Introduction to
Accounts
Payable
Andre Simmons, Assistant Manager
Accounts Payable
Who?
What?
When?
Why?
Agenda
Who Are We?
UNIVERSITY BUSINESS & ACCOUNTING SERVICES DIVISION
ACCOUNTS PAYABLE DEPARTMENT
Manager
Jennifer Collins
Assistant Manager
Andre Simmons
Senior Operations Specialist
Mark Kent
Senior Operations Supervisor
Hall Gibson
Operations Specialist I
Brooke Farmer
Operations Specialist I
Joseph Segars
Business Manager II
Kim Collins
Senior Operations Supervisor
Patricia Sims
Accountant
Sarah Garner
Operations Specialist I
Karen Grubbs
Operations Specialist I
Scott Bonifield
Operations Specialist I
Shakira Morse
Operations Specialist I
Jing He
Operations Specialist I
Kendra Hull
Operations Specialist I
Marilyn Smith
Operations Assistant
Paula Fitzgerald
Senior Accountant
Elena Williams
Operations Assistant
Quincy Kerbo
Accountant
Purvi Patel
Accountant
Kathleen Green
Operations Specialist I
Vacant
Operations Specialist I
Alicia Castleberry
Operations Specialist I
Westley Bargo
Senior Operations Specialist
Joy Carrell-Miller
Operations Specialist I
Perry Humphreys
• Accounts Payable is responsible for examining all
accounts, claims, and demands against the University of
Georgia, and for making payment of all the University’s
legally incurred obligations for materials and services
other than payrolls.
• No payments are to be made unless there is money in the
Treasury legally allocated for such payments, and until
the Accounts Payable Department has been presented
with supporting documents and invoices which have been
reviewed and found to be correct.
What do we do?
• Accounts Payable disbursed
$669,817,704 in expenditures.
• AP paid 274,054 invoices
• AP issued 117,140 checks
• Initiated 947 wires
• Processed 838 ACH transfers
Fiscal Year 2014
Federal
• Internal Revenue Service (1099
reporting, TIN matching/BNotices, Accountable Plan,
Employee/Independent Contractor
relationships)
• US Treasury Department (OFAC)maintains a Specially Designated
Nationals List that we must review
• Sarbanes-Oxley-Requires
certification and attestation of a
public company’s internal
controls.
State
• Board of Regents
(Delegates Procurement
function)
• State Accounting Office
• Department of Revenue
(Escheatment of
Unclaimed Property)
Regulating Entities
•
•
•
•
Administrative Functions
Printing Checks Daily
Approving & Encumbering Travel Authorizations
Review and assign appropriate object codes to UGAMart
requisitions and check requests
• Account number changes (note: if changing to a restricted
account, get C&G approval prior to contacting AP)
• Vendor Creations in the Unified Vendor Database
Travel & Encumbrances
Elena Williams, Supervisor
• Accounts Payable and Procurement function from one unified
vendor database.
• Vendor creation requires verification in the IRS TIN Matching
Program and clearance from the list of blocked payees
maintained by the Office of Foreign Assets Control before the
vendor will be available for use.
• Vendors have the option to register online at:
http://vendors.uga.edu
• Original Vendor Profile form can still be submitted:
http://www.busfin.uga.edu/forms/vendor_profile.pdf
• For foreign vendors/payees, a W-8BEN (individuals) or W8BEN-E (entities) is required.
Vendor
Creation/Additions/Revisions
• Two methods for procuring goods flow through Travel &
Encumbrances.
• Purchase Requisitions: Items that have to be “procured”
through the Procurement Office.
• Check Requests: “Charge” commitments
Purchase Requisitions
and Check Requests
• Purchase requisitions come to Travel & Encumbrances
for 2 things:
• Review object code assigned by department and modify if
needed. This is important for tax reporting (1099’s,) open
records requests, various other reporting requirements.
• Review free balance in account to verify funding exists to
support the purchase. Account/Budget Check messages and
warnings appear under the history tab in UGAMart.
