Attending conferences is a regular part of travel for the University. All employees who either travel or prepare travel for others must be familiar with university fiscal policy, FI0705 - Travel and procedures, FI0705 – General Travel Procedures. This policy covers all aspects of travel, particularly as it relates to conferences. For conference travel, there is additional information that needs to be gathered on the front-end to document the conference and its associated lodging.
The university’s travel card program was established to provide an option to reduce the out-of-pocket burden for employees, guests, and students who travel on behalf of the university. It is recommended that all employees have their own travel card. Employees can use their card to pay for expenses for others, including guests and students. The travel card streamlines the building of an expense report when the trip is over. It automatically uploads the card charges with their associated information for adding to an expense report. Some receipts are also automatically uploaded. The traveler can use the Concur app to take pictures of their receipts, which will be automatically uploaded to Concur and the traveler does not have to keep the receipts. Travel cards can be applied for through the request process in Concur.
Preparing for Conference Travel
When a travel request is involved, comments should be included the who, what, when, where, and why for the trip. The usual Trip Business Purpose is ‘Conference’; however, the ‘Multi Purpose Travel’ business purpose can be used if the conference is to be combined with other university travel.
Registration. Conference registrations can be paid using several methods of payment, including a UT travel card, a UT procurement card, or a personal credit card. The UT travel card is the preferred method. If the traveler pays for the registration with a personal card, they will not be reimbursed for the registration until after the trip.
Arranging Travel. When booking travel for the conference, it is strongly recommended to use either Concur or World Travel. If booking is made using one of these options, World Travel can provide support to the individual while they are traveling. They are a global company offering 24-hour support. If a UT travel card is to be used, it is required that airfare booking be made through one of these two methods. If airfare is booked on a personal card using Concur or World Travel, the airfare can be reimbursed in advance of the trip. If an outside booking service is used, the traveler cannot use the UT travel card and the expense will not be reimbursed until after the trip occurs.
NOTE: Conference hotels cannot be booked through Concur or World Travel. Booking for these hotels must be done through the hotel directly to get the conference room rate. The absence of a room rate in the conference brochure/agenda will limit the reimbursement to 150% of the CONUS/OCONUS rate.
After Returning from the Conference
When the traveler returns from the conference, it is time to create the expense report. The expense report can be created directly from the request, which automatically links the request and expense. This will copy the basic request information to the expense report so that it does not have to be re-entered. To create the expense report, open the approved travel request and click Create Expense Report.
Travel Date Changes. A travel request cannot be changed after it is approved, but there are times when changes occur between the time the request was approved and when the travel occurs. Some changes can be reflected in the expense report without having to create a new request. Changes can be made to the allocation of the expenses and minor changes to the dates of the trip. However, the Business Purpose, Trip Type, and Employee Type cannot be modified.
NOTE: Domestic travel reimbursement is limited to one day of travel each way prior to the event and two days for international travel.
Linking an Approved Request. The link from the expense report to the request will be shown on the expense report. The estimated amount from the request is included. Note that this is an estimate and only used for informational purposes.
Supporting Documentation. Conference documentation must be attached to the expense report. It must include the name, dates, location, and purpose of the conference. It must also include information about the conference hotel(s) and the conference hotel daily rate. Some conferences remove the conference information from their website after the conference is over, so it is important to capture the information on the front-end. It can be saved on the front-end and attached to the expense report when it is created. Please add a comment in the Report Header indicating which expense item has the material attached. It is recommended to attach this information to a conference-specific expense item, such as Conference Registration or Lodging, if claimed.
NOTE: When filing conference registration fees, the expense report will always show the informational message “"Expense Type" of 'Conference/Training Registration Fees' requires supporting documentation. Ensure all conference documentation has been attached.” This is to remind the traveler to include the conference documentation. The system cannot know what an attachment is, so this is a reminder to be sure it is the conference registration materials. Once the conference material is attached, this message can be ignored as it does not prevent submission.
Travel Allowance and Excluding Meals. A conference trip will almost always include lodging and meal per diems, so a travel itinerary will need to be created. The itinerary will indicate where the traveler was each day of the trip and is used as the basis for the CONUS/OCONUS rates.
Conference Lodging Room Rate. Conference lodging will be reimbursed at the conference hotel room rate.
If you have questions or need additional assistance utilizing the University’s travel system, please contact travel@tennessee.edu.