The per diem rate of $39 will be used for travel occurring prior to October 1, 2009. Included in this per diem rate are subsistence and incidental expenses such as fees and tips for persons who provide services.

Per diem rates for high-cost areas have also changed. For complete information on rates of reimbursement for university travel, please see the IUP Travel website.

Miscellaneous Meal Reimbursement Reminders

When actual meals are claimed on a travel expense voucher, all receipts must be itemized clearly indicating the items purchased. Credit card receipts showing only the total are not acceptable. Requests for reimbursement of actual meal costs must be accompanied by a statement of business purpose; a listing of attendees and their relationship to the business purpose; and itemized receipts indicating number of meals purchased, menu items purchased, and any alcohol purchases deducted. Reimbursement for alcoholic beverages is strictly prohibited. Payment or reimbursement cannot be made without an itemized receipt.

Subsistence rates are to be used by employees only. Travel expense vouchers submitted for students, guest speakers, etc., must include itemized meal receipts.

• Last day and time to return supply issues to Central Stores for Fiscal Year 2008/2009 credit: Noon, June 26,2009
• Last day and time to enter Central Stores Reservations for Fiscal Year 2008/2009: 2:00 p.m. on June 26, 2009

Following are important times and dates for completing your Fiscal Year (FY) 08-09 Requisitions, Reservations, and Travel Vouchers before we close the fiscal year. Please do not wait until the last minute to enter your Requisitions and Reservations being funded by your FY08-09 budgets into SAP. Purchasing Staff need sufficient time to make the appropriate arrangements prior to the close of the fiscal year which ends June 30, 2009.

Requisition Cutoff Date

The last day for submitting On-line Requisitions to Purchasing for processing against your FY08-09 operating budgets will be Tuesday, June 9, 2009. This means that all FY08-09 On-line Requisitions must be entered into SAP and released (i.e., approved) by the close of business on June 9. Please note that the delivery date for materials being purchased and the rendering date for services being requested must be no later than June 30, 2009.  

All Requisitions entered into SAP after Tuesday, June 9, 2009, should be for merchandise being delivered or services being performed between July 1, 2009, and June 30, 2010.

Reservation Cutoff Date

The cutoff date and time for submitting On-line Reservations to Central Stores for processing against your FY08-09 operating budgets is 2:00 pm. on Friday, June 26, 2009. This means that all FY08-09 Reservations must be completed in SAP no later than 2:00 pm. on June 26.

The cutoff date and time for returning supplies to Central Stores and receive credit for the returned supplies in your FY08-09 budget is Noon on Friday June 26, 2009. Should you need to return items to Central Stores after the June 26 cutoff, please make your returns after July 1, 2009, and you will receive credit in your FY09-10 budget.

Travel Voucher Cutoff Date

All travel vouchers being charged to FY08-09 must be received in the Travel Office by 4:00 pm on Thursday, July 2, 2009. The travel period must have begun prior to June 30. Travel vouchers received after July 2 will be charged against FY09-10 budgets.

Summary Processing Cutoff Table:

• 4:00 p.m., June 09, 2009 — Last day to enter and release (approve) Requisitions for FY08-09
• 2:00 p.m., June 26, 2009 — Last day to enter Reservations for FY08-09
• Noon, June 26, 2009 — Last day to return supply issues to Central Stores for FY08-09 credit
• 4:00 p.m., July 02, 2009 — Last day to submit Travel Vouchers to the Travel Office for payment from FY08-09 budgets

If you have any questions or concerns please contact Chris Patterson in Financial Operations (cpatterson@iup.edu).

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania employees have been instructed to discontinue using Hotel Orders to pay for hotel stays occurring on or after March 15, 2009. Additionally, the Commonwealth has announced to lodging providers that they should not accept Hotel Orders as payment for services after that date. As the university uses Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Hotel Order forms, it is expected that after that date most hotels will be unwilling to accept Hotel Orders from PASSHE employees as well. Therefore, we must also discontinue using this process to pay for lodging. If you have been issued a Hotel Order for use before March 15, please proceed with using the Hotel Order as planned.

To pay for future lodging services please use one of the following options:

1. Request a University Travel Card and charge your stay as you would with any other credit card. Charges will be paid directly by the university, and you will be required to submit appropriate documentation as prescribed in the Travel Card Procedures.
2. Pay for the stay with a personal credit card, cash, or personal check and request reimbursement on a University Travel Voucher. Be sure to include a copy of the paid hotel bill with your Travel Voucher as audit documentation.
3. Obtain a quote for the stay from the hotel and request a check be issued in advance. Payment can be made directly to the hotel or you may pick up the check in Accounts Payable to take with you. Due to M&T Bank and SAP processing requirements the Accounts Payable Department must have five working days notice to produce a check under this option.

Should you have any questions concerning this change in procedure, please contact the Travel Office at 724-357-7999.

Monday, March 2: 2:00–3:00 p.m.

Wednesday, March 4: 10:00–11:00 a.m.

Tuesday, March 10: 10:00–11:00 a.m.

Thursday, March 12: 2:00–3:00 p.m.

Location: IT Support Center Computer Lab, Suites on Grant Lower, Suite G41

These sessions are for budget holders and others who have SAP finance-related questions, particularly dealing with the new BCS module. No preregistration is required. Employees can come anytime during the allotted time period to ask questions about a specific cost center, transaction, or other finance-related items. Questions will be answered by Financial Operations staff, and will be answered on a first-come first-serve basis. If your question can’t be answered during the session, we will take the information and get back to you as quickly as possible.

If you do not have a Purchasing Card, you may obtain one by completing a Purchasing Card Enrollment form and submitting the completed form to Lora Lee Bertig, B31 Clark Hall.

We will not be having formal hands-on training for all SAP users affected by this conversion. However, we will be holding a series of SAP Open Forums during the weeks of 11/24 and 12/1 where you may come for assistance. Forums are located in the ITS Delaney Hall Computer Lab (Room G41) and will be held at the following times:

11/25 9:00–10 a.m.

11/25 2:30–3:30 p.m.

11/26 11:00 a.m.–Noon

11/26 3:00–4:00 p.m.

12/2 11:00 a.m.–Noon

12/4 3:00–4:00 p.m.

As always, you may call the staff of Financial Operations for assistance over the telephone on this or other SAP issues and we will either help you or refer you to someone who can. However, it is strongly recommended that you bring your questions to one of the Open Forums, as that is where we will best able to address your questions.

The conversion will begin at the close of business on Thursday, November 20, 2008. At that time all Finance and Materials Management update transactions will be turned off (i.e., you will not be able to enter anything into SAP). SAP will be available for inquiry until noon on Friday, November 21. HR users will have access to HR update transactions until noon on Friday, November 21. After noon on Friday, November 21, the SAP production system will not be available. SAP production will become fully available on Monday, November 24, at 8:00 a.m. More information about how you will be affected by this conversion will be distributed in the near future.