Requisitions will not be approved if funding does not exist.
Purchase Requisitions
• “Pre-encumbrances or commitments” are only established
if the requisition can be readily identifiable as
construction or is for a purchase greater than $50,000.
These purchase types often require a lengthy bid process.
On status reports, commitments are identifiable by
reference numbers that start with PM.
Purchase Requisitions
• If no criteria exists to create a commitment, the purchase
requisition will flow to Procurement or it will create a
purchase order once approved by Travel & Encumbrances
(unless the funding source is a restricted account that
requires Contracts & Grants approval-this step is
automatically built into the UGAMart approvals
workflow.) If Contracts & Grants approval is required,
the requisition will flow to Procurement or generate a
purchase order after Contracts & Grants approval is
obtained.
Purchase Requisitions
When Procurement processes a requisition, a purchase order is
generated. The purchase order has an identifying number that
will begin with “E.” Funding for a purchase order is obligated or
encumbered. An encumbrance sets the money for the order aside
from your account’s free balance. The money is held until the
goods/services are received and payment is issued. On your
status report, these obligations will show under the encumbrance
section and will begin with a “PE.”
Purchase Requisitions
• The money obligated for a purchase order will remain
encumbered until a payment is processed for the order or until
action is taken by Procurement to relieve the encumbrance.
• If the end of the fiscal year comes and money is still
encumbered for a purchase order on an unrestricted account,
the money will roll into “Liability.” When a PO is transferred
into the liability account, a JV will appear on your final fiscal
year end account status report. Once that JV is completed, this
encumbrance will no longer show on your status report. That
does not mean the encumbrance has been paid.
Liability
Life Cycle of a Purchase Order Payment
Purchase
requisition is
initiated in
UGAMart
AP
receives
invoice &
enters in
UGAMart
UGAMart
checks for
match
Purchase requisition flows
along the approval path
established for department
Funds are
encumbered in
Financial
Accounting
System
Procurement
Review/Action
PO Issued
Matching Exceptions (no two or threeway match, quantities/amounts outside of
tolerances).
Payment flows into Batch Entry
Travel &
Encumbrances
Contracts &
Grants Review
(only certain object
codes)
• Object codes are how we classify expenditures at UGA.
• Object codes allow us to report taxable payments to the
IRS.
• Object codes allow us to report travel expenditures on the
continuous audit for the State.
• Object codes allow UGA to query spending information
for open records requests and inquiries from the Board of
Regents and other various entities.
Object Codes
• 71400-Cleaning items, food, educational items, single book
(not part of a set)
• 71410-General Office Supplies: Toner, Pens, Copy Paper, File
Folders
• 71430-Laboratory/Research Supplies & Materials: Beakers,
test tubes, chemicals, medical/hospital supplies like gloves
• 71500-Maintenance
• 74300-Non-Inventoried Equipment with costs $100-$2999.99:
Furniture, file cabinets
• 74306-Computer & Peripherals with costs $100-$499.99:
Monitors, computers
Common Object Codes for
Purchase Requisitions
• 74328-Computer and Computer Peripherals with costs
$500.00-$4,999.99
• 74308-Equipment with costs of $3000-$4,999.99:
Furniture, freezers
• 74318-Electronic audio/visual equipment and
photographic apparatus costing $500.00-$4,999.99
More common object
codes for Purchase
Requisitions
• 84320-Equipment purchases for items over $5000.00
• 84326-Computer and computer peripherals with a cost of
more than $5000.00 (servers, etc)
More common object
codes for Purchase
Requisitions
• The second purchasing method that routes through Travel &
Encumbrances is the check request.
• Check requests are reviewed to make sure the correct object code has
been assigned.
• Check requests are generated to cover an expenditure that was
established on a “charge” basis with the vendor or to reimburse an
individual for funds expended.
• Encumbrances are not generated from check request expenditures.
• Procurement also reviews all CR’s:
• CR’s over $10,000.00
• CR’s for services of $2500.00 or more
• Reimbursements to individuals that include reimbursement for an
item over $99.99 (travel excluded). Typically, items with a value of
$100 should be procured via a purchase request.
