Travel and Non-Travel reimbursements are processed through the Create Expense Report business process in Workday. If your unit is supported by ePAS, please submit a request through the method identified in the “Units We Support” Page. The ePAS team will submit fully complete requests (i.e., all receipts and documentation provided) within 5 business days. The Shared Environment Compliance team aims to review within 2 business days.
Non-Travel Reimbursements for UW Employees
Best Practice: Consulting with your finance staff before making any purchases or travel arrangements is a wise decision. Your support staff have the expertise to navigate the complex web of financial regulations and travel policy, ensuring compliance and fiscal responsibility. Their guidance can help identify the most cost-effective options and prevent any potential issues with unapproved expenditures or reimbursement procedures. By involving them early in the process, requesters can safeguard against financial missteps and ensure a smoother transaction.
All Requesters should refer to the Procurements Reimbursement page for items that are not allowed to be reimbursed through an expense report. Additionally, requesters should provide common backup documentation which includes but is not limited to:
- Itemized Receipts (not quotes or shipping confirmations)
- Packing Slips or Verification of Receipt (not the same as shipping confirmations. If you have an Amazon purchase, check your “delivery status” in your account)
- If Food Related:
- Business Purpose
- Attendee List or invitation showing the number of invitees if an open invite.
- Meeting Agenda if provided during a meeting
- Food Form if applicable. Please remember that Gift Funds are still subject to per diem rules. Only big “D” discretionary funds are not subject to per diem. All units should follow the UW Food Policy
Travel-Related Reimbursements for UW Employees
Best Practice: Securing travel pre-approval is a smart move for any traveller! It’s a process that ensures all your travel-related expenses are accounted for and approved before you embark on business travel. By consulting with financial staff beforehand, you can avoid any hiccups that might arise from out-of-pocket expenses or last-minute bookings. For those supported by an ePAS team, the benefits are even more significant. They can handle the direct payment for hotels and airfare, making the process seamless for students, as long as the trip is strictly for official purposes and no personal time is taken. Similarly, faculty and staff can also enjoy the convenience of having their airfare taken care of, provided their travel does not mix business with personal time. It’s a system designed to streamline the administrative side of travel, allowing travellers to focus on the purpose of their trip without worrying about the financial logistics.
Best Practice: Download our Handy Travel Checklist
All units should follow their written departmental policies which may be more restrictive than the UW Travel Policy. Below is a list of the most common backup documentation required:
- Business Purpose
- Meeting Invitation or Conference Schedule
- Helps determine travel status start and stop times
- Helps determine if meals were provided
- Helps determine hotel exceptions for per diem
- Field Work or Sample Collection Travel? Provide the dates and location of work.
- Final Hotel Folio (this shows all charges, the payment, and a zero balance)
- Airfare receipt
- Ride Share Receipts (Lyft, Uber)- you can retrieve these from your app.
- Baggage receipts
- Mileage Maps for mileage reimbursements
- Ferry or Toll tickets
Additional Best Practices:
- Save receipts (except meal receipts if claiming meal per diem.) Saving and submitting them saves time and effort for everyone and will result in faster reimbursements especially because funding sources may have different requirements. It is good stewardship of University Funding.
- Use AirBnB for Work which allows CTA cardholders (processors who have “credit cards” used specifically for Travel Payments) to pay directly if no personal time is taken
- If using ride-sharing services, download the Uber for Business or Lyft for Business apps to keep your business travel separate from your personal.