Manual Travel Reimbursement Form

In most cases, Cornell faculty and staff members should use the online Travel Reimbursement System to request a reimbursement, or send their information to their local FTC/BSC to process reimbursements for them. Individuals who do not have authorization to use the system or who need to process moving and relocation reimbursements, must use the following form.

Travel Reimbursement Request Form (XLS, 148 KB)

Instructions

• Submitting the Form
• Completing the Form
• Using the Supplemental Worksheet
• Using the Main Form
• Converting Foreign Currency
• Submitting Proper Documentation

Submitting the Form

1. Complete the form and obtain the traveler's signature
2. Submit a travel reimbursement request using the Payment Request System
   
   Exception: Moving and relocation reimbursements should be sent to DFA without creating a payment request.
    
3. Attach the completed Travel Reimbursement Request form and original receipts to the payment request cover sheet, and send this documentation to Disbursement Review, 341 Pine Tree Road, Ithaca, NY, 14850

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Completing the Form

This form was designed to be consistent with University Policy 3.2, University Travel, and may be used to replace all other paper travel forms previously used for both endowed and contract college units.

A payment request MUST be prepared for all non-moving/relocation travel reimbursements.

Use of this form is NOT required. The Endowed Travel/Expense Reimbursement Voucher or the Contract College State of New York Travel Voucher may still be used.

The new form is provided in Excel format. We hope you will like the updated form and find it easier to use. In general, we recommend that you open a new, blank form each time you prepare a new travel reimbursement request.

There are four tabs at the bottom of the Excel spreadsheet that correspond with each of the four pages discussed below. (If you don't see the four tabs on your screen, try maximizing the Excel window.)

• Main Form
• Main Form Pg 2
• Supplemental Worksheet
• Foreign Worksheet

To bring up the form you want to work on, simply click on its tab. Most of the forms are inter-linked, so please don't save them as separate files or delete any of the tabs. If you aren't using a particular page of the form, just ignore it.

Because this is an Excel file, there are limitations on completing the fields. Most of the fields can be completed by clicking on the appropriate cell and entering your information. For example, instead of "checking" any of the checkboxes within the spreadsheet, you must enter the checkmarks on the form by hand after printing it. Please don't forget to do this!

So, now that you're ready to get started, you must first decide if you want to utilize the Supplemental Worksheet or simply fill in totals on the Main Form. We recommend that you use the Supplemental Worksheet (to organize expenses) for all but the simplest reimbursements. Using this worksheet will help you in calculating per diem, and provide an easy way to enter and organize the expenses.

Whichever form you choose, the steps that follow will walk you through the process of completing it. If there is foreign currency involved in the travel, please see the section titled "Foreign Currency Conversion."

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Using the Supplemental Worksheet

1. On the Main Form, fill in the cells at the top with the traveler's personal and trip information, just above the dollar breakdown for expenses. The payee information entered here will carry over to the Supplemental Worksheet.
2. Complete the Supplemental Worksheet, starting at the top with dates and locations of travel.
3. If electing to use the per diem method for meals, enter the daily meal per diem rate for the overnight location in the box for each travel date.
   
   Note: Please remember, there must be overnight travel to elect the per diem method.
   
   Reduce the per diem amount to 75 percent of the daily rate for the first and last days of travel. The per-meal amounts will automatically calculate in the meal section of the schedule.
   
