The Texas A&M University System
Office of Budgets & Accounting
Employee Travel Training
February 25, 2009
Presenters:
Tracy Crowley & Jennifer Montgomery
Class Objectives
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Learn where to find the information regarding
travel rules and regulations
Learn how to use the Texas Comptroller of
Public Accounts (CPA) online travel resource,
Textravel
Learn how to complete request for travel
reimbursement form
Agenda
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Agency and employee responsibilities
State Travel Management Program (STMP)
STMP Travel Contracts
Travel Planning
Travel Rates and Requirements
State of Texas Web Resource, Textravel
Travel Reimbursement Process Timeline
Travel Reimbursement Form Demonstration
Q&A
Agency and Employee Responsibilities
Agencies must properly train employees on travel regulations and
keep them informed of any changes in travel rules.
Agencies must ensure that all travel reimbursements are examined
prior to payment to ensure compliance with all applicable
regulations and limitations.
Employees must ensure that their travel complies with applicable
laws and rules and must not seek reimbursement for travel
expenses that the employee should reasonably know are not
reimbursable.
The Comptroller is required by law to properly audit all claims
submitted for payment. Therefore, all payment transactions are
subject to audit regardless of amount or materiality.
Source: Textravel https://fmx.cpa.state.tx.us/fmx/travel/textravel/index.php
State Travel Management Program
(STMP)
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The Texas Procurement and Support Services (TPASS) is a division
of the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts that awards and
manages statewide contracts.
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TPASS has a wide variety of functional areas to assist vendors with
how to do business with the state and to support other state
agencies and cooperative purchasing members in procuring goods
and services.
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The program area for travel is the State Travel Management
Program (STMP).
http://www.window.state.tx.us/procurement/prog/stmp/
STMP Travel Contracts
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TPASS has negotiated the following travel
contracts:
◦ Airlines
◦ Corporate Charge Card
◦ Hotels
◦ Rental Car
◦ Travel Agency
State agencies must use contract travel services whenever those
services provide the most efficient travel resulting in the total
lowest cost
Exceptions are detailed on the travel reimbursement form
Report problems with contract vendors to STMP
STMP Travel Contracts
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Contract Exceptions:
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Lower Cost to the State
Unavailability of Contract Travel Services
Special Needs
Custodians of Persons
In Travel Status
Group Program
Emergency Response
Legally Required Attendance
STMP Travel Contracts
Airlines
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Contract Term: June 1, 2008 – March 31, 2009
◦ American Airlines
◦ JetBlue Airways
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Provide maximum flexibility, but are not always the lowest cost
Designed for last minute and/or fully refundable travel
requirements
Utilize 14-day advance or other lower cost airline fares for planned
travel requirements to obtain the lowest possible cost to the state
Mandatory form of payment is a state issued-JPMorgan Chase
corporate travel charge card account
STMP Travel Contracts
Hotels
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Contract Term: Fiscal year September 1 – August 31
In order to be awarded a contract with the State of Texas, hotels
must offer a 20-25 % discount off their standard rack rates for
single room.
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STMP web site offers searchable contract hotel listing
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◦ http://portal.cpa.state.tx.us/hotel/hotel_directory/index.cfm
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State contract rates are available based on the hotel's available
inventory
State contract rates may not be available during holidays or special
events
STMP Travel Contracts
Rental Car
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Contract Term: March 31, 2004 through March 31, 2009
◦ Avis Rental Car System, Inc.
◦ Enterprise Rent-A-Car
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When making a reservation, provide the name of the state entity of
which you're employed and the state entity contract rate identifier
number (For System employees, Avis F999710 or Enterprise
TX710)
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Verify the rental is booked on the State of Texas (SOT) contract
rate to insure the contract provisions are included:
◦ SOT daily contract rate includes both LDW (loss damage/waiver or
comprehensive) and liability coverage. Some exceptions for specific
Avis locations.
◦ Additional or secondary driver fees waived for SOT contract
STMP Travel Contracts
Corporate Charge Card
◦ Contract term: June 13, 2003 through August 31, 2009
◦ JPMorgan Chase (JPMC) MasterCard
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JPMC Individually Billed Accounts (IBA)
 Eligibility criteria:
 take, or be expected to take, three (3) or more trips per fiscal year, or
 spend at least $500.00 per fiscal year for official state business travel.
 Applications available on SOBA web site
 Individual corporate travel charge cards issued through the State
of Texas are to be used for official state business travel
expenses only.
