed using location-based per diem rather than your actual expenses.

Do not enter your actual meal costs in Concur. Instead, build an itinerary and use Per Diem Meals and Per Diem Incidentals. Concur will automatically calculate the applicable reimbursement amounts based on your travel itinerary.

IRS policy requires that we reimburse all applicable per diem for travel expenses, even if the traveler had not intended to request reimbursement for meals or incidentals.

Refer to page 28 of the Concur User Guide for step-by-step instructions on how to build an itinerary.

Students (and non-employees) will not use the per diem expense type and will be reimbursed for actual meal and incidental expenses up to $92 per day. Receipts are not required for expenses under $75.

Itemized receipts for all expenses in excess of $75 dollars must be submitted with the travel expense claim.

Travelers do not need to attach meal receipts.

If the total cost of the travel exceeds the total of the available funding/travel award, reimbursement must be reduced for non-per diem line items (such as airfare).

It is helpful to add comments when reducing expenses so it’s clear to the approving authorities what is happening.

Travel Requests automatically expire after 61 days from the end of your trip.  

If you would like to apply for an exception, you will need to fill out the Travel Policy Exception Request (found under SAP Concur Forms) and work with David Crozier directly.