Policy: 302-Travel Advances including e-Reimbursement Travel Authorizations and Cash Advances
Date: 03/30/06
Updated to e-Reimbursement: 05/29/2009

Statement of Policy:

There are a number of ways for travelers to avoid having to pay out of pocket expenses without the added paperwork and monitoring of advance payments for travel. Options for paying travel expenses are using the My Corporate Card, travel authorized UW Madison Purchasing Cards, and personal forms of payment (cash, personal credit cards). These methods will provide payment for most of the expenses encountered by travelers. Therefore, the following policy applies:

  1. Staff who travel should apply for and use the My Corporate Card or their personal credit card for lodging, meals, rental cars, and other reimbursable travel expenses. Travelers using e‑Reimbursement may have payments made directly to their My Corporate Card account on their expense report.
  2. Airfare must be booked using My Corporate Card, a departmental Purchasing Card, or by using a personal form of payment and then filing for reimbursement. Registration fees can be paid by methods noted above or as a direct payment to the vendor. Requests for advances, which include airfare and registration, will not be approved.
  3. Advance payments for travel are available under the special conditions listed below. The Divisional offices have the authority to determine if these conditions are met and approve the advance payment for travel. The minimum amount of a request for an advance payment for travel is $100 unless covered under one of the bargaining agreements noted below. Once approved by the Divisional representative, the advance payment for travel will be processed without further examination of the need if:
    • The employee does not qualify for the My Corporate Card.
    • The employee is covered by one of the union contracts requiring the availability of advance payments for travel for their members (e.g., WSEU, WPEC, and Nurses contracts).
    • The employee is traveling for an extended period of time (ten days or more).
    • The employee is traveling to a remote destination (where credit cards are not accepted).
    • The advance is necessary to cover incidental travel costs and supplies not covered by a My Corporate Card or personal credit card.
    • It is not possible to make a cash withdrawal when using the My Corporate Card.
    • Approved moving expenses are to be reimbursed and the employee/incoming employee is encumbered on payroll.
    • There are other extenuating circumstances approved by the Divisional office.
    • The employee is requesting advance payments for travel when accompanying or responsible for group/team travel. When claiming expenses for group/team travel, refer to 301 Cash Advances. When claiming expenses for group/team travel in e‑Reimbursement, use the Travel Authorization/Cash Advance process.
  4. Travelers must account for advance payments for travel within 30 days of the end of the trip.
    • When using a paper TER:
      • Travel Expense Reports on funds 133 must be sent to Research and Sponsored Programs prior to audit and payment processing. Please allow time for this step when meeting deadlines.
      • Accounting Services will send one email reminder to the Divisional office, with a copy to the traveler, regarding accounting for a travel advance.
      • Accounting Services will not attempt to contact the traveler or Divisional office the day before initiating a payroll deduction for delinquent travel advances.
    • When using e-Reimbursement:
      • The Approver oversees that cash advances are accounted for within 30 days of trip completion. When required, submits employee checks to the approver to reconcile the advance when funds are due back to the University.
      • The Auditor reconciles e-Reimbursement cash advances where funds were due back to the University.
  5. When using e-Reimbursement, a traveler may only have one outstanding Travel Authorization/Cash Advance at one time unless there are extenuating documented circumstances.
  6. For a new employee/hire who has not yet been encumbered on payroll, and is requesting an advance to assist in relocation expenses, use the paper travel advance process. Subsequently, a paper TER will need to be submitted to account for the advance.
  7. The following are not eligible for advance payments for travel:
    • A current employee with an appointment end date prior to the repayment due date of the cash advance unless the Divisional office provides in writing that an appointment extension is going to be done in the future.
    • Non-employees
    • Emeritus professors who no longer receive a UW salary
    • Hourly students
    • UG Scholars
    • LTE’s (Limited Term Employee)
    • Individual UW employees on leave without pay
    • Employees who are paid by agencies other than UW-Madison payroll (e.g., USDA)

Related Procedure(s):

302-Travel Advances

Related Procedures for e-Reimbursement Users:

Activating/Deactivating an Account for Cash Advances | Create a Travel Authorization/Cash Advance | Payment and Reconciliation

Travel Authorizations/Cash Advances (TA/CA) are created for two purposes:

  1. Some departments/divisions use Travel Authorizations (TA) for pre-travel approval. This may be for budgetary, Principal Investigator approval and other reasons. Your department/division will communicate any Travel Authorization requirements to you.
  2. A Travel Authorization must always be created when requesting a Cash Advance (CA). When a Authorization is used to obtain a Cash Advance, it is referred to as a Travel Authorization/Cash Advance (TA/CA).