Check Requests
Life Cycle of a Check Request Payment
Check request flows
along approval path
established for
account or dept
Campus user initiates
check request in eCheck
system
International Tax
Coordinator
Review
Item >
$99.99
Procurement
Individuals
Instate
Travel
Foreign
Payee
Contracts &
Grants
Travel &
Encumbrances
Payments to
Individuals
Out-ofState
Travel
Restricted
accounts
Payments to
Companies
Petty Cash &
Registrations
Batch Entry
CR >
$10,000
Vendors
A-L
Procurement
Vendors
M-Z
• 71430-Laboratory/Research Supplies
• 71500-Repairs
• 72712-Conference & Workshop expenses (expenditures
in connection with holding a conference/workshop.)
Examples would be room rental, audio visual charges
• 72714-Guest/Visitor travel: Travel for individuals not
employed by UGA or receiving a fee for services
rendered associated with the trip. Examples include
prospective employee travel, speaker travel expenses
when the speaker is not receiving a fee/payment.
Common Check Request
Object Codes
• 72722-Dues & Memberships. Requests for payment
should be accompanied by a letter of justification
approved by the Department Head/Director and the
cognizant Dean or Vice President or Senior Vice
President.
• 72723-Subscriptions
• 72725-Registration Fees
• 72732-Freight or Express Shipments: All payments to
UPS and FedEx
Common Check Request
Object Codes
• 72752-Tests & Analysis
• 72760-Other Services: Examples include photographer,
musician, proofreader, catering services. These can be
individuals or companies.
• 72763-Research Participant
• 74200-Printing: Bel-Jean, FedEx Kinkos
• 74201-Advertising
• 74203-Advertising-Job Postings
Common Check Request
Object Codes
• 75210-Reimbursable expenses for non-employees that
did receive a fee for professional services (architect,
electrician, doctor,etc) associated with their trip.
Examples would be lodging and meal expenses for a
guest speaker that received $500 for giving a lecture. His
meal and lodging expense would be coded 75210.
• 75215-Mileage reimbursement for non-employees that
received a fee for services rendered.
Common Check Request
Object Codes
• 76910-Internet Service & Pager Service
• 76930-Land Lines, Long Distance Charges, Two way
radios
• 76932-Cellular charges
Common Check Request
Object Codes
Check Writing Process
Check Request Batches from
Batch Entry
Purchase Order Payments from
Batch Entry
Batch Jobs Process
Check File Produced (combining
same vendor remit to addresses)
AP prints checks
• Once a purchase requisition is processed by Procurement
and a purchase order has been created and encumbered,
the next step will be payment to the vendor.
• PO Payment Section Responsibilities:
Match/Review/Approve invoices for payment within
UGAMart.
• Review outstanding encumbrances and initiate inquiries
to determine if purchase order should remain open or be
closed.
Purchase Order Payment
Section
Hall Gibson, Supervisor
• If your purchase order is set up to be delivered to Central
Receiving, you DO NOT have to complete a receiving report.
• If your purchase order is set up to be delivered direct to your
department:
• A receiving report is not required for AP to make payment to the
vendor on orders $2499.99 or less THAT PROCURE GOODS
ONLY.
• For orders that total $2500.00 or more, a receiving report is
required for payment to be processed.
• For ANY order REGARDLESS OF DOLLAR VALUE that
procures SERVICES, a receiving report is required. These will be
purchase orders with the object code of 72760 or an object code
that begins with 75.
When to Create a Receipt
• Demo
http://www.busfin.uga.edu/ugamart/UGAmart%20guide
%20to%20Receiving_Final%20Feb%202012.htm
How to Create a Receiving
Report in UGAMart
• The comment feature in UGAMart is essential. This
feature allows all communication to be documented and it
is effective for correspondence when utilized correctly.
• Comments feature can be utilized to send Accounts
Payable copies of invoices that have been received by the
end user department (sometimes invoices are included
with shipments.)
