ATS FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q: What is the purpose of the ATS Project?
Q: How will the ATS Project accomplish its purpose?
Q. What is the purpose of the ATS Project?
A. To streamline travel reimbursement processes, simplify policy and business processes, and expedite reimbursements. (Back to top)
Q. How will the ATS Project accomplish its purpose?
A. In combination with improved business processes, the ATS project will implement paperless transaction approval and processing by utilizing Workflow functionality in People Soft's Expense Management Module. (Back to top)
Q. What roles are there in ATS?
Q. Who is responsible for completing the expense report?
Q. What are the responsibilities of an alternate?
Q. What are the responsibilities of the Approver and Auditor roles?
Q. How are responsibilities divided among the Approver and Auditor?
Q. What roles are there in ATS?
A. There are four primary roles that ATS uses to identify the user. Those roles are traveler, alternate (someone who prepares reimbursements for another user), approver, and auditor. Every Department Id on campus will have a primary approver, primary auditor and backups to these roles. At base, everyone having access to ATS is presumed to be a traveler. Other role assignments are centrally maintained and controlled by security settings. (Back to top)
Q. Who is responsible for completing the expense report?
A. Travelers are responsible for submitting timely claims, knowing travel policy and procedures, obtaining any necessary prior approvals, and are accountable for travel claims being in compliance and properly documented. Although ATS is designed to be a self-service application, travelers may authorize an alternate to PREPARE an expense report subject to the alternate's workload priorities and department policy. If a traveler chooses to use an alternate to prepare their expense report the traveler is responsible for proving timely and accurate information to the alternate. Travelers must log in, APPROVE, and SUBMIT their own expense reports as ATS prevents an alternate from approving and submitting an expense report prepared for someone else. (Back to top)
Q. What are the responsibilities of an alternate?
A. Alternates may be authorized by employee travelers to prepare and save travel authorizations, cash advances and expense reports. Alternates may not submit for approval travel authorizations, cash advances or expense reports on behalf of employee travelers. Alternates are responsible for the accurate preparation of expense reports, according to information provided by the traveler.
As a service to non-employees, alternates are responsible for preparation and submission of all non-employee reimbursements. For these claims, alternates are responsible for communicating relevant travel policy and procedures to non-employees prior to the trip, encouraging timely claims, ensuring receipts/documentation is received and proper, preparing receipt envelopes, knowing travel policy and procedures, funding sources and budget limitations and obtaining any necessary prior authorizations if needed. In addition, alternates are responsible for requesting an ATS profile and user ID for any non-employee for whom they need to claim travel expenses. (Back to top)
Q. What are the responsibilities of the approver and auditor roles?
A. Approvers and auditors are primarily responsible for receiving and retaining receipts and supporting documentation along with pre or post audit of expenditures when necessary, ensuring requests or claims are business related, within policy and spending limits and fit the mission of the UW, funding is available and accurate, and all approvals are done. Additionally, the Auditor role will be responsible for running the funding edit check and correcting any errors prior to final approving any reimbursement request. (Back to top)
Q. How are responsibilities divided among the approver and auditor?
A. The approver and auditor role assignments may be at the Department or Division level and the duties may be divided according to each department's/division's needs. The approver and auditor may be the same person however ATS prevents approvers and auditors from approving or auditing their own expense reports, these will be approved by backup roles.(Back to top)
Handling and Retention of Receipts
Q. If ATS is paperless, how will we handle receipts and other supporting attachments?
Q. What are the new receipt requirements?
Q. If ATS is paperless, how will we handle receipts and other supporting attachments?
A. Receipts will be kept at the local level and affixed to a receipt page printed from ATS. The receipt page has the transaction ID printed on it. The receipts and documentation will be stored in provided envelopes that will be labeled with the corresponding ATS assigned transaction ID. The approver must confirm that receipts have been received (if necessary) before reviewing any ER. Receipts will be retained by the primary Approver or Auditor for each department depending on how each Division wants to approach retention. (Back to top)
