Office of the Comptroller TRAVEL POLICY UPDATES ABA March 2008

Office of the Comptroller 2 Agenda  Goals of revised policy  Internal and external requirements and recommendations  Highlight specific policy revisions  Communication vehicles and target effective date

Office of the Comptroller 3 Goals of revised policy  Ensure that Penn’s resources are spent prudently  Ensure that IRS Accountable Plan and Sponsored Program requirements are met  Clearly define roles and responsibilities for the travelers, approvers and central processing  Ensure T&E reimbursement requests are properly documented, reviewed and approved prior to submission for processing  Foster the use of recommended payment mechanisms and reduce unnecessary advance requests

Office of the Comptroller 4 External Requirements  IRS compliance requirements – “accountable plan”  Internal control requirements as an outgrowth of Sarbanes/Oxley and SAS 112  Federal Travel Regulations and Sponsored Research requirements  Trustee interest in ensuring we have adopted strong controls for sound business practice

Office of the Comptroller 5 OACP Recommendations  To improve policy compliance: – Clarify roles and responsibilities – Eliminate inconsistencies and clarify expectations – Create training classes and improve procedural materials – Improve advance reconciliation process – Define “acceptable” timeline for expense report submission – Introduce “Best Practices” for travelers and business administrators

Office of the Comptroller 6 Policy Review Process  Gathered input from the following sources:  OACP – Audit and Transaction Review  Tax Office / Research Services  OGC  Peer institutions  BAB  Travel Services Advisory Committee

Office of the Comptroller 7 Policy “Look-and-Feel” Updated  Format changed to mirror other financial policies  Procedures moved to procedure manual  Each policy section now contains:  Purpose / Scope  Responsibilities (traveler, TAC holder and higher level approvers)  Policy  Links to forms and procedures  Policies re-ordered and re-numbered

Office of the Comptroller 8 T&E Reimbursement - Key Policy Changes  Policy #2351 – General  Restates roles and responsibilities  Expands “one-up” approval requirements imple- mented previously for University executives to all levels with the introduction of a new role – Higher Level Approver – Schools and Centers responsible for creating their own hierarchy  Policy compliance rests with every school and center – Travel Administrator responsible for the communication of policy and procedures, training opportunities and answering questions – Central processing organization responsible for processing T&E forms in a timely manner

Office of the Comptroller 9 T&E Reimbursement - Key Policy Changes  Policy #2352 – Payment Methods  Defines preferred payment methods as: – AMEX Airline Billing Account for airline tickets, and/or – AMEX Corporate Credit card  Travelers and entertainers are expected to personally incur T&E expenses  Use of preferred payment options and timely T&E reimbursement requests reduce carrying out-of-pocket expenditures for extended periods of time  Use of preferred payment increases the University’s ability to leverage travel spend

Office of the Comptroller 10 T&E Reimbursement - Key Policy Changes  Policy #2353 – Advances  Advances are funds (cash or check) advanced to an individual prior to a trip or event – Prepaid expenses (airline, conference fees, etc.) will no longer be handled as advances  Recommends the limited use of advances for T&E payment – New Advance Justification (C-7A) Form to support all advance requests  Defines the requirement to account for advances with ten (10) days of the trip or event – Unreconciled advances after 120 days become taxable income

Office of the Comptroller 11 T&E Reimbursement - Key Policy Changes  Policy #2354 – Reimbursement Process  Defines the general expectation for documentation, review and approval  Defines timely submission as within 10 days of the ending date of the trip or event  Defines 182 day (six month) cut-off for expense reimbursement  Introduction of Reimbursement Justification (C-5) form for any out-of-policy requests

Office of the Comptroller 12 Best Practices and Training  Best Practices  Best Practices being developed for Penn travelers, Schools, Centers and all University Divisions  “Know Before You Go” pamphlet being developed for travelers  Training and Procedure Manual  Working with financial training to create new training opportunities  New Procedural Manual to accompany policies  Expanded policies and procedure information to be available on the web

Office of the Comptroller 13 Timeline for Updated Policies  Presentations to Senior roundtable, Business Advisory Board and Senior BA meeting have already been done  Announcement of policy changes in the current issue of The Bottom Line  Additional announcements in The Almanac and the Daily Pennsylvanian forthcoming  Effective and complete communication always requires the help of School/Center business administrators to trickle down the messages to faculty and staff  Effective date for new policies and procedures – ** July 1, 2008**

Office of the Comptroller 14 Organizational Changes  In order to improve operational efficiency and enhance value-added services, the following changes will be made:  Effective May 1, 2008, the functions of T&E reimbursement and advance processing will become the responsibility of the Payroll Office  Effective July 1, 2008, the following functions will become the responsibility of Purchasing Services:  Travel card administration  Travel service management  Travel procurement/supplier management  Travel policy and training