• Comments feature can be utilized to correspond about PO
balances, revisions needed,etc.
Comments
• When using the comment feature, you have to indicate a
recipient. You have the ability to assign multiple
recipients to your message.
Comments
•
•
•
•
•
A-F: Kyunghee “Brooke” Farmer (kbfarmer@uga.edu)
G-M: Kendra Hull (kendra28@uga.edu)
N-R: Jing He (jihe@uga.edu)
S-Z: Joseph Segars (josephs@uga.edu)
Airgas, Apple, Bio-Rad, Dell, Sigma-Aldrich, Canon,
Gordon Documents, Ikon/Ricoh, Sharp, Docuteam,
Xerox : Marilyn Smith (marilyns@uga.edu)
Who handles which
vendors?
• Review/Audit check requests payable to individuals,
research participants, travelers, petty cash custodians, and
companies.
• Verify correct approvals have been obtained, proper
invoices and other applicable documentation is attached.
• Cancel and reissues checks.
• Process ACH and Wire Transfers
Check Request
Processing Section
Patricia Sims, Supervisor
Payments to
Individuals
• Effective January 2013, the eCheck/eTravel System no
longer uses social security numbers.
• Rather than using SSNs as identifiers, each record is
identified by a unique vendor number (VN) maintained
within the Unified Vendor Database.
• VN’s will only be used within procurement and payables
processes.
SSN Removal
UGA must comply with Federal tax and immigration
regulations when processing payments to foreign nationals.
• Phone: (706) 583-8193
• Fax: (706) 542-6779
• Email: susanc@uga.edu
• Website: www.busfin.uga.edu/payroll/itc/index.html
International Tax
Coordinator,
Susan Caldwell
• Refunds for money paid into a revenue account. Example
would be a non-employee that paid for a registration to a
conference that UGA was hosting. If the attendee had to
cancel and we needed to refund their registration money,
this would be a refund. Refund object codes should begin
with 4. There is no supporting documentation required to
accompany the check request. Adequate description of the
expense should be detailed in the description section of
the check request.
Types of Payments to Individuals:
Refunds
• To reimburse an individual for a purchase made on behalf
of the University. Receipts are required to document the
expense and any purchase for an item over $99.99
requires Procurement review and approval. An example
would be an employee that purchases ziploc bags to be
used in a research lab. AP would require a check request
with the receipt from where the ziplocs were purchased as
supporting documentation. Adequate description of the
charge should be detailed in the description section of the
check request.
Types of Payments to Individuals:
Cash Reimbursements
• On occasion, an employee will pay for university related
entertainment charges/meals (activities that support the
underlying University purpose such as promoting good
will, donor cultivation, etc.) and seek reimbursement.
Alcohol cannot be purchased using a University account.
These check requests for reimbursement should be
accompanied by a completed University Related Business
Entertainment Form and an itemized receipt. Utilize the
Food Reference Chart in the Finance and Administration
Policies and Procedures to determine appropriate funding
sources. Object code should be 71401.
Types of Payments to Individuals:
Entertainment Charges
• A honoraria is a payment to a non-employee in
recognition of acts, awards, or fees and/or expenses for
services rendered to the university.
• Examples include guest lecturers, consultants (for
agreements under $10,000), and reimbursable travel
expenses
• Honoraria form must contain original signature of
recipient if there is not an invoice to accompany the
request. Date of service(s), current address, and social
security number must be included on the form.
Types of Payments to Individuals:
Honoraria Payments
• Classified into two groups. Payments $100 and under and payments over $100.
Payments $100 or under do not require collection of the individuals social
security number. Payments over $100 do require the participants social to be
collected and provided to Accounts Payable.
• Research Participant Payment forms should accompany the check request.
•
•
Payments $100 and under:
http://www.busfin.uga.edu/forms/Research_Participant_Receipt_under.pdf
Payments over $100:
http://www.busfin.uga.edu/forms/Research_Participant_Receipt_over.pdf
• Research Participant Incentive Payment Procedure:
http://www.policies.uga.edu/FA/nodes/view/866
• Research participant payments should utilize the object code 72763 regardless of
dollar value.