 Cardholder is responsible for paying the balance and seeking
reimbursement
 Typically, travelers use this card for meals, lodging, incidentals.
IBA’s, continued
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Benefits of the State-Issued IBA:
◦ Credit limits and payment information are not reported to the
credit reporting bureaus, thus affecting personal credit history,
unless the JPMC account is charged off.
◦ No Account Fees
◦ Travel Accident Insurance
◦ Lost Luggage Insurance
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State Designated Limitations:
◦ $200 limit per billing cycle on non-travel (retail) charges
(In some instances, charges for travel-related expenses such as
parking, taxis, and gasoline may be coded by the merchant as
"retail." )
JPMC Central Billed Accounts
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JPMC Central Bill Account (CBA)
◦ SOBA works with each department to
establish a CBA for their specific travel needs
◦ Bills directly to department
◦ Monthly billing cycle ends on the 10th
◦ For air, rail, and bus charges only
 In some cases, may include lodging also
 For hotel CBA:
 No State Taxes Allowed
 No Meals Allowed
Travel Planning
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Avoid making plans through online travel services
(Priceline,Travelocity, Orbitz, etc.)
◦ Lack of sufficient documentation
◦ Difficulty in getting itemized receipts
◦ In-State Taxes charged in error, very difficult to reverse
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For in-state hotel stays, present Texas Hotel Tax
Exemption Certificate at check-in
◦ Review receipt at check-out to confirm State Tax was not
charged. (City/Local Taxes are reimbursable.)
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For registration fees, charge to departmental purchasing
card or submit a request for payment.
Employee
reimbursements cannot be reimbursed until event
occurs.
Textravel, the new State of
Texas Travel Resource
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The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts created
Textravel to provide information on state travel laws
and rules to state agencies and institutions of higher
education. Textravel is based on Texas Government
Code Chapter 660, General Appropriations Act,
Article IX, Part 5 , and Texas Administrative
Code,Title 34, Part 1, Chapter 5, Subchapter C,
Section 5.22.
This Web resource is designed to be an easy reference
for state agencies and their employees. Links to
applicable laws and rules are included.
Source: https://fmx.cpa.state.tx.us/fmx/travel/textravel/index.php
Agency Travel Rules
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State agencies have the authority to
establish more restrictive rules but not
less restrictive rules. For more
information regarding System Offices
rules, please refer to the Disbursement of
Funds Guidelines located on our website
at:
http://www.tamus.edu/offices/budgetsacct/acct/general/index.html
Travel Reimbursements
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Request for Travel Reimbursements must be
completed and signed by the traveler.
Departmental contact information should also
be provided. The form is on our website:
http://www.tamus.edu/offices/budgetsacct/acct/centralsvc/index.html
In-state Travel Reimbursement
Rates
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New mileage rate effective January 1, 2009 $0.550/mile
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Meal rate - $36/day
Meal reimbursement amount based on actual meal
expenses incurred not to exceed the maximum
reimbursement rate.
No meal reimbursement unless it is an overnight
stay.
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Lodging reimbursement rate - $85/day
Out-of-State Travel
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Employees traveling Out-of-State receive up to
a maximum flat rate for meals and lodging based
on federal regulations. The current Out-ofstate Meal and Lodging Rates schedule is
available at:
Out-of-State Meal and Lodging Rates - FPP
S.003
Documentation for Travel
Reimbursements
Where applicable, the following information
should be included with the request for travel
reimbursement form:
• Receipts for lodging costs, showing a zero balance
Please do not use “express check-out” at the hotels. The
wording “will be charged to XXXX” and “effective balance of
$0” on a hotel bill is not a zero balance receipt.
• Meal cost breakdown per day
• Receipts to support claims for reimbursement of public
transportation, airfare, registration fees etc.
• Point to point mileage breakdown
When claiming mileage that is different from the State Comptroller’s
Mileage Guide, you must include beginning and ending odometer
readings.
• Requests for reimbursement of local mileage should be
submitted at least monthly.
Receipts
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Original lodging receipt required. It must be
complete and show that payment has been made.
Present the hotel occupancy tax exemption
certificate when checking into the hotel. This is
available on our website at:
http://www.tamus.edu/offices/budgetsacct/documents/texas-hotel-occupancyexemption.pdf
Receipts for meals are not required. However,
employees are encouraged to keep a record of
meal expenses incurred since they will be
reimbursed only for actual expenses incurred, up to
the maximum rate allowed.