Travel Authorizations and Travel Authorization/Cash Advances must be submitted and fully approved prior to the date of travel or they can not be used. After the Travel Authorization or Travel Authorization/Cash Advance has been approved and the date(s) of travel indicated on the TA or TA/CA has passed, the traveler will be prompted to create their expense report from the TA or CA. Using the linked TA/CA will streamline expense entry and will close out the TA/CA.

Note: The e-Reimbursement Travel Authorization is not a replacement or substitute for the Out of State Travel Approval Request instructions and form currently required for GPR funded out-of-state travel.

Activating/Deactivating an Account for Cash Advances

In order to obtain a cash advance the individual must be approved/activated by the Divisional office. Employees approved by the Divisional office as being eligible to receive cash advances in e-Reimbursement must have their account activated using the Cash Advance Activation Request Form.

The Divisional office is responsible for contacting Accounting Services via the Cash Advance Activation Request Form to activate an individual for cash advances.  Allow a minimum of three business days before the traveler submits a Travel Authorization/Cash Advance for the account to be activated. The activation request is e-mailed to Accounting Services at BusCashAdv@bussvc.wisc.edu and the traveler's e‑Reimbursement account will be enabled for a Travel Authorization/Cash Advance.

There will be occasions when the Division would like to remove access to cash advances for employees (e.g., change positions, etc).  In this case, the Division should notify Accounting Services using the Cash Advance Activation Request Form and provide the effective date of deactivation. 

Create a Travel Authorization/Cash Advance

To create a travel authorization click on Employee Self-Service, Travel and Expense Center, Travel Authorization, Create.
Create TA

After entering the required information and anticipated expenses, click submit. The traveler will be prompted for a Cash Advance if their e‑Reimbursement account has been activated for cash advances when the Travel Authorization is submitted. If a Cash Advance is desired, the Traveler should click "Yes" when prompted for the Cash Advance.

CA prompt

Note: There is no opportunity to add a Cash Advance to a Travel Authorization once the TA has been submitted and when "No" is selected at the Cash Advance prompt. Travelers who have not been activated for Cash Advances will not see the prompt asking if they want to receive a Cash Advance.

A Travel Authorization and Cash Advance ID will be assigned.

TACA details

Payment and Reconciliation

  1. Payment of the advance will be made via direct deposit into the same account as the individual's payroll check without exception.
  2. When creating the Expense Report after travel has occurred, the traveler is alerted that an outstanding cash advance exists. Always create the expense report by using the cash advance link indicated in the alert. When using this cash advance link, the expense report entry is streamlined because it includes prepopulated expenses created when the cash advance was requested. Using the linked TA/CA will also close out the TA/CA.

    Create ER from TA/CA

  3. The traveler receives several alerts when the expense report is submitted if expenses are less than the outstanding cash advance.

    A submit confirmation is displayed after the expense report is submitted. The confirmation illustrated below indicates that the traveler owes the University $50.00.

    CA due University

    An example of the warning screen when an expense report is submitted and the expenses are less than the outstanding cash advance.

    CA due University warning
  4. When the traveler does not spend the entire cash advance, it is the traveler's responsibility to submit a check payable to UW-Madison for the outstanding balance when the expense report is submitted along with the receipt packet.  
  5. The Approver forwards the check to the Auditor for reconciliation.
  6. The Auditor approves the expense report.
  7. After approving the expense report, the Auditor records the refund in e-Reimbursement. The navigation is: Travel and Expenses > Manage Accounting > Reconcile Cash Advances. Enter the check number and amount of the check, then click “Save for Later”. This will change the status of the cash advance to “reconciled” and it also creates some accounting entries. 
  8. The check is submitted for deposit using a Vendor Refund Form. The Vendor Refund Form should be coded as a credit to account 6241 for the deposit and the debit will be to 6100 cash. Enter the Cash Advance and Expense Report numbers in the “Inv No” field; e.g., CA###/ER####.

Who should know this policy?

Deans, Directors, employees who travel and staff who prepare travel reimbursements

Related Documents:

Contacts:

Divisional business offices may e-mail uwtravel@bussvc.wisc.edu with questions.

Travelers and departmental staff should contact their respective Divisional business office for policy or procedural questions.

Policy and Procedure Index


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