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Travel Advance Policy Guidelines

Paying for Travel Expenses

It is Macalester’s preference that a Macalester Pcard used for travel expenses, including pre-travel arrangements and expenses during travel. As with all forms of debit/credit cards, however, it is possible for declines to occur during travel. Extenuating circumstances may arise where a purchase needs to be made quickly before the issue is resolved, resulting in the employee paying for an expense out of pocket. Out of pocket expenses can be submitted for reimbursement. Please review the detailed Pcard Travel Information webpage.

A travel advance may be requested as an alternative if the employee does not have a Pcard. Employees with Pcards can still request a travel advance if they have concerns about relying on their Pcard and do not have the means to cover out of pocket expenses and wait for reimbursement.

Students are generally NOT eligible to request a travel advance, but exceptions may arise.

Request

Requests for travel advances are submitted to the Accounts Payable office through the Travel Advance Request and Reconciliation. Requests must be submitted at least three (3) weeks in advance to allow for proper processing procedures. Faculty and staff are strongly encouraged to sign up for direct deposit to ensure the funds are expedited into their bank account before travel starts.

Reconciliation

Within two (2) weeks of returning an Expense Report must be completed. Travel advances are reportable in the same fiscal year the travel occurred (Fiscal Year end is May 31st.). Refer to Reimbursable Travel Expenses and Business Purpose Description for guidelines on reporting travel expenses. All expenses must be added to the report, and original receipts must be included upon submission.

If the travel expenses exceed the advance amount, the employee will be reimbursed through Accounts Payable within two weeks.

If the full amount of the advance is not used for travel-related expenses, the unused funds must be returned along with the expense report via a personal check (payable to Macalester College) or exact cash.

In the event expense reporting is not submitted within two weeks after the trip, the following steps will be taken:

  1. Accounts Payable reserves the right to withhold any further travel advances until overdue reporting is submitted and approved.
  2. At fourteen (14) days, Accounts Payable will contact the traveler regarding the status of expense reporting.
  3. At thirty (30) days, Accounts Payable will contact the traveler and their supervisor regarding overdue expense reporting.
  4. At sixty (60) days, Accounts Payable will contact the traveler, their supervisor, and the Line Officer regarding overdue expense reporting.
  5. At ninety (90) days, Accounts Payable will contact the traveler, their supervisor, the Line Officer and the CFO regarding overdue expense reporting.
  6. At 105 days, Accounts Payable will alert the traveler, their supervisor, the Line Officer, the CFO, and Human Resources/Payroll of the possibility that the advance will be reportable to the IRS as taxable income.
  7. At 120 days, Accounts Payable will report the outstanding advance to Human Resources/Payroll as taxable income reportable to the IRS on employee’s W-2 at year end. To avoid having travel advances reported to the IRS as income at calendar year-end, the employee must submit to Accounts Payable a complete, approved Travel Expense Report no later than December 15th.

Contact Accounts Payable with any questions.