Q. What are the new receipt requirements?
Receipt Requirements |
|
|---|---|
No receipt required: |
mileage, relocation stipend |
Meals (all meal expense types): |
when over limit for destination (with justification) |
All other expense types: |
over $25 |
Q. For what transactions will I use ATS?
Q. For what transactions will I use ATS?
A. ATS will be used for all employee and non-employee reimbursements, travel-related cash advances, and pre-trip authorization for areas that require pre-trip approvals. ATS will not be used for fees for service, support payments, or payments to vendors. (Back to top)
Q. How will I have access to ATS?
Q. How will I log in to ATS?
Q. How will I have access to ATS?
A. Each employee will be set up in ATS ahead of implementation. ATS has a profile for each user. The profile is updated daily with information from various UW sub-systems, like IAA and payroll. Employees are identified in ATS by their UW Employee ID. Other information that we collect about you is your mailing address, phone number, primary email address and funding string from your primary appointment in payroll.
There will be a web-based form to collect non-employee information which will be submitted to the travel office for profile creation. Once a non-employee profile is created, the travel office will send email notification to the requestor letting them know that they can proceed with preparing the reimbursement for the non-employee. (Back to top)
Q. How will I log in to ATS?
A. Using your NetID and password. (Back to top)
Q. How will approvals be done in ATS?
Q. How will approvals be done in ATS?
A. ATS uses two levels of approval in ATS, that of a first-level approver and the final being the auditor approval. Each dean/director's business office will determine who will fulfill these roles for their respective department IDs. (Back to top)
Q. What is workflow?
A. Workflow is technology that allows for paperless transaction routing and electronic approval. The primary driver for ATS workflow is the Department ID that is reflected in the funding string(s) of the transaction submitted in ATS. If multiple funding strings are used, the transaction will route to each approver and auditor for each Department Id on the reimbursement. (Back to top)
Pre-Trip Authorization/Prior Approvals
Q. Our office requires prior approval before making any travel arrangements, does ATS handle this?
Q. Our office requires prior approval before making any travel arrangements, does ATS handle this?
A. ATS features a Travel Authorization (TA). The Travel Authorization can be used for pre-trip approvals for all departments that require this. In addition, the data in the TA can be used to pre-populate the expense report by the user at trip end, therefore saving time. (Back to top)
Q. How are state rules and limits handled through ATS?
Q. How are state rules and limits handled through ATS?
A. Most of the State’s travel regulations, including location based limits have been incorporated into ATS. If you attempt to submit an expense report with errors or over-limit entries, the application will remind you of the rules and limits, giving you an opportunity to correct or justify the items. Having travel regulations and limits automated in the application will reduce the amount of pre-payment review. (Back to top)
Q. Will ATS be used for cash advances
Q. Will ATS be used for cash advances?
A. ATS will be used for all travel related cash advances. (Back to top)
Q. What are the methods for making travel related payments?
Q. What is the turnaround time for reimbursement payments?
Q. What are the methods for making travel-related payments?
A. With the implementation of ATS, the US Bank Corporate Travel Card, a personal liability charge card will become the preferred payment method. All employees are eligible to receive the card and when used for all business travel expenses, in accordance with Corporate Card and ATS policies, eliminate all traveler out-of pocket spending. The “My Wallet” function in ATS allows automated import of T-Card expenditures by daily download from US Bank which simplifies expense report entry. Reimbursements for approved US Bank Corporate Card charges will be direct paid to US Bank for the appropriate cardholder account, resulting in expedited payment. Additionally, the US Bank Corporate Card features ATM capability reducing the need for cash advances.
Other methods of payment
- Personal funds
- Direct deposit (or check) reimbursement after expense report has been approved for payment
- Direct deposit (or check) payment of approved cash advance
- System checks for all non-employees or those employees without direct deposit
- Purchasing card (institutional liability), if approved for travel (requires training)
- Direct payment by University (Back to top)
Q. What is the turnaround time for reimbursement payments?
A. Direct deposit and ACH payments to US Bank for Corporate Card payments will take four business days from final approval. Checks will be processed the next business day after final approval and mailed the same day. (Back to top)
Support for Users and Applications
Q. What kind of support for end users will there be when ATS is put into production?
Q. What kind of support for end users will there be when ATS is put into production?
A. When we put ATS into production there will be both functional and technical help desk support. All users will have an opportunity to attend standardized training for the appplication. Those users that will be approvers and auditors in ATS must attend certification training. After completion of the class, they will be set up with approver and auditor access in ATS. In addition, there will be online training and context sensitive help. (Back to top)