Types of Payments to Individuals:
Research Participants
• Federal student aid regulations require all educationallyrelated financial assistance which UGA students
(undergraduate and graduate) receive to be considered
and reflected on their financial aid awards.
Educationally-related financial assistance includes any
benefits provided to students because of their enrollment
in post secondary education such as grants, scholarships,
waivers of tuition and/or fees, fellowships, assistantships,
stipends, and awards. These payments must be processed
through the Office of Student Financial Aid.
Payments to Students
Payments to
Companies
• Original invoices should accompany check requests to
support the expenditure. Invoices should be readable.
Proforma invoices are not acceptable.
• UGA will remit payment to the company’s legal business
name.
Vendor Payments
• For International Payments Only
•
•
•
•
•
Bank name & address
Account number
Account name
Swift code or ABA#
Type of currency (foreign or US Dollars)
Wire Transfers
• The IRS dictates that if an individual is performing work for
UGA that is defined as an employee/employer relationship,
UGA must pay that person through Payroll and withhold the
proper taxes.
• Decision Tree:
http://www.busfin.uga.edu/forms/Emp_Indep_Contractor.pdf
• Call Payroll or Accounts Payable if you need assistance with
making the decision.
• If the individual has been employed at UGA before and is
performing services that can relate back to the prior position,
more than likely the individual will have to be paid through
Payroll.
Employee/Independent
Contractor
• Reference Chart for Food Purchases:
http://www.busfin.uga.edu/accounts_payable/Food_Entertainm
ent.pdf
• Policy for Purchasing Food and Business Related
Entertainment:
http://www.policies.uga.edu/FA/nodes/view/1052/Food-andBusiness-Related-Entertainment
• Elena Williams (lenadroz@uga.edu) reviews all food purchases
for compliance with the policy.
Food Purchases
Travel
http://www.busfin.uga.edu/accounts_payable/t
ravel.html
• Travel policy must be adhered to by both employees
AND non-employees (this is part of our accountable plan
that keeps travel non-taxable)
• Policy is located at:
http://www.policies.uga.edu/FA/nodes/view/989/Employe
e-Travel-Effective-July-1-2014
• Expenses must be filed for reimbursement within 45 days
from the conclusion of the trip or they are subject to
becoming taxable income.
Travel Policy
• State Accounting Office and the Office of Planning and
Budget are responsible for establishing the Statewide
Travel Regulations. This responsibility was assigned to
these organizations through House Bill 293, which was
passed into law during the 2005 legislative session.
Who governs Travel?
• Travel more than 50 miles from the state line of Georgia
is considered out-of-state travel and requires a travel
authorization (travel authority) to be submitted to the
Travel & Encumbrances office prior to the trip taking
place. International travel also requires the approval of
the Office of International Education. Programming has
been established in the electronic check request system to
obtain OIE approval when applicable.
Instate or Out-Of-State
Travel?
• Travel authorizations are required for out-of-state travel.
This authorization provides the University with
documentation that this is a pre-approved business trip.
The travel authorization (commonly referred to as a TA)
also allows funding to be encumbered or obligated from
an account. The encumbrance removes the funding from
the free balance of the account as it becomes obligated to
reimburse the traveler’s expenses upon return.
• On a status report, travel encumbrances for employees
will start with a T followed by 7 numeric digits.
Travel Authorities
• Travel authorities can also be submitted for nonemployees but only for the amount of airfare that is
being direct billed to UGA by one of UGA’s preferred
travel agencies. All other non-employee expenses must
be handled through the reimbursement process via
honoraria.
• On a status report, travel encumbrances for nonemployees will start with a H followed by 7 numeric
digits.
Travel Authorities
• Object code 64100-All domestic travel expenses except
for mileage.
• Object code 64150-Mileage only! No parking, etc.
