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St. Louis Travel Expense Voucher Instructions

General

• Expenses that are greater than 60 days old may need to be paid through Payroll. See "DATE SUBMITTED" section for timely reporting requirements.
• System-wide policies on Travel are contained in the Business Policy Manual, Chapter 500.
• Request reimbursement for travel expenses on the St. Louis campus Travel Expense Voucher (UM 11-STL).
• Use the most current version of the St. Louis form.
• The form information is at the bottom left of the form and consists of the form number, major revision date and minor revision date, e.g., UM 11-STL (March 2008) 4/21/08. The form you use should be the most current, based on major revision date, in this example, this would be March 2008. Minor revisions are usually small edits that do not affect the form's functionality. An example is updating the form for the new IRS mileage rate.
• Cells with a shaded background are for data entry as indicated below. Cells with a white background contain descriptive information or formulas. These are protected so they cannot be changed.
• Many of the cells on the form have notes (red triangle in upper right corner) to guide you in completing the form. Other cells may have information boxes that pop up when the cell is selected
• Complete the form electronically and then print a copy to submit with your reimbursement request. A legible handwritten form in blue/black ink is acceptable but may take longer to process.
• Ensure the form clearly indicates the business purpose of the travel expenses and that necessary documentation to support the expenses claimed is attached. The form with documentation should "stand on its own".
• Itemize expenses by day (the form calculates daily totals for each line where there is a dollar entry).
• If the form does not provide sufficient space to fully document/explain your expenses, complete and attach Additional Comments page and/or other attachments.
• If expenses are included for an additional person(s), provide the person's name, title, address and connection to the University (i.e., why the University is paying that person's expenses). If expenses are for a group of 10 or more, provide the number in attendance, name of the group, and purpose.
• If more than one trip is included on a travel form, show destination and purpose for each trip.
• If you require more than one travel form to account for all of your expenses, record those expenses on an additional form(s) and bring the total for each form to a single line on the primary travel form.
• If the traveler is not available for signature for a significant reason (e.g., out of the country, in the hospital, unavailable for an extended period) attach an explanation to the form as to why the traveler is unable to sign.
• For all lodging, all car rentals, and other expenses of $75 or more, attach an original itemized receipt and documentation of payment. If an original receipt is not available, provide an explanation as to why it is not available. Examples of documentation of payment include a copy of the canceled check (front and back), copy of the picture page from a bank statement, credit card receipt, or copy of credit card statement with date, vendor and amount.
  • Note: If your department requires receipts under $75, they should be retained by the department and not sent with the form to the campus accounting office.
• Receipts should be in the name of the traveler. If not, explain why the receipt is in someone else's name and provide documentation of payment from the traveler to the person named on the receipt. This documentation can be a receipt acknowledging payment from the traveler or other documentation of payment.
• Small receipts should be taped to an 8.5" x 11" sheet of plain white paper. Multiple receipts may be taped on a single sheet of paper as long as they do not overlap and the receipts are all on the same side of the sheet. Do not tape receipts on both sides of the paper.
• A PeopleSoft Non-PO Voucher must accompany each Travel Expense Voucher.