   Be sure to enter "zero" in the B, L, or D meal amount cell(s) for any hosted business meals or meals otherwise provided (meals at a seminar, conference, or purchased for you by someone else).
   1. ​International Per Diem Rates
   2. Domestic Per Diem Rates
4. If using the receipt method for meals, DO NOT ENTER PER DIEM RATES AT THE TOP. Instead, enter the actual amount spent on each meal in the appropriate cell (overwriting the per diem formulas).
5. Enter the amount of any hosted business meals in the Hosted Business Meals cell(s), and list any alcohol from the hosted business meals on the Alcohol line. The amount is the same for both the per diem or receipt method. If using the receipt method for ALL meals, enter any alcohol included in regular meals on the Alcohol line, as well (and deduct from the total entered as the meal amount).
6. Enter details of hosted business meals, including name, affiliation, and business purpose of the meal, along with any other notes, at the bottom of the Supplemental Worksheet.
7. If entering personal vehicle mileage, be sure to enter the correct rate for the dates of travel. A link to recent mileage rates is provided on the forms.
8. All totals from this worksheet will carry over to the Main Form.
9. Print the Main Form and the Supplemental Worksheet. Be sure that all information prints on each of the pages.  If necessary, in Excel, go to File/Page Setup/Page/Scaling, and select "Fit to 1 page wide by 1 page tall." Please do not change the orientation (portrait/landscape) of the forms, as they will not print correctly.
10. Obtain necessary signatures and submit both pages, along with supporting documentation (receipts), to the Division of Financial Affairs, 341 Pine Tree Road.

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Using the Main Form

Be sure to indicate the following in the appropriate check boxes:

• Whether the traveler is a Cornell employee, student, or other (describe other)
• Which meal method you are using, per diem or receipts
• How you would like the check handled (direct deposit, campus mail, U.S. mail to home, or Day Hall pickup).

If you choose Day Hall pickup, you must fill in the box with the name and extension of the person who will pick up the check.

Be sure to enter both Home Address and Campus Address. When entering the campus address, always include the building and room number.

Enter any advance amount where indicated. Enter an advance account number in the cell below. The worksheet will automatically calculate whether the total is to be paid to the traveler, or due Cornell; do not override this.

The Payee's (traveler's) signature is required either on the form (preferred) or on an attached sheet. The attached sheet must include the total dollar amount of the expenses reported, the dates of travel, the same certification wording as printed on the Main Form, and the traveler's original signature.

For an out-of-town guest, or Cornell faculty or staff member who is away on extended travel, we will accept a fax or e-mail from him or her with the above information, which will satisfy the signature requirement. These are the only circumstances in which anything other than a traveler's original signature is acceptable.

Signature authority approval is obtained on the payment request and is no longer required on the travel reimbursement request form unless the reimbursement is for moving expenses.

Although travelers must obtain supervisory approval for their trips, the supervisor's signature is not required on the form.

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Converting Foreign Currency

Foreign travel almost always includes expenses in both dollars and foreign currency. A simple way to convert all foreign currency to U.S. dollars (and provide backup for the conversion) is to use the OANDA currency converter. Simply enter the exact amount of foreign currency, type of currency, the date of the expense, and request it will be converted. Print the sheet, include it with the receipt (or tape the receipt right onto the printed page), and enter the amount in U.S. dollars on either the Supplemental Worksheet or Main Form.

If you are more comfortable with a worksheet to help you with the conversion, the last tab in the Excel file provides a tool for calculating foreign currency conversion to U.S. dollars. This worksheet does NOT carry over to any of the other forms. It is provided as a tool to use solely for currency conversion.  Once you have your expenses converted, enter them on either the Supplemental Form or directly to the Main Form. If you use the Foreign Worksheet, please include it as backup with the rest of the documentation.

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Submitting Proper Documentation

Original receipts are required for ALL expenses EXCEPT for the following:

• Meals associated with overnight travel claimed under the per diem method
• Personal auto mileage reimbursed at the current IRS rate
• Miscellaneous expenses that are less than $75

Miscellaneous expenses are travel-related expenses such as local transportation, mail, fax, phone, internet hotel charges, entrance fees, etc. Lodging, meals (when using the receipt method) and transportation to and from your destination (air, train, rental car) are NOT miscellaneous expenses.

Hosted business meals require original, itemized receipts. These are not the credit card slips that you sign and add a tip to, but rather, a receipt that lists what was purchased, including beverages. You most likely will have to ask specifically for an itemized receipt from your server or the restaurant.

For more information or other policy-related questions, please see University Policy 3.2, University Travel.

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