Travel Card

BU Travel Card Policy

Travel Card/Purchasing Card Usage Chart

The billing address for BU travel cards is 25 Buick St., Boston MA 02215-1301

CARD LIMITATIONS (more details in Card Usage Chart & Travel policy)

Cardholders should familiarize themselves with the Card Usage Chart to understand what types of expenses the card should be used for (more policy information available at http://www.bu.edu/travelservices/resources/policies/). Two important types of charges that SHOULD NOT go on the travel card are local office supply purchases and computers. These should be purchased through department staff. Personal expenses, not to be paid for by the university, should not go on the travel card whenever possible. In those cases, the university pays the cost of the personal charges up front and then deducts the cost from your next paycheck.

As a note, it is mandatory for each faculty member with a travel card to complete training (the Card Services Department will contact new cardholders to arrange training sessions). Additionally, helpful resources can also be found at the following link: http://www.bu.edu/travelservices/travel-services-help/training/.

Please note that if you exceed your research account limit (and any other university funds available to you), any charges over the limit will be marked as personal and will be deducted from your paycheck. The card does not debit directly from your research account or any other account; it will allow you to make purchases in excess of the funds actually available to you, subject only to your monthly credit limit, which should be emailed to you by the department administrator when you receive your card. Please, therefore, track your expenses carefully.

Since Boston University’s US Bank Travel and Business Expense card is “Corporate Pay/ Corporate Billed”, card holders will never receive a monthly statement or bill. Charges displayed in Concur have already been paid by the University and are recorded in a temporary account. When the card transactions are added to an expense report, and the expense report is submitted and approved, then the credit card transactions will be moved from the suspense account, to the account provided in the expense report.

Helpful Hint: if your card is ever declined or you are curious about your available balance you should contact US Bank directly via the number on the back of your card (800-344-5696).

Expense Report Procedures

Online Concur expense reports will be required for all travel card purchases and all out of pocket expense reimbursements. Expense reports must be submitted within 30 days of a trip end date or transaction date: However, due to the complexities of the Concur system, the department will still need to complete expense reports on your behalf. While it is physically possible for you to begin reports within Concur, please do NOT submit them: instead, please alert the Department Administrator if you have started a report so that the report can be reviewed and edited to ensure accuracy and proper allocations for accounting purposes.

Delegates

In order for expense reports to be prepared on your behalf, you will need to make Cassie Court your Concur delegate using the instructions found here.

If you are a Boston University faculty member, please contact Cassie directly once your report is ready. If you are a guest or a student, please fill out the department’s expense report request form in order to request that a delegate submit a Concur report for you. Before submitting a request, please prepare receipts using one of the methods described below.

Uploading Receipts

Receipts are required for all expenses paid for with the travel card and for all reimbursements of out of pocket expenses. If at all possible, please upload receipts to Concur directly. If this is not possible or you are having difficulty, you may email them directly to the Department Administrator, submit them as part of the expense report request form, or submit them in hard copy.

Uploading receipts using the Concur web app or mobile app gives department staff a head start on creating your report.

The thorough guide to the mobile app is available here. (Please note these instructions are quite old and your success with the app may be inconsistent)

  • Instructions for setting up the mobile app are on pages 2 and 3.
  • Please note that you will need to create a PIN for the mobile app in the web version of Concur. In the web version of Concur, under “App Center,” you will find a list of apps associated with Concur, including the Concur Mobile app. Click “Learn More” next to the Concur Mobile app to sign up for the mobile app and create a PIN.
  • Instructions on submitting a “Quick Expense” and associated receipt are on page 12.

Please upload receipts as part of “Quick Expenses” rather than submitting a full Concur report. Once a full report is submitted we cannot edit it to make corrections. When adding an expense, please fill in as much of the requested expense information (type, amount, currency, date, location, vendor, comment about purpose of expense) as possible.

Tip: Regular smartphone users may find the Concur App Center useful. Apps such as Uber can be set up to automatically export e-receipts to Concur. The Concur mobile app can be used to book travel. Several apps are available that can track your drives and export mileage information into Concur.

If you find the Concur web app, or Concur mobile app confusing or do not own a smart phone you can submit receipts via the expense report request form or in hard copy. If you upload receipts with your request form, please give the receipts easy to understand file names, such as “Smith Amazon $10, etc” (and try to make sure that each receipt is uploaded as a separate file). Hard copy receipts should be each taped to a separate piece of 8.5 x 11” paper.

Direct Deposit

We strongly recommend that you set up direct deposit for your reimbursements. Even if you have direct deposit set up for your paychecks, you must set up direct deposit for reimbursements separately:

INSTRUCTIONS FOR ADDING REIMBURSEMENT DIRECT DEPOSIT

  • Log on to Buworks in Firefox or Internet Explorer Compatibility Mode (https://ppo.buw.bu.edu/)
  • Click on the “Employee Self-Service” tab
  • Click on “Benefits and Pay”
  • Under “Pay” select “Direct Deposit”
  • Choose “Add” -> “Expense Reimbursement Bank”
  • Fill in your bank account info and save.

If you do not set up direct deposit for reimbursements, they will be sent by check to whatever home address Concur has on file for you.

Notes on Special Expense Types
Meals
For meals, please upload as one scan both the itemized receipt and the receipt with tip included, if applicable.

Please mark all alcohol purchases on the itemized receipt. For any business meals where you are requesting reimbursement for food purchased for other guests, please provide a list of all meal attendees, their institution, title, and type (faculty/staff, guest, or spouse/partner). This list can either be entered in the comments section of a mobile app “Quick Expense” or uploaded as a second page of the receipt.

Office Supplies
Office supplies should not be purchased with a travel card or be requested for reimbursement. Faculty should request that the department staff make supply purchases.

If an exception to this rule must be made, please put a note in the comments section of the departmental expense report request form justifying the purchase.

Computers
Computers must be purchased through BUWorks and cannot go on a travel card or be reimbursed. Please see Cassie Court for assistance with computer purchases.

Per Diem

Domestic per diem rates

Please see Cassie Court for foreign per diem rates or any other questions about calculating per diem rates.

Mileage

Personal car mileage costs can be calculated by multiplying the number of miles traveled by 0.54 (rate as of the 2016 calendar year). Keep in mind that mileage includes gas and toll expenses; if you are requesting reimbursement for mileage you cannot also submit receipts for gas or tolls.

Foreign Currencies

Concur will calculate the appropriate exchange rate for expenses, so please list individual expenses on the expense report request form in their original currency. However, to ensure that you know how much of your funds are being spent before we submit the report, please enter the final total on the form in US dollars. Exchange rates can be calculated here. Please use the exchange rate for the date(s) of purchase. Please note that the final total will reflect the rate calculated by Boston University’s travel services, and may slightly differ from your initial total.

If a receipt is in a language other than English and is not comprehensible by an English speaker, please provide a translation.

Please email Cassie Court for any additional questions about travel card and expense report procedures.