Travel Expense Voucher Checklist

Before submitting a Travel Expense Voucher to the Travel office, please review the checklist below to make sure the form is complete and accurate. Incomplete vouchers will be returned to the traveler. The traveler will be responsible for making corrections or supplying missing information.

• Name

• Address of where you want your check sent

• Cost center number

• Total reimbursable amount

• Purpose of travel

• Date and time trip began

• Date and time trip ended

• Locations of travel

• Accurate mileage: Employees who are required to travel from their residence to a temporary worksite, other than official headquarters, will be reimbursed either from their residence to the temporary worksite, or their official headquarters to the temporary worksite, whichever is the shortest mileage distance. Mileage will be verified on yahoomaps.com or mapquest.com. If for some reason additional mileage is claimed, please provide an explanation/justification.

• Itemized receipts for transportation and lodging. Receipts must be itemized and show detail. The Travel Office cannot accept a statement showing the total amount only. Justification must be provided for any miscellaneous expense, such as internet. The expense must be used for IUP business only. Room service is not permitted. Meals purchased at a restaurant that is located at the lodging facility cannot be charged to your lodging receipt. Any meals included as part of a lodging receipt will not be reimbursed.

• Per diem is based on the date and time the trip began and date and time the trip ended. Only employees can claim per diem. Students or guests of the university must turn in itemized receipts for all meals. Please refer to our Hourly and Meal Breakdown for Subsistence Allowances chart. An example below is provided:

  • An employee leaves IUP on Monday at 1:00 p.m. to attend a conference in Harrisburg, PA. The employee returns to IUP from the conference on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. The subsistence rate for Harrisburg is $64 for a 24-hour period. Subsistence of $208.00 shall be paid, calculated as follows:

    Monday at 1:00 p.m. to Thursday at 1:00 p.m. is $192 (three full 24-hour periods) plus $16.00 (refer to the Hourly Breakdown for Subsistence Allowances chart) for the time period of 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Thursday equals a total of $208.00.

• Please provide an explanation and itemized receipt for any miscellaneous expense over $35, such as taxis, local transportation, and parking. Receipt must show exactly what was purchased and cannot be a statement showing the total amount only.

• Please provide an explanation of the business-related purpose for meals consumed during business meetings. Remember to include an itemized receipt supporting the expense, along with a detailed agenda that includes the beginning and ending times of the meeting. Per Internal Revenue Service regulations, the time, date, place, business purpose, and attendees at a business meal must be documented. Expenditures for breakfast, lunch, and/or dinner in conjunction with a business meeting may be incurred only when the meal is an integral part of the meeting. Integral is defined as the agenda of the meeting clearly indicates that work is conducted during the meal and evidence of the outcomes of such work is provided. (See Expenditures of Public Funds, Guidelines, Standards and Limitswith IUP Operational Guidelines.)

• Traveler signature. Traveler must sign the Travel Expense Voucher in the space provided.

• Authorizing signature. Travel voucher must be approved by the authorizing signature assigned to a particular cost center number. Travelers are not permitted to authorize their own travel expenses. If the traveler is the authorizing signature for the cost center, the department chair or dean must approve the travel voucher.

Notes

• All receipts must be itemized showing exactly what was purchased and indicate proof of payment. Credit card statements showing the total amount only will not be accepted.

• All travelers (including students) should pay for their own travel expenses. If expenses are shared, each traveler must turn in his or her own receipt providing proof of payment. For example, if a hotel room is shared, please ask the hotel to split the room cost, and provide each person with a receipt.

• When submitting requests for lodging to be paid directly to a hotel in Pennsylvania, please ensure you give the hotel a copy of IUP's Pennsylvania Exemption Certificate and that the hotel deducts all applicable taxes when providing a quote or invoice for a room. The university is an instrumentality of the commonwealth and, as such, is exempt from Pennsylvania sales tax, local sales tax, and local hotel occupancy tax. The university is not exempt from the Pennsylvania occupancy tax. Each hotel should be provided with an Exemption Certificate when these exemptions are applicable.

• Bus transportation - six System-wide contracts are now available for bus transportation services. More information, including links to the contracts and supplier websites is available here: Bus Transportation Services (sharepoint.com)

• When arranging lodging for IUP-hosted conferences and other events, requests must be processed through Procurement Shared Services. Please ensure you contact Procurement Shared Services sufficiently in advance of your event to allow proper completion of your request. 

• Services that are provided to a group, such as meals, tours, etc., must be processed through Procurement Shared Services.

The above checklist is not intended to be all inclusive.

If you have any questions, please contact the Travel Office.