Guidelines & Procedures

Completing the Travel Expense/Travel Detail Claim Forms

(We recommend completing these forms on-line to take advantage of drop-down selections, calculations, totaling, defaults and field formats.)

This document provides assistance in completing the Travel Expense Claim form and information about some of the travel expense guidelines. Please see the Travel Expense Guidelines for a more complete explanation of eligible travel expenses.

Only one Out-of-Province or Tri-Council funded trip per claim is to be submitted regardless of the number of accounts used to fund the trip. Travel claims must be submitted as soon as possible, but no later than 2 months, after returning from a trip. If you are submitting a claim after the 2 months, please provide a written explanation for the late submission.

If there are not enough lines on the Travel Expense Claim form to record the expenses incurred during your trip, please use the Travel Expense Detail form. The explanations provided below for the various fields on the Travel Expense Claim form also apply to the same fields on the Travel Expense Detail form. The Travel Expense Detail Total can be transferred to the Travel Expense Claim form. Please attach your receipts in the same order as they are listed on the form(s) used.

Incomplete forms will be returned to the claimant for completion. This includes attaching all supporting documentation required to complete the travel claim package (e.g. original receipts, event schedule/conference outline (see Appendix C of the Travel Expense Guidelines for examples), Authority To Travel form for Out-of-Province travel and In-Province Tri-Council funded travel, etc.)

If you have any questions regarding the completion of your travel claim, please email them to payment_inquiries@usask.ca.

An example of a completed Travel Expense Claim form, a Travel Expense Detail form and a Vehicle Kilometer Log can be found at the end of this document.

Field

Description

Name

Enter the legal name of the person claiming reimbursement for the travel expenses. This is the name that the employee has been set up with in the U-Who and the Human Resource/Payroll About-US systems. This will be the same as the name on the Authority To Travel form.

NSID

The NSID is the traveler's Network Services ID. This is the User Name people use when they sign in to PAWS. The format is "abc123".

UniFi Vendor Number
(Not a required field)

The UniFi Vendor number is the same number as the Banner ID (BID) number (8 digits) assigned to all employees and students. The Vendor Number is used to process reimbursements to employees and students.

If you do not know the vendor number (BID), it can be obtained from the detailed remittance portion of a UniFi cheque received in the past, or by accessing the form "FTIIDEN" in UniFi and doing a search using the "All" option. Call UniFi Support @ 8783 if you require assistance.

Research Affiliation

For Tri-Council Travel, when the traveler is someone other than the Grantee, the affiliation of the individual with the Grantee's research group must be specified.

Select the research affiliation from the drop-down list. If the research affiliation is not listed, select Other, complete the remainder of the form on-line, and then record the research affiliation on the form after you print it.

Department / College

Home department or college of the claimant.

Room / Building

Room number and building name for the claimant.

Mailing Address
(Street, City, Prov/St, Postal/Zip)

Employees, please enter your campus mailing address.

For non-employees, either an on-campus or off-campus address is acceptable.

Destination

Record the destination, e.g. city, province/state, country, for this trip.

Note: The purpose and description of the trip are recorded on the Authority To Travel form that must be attached to the Travel Expense Claim form.

Departure Date

The date the employee departs for the business trip.

Return Date

The date the employee returns from the business trip.

Trip Purpose

Describe the purpose of, or reason for the trip.

Note: This space is provided for In-Province, non-Tri-Council funded, travel ONLY. For Out-of-Province and Tri-Council funded travel you must complete and attach an Authority to Travel form to the Travel Expense Claim form.

Detail of Expenses

This form has been designed to enable claimants to record expenses by date and category.

Note: Claimants may chose to print a blank copy of the Travel Expense Claim form and take it with them to facilitate maintaining a record of their travel expenses. Since there is limited space [only enough lines to record about a week's worth of expenses] on the Travel Expense Claim, we recommend printing out the Travel Expense Detail form, if you feel you will need more lines to record expenses. The Travel Expense Detail Total can be transferred to the Travel Expense Claim form.

Original receipts are required for reimbursement (copies will not be accepted). See the Travel Expense Guidelines for details about eligible travel expenses.

Date

Record the date the expense was paid for, e.g. record the total for the hotel bill when it is paid; this is usually on the check-out date.

Description

Enter a description to provide additional explanation about the expense, if necessary.

Transportation

Attach airline tickets, prepaid tickets or electronic tickets (e-tickets). For E-tickets also include the itinerary, which provides additional verification of travel dates, ticket costs, payment information, etc.

Expenses for vehicle rental including fuel costs, taxis, buses, etc. should also be recorded under this heading.

Accommodation

Ensure the bill or invoice lists all charges and indicates the total has been paid. Often the express checkout does not indicate payment.

Note: You do not need to record daily charges posted on the hotel bill.

Note: Personal items, such as movie rentals and mini bar charges, are not reimbursable.

Expenses related to private accommodation should also be recorded under this heading.

Meals

Claim the lesser of actual costs or per diem rates. The current per diem rates are as follows:

Effective July 1, 2011 (No change to rates from 2010)

	In-Province CAN Dollars	Out-of-Province CAN Dollars	In United States US Dollars
Breakfast	$ 8.00	$11.00	$11.00
Lunch	14.00	16.00	16.00
Dinner	19.00	24.00	24.00
	$41.00	$51.00	$51.00

For per diems for international travel please refer to:

http://www.njc-cnm.gc.ca/directive/app_d.php (Appendix D - Allowances - Module 4). Additional instructions for selecting international per diem rates can be found in the Travel Expense Guidelines.

Where meals are provided as part of airline tickets or conference registration fees, the per diem allowance for the provided meals cannot be claimed.

