**Please read the OBFS travel documentation if you are new to UIUC Business Travel! There are many rules and regulations that must be followed.
Step-by-Step Procedure for Obtaining University Recompensed Travel.
- Before any purchases can be made, you must fill this form out and obtain approval.
- Formulate a tentative budget for the trip, that includes everything you want to be paid or reimbursed for. Airfare, registration, per diem, ground transport, hotel, etc.
- You will need the CFOP that is paying your trip, which means you will need your advisor to approve it. You’ll need the projected expense before your advisor will pre-approve.
- The form is somewhat confusing, if you need help with it, ask the Office Manager for guidance. You will not be using a travel agent, you can leave that blank. Include an entry for going to returning from, and your hotel stay. Dates need to be accurate, hotel locations and names do not. Don’t worry about filling out everything on the form.
- You must add your total projected budget. It does not need to be 100% accurate, but it’s better to overestimate than under estimate.
- If you are a grad student, you most likely can skip the absence part of the form.
- If there is a conference deadline for student registration, speak to the Office Manager ASAP. However, your advisor will need to tell you the CFOP and approve the trip verbally.
- Once the report is approved, the office manager can book your airfare and reserve your hotels. Preload your flight and reservation info and bring your laptop to 4060 and the Office Manager will pay the fees.
- Send email confirmations on EVERYTHING YOU RECEIVE to the Office Manager. Receipts should indicate that the purchase was paid for and not be simply an itinerary or invoice
- If you need ground transport, like taxis or ride-share apps like Uber, to be reimbursed, make sure to download the receipts. Receipts have to have the name, date, location summary, and cost.
- If you rent a car, you can claim gas, however, you will need to keep the receipts.
- If you rent a University fleet car, you must abide by their rules, regarding gas. Which they will bill back to the department. The Office Manager can assist you with car or bus rental.
- Note that the University will only pay to get you to where you are going, personal time expenses will not be reimbursed.
- Hotel Checkout. Hotel’s require credit card’s to hold a reservation however they will demand your card when you arrive. That is ok, but do not let them use it at checkout. If they do, you may attempt to get a refund and have the Office Manager pay for it. Otherwise you will have to seek reimbursement for that part of the trip. Make sure they use the card on file instead. If they will not do so, than ask the clerk to send the Office Manager (jeremys@illinois.edu) a credit card authorization form. Sometimes the checkout manager will need to send a secured payment information link, just make sure the Office Manger is available to receive it as these links time out. Hotels perform this function often, don’t hesitate to ask.
- Make sure to send or scan a receipt (sometimes called the hotel folio) to the Office Manager. Receipts need to be ITEMIZED, with at least two charges every day, the room rate and the tax. If you are in a rush, or did not get this kind of receipt, that is OK. It can be obtained after travel.
- When you return, email copies of everything you paid for that you received a receipt and for which you were approved to be reimbursed. That can include parking receipts, ground transport receipts, etc. taxis.
- No need to save receipts for food. Per diem is calculated based on the GSA federal rates. Confirm with your advisor that he wants you to have per diem.
- If the meal purchased was for a business related reason, like recruitment, it is a deemed a business meal. Follow the rules on the OBFS site for this type of expenditure. In short, those rules are: keep the receipt, know exactly who attended, names and numbers of people. Have a verifiable business purpose. Know that the university and the state have per-person upper limits for such meals, and that those change periodically. Exceptions can be made, but require approval in advance from multiple parties.
- When requesting per diem, note any meal that you did NOT need to pay for (conference banquets, breakfasts, lunches, etc.), as well as the time you left your house and the time you arrived at home after travel. That will help determine what travel meals are eligible.
- IMPORTANT: There is a 25 day window to secure reimbursements. DO NOT WAIT. Payables is always backed up and if you wait till the last day, the Office Manager may not be able to file reimbursements in time.
Here are some links to the University of Illinois Business and Finance pages. You are encouraged to review them.