• When initiating a check request for a travel
reimbursement within the eCheck system, amounts for
mileage should be separated and entered as a second line
on the account breakdown page in the e check system.
• Departure and return times must be documented on the
travel expense statement! This verifies the length of the
trip for meal eligibility (for instate travel.)
Instate Travel for
Employees
• Instate meal per diems remain at $28/day (non-high cost
areas) and $36/day (high cost areas). For non-overnight
trips, travelers are allowed to receive 100% of the
allowable per diem if the travel is more than 50 miles
from home and headquarters and the traveler is on travel
status for more than 12 hours.
• For overnight trips within Georgia, travelers are allowed
to receive 75% of the allowable per diem on the day of
departure and day of return.
Instate meal per diems
• Chatham, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton, Glynn, and Richmond
Counties. The daily per diem rate for high cost areas in
Georgia is $36.
• If there is no overnight lodging associated with the trip
but the traveler is on travel status for more than 12 hours,
the traveler is eligible for the full $36 per diem.
• If overnight lodging is involved, the traveler is eligible
for 75% ($27) of the per diem on day of departure and
day of return.
High Cost Areas in
Georgia
• UGA employee leaves Athens at 8:15 and travels to
Dahlonega, GA for work. The employee returns to the
Athens campus at 4:30 the same day.
• Employee is not eligible to be paid a per diem since he/she
was not traveling 12 or more hours.
• UGA employee leaves Athens at 10:00am and travels to
Hinesville, GA. Employee returns home the same day at
10:45pm.
• The employee is eligible to be reimbursed for the full $28
meal per diem (traveled 50+ miles and gone for 12+ hours).
Examples
• Employees traveling outside of Georgia may receive meal per
diem amounts up to the federal per diem rates EXCLUDING
the incidental expenses amount. GSA site for per diems is:
http://www.gsa.gov/portal/category/21287
• Employees traveling overnight are generally eligible for per
diem amounts designed to cover all days on travel status other
than the day of departure and day of return. Employees are
only eligible for 75% of the allowable per diem on the day of
departure and day of return. The 75% amount can be located
by viewing the meals and incidental expenses breakdown on
the GSA site.
Meal Expenses Associated with
Travel Outside of Georgia-EFFECTIVE
7/1/13
• Employee leaves from Athens on a Saturday. She flies from
Atlanta to Boston, MA. The traveler is in Boston on Sunday,
Monday, and Tuesday and returns to Athens on Wednesday.
The meals and incidental expenses daily rate for Boston is $71.
• The incidental expenses rate of $5 must be deducted, leaving the
meals total at $66.
• The traveler is eligible for $66 on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.
• Saturday and Wednesday, the traveler is eligible for 75% of the
allowable rate. This would equate to $49.50.
• Total is computed $49.50 + $66 + $66 + $66 + $49.50= $297.
Example
• Employees who travel more than 50 miles from their
home/office/residence/and headquarters may be
reimbursed for lodging expenses associated with
overnight travel. All lodging claims must be documented
by receipts and must be at a business that offers lodging
to the general public.
• Travelers should choose the least expensive option based
on safety and proximity to the location of business.
Lodging
Incidental expenses are to be included for international
travel. The incidental expense allowance should be
documented on the travel expense statement under the
column titled “Incidental Expenses International Travel
Only.” Incidental expenses include fees and tips given to
porters, baggage carriers, hotel staff and staff on ships.
Foreign Travel
• Should not be charged county, municipal, or occupancy
tax on lodging in Georgia.
• Employees are required to submit a copy of the
hotel/motel tax exemption form when they register at a
hotel. It is located at:
http://www.busfin.uga.edu/forms/excise_exempt.pdf.
• Employees are required to pay state/local sales and use
taxes.
• If lodging charges are direct billed to UGA, there should
be no taxes charged.
Taxes Associated with
Lodging
• When it is determined that a personal motor vehicle is the most
advantageous form of travel, the employee will be reimbursed
for business miles at $.56 (effective for travel on or after
1/1/14) per mile.