Information on Form

• Payable to: Enter the name of the person that incurred the expenses and to whom payment will be made.
• Mail Check To (Required) - Use a campus address, if applicable.
• Vendor Number/EMPLID Number: Use EMPLID field if the payee is a University employee (the Vendor Number field will automatically populate). Otherwise, hand write in the payee's vendor number in the Vendor Number field. If the payee does not have a vendor number, request one from the campus accounting office using the Outlook request form.
• Date Submitted: This is the date traveler submitted the information and documents necessary to complete travel form. See DATE SUBMITTED below.
• Payment Desc: Enter the date range of travel in this field. This information should also be entered in the Invoice field when the non-PO voucher is created in PeopleSoft. For example...010108-011508 would be used to indicate travel from Jan 1, 2008 through Jan 15, 2008.
• Purpose of Trip: Clearly explain the business purpose of the travel. Spell out the names of organizations and programs, even well known ones. Do not use acronyms.
• Date: Enter the date on each line for which you claim expenses (this should correspond with amounts that appear in the Total for the Day column).
• Destination: Enter the city traveled from and the city traveled to. For travel in the metropolitan area, provide the business name and address of each destination.
• Miles: Enter the number of miles driven if using a personal vehicle. The mileage for each day should be from where you started the trip to where you ended it. However, when you leave from home, or return directly home, the mileage should be the lesser of the mileage from home or the office.
• Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner: Enter the amount you actually paid (meal plus tip). If you paid more than the amount for which you are eligible, enter only the eligible amount (see Current Meal Allowances for current maximum allowances). Enter P if a meal was provided as part of the event or was paid by someone else. Enter E if you were eligible to claim the meal but have combined the amount allowed with another meal.
• Lodging: Enter the amount you paid for lodging, including tax. Please request that sales tax be excluded when the lodging is in Missouri. Provide the tax exempt certification to the hotel as proof that tax should be waived (see Exemption from Missouri Sales and Use Tax on Purchases ). If the vendor refuses your request, note that in the Comments or on the lodging receipt.
• Other: For each eligible expense enter a description and the amount claimed. If the expense is $75 or more, attach receipts.
• Total for the Day: This is automatically calculated for each line as a total of meals, lodging and other.
• Trip Related Direct Billing Information: Enter description and amount for other expenses previously paid that relate to this trip, e.g., airfare, registration, etc.
• Comments:Use this area to provide additional explanation. If more space is needed use the Additional Comments tab of the form.
• Used Official Car Number: Enter the license plate number of the University vehicle used if applicable.
• Used Personal Car: The total miles are automatically calculated as the total of all lines with mileage entered in the Miles column. The current form may default to the mileage rate that is currently in effect. If you click on the shaded field you will see a list of mileage rates by date range. If you have mileage from a prior rate period, change the rate to the rate allowed for that time frame. If you have mileage for more than one rate range, use a separate form for each range using the correct mileage rate. If your department reimburses at a lower rate, enter that rate and add a comment to the Comments area that explains the reason for the lower rate. Once a mileage rate has been added (if necessary), the total auto mileage allowance is automatically calculated.
• Department Charged: Optional. You can enter MoCode description or other information that identifies who is being charged this expense.
• Total: Automatically calculated as the total of all lines above plus mileage.
• Contact with Congressional Member, Their Staff, or a Federal Agency: If traveler has contact with senators, representatives, their staffs or members of the executive branch of the federal government on behalf of the University of Missouri, check the "Yes" checkbox and provide the date contact was made, the name of person and agency contacted, purpose of contact and the total expenses associated with contact. If contact was made on more than one date, use Comments section of voucher for additional dates. For more information on the reporting requirements, a list of federal agencies and departments, and frequently asked questions, see the UM System Government Relations website. If no contact was made by the traveler, check the "No" checkbox and skip the rest of this section.
  • Note: The traveler must answer "Yes" or "No" to the contact question and complete the rest of this section if the answer is "Yes".
• Certification and Payee Signature: The payee must review each of the three lines and then sign, where indicated. University employees should enter their title. Non-employees should enter their relationship to University, e.g., candidate. The payee signature signifies attestation by the traveler of the accuracy of information included above including information in "Contact with Congressional Member, Their Staff, or a Federal Agency".
• Authorized Signer(s)/Administrative Superior: Obtain the printed name and signature of an individual who is an authorized signer for the ChartField(s) charged and of the administrative superior of the payee, if the payee is a University employee. If the same person can sign as both an authorized signer and an administrative superior, they should print their name and sign in the administrative superior box (campus accounting can verify that this person is also an authorized signer). The printed name must always accompany the signature.
  • Note: The traveler is responsible for attestation of the accuracy of the information included in "Contact with Congressional Member, Their Staff, or a Federal Agency." The authorized signer for the chartfield(s) charged and the administrative superior are not authorizing the accuracy of this information.
• Approved (Fiscal): For use by campus accounting office only
• Voucher Number: Enter the Non-PO voucher number assigned by PeopleSoft when the non-PO voucher is created to pay the travel expenses
• Amount and PeopleSoft ChartFields: Optional. To charge the expense to more than one set of ChartFields, enter the amount and the MoCode/ChartFields, as needed. In a cell at the bottom of the form there is a formula that compares total of amounts entered with the total amount of the voucher to be reimbursed. If these do not equal, a message in red appears indicating split amounts do not equal total to be paid.

Date Submitted

There are two requirements for timely accounting for expenses:

• The traveler must return any excess reimbursement or expense advance when due but no later than 120 days after the expense is paid or incurred. Failure to repay an advance may result in the amount being deducted from the traveler's payroll earnings.
• The traveler must properly account for trip expenses within 60 days after the end of the trip on which the expenses are paid or incurred.

Properly account for trip expenses means:

1. The traveler must sign the appropriate University form, usually a Travel Expense voucher (UM 11-STL).
2. The travel form must be properly completed and all necessary supporting documentation must be attached.
3. The date submitted is the day the employee provides a properly completed and signed travel form to an individual in the employee's department who is designated to process these forms. The form automatically defaults to the current date that file is opened.

Note: A number of actions are taken after submission, for example, entering a non-PO voucher in PeopleSoft, obtaining approvals and processing by campus accounting. These actions are separate and apart from the employee's responsibility to properly account for expenses. However, they may be a part of the process for validating whether the employee properly accounted for expenses and for validating the date submitted.

When the timeliness requirement is not met:

• The traveler must document the reason for the delay on the travel form so campus accounting can verify that the form was not timely submitted.
• The department should prepare an Additional Pay Form, attach the completed travel form and attachments and send it to campus accounting.
• Reimbursement is subject to the availability of funds and the department responsible for funding has the discretion to deny reimbursement.
• The department and approvers have the primary responsibility to make this timeliness determination subject to review by campus accounting.

When another entity is reimbursing part of the expenses paid, the traveler must document that reimbursement was requested from the entity within 60 days of the end of the trip. In these situations, the reimbursement request to UMSL must include:

• Name, address and phone number of the other entity.
• An explanation of the arrangement with the other entity and why UMSL and the other entity are each paying a portion.
• The expenses submitted to the other entity for reimbursement and when. This should include copies of supporting documentation.
• Documentation of what was reimbursed by the other entity and when it was received.