Business Expenses and Travel Reports

The university recommends that faculty use a BU Travel Card for university travel and business expenses. To request a travel card, please fill out the travel card application and liability agreement and submit them to Cady Steinberg.

BU Travel Card Policy

Travel Card / Purchasing Card Usage Chart

The billing address for a BU Travel Card is your office address as it is listed in BUworks.

Cardholders should familiarize themselves with the Card Usage Chart to understand what types of expenses the card should be used for. 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 unless you are familiar with BUWorks shopping carts.

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. Please also note that if you exceed your research account limit (and any other university funds available to you), we will require you to mark any charges over the limit as personal and have them 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.

BU is a sales tax exempt institution. Suppliers should not charge sales tax on purchases made with BU travel cards. Companies vary in their procedures for applying for tax exemption; please contact Cady Steinberg (cady8590@bu.edu) if you need assistance applying for tax exemption.

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).

Travel expenses can be booked through third party vendors or through BU’s travel agent, Shorts. Bookings through Shorts can be done using Concur’s online travel booking system or by contacting a Shorts agent directly. More information is available on the Travel Services website.

BU expense reports are submitted online through software called Concur. 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.

Expenses must be put into an expense report within 30 days of purchase. If the expenses are related to a trip that will occur more than 30 days from purchase, the expenses should be placed in an expense report but not submitted until all expenses related to the trip have been made. Department staff can put together such a report on your behalf.

Receipts are required for all expenses paid for with the travel card and for all reimbursements of out of pocket expenses. If you are missing a receipt for a certain expense, you must fill out a Missing Receipt Affidavit and attach it to the expense in lieu of the receipt.

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.

The full guide to the mobile app is available here.

• 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.

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.

Travel Services has provided instructions on how to set up direct deposit for reimbursements at the following link: http://www.bu.edu/travelservices/files/2019/04/How-to-Sign-up-for-Direct-Deposit.pdf.

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.

Amazon

Starting May 30th, 2019, the university stopped accepting reimbursement requests for items purchased on Amazon. If you wish to charge any Amazon purchases to your research account, you will have to do so through an Amazon Business account. For more information about creating an account on Amazon Business, please see Sourcing & Procurement’s website: https://www.bu.edu/sourcing/h2po/#amazonbusiness.

Food

For restaurant meals, please provide both the itemized receipt and the receipt with tip included, if applicable. Indicate all alcohol purchases on the itemized receipt.

For any departmental event food or 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).

Office Supplies

Office supplies should not be purchased with a travel card or be requested for reimbursement. Faculty should request that department staff make supply purchases, unless they are familiar with BUWorks shopping carts or have a purchasing (not travel) card. Expense reports containing office supplies will be rejected by Travel Services except in extenuating circumstances.

Computers

Computers must be purchased through BUWorks and cannot go on a travel card or be reimbursed. BU has a set of standard computer models available at discounted prices. Other models can be purchased as well. Please see the Department Administrator for assistance with computer purchases.

Per Diem

• Domestic per diem rates
• Foreign per diem rates

Mileage

Personal car mileage costs can be calculated by multiplying the number of miles traveled by the IRS standard mileage rate (currently 0.535). 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.

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

Tracking Concur Reports

Once you have submitted your Concur report, you will receive an email that the report is awaiting the approval of your supervisor (the department chair, in most cases). You will then receive an email that it is awaiting the approval of the financial approver for the account(s) you are charging (the department administrator, in most cases). You will then receive an email when someone from the Travel Department approves the report. Finally, you will receive an email that the payment status has been changed to “Sent for Payment.”

If you are signed up for reimbursement direct deposit, reimbursements will be credited to your bank account two business days after the report is sent for payment. If you are not signed up for direct deposit, a reimbursement check will be mailed to you the Friday following the date the report is sent for payment.