• If a government owned vehicle or a rental vehicle is
determined to be the most advantageous mode of travel, but a
personal motor vehicle is used, the employee will be
reimbursed at $.235 (effective for travel on or after 1/1/14) per
mile.
• Actual odometer readings are not reported on the travel
expense statement. To calculate mileage, travelers can use
MapQuest, Google Maps, GPS devices, or personal odometer
readings, whichever is most appropriate for the circumstances.
Mileage Reimbursements
• Employees may be reimbursed for the mileage incurred
from the point of departure to the travel destination. If an
employee departs from headquarters, mileage is
calculated from headquarters to the destination point. If
the employee departs from his/her residence, mileage is
calculated from the residence to the destination point,
with a reduction for normal one-way commute miles.
The same rules apply for the return trip.
Business Miles Traveled
• The initial point of departure is on the weekend or a
holiday.
• If an employee does not regularly travel to an office
outside of their residence, the requirement to deduct
normal commute miles does not apply.
Exceptions to Deducting
Normal Commute Miles
• Employees may also be reimbursed for business miles
traveled as follows:
• Miles traveled to pick up additional passengers
• Miles traveled to obtain meals for which employee is
eligible for reimbursement.
• Miles traveled to multiple work sites
Business Miles Traveled
• Ex. 1: Employee resides in Duluth, works in Athens.
Normal commute mileage is 60 miles roundtrip. The
employee leaves in the morning from her house to go to a
meeting in Gwinnett and returns to her residence after the
meeting. Total distance traveled is 30 miles.
• Since the employee would normally travel 60 miles in her
daily commute, the State does not reimburse her for mileage
since her business traveled miles are less than her normal
commute miles.
Examples of Business
Miles Traveled
• Ex. 2. Employee drives from home in Jefferson to his
UGA office. At 10:00 am, he leaves campus and drives
to a meeting at Georgia Tech. After the meeting
concludes at Tech, he returns to his residence.
• The trip between Jefferson and UGA is personal commuting
and not reimbursed. The travel from UGA to Tech and the
return trip to the residence is reimbursed, less the amount
equal to the normal one way commute miles (What he
normally would have traveled from UGA to Jefferson for
his return trip home.)
Examples cont.
• Airfare can be direct billed to UGA using one of UGA’s authorized
travel agencies.
• In general, it is the State policy that state officials or employees
traveling by commercial air carrier travel in the most cost-effective
manner and utilize the lowest possible coach fares.
• Employees will not be reimbursed for the portion of non-coach (first
class, business class, etc) airfare that exceeds the cost of the lowest,
available airfare on the same flight unless:
• No other space on the needed flight
• Licensed medical practitioner certifies that because of a person’s
mental or physical condition specific air travel arrangements are
required
• Commissioner of Public Safety certifies that specific air travel
arrangements are necessary for security reason.
Air Transportation
• Requires that when traveling on federal funds, international flights
should be US flag carriers when available. The Fly America Act is
available at http://www.tvlon.com/resources/FlyAct.html
• Compliance with the Fly America Act is satisfied when the US flag
carrier’s designator code is present in the area next to the flight
numbers on the airline ticket, boarding pass, or on the e-ticket.
• What does this mean to you? If you are traveling internationally on
federal funds, you must ensure your flight is scheduled on a US flag
carrier or on a foreign air carrier that code shares with a US flag air
carrier.
• More info on our travel site:
http://www.busfin.uga.edu/accounts_payable/fly_america.html
Fly America Act
• Employees may use frequent flyer miles or similar
programs to upgrade to non-coach travel. Nothing in our
policy precludes an employee from personally paying for
an upgrade to non-coach travel.
• Travelers can upgrade to business class for international
flights. Pre-trip approval for the additional expense is
required.
Upgrades to Non-Coach
Travel
• For all airport (Including Hartsfield-Jackson) & inter-state
rentals: Mandatory contract with Hertz.
• Regular instate travel: Mandatory contract is with cosuppliers, Hertz and Enterprise. Travelers can use either
vendor as long as the travel originates in Georgia.