Miscellaneous

Include eligible expenses such as airport fees, dependant care, entertainment, laundry, parking, registration fees, telephone, etc. under this heading. Ensure that detailed receipts itemizing the expenses are attached to the claim.

For hospitality expenses, include the following information:

the name(s) of the visitor(s) and/or the name(s) of the company or agency the visitor(s) represent(s),
the purpose of the function,
the name(s) of the university employees and/or the name of the university committee or department,

and

the number of people in attendance at the function.

on a separate document to be attached to the claim.

Ensure detailed receipts are included; credit/debit card receipts are not sufficient as they do not normally itemize the purchase or the applicable taxes.

Exchange Rate

If the expenses were paid in a foreign currency, refer to http://www.oanda.com/ converter/classic for current exchange rates. If the rate varies from what is being claimed, provide support for the exchange rate used (e.g. the rate charged on a credit card statement, or provided by a bank for travelers cheques, etc.).

To record expenditures that were made in a foreign currency enter the information in the applicable category and modify the exchange rate on the same row. The form will automatically calculate the Canadian equivalent and enter the amount in the "TOTAL (CAN$)" column.

Note: The 1.0000 on the form is the default for Canadian expenses. It can be changed, as required, for other currencies.

Note: If, on the same date, some expenses were paid in CAN$ and some in a foreign currency, the expenses will have to be entered on different rows of the form.

Personal Days

If an employee is traveling sooner, or staying longer, than required for the business trip itself, record the number of personal days being taken between the departure date and the return date. Do not include any personal expenses, particularly those that might be associated with the personal days, in your claim.

Personal Vehicle

Enter the number of kilometers traveled. The amount you will be reimbursed will automatically be calculated.

Effective July 1, 2011:

For vehicle travel the rate is $0.3923/km
Note: This is the default rate, but it can be changed if required.
For vehicle travel north of 54^th parallel the rate is $0.4225/km

Note: Rates effective July 1, 2010 were $0.3799/km and $0.4091/km respectively.

Complete and attach a Vehicle Kilometer Log if more than one trip or more than one location is being claimed on a Travel Expense Claim form. Enter the Total Kilometers from the Vehicle Kilometer Log, if applicable.

Foreign Currency requested

Travel claims for faculty and staff are reimbursed in Canadian dollars.

Claims submitted by non-Canadians will be reimbursed in their home currency, if requested. Simply indicate the "Foreign Currency requested" for the reimbursement.

Note: Do not convert the Net Claim to the foreign currency; this will be done when the claim is processed.

EXPENSE DETAIL TOTAL

Enter the Expense Detail Total from the Travel Expense Detail form, if applicable.

Less Advance

If you have received a travel advance, record the amount here. Travel advances are only issued in exceptional situations.

If your travel expenses are less than your advance, attach a personal cheque, payable to the "University of Saskatchewan", refunding the difference.

Note: Payment Services will enter the CFOAPAL coding for the advance.

CFOAPAL Coding

To allocate travel costs, the appropriate CFOAPAL - UniFi Fund, Org, Account Code, etc., needs to be entered beside the amount to be charged to each fund. The coding of the ‘activity (Acty)' and ‘location (Lctn)' elements are optional; the other fields are required.

The valid account code options for travel are as follows:

71001 - Travel within Saskatchewan - including travel for visitors coming to Saskatchewan from other locations
71002 - Travel within Canada
71003 - Travel to the USA (United States of America)
71004 - Travel to locations other than those noted above

If a trip involves various locations, use the code that applies to the final destination. For example, if a trip includes travel to Montreal and then to New York, the 71003 account code (USA) should be used.

As Registration Fees are commonly associated with travel, the drop down list also includes:

70614 - Registration Fees (Conference & Workshop)

The last two account code fields in the table are not drop down to allow for other account codes to be entered.

AMOUNT

Enter the amount you wish to have charged to each CFOAPAL(s) recorded on the form.

Claimant's Signature

The claimant must sign the claim. The claimant's signature certifies that all expenses incurred are related to University Business, that none have been claimed from other organizations, that they comply with University or funding agency travel expense guidelines, and that the claimant personally paid for them.

Note: Many claims are returned because they lack a signature.

Date

Date the form was signed by the claimant.

Prepared By/For Information Contact

Name (please print) of the person who prepared the form or who should be contacted for clarification or additional information.

Department/College

Home department or college of the contact person.

Phone

Phone number of the contact person.

Approval Signature

The claim must be approved by the person having signing authority for the UniFi Fund(s) to which the travel costs are being charged. If the signing authority is the person being reimbursed, their supervisor or designate, must approve the claim.

Note: For clarification:
"appropriateness" is defined as ‘suitable or fitting for a particular purpose, person, occasion, etc.'
"reasonableness" is defined as ‘not exceeding the limit prescribed by reason; not excessive'
(Source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary of Law)

Name

Name of the individual approving the claim.

Title

Title of the individual approving the claim.

Date

Date the form was approved.

Distribution

Staple all supporting documentation to the Travel Expense Claim form to reduce the chance of information being lost. Also attach the Travel Expense Detail form and receipts, if applicable.

Forward the completed, approved Travel Expense Claim form, including all required attachments (e.g. original receipts, event schedule/conference outline (see Appendix C of the Travel Expense Guidelines for examples) & Authority to Travel form for Out-of-Province travel and In-Province Tri-Council funded travel, Vehicle Kilometer Log form, if applicable, etc.) to Payment Services - E80 Administration Building.

Please allow 10 working days, from receipt of the travel claim package in Payment Services, for processing.