Airline Ticket
The original airline ticket receipt should be
attached to the payment request.
 An itinerary alone is unacceptable.
 If the ticket is in the form of an E ticket, the
passenger itinerary or receipt must be attached
to the payment request.
 The name of the employee and airline, the
ticket number, the class of transportation, the
fare basis code, the travel dates, the amount of
the airfare, and the origin and destination of
each flight must be included on the receipt.
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Parking Receipts
Receipts are not required for parking. Charges
must be itemized on a daily basis and must
include information on where the parking
expense was incurred and the date.
 Original receipt must be attached when
requesting reimbursement for a rental car. The
receipt must separately itemize all charges,
including the starting and ending dates of the
rental, the name of the renter and any other
charges.
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Combining State and Personal
Business
If a traveler combines personal travel with
official state business travel, the traveler is only
allowed reimbursement up to the rate
published by Textravel.
 Any meal, lodging or car rental expenses that
were incurred on personal days cannot be
reimbursed.
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Foreign Travel
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Appropriated funds may not be used to pay
or reimburse a state employee for travel
expenses incurred while traveling to or from
a duty point in a foreign country other than
Canada and Mexico, unless the Chancellor
has approved the travel before departure.
A request for Foreign travel must be
completed and submitted to the Chancellor
no later than 30 days prior to travel. There
is the link to the form on our website:
http://www.tamus.edu/offices/budgetsacct/acct/travel/index.html
Washington, D.C. Travel
Starting with fiscal year 2006, only travelers
who intend to confer on legislative or
appropriations issues with U.S. Congressmen, or
other Federal Government Staff or Officials
should submit travel information to the Office
of State -Federal Relations (OSFR).
 Notification can be made online. The link to the
form can be found on our website at:
http://www.tamus.edu/offices/budgetsacct/acct/travel/travel_DC.html
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Common Issues
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Benefit to the State Requirement
The traveler must provide a statement
explaining how their travel benefited the
state of Texas. Providing this statement
ensures the travel expenses were
incurred while conducting state business.
“Part of job duties” is not sufficient.
Common Issues cont.
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“Accompanied By” Requirement
Section 660.030 of the Texas Government
Code pertains to the examination of
vouchers and reimbursement forms for
travel expenses. In order to comply with
this code, the traveler is required to
provide information regarding who else
from the department traveled to the
same duty point and why it was necessary
for more than one person to travel.
Common Issues cont.
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4 Per Car Rule
Direct from Textravel: When employees from
the same agency travel on the same dates with
the same itinerary, they must coordinate travel.
When four or fewer employees travel on the
same itinerary, only one may be reimbursed for
mileage. When more than four employees
travel on the same itinerary, only one out of
every four may be reimbursed for mileage.
Travel Vouchers
Most Common Problems
• Missing signature by the traveler
• Amounts do not match
• Exceptions not checked when non-contracted
hotel/airfare/rental cars used
• Lack of description on second page
• Benefit to the state statement not sufficient
• Missing receipts
Timeline for Travel
Reimbursement Requests
Traveler makes travel arrangements and is
careful to make arrangements based on
the System Office guidelines.
 After traveling to their duty point where
state business is conducted, the traveler
returns to headquarters.
 Traveler goes through receipts, then
completes and signs the travel
reimbursement form.
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Timeline for Travel
Reimbursement Requests cont.
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The completed reimbursement form, along
with the required receipts, is submitted to
the bookkeeper.
The bookkeeper audits the form and the
receipts, then processes an online document
to prepare the request for payment.
After receiving departmental approval, the
bookkeeper submits the form and receipts
to Accounts Payable for processing.
Timeline for Travel
Reimbursement Requests cont.
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Accounts Payable’s goal is to process vouchers
within five business days. The reimbursement
request is audited by Accounts Payable. If
information is missing, the bookkeeper is
notified so the situation can be resolved. The
five day turnaround starts over when the
missing information is received.
Around the time of the holidays, we will announce a submission date that
guarantees reimbursement before the holiday break. Any requests
received after that date are not guaranteed to be processed before the
holiday break
Timeline of Travel
Reimbursement Requests cont.
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Payment Request is processed and
traveler receives travel reimbursement.
Direct Deposit, or ACH, is the preferred
method of payment. The link to the
Employee Direct Deposit Form is on our
website at:
http://www.tamus.edu/offices/budgetsacct/acct/general/index.html
Questions?