• Employees traveling on State business in a rented motor
vehicle are covered by the State’s liability policy; therefore,
liability coverage should be declined when renting a motor
vehicle. Loss Damage Waiver/Collision Damage Waiver
insurance is included in the statewide contract at no additional
cost.
Rental of Motor Vehicles
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Laundry Services (when trip is under 7 days)
Tipping for maid services
Valet services when self parking is available
Theater
Entertainment
Alcoholic Beverages
Bank charges for domestic ATM withdrawls.
Unallowable Expenses
• Employees should submit their requests for
reimbursement of travel expenses via a signed and
approved travel expense form at
https://emer.uosp.uga.edu/accounts_payable/travel_expen
se_login.cfm
• Travel expense form and required receipts should be
attached to an electronic check request.
• For out of state travel, make sure to reference the travel
authorization in the appropriate field on the e check
request.
Required Documentation
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Meals purchased in lieu of those provided at conference/training (does not apply to normal
per diem allowances-only when at a conference and a meal is provided and the traveler does
not participate but goes somewhere else to purchase a meal.)
Lodging
Airfare
Automobile Rental
Gas for Auto Rental
Supplies
Registration Fees
Laundry Services (when trip exceeds 7 days)
Visa/Passport Fees (HAVE TO BE PROCESSED REFERENCING A VALID TRAVEL
AUTHORITY NUMBER)
Travel reimbursement requests should be filed within 45 days from conclusion of the trip.
Reimbursement requests over 45 days can be classified as taxable income.
Required Receipts
• Value Added Tax (VAT) is a national sales tax that is
levied by many countries around the world. Most
business/official related expenses including travel
expenses, do qualify for VAT refund.
• UGA uses Universal VAT Services to recover allowable
Value Added Tax commonly charged on expenses
associated with traveling abroad.
• Original invoices are required to be submitted to
Universal VAT Services for VAT reclamation.
VAT Taxes
• Departments should print the VAT cover sheet at
http://www.busfin.uga.edu/accounts_payable/vat_coversheet.p
df for directions on submitting invoices to UVS.
• Possibilities: Travel receipts, invoices for travel that are being
wired, p-card travel expenses.
• More info on the UGA Travel Site:
http://www.busfin.uga.edu/accounts_payable/vattax.html
VAT Taxes Continued
• http://www.busfin.uga.edu/accounts_payable/travel.html
• Travel website has info on parking options for ATL
airport
• Pocket guide for employee travel:
http://www.busfin.uga.edu/accounts_payable/Pocket_Tra
vel_Guide.pdf
Travel Website
• Supervisor: Patricia Sims (pasims@uga.edu)
• Out-of-state travel reimbursements: Westley Bargo
(wbargo1@uga.edu)
• Instate travel reimbursements: Scott Bonifield
(scottb9@uga.edu)
Who handles travel
processing?
Group Travel
• Group travel exists when a third party is being paid for
travel expenses of an EMPLOYEE on official UGA
business. The documentation required to process group
travel provides the Accounts Payable and Accounting
departments with the necessary information to complete
the reporting requirements of the State.
• Non-employees should not be handled as group travel.
• Reference Chart of Required Documentation:
http://www.busfin.uga.edu/accounts_payable/group_trave
l.pdf
Group Travel
• Master travel expense statement no longer required.
• REQUIREMENTS: Check request, Invoice, Completion
of the Travel Distribution section of the eCheck system
when travel is for UGA employee(s).
More Group Travel
• These expenses have the potential for negative press if
proper policy & procedure is not adhered to.
• For questions about relocation, contact Mark Kent
(mkent@uga.edu) in Accounts Payable
Relocation Expenses
• AP Website:
http://www.busfin.uga.edu/accounts_payable/ (Contains
“Online Demos” section)
• Contact list of who does what:
http://www.busfin.uga.edu/accounts_payable/apstaff.htm
• Accounts Payable Office:
• Phone: 706-542-2